One of the earliest distinctions a newly launched hedge fund in the Nordics can earn is the “Rookie of the Year” award, granted annually by a jury of fellow hedge fund managers to the most promising newcomer. The 2024 “Rookie of the Year” award went to TIND Discovery Fund, an equity long/short fund managed by a seasoned team with deep roots at Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM).

“Despite decades of combined experience, our team at TIND Asset Management just won ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the Nordic Hedge Award,” says Chief Investment Officer Harald Hjorthen, who co-manages TIND Discovery Fund with portfolio manager Jon Håkon Findreng. “Thanks to HedgeNordic for the recognition—and most importantly, to our investors for their trust and partnership. We’ll do our best to avoid any actual rookie mistakes going forward!”

“Despite decades of combined experience, our team at TIND Asset Management just won ‘Rookie of the Year’ at the Nordic Hedge Award.”

Harald Hjorthen, CIO at TIND Asset Management.

A Team of NBIM Veterans

Spearheaded by Christer Bjørndal as CEO – formerly the co-founder and portfolio manager at another Norwegian hedge fund, TIND Asset Management brought together a team of former colleagues from Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages Norway’s Oil Fund. Harald Hjorthen, Jon Håkon Findreng and Christer Bjørndal all worked together on the same team at NBIM. 

The founding team was joined by Knut Kjær, NBIM’s inaugural CEO, as Partner and Chairman, and Øyvind Schanke, NBIM’s former CIO, as an independent board member. Even Erik Haukaa, a Partner overseeing Investor Relations, shares a professional history with Bjørndal dating back to NBIM – where the two first connected while Haukaa was at East Capital and Bjørndal was overseeing, among other responsibilities, European equity mandates. “We are a team that met at or through the sovereign wealth fund of Norway,” Christer Bjørndal previously told HedgeNordic. 

Hjorthen credits CEO Christer Bjørndal for building TIND from the ground up and getting it off the ground, while highlighting Erik Haukaa’s tireless work in developing relationships with top-tier international investors. He also praises Pauline Fiskaa, the firm’s COO, for ensuring smooth day-to-day operations, and Jon Håkon Findreng – his “co-pilot on investments” – for helping navigate volatile markets. Hjorthen adds that board members Knut Kjær and Øyvind Schanke continue to guide “this so-called “rookie” team with unmatched experience.” 

A High-Conviction, Concentrated Approach to Small- and Mid-Cap Stocks

TIND Asset Management is a single-strategy fund boutique managing a long-biased equity hedge fund focused on small- and mid-cap stocks. Launched in November 2023, TIND Discovery Fund applies bottom-up fundamental research to construct a high-conviction, concentrated portfolio of Nordic small- and mid-cap companies. “As fundamental analysts doing our own research, we adopt a highly concentrated approach within a niche market where we believe we can add substantial value or alpha, which for us is the Nordic small- and mid-cap segment,” Bjørndal told HedgeNordic.

TIND Discovery Fund typically maintains a net exposure between 80 and 100 percent, concentrating the majority of its risk in 15 to 20 high-conviction positions. While primarily long-biased, the fund retains the flexibility to take selective, alpha-driven short positions. In both long and short ideas, the investment team seeks out non-consensus opportunities, guided by fundamental conviction. The short book is designed as a source of return and alpha, not merely a tool for risk management. The fund does not target a fixed net exposure, as doing so can lead to reverse-engineering the portfolio and initiating short positions without sufficient conviction, according to the team.

TIND Discovery Fund gained 35 percent in its inaugural full year in 2024, followed by an additional 10.9 percent in the first quarter of 2025. Launched with sizable capital – including over $30 million committed by the partners themselves to ensure strong alignment with investors – the fund has since attracted meaningful external capital. Coupled with its strong performance, the strategy is now approaching a soft close less than two years after launch. While officially named “Rookie of the Year,” TIND Discovery Fund has already proven it’s anything but a rookie, benefiting from the deep experience and pedigree of its team.