By Per Ivarsson – RPM: On Tuesday, May 20th, RPM Risk & Portfolio Management and HedgeNordic hosted the seminar “New Nordic Quant Strategies: Innovative Alternatives for Shifting Markets” in Stockholm, Sweden. The event showcased six Nordic-based managers representing a range of interesting quantitative investment strategies.
RPM, a specialist investor in this segment, focuses on constructing and managing multi-manager portfolios for institutional clients. The idea for the seminar emerged from RPM’s ongoing research and manager selection efforts, during which they identified a significant home bias of Managed Futures investors and a group of innovative Nordic managers who shared several key qualities. These managers offer strategies that deliver returns and valuable portfolio diversification, an important asset in today’s turbulent market environment, characterized by the acronym VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity). Accordingly, Per Ivarsson, CEO of RPM, noted that “current markets are shifting rapidly, outcomes are unpredictable, and clarity is rare, a textbook case of VUCA in action”. A portfolio of Nordic managers could help expand investors’ horizons from a country-by-country bias to a more regional perspective.
“Current markets are shifting rapidly, outcomes are unpredictable, and clarity is rare, a textbook case of VUCA (volatility, uncertainty, complexity, and ambiguity) in action.”
Per Ivarsson, CEO of RPM
At the forefront of today’s financial innovation, two panels shed light on how modern quantitative and commodity strategies are evolving to meet increasingly complex market environments—with agility, transparency, and a healthy dose of AI.
Modern Quant Strategies: Commonalities and Differentiators
The “Modern Quant Strategies” panel opened with a bold prompt: What truly makes a strategy ‘modern’? For Mandatum, the answer lies in operational freedom. “We’re not constrained by old processes,” a Gustaf Ehrenborg asserted. “That allows us to innovate quickly and adapt to market realities without being held back by past success.” This theme of adaptability was echoed across the panel, albeit through different lenses.
“We’re not constrained by old processes. That allows us to innovate quickly and adapt to market realities without being held back by past success.”
Gustaf Ehrenborg at Mandatum Asset Management.
Genio redefined modernity through the sophistication of signal interpretation. Their layered, learning-based system reads markets across multiple dimensions—directional, spread, and basket-based—rather than relying purely on momentum. “We cure the curse of convexity,” Ronnie Söderman claimed, highlighting their edge in turbulent, trendless conditions.
Meanwhile, Tidan emphasized philosophy and design. “We didn’t set out to copy anyone,” said Linus Nilsson, portfolio manager at Tidan. Their clean-slate approach resulted in a resilient multi-strategy platform, intentionally less reliant on traditional trend-following and better prepared for shifts across market regimes. The issue of Quantitative Investment Strategies (QIS) and their reliance on simulated returns in marketing was raised. Unlike traditional fund managers, who present real track records, QIS can promote strategies based on simulated performance. This practice can create unrealistic expectations and makes it difficult, and potentially risky, for investors to compare these strategies.
As 2025 brought high volatility, panelists shared how their systems responded. Mandatum highlighted internal flexibility: “Our system adapted internally without structural changes and with strong results to show.” Genio admitted some turbulence, particularly around policy surprises like Germany’s debt reform, but saw their short-term models shine. “Each event feeds our learning loop,” they added. Tidan noted April as a strong month, thanks to volatility filters that scaled risk exposure appropriately: “Our short-term strategies led the gains.”
Alexander Mende, CIO at RPM, asked whether AI/ML amplifies the black box issue of quant strategies. The panel replied almost in unison: “Transparency and explainability are the key challenge in AI-driven finance. “We monitor every model individually,” said Mandatum. Genio emphasized attribution built into their model architecture: “Full control.” Tidan reinforced that while AI/ML contributes at the model level, final portfolio decisions remain clearly traceable.
Experience also played a role in shaping these modern approaches. Tidan’s PM recalled, “Starting my career at RPM gave me exposure to the full quant ecosystem. It was like having a front-row seat to the entire evolution of the quant space.”
On trading horizons, the consensus was clear: flexibility is paramount. “There isn’t one optimal horizon,” Genio noted. Mandatum agreed: “The optimal horizon is whatever works best right now.”
Commodity Trading in Uncertain Times
In the second panel on Commodity Trading, participants tackled how geopolitical shocks, climate change, and market stress are reshaping systematic commodity strategies.
A central theme was the linkage between asset classes. “There’s been a tighter linkage between equity and commodity markets,” said Patrik Säfvenblad from Volt. This correlation complicates risk but also unlocks opportunity. “A crashing stock market creates secondary market moves that are more easily captured,” they noted, referencing April’s gold rally and crude oil slide.
“There’s been a tighter linkage between equity and commodity markets. A crashing stock market creates secondary market moves that are more easily captured.”
Patrik Säfvenblad at Volt Capital Management.
Calculo differentiated itself with a focus on reaction rather than prediction. “We don’t trade the events—we trade the alpha moves around them,” Philip Engel Carlsson explained. Their AI systems adjust exposure dynamically during volatility spikes: “When volatility becomes unstable or erratic… we step back.”
“We don’t trade the events—we trade the alpha moves around them. When volatility becomes unstable or erratic… we step back.”
Philip Engel Carlsson at Calculo Capital.
Antiloop added a cautionary note on quant limits, observing that rapid intraday swings increasingly demand discretionary overlays: “Recent volatility has highlighted both the strengths and limitations of systematic trading,” said Anna Svahn.
On the subject of market drivers, supply shocks were deemed more favorable than demand shifts. “Supply-driven trends tend to be longer,” said Volt. Calculo chimed in: “They produce sharp, asymmetric price moves that our models love.”
“Recent volatility has highlighted both the strengths and limitations of systematic trading.”
Anna Svahn at Antiloop.
The panel had a mixed view of alternative data. While Volt uses weather data strategically, they’re skeptical of inputs like social media. Calculo was direct: “For us, price is the ultimate truth. Alternative data introduces more noise than value.”
As traditional quant factors like momentum and carry lose their edge, adaptation becomes essential. Volt observed, “Markets change, and traders adapt. We have recently focused on composite regime indicators” while Calculo described refining momentum with machine learning to detect exhaustion and crowding more accurately.
Looking ahead, the panel agreed on the growing role of commodities in diversified portfolios. “A systematic, price-reactive approach adds clarity, speed, and resilience,” said Calculo. Volt highlighted the crisis alpha potential: “Stress events often create new opportunities in commodity markets.”
The panellists’ shared conclusion? You don’t need to predict chaos to profit from it—you just need to know how to read the tape when it hits.
RPM concluded the seminar by emphasizing that the strategies presented were not only innovative, but by balancing individual strengths and weaknesses, the combined portfolio has delivered highly attractive returns, compared to industry benchmarks as well as traditional equity and bond markets. The closing message was clear: “In times like these, it’s important to stay cool, calculated, and consistent.”
This article features in the “Systematic Strategies and Quant Trading” publication below:
