Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – After suffering their worst half-year performance since the second half of 2008, Nordic hedge funds advanced 2.0 percent on average in July (97 percent reported) to trim their to-date decline to 5.2 percent. Trend-following CTAs, the top-performing strategy group in the first half of 2022, gave up some of their gains in July.
Four of the five strategy categories within the Nordic Hedge Index posted gains for July. Nordic CTAs fell by 1.5 percent on average in July to trim their year-to-date advance to 3.9 percent. Equity-focused funds advanced 3.7 percent in July, trimming their 2022 decline to 4.0 percent. Fixed-income hedge funds are suffering their worst year since 2008, with the group ending the first seven months of 2022 down 9.7 percent after edging up 0.8 percent in July. Multi-strategy funds ended the first seven months of the year down 5.8 percent after advancing 2.1 percent last month, while funds of hedge funds gained 0.9 percent in July. Funds of funds edged down 0.6 percent so far in 2022.
At a country level, Finnish hedge funds gained the most in July after booking an average gain of 2.4 percent to cut their 2022 decline to 7.6 percent. Swedish hedge funds, which account for the largest share of the Nordic hedge fund industry, gained 2.1 percent in July to end the first seven months of 2022 down 2.5 percent. The Danish hedge fund industry dominated fixed-income strategies fell by 10.3 percent during the first seven months of the year despite advancing 2.0 percent in July. Norwegian hedge funds, meanwhile, edged down 0.7 percent year-to-date through the end of July after gaining 1.7 percent last month.
The performance dispersion between last month’s best- and worst-performing members of the Nordic Hedge Index remained broadly unchanged month-over-month as top performers enjoyed strong returns last month. In July, the top 20 percent of Nordic hedge funds advanced 8.7 percent on average and the bottom 20 percent lost 2.9 percent, representing a top-to-bottom dispersion of 11.5 percent versus 11.9 percent in June. In June, the top 20 percent were up 2.2 percent on average and the bottom 20 percent were down 9.8 percent. About three in every four members of the Nordic Hedge Index with reported July figures posted gains last month.
Top Performers in July
Activist investor Accendo was last month’s best-performing member of the Nordic Hedge Index with an advance of 28.4 percent, which trimmed its year-to-date decline to 8.9 percent. HCP Focus Fund, which runs a concentrated long-only portfolio of about 12 names, booked a monthly gain of 19.5 percent in July to end the first seven months of 2022 down 41.5 percent.
Patrik Wallenberg’s Plain Capital BronX recouped some of its losses from the first half of 2022 after advancing 13.4 percent in July. Formuepleje Penta, a multi-strategy fund maintaining leveraged long-only portfolios in equities and bonds and a market-neutral equity portfolio, gained 11.8 percent in July to cut the year-to-date decline to 20.3 percent.
Cleaves Shipping Fund, a shipping-only long/short equity fund managed by Joakim Hannisdahl, gained 11.3 percent in July to extend its 2022 advance to 36.9 percent. The shipping fund is currently this year’s best-performing member of the Nordic Hedge Index. Launched as a Norwegian alternative investment fund in late 2021, Cleaves Shipping Fund migrated into an Irish QIAIF structure in early July.
The Month in Review for July 2022 can be downloaded below:
Photo by Glen Carrie on Unsplash
