Mandatum Managed Futures Fund was named the “Best Nordic Managed Futures Fund” at the Nordic Hedge Award for the second year in a row, following strong performance in 2024 – an otherwise lacklustre environment for trend-following CTAs. After delivering a 17.7 percent gain in 2024, the fund continues to stand out in 2025, particularly in April. Mandatum Managed Futures Fund advanced 2.2 percent month-to-date through the end of last week, navigating a choppy market marked by volatility triggered by tariff announcements from the U.S. administration.
“We are very pleased to receive this recognition for the second time. We have worked hard to develop this fund, and it is remarkable that this work is being rewarded,” says Mandatum’s Portfolio Manager Ville Rantanen. “Our heartfelt thanks go to our clients and everyone who has contributed to making this achievement possible,” adds Rantanen. “We’d also like to thank HedgeNordic for organizing such a fantastic event. It was a real pleasure connecting with so many investors from across the Nordics.”
“We are very pleased to receive this recognition for the second time. We have worked hard to develop this fund, and it is remarkable that this work is being rewarded.”
Ville Rantanen, Portfolio Manager at Mandatum Asset Management.
Launched in 2019, the Mandatum Managed Futures Fund utilizes a systematic trend-following strategy across equity, fixed income, and currency markets. In contrast to traditional approaches, the fund incorporates dynamic risk-taking and regime change detection models, which help identify the optimal combination of momentum-based models for the prevailing market conditions. This additional layer has been instrumental in enabling the fund to navigate the challenging market environment in April. As of April 10, the fund is up 2.2 percent month-to-date and 2.5 percent year-to-date.
“Our meta-models override the other models, prompting us to close our long equity and bond positions. At the same time, we initiated long positions in VIX futures. We quickly scaled risk down and capitalized increased market volatility.”
Ville Rantanen, Portfolio Manager at Mandatum Asset Management.
At the end of March, Mandatum Managed Futures Fund held long positions in bonds and equities. However, when market conditions shifted, “our meta-models override the other models, prompting us to close our long equity and bond positions,” explains Rantanen. “At the same time, we initiated long positions in VIX futures. We quickly scaled risk down and capitalized increased market volatility,” he elaborates. “This same approach proved effective during last autumn’s Yen crisis, where we were able to profit from a similar type of tail event.” In contrast, many trend-following managers in the Nordics struggled with the market reversals in April, with SEB Asset Allocation notably suffering a 10.3 percent loss in the month through April 10.
