Swedish hedge funds : An analysis of the Swedish hedge funds’ investment strategies and risks associated with hedge funds

Background Out of the different fund categories hedge funds have had the highest development in Sweden since 1994. Swedish investors’ interest in hedge funds doubled from 2005 to 2006. Hedge funds are said to be an investment with a low risk and not being dependent upon business cycle movements. Historically there have been high initial investments, most often over 100 000 SEK, required to invest in hedge funds. This has started to shift towards lower initial investments. This is a reason why hedge funds start to become interesting to private investors and not only to institutional, and wealthy private investors. Purpose The purpose of this thesis is to explore what different investment strategies and sub strategies that are used within Swedish hedge funds. Also specific risks and risk measurements, depending on investment strategy, will be investigated and compared. Method In order to meet the purpose of this thesis a qualitative approach has been used. A questionnaire, with both closed and open-end questions, was sent to 13 hedge fund managers operating in the Swedish hedge fund market. Afterwards, four semi-structured interviews were conducted. Two of the interviewees are hedge fund managers who also answered the questionnaire. The others were with a person who is a hedge fund analyst and a person working at the Swedish Financial Supervisory Authority (SFSA). Conclusion Out of the five different investment strategies investigated the two most widely used in Swedish hedge funds are funds of hedge funds and equity hedge. The sub strategies that are used within the Swedish hedge fund market are those with a focus on low risk. Within Swedish hedge funds there are some specific risks and risk measurements that are useful. Sharpe ratio is best used to compare similar funds. Standard deviation is useful to evaluate each specific hedge fund. How much leverage capital that can be used is decided by SFSA. Yet, the risks depend on the hedge fund manager rather than the investment strategy used. This, due to the fact that the hedge fund managers have an own interest in the hedge fund.