Stockholm (HedgeNordic) – Following its strongest annual performance since 2009, the Nordic hedge fund industry carried its momentum into 2025, recording its best start to the year in a decade. The Nordic Hedge Index climbed 2.0 percent in January, building on a 10.6 percent gain in 2024.

All five main strategy categories within the Nordic Hedge Index posted gains in January, with long/short equity managers leading the pack. Equity hedge funds – the industry’s largest strategy segment by fund count – advanced 2.9 percent for the month. Meanwhile, long-only equity managers with hedge fund-like characteristics, tracked separately from the main index, delivered a strong average return of 4.1 percent.

Diversified funds, which include multi-asset, multi-strategy and niche strategies, also had a strong start to the year, gaining 2.0 percent in January. Nordic systematic trend-following CTAs, macro, and managed futures strategies saw a more uneven performance depending on the approach, posting a modest 0.2 percent gain as a group. Meanwhile, multi-manager funds and fixed-income hedge funds delivered solid returns, advancing 1.6 percent and 1.5 percent, respectively.

The performance gap between the best- and worst-performing members of the Nordic Hedge Index stood at 6.2 percent in January. The top 20 percent of funds achieved an average gain of 5.5 percent, while the bottom 20 percent recorded an average loss of 0.8 percent. Notably, approximately 87 percent of funds that reported January figures posted positive returns for the month.

Best Performers in January

Equity hedge funds led the list of top performers in the Nordic Hedge Index in January. Joakim Hannisdahl’s Gersemi Shipping Fund recorded its best month on record, delivering a 9.3 percent return to top the Nordic hedge fund universe. After a challenging second half of 2024 – marked by geopolitical tensions, weak Chinese demand, and energy sector volatility –shipping equities staged a strong recovery in early 2025. The rebound was driven by a wave of sanctions, tariffs, and policy moves from U.S. President Donald Trump. Portfolio manager Joakim Hannisdahl described January as a month that offered “a myriad of opportunities […] both long and short.”

After delivering a 54 percent return in 2024 – ranking second in the Nordic hedge fund industry – Impega has carried its strong momentum into 2025. The “small but agile” long-biased equity fund posted an 8.2 percent gain in January. Rhenman Healthcare Equity L/S, global long-biased equity fund with an exclusive focus on healthcare, closely followed suit with a return of 8.0 percent in January.

Two other equity funds, FE Select and Elementa, posted strong gains of 7.1 percent and 6.9 percent, respectively, in January. Meanwhile, Coeli Renewable Opportunities, a long-biased long/short equity fund focused exclusively on renewables, delivered a 7.0 percent net return for the month.

Top Performing Long-Only Equity Funds

In September of 2023, HedgeNordic introduced a new sub-strategy category to the Nordic Hedge Index: Equity Long-Only (ELO). This category is home to funds that would fall short of qualifying as a hedge fund due to their long-only trading approach but exhibit habitual characteristics of a hedge fund strategy (e.g., leverage and derivatives usage, portfolio concentration, fee structure, a spin-off of a long/short strategy, and absolute return objectives, among others).