Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Swedish business magazine Privata Affärer has revealed the nominees for the “Årets Fond” award in the “Alternative Investments” category. The contenders for the previously named “Årets Hedgefond” award are Excalibur Fixed Income, PriorNilsson Yield, and JPM Europe Equity Absolute Alpha Fund. 

Notably absent from this year’s list of nominees is Alcur Fonder’s hedge fund, Alcur, which has secured the “Hedge Fund of the Year” title from Privata Affärer for three consecutive years. The winners of Årets Fond 2023 will be revealed at the end of January.

Excalibur Fixed Income

Excalibur Fixed Income, Sweden’s second-oldest running hedge fund, enjoyed four consecutive years of solid performance, achieving a 4.7 percent in 2023 following advances of 6.1 percent in 2022, 4.0 percent in 2021, and 10.9 percent in 2020. The fixed-income macro hedge fund managed by Thomas Pohjanen and Björn Suurwee has delivered an annualized return of 4.7 percent since its launch in early 2001, reaching its objective of delivering average returns of 4-6 percent per year with low downside risk. The fund experienced only two years of low-single-digit losses in its 22-year history.

Excalibur Fixed Income’s 4.7 percent return in 2023 reflects three accurate predictions by the portfolio management team. At the start of the year, Thomas Pohjanen and Björn Suurwee anticipated higher interest rates in Sweden than the market had expected. They also correctly predicted a delay in combatting inflation. Towards the end of the year, the team accurately forecasted a decline in U.S. interest rates with the Fed signaling the peak in interest rates. Additionally, the fund’s management foresaw the strengthening of the Swedish krona, which materialized towards the year’s end.

PriorNilsson Yield

Launched in late 2002, PriorNilsson Yield of Torgny Prior’s and PO Nilsson’s PriorNilsson Fonder has been designed to cater to investors looking for capital preservation solutions. This market-neutral equity fund seeks to represent a higher-returning alternative to cash or a bank deposit. Yield is designed to represent a market-neutral fund capable of returning a few percentage points higher than short-term interest rates with minimal volatility.

As a predominantly market-neutral fund, an average of 90 percent of PriorNilsson Yield’s assets are invested in the short-term interest market. This structure enables the fund to automatically receive higher returns when short-term interest rates rise. Stock picking in the market-neutral bucket, meanwhile, serves as an additional return driver for PriorNilsson Yield. In 2023, the fund achieved a gain of 7.3 percent, marking its best annual performance since 2009. Since its inception in late 2002, the fund managed by PO Nilsson has delivered an annualized return of 3.6 percent, with an annualized volatility in returns of 3.1 percent.