Timing a hedge fund launch is never easy and getting it right can be make-or-break for long-term success. French-Danish duo Alexis Dubois and Victor Clausen Brassart, operating out of Copenhagen, officially launched their macro systematic hedge fund, Hafnium Investment Fund, at the end of March – right as significant market turbulence began to unfold. Launching in one of the most volatile market environments in recent financial history is the ultimate stress test for any investment strategy, and Hafnium Investment Fund has so far proven its resilience. The fund has now joined the Nordic Hedge Index.
“Thank God we are not as bad at managing a fund as we are at timing a fund launch,” quips Alexis Dubois, CEO of Hafnium Investment. The two co-founders started trading on March 28, posting a gain of 0.2 percent net of fees through the end of the month. The fund edged down 2.10 percent gross of fees month-to-date through Tuesday this week, following eight consecutive days in positive territory with a cumulative gain of 4.40 percent.
“Thank God we are not as bad at managing a fund as we are at timing a fund launch.”
Alexis Dubois, CEO of Hafnium Investment.
Hafnium Investment Fund follows a multi-strategy, multi-asset approach built on a set of distinct systematic sub-strategies spanning equity volatility, foreign exchange, interest rates and commodities. “Our strategy revolves around four independent quantitative models, each designed to extract alpha from distinct risk premia across major asset classes,” Victor Clausen Brassart, CIO of Hafnium Investment, previously told HedgeNordic. “These models ensure a well-diversified and decorrelated portfolio that adapts to various market conditions.”
For each asset class – FX, commodities, equity index volatility, and interest rates – the duo applies time-tested risk premia strategies that have historically delivered robust results. The volatility model seeks long/short opportunities in equity index options, exploiting the spread between implied and realized volatility. The FX model combines traditional carry strategies with advanced statistical arbitrage signals. The third model captures macro momentum across G10 interest rate futures. The commodities model targets inefficiencies in highly liquid futures markets, including energy, agriculture, and metals. Ultimately, while the models form the backbone of the strategies, it is the trading experience of Alexis Dubois and Victor Clausen Brassart that brings them to life, ensuring coherent execution and responsiveness to market realities.
Alexis Dubois emphasizes that strict decorrelation is a foundational pillar of Hafnium Investment’s strategy. By designing strategies with zero correlation and equal volatility weighting, the portfolio maintains balance and resilience across market environments. Each model targets distinct risk premia, operates in different regions and currencies, and features unique payoff structures – ensuring diverse responses to shifting market regimes. “True decorrelation is not merely desirable but essential for delivering sustainable, long-term returns,” according to Dubois. “By ensuring that our strategies are structurally independent, we mitigate risks and unlock the potential for stable performance, regardless of market conditions.”
“We managed to successfully contain the drawdown, thanks in part to our opportunistic volatility hedging, and the good performance of our rates and commodities strategies when the equity markets were selling off.”
Alexis Dubois, CEO of Hafnium Investment.
This portfolio construction approach has already proven its effectiveness during the recent market volatility triggered by the U.S. administration’s announcement of tariffs and the surrounding uncertainty. “We managed to successfully contain the drawdown, thanks in part to our opportunistic volatility hedging, and the good performance of our rates and commodities strategies when the equity markets were selling off,” explains Dubois. “Importantly, we maintained a zero correlation to the S&P 500, even during the so-called ‘liberation week.”
