Arctic followed the procedure from last year and managed again in 2018 to walk away with the victory in DN's weekly equity portfolio competition. This is the sixth time out of the last eight years that Arctic have come out on the top, and the second in a row for portfolio manager Alexander Larstedt Lager and the investment team at Arctic Fund Management.
By Espen Linderud, Dagens Næringsliv
While the Oslo Stock Exchange fell in 2018, Alexander Larstedt made a return of 8.3 per cent. It was enough to secure the victory in DN's weekly portfolio. The Arctic manager beat both DNB Markets and Sparebank 1 Markets with a clear margin.
- I have to say I am very happy with that, says Alexander Larstedt Lager. He has fronted Arctic's weekly portfolio in 2017 and 2018.
"It has been a volatile year, and I am pleased to be able to achieve a 8.3 per cent return in such a year," says the manager. The Oslo Stock Exchange set a new record during 2018, but then went downhill during the fall and the main index ended in minus.
Six of eight wins
The Arctic manager is satisfied that he hit well on many stocks, and that the win was not based only a lucky few. Alexander points out shares like SR-Bank, as well as TGS, Polarcus and BW Offshore as some of this years winners, which he and the team was in at the right time.
- There were a lot of shares that we had in the portfolio during the year that did well, he says.
Arctic has won the competition six of the last eight years. Larstedt Lager has been responsible for the last two years and has two wins in a row.
Collett back at the helm in 2019
In 2019, it is his more experienced colleague Albert Collett who will front the portfolio on behalf of Arctic Fund Management, but Larstedt Lager will still be on the team and record which shares they should invest in.
Arctic emphasize that this is a team effort, and that the managers do a thorough analysis of the companies, assess results, owners, management and sectors before they hit their stock options.
Dagens Næringsliv is Norways largest financial newspaper and conducts every year an unofficial stock picking competition between the top investment banks in the country. Arctic, DNB and Sparebanken 1 was this years competitors, where DNB will be replaced by Alfred Berg in 2019.
Read the article in full at Dagens Næringsliv (In Norwegian) >> Her er vinneren av DNs Ukeportefølje i 2018
Arctic Norwegian Equities is a equity fund managed by Albert Collett and Alexander Lagersted Lager. The fund invests in the Norwegian stock market and the funds "I" share class, has since inception in November 2010 had a performance of 150% - 35% ahead of the funds benchmark.
Past performance is no guarantee for future returns. Future returns depend on the market, fund manager skill, fund risk level, costs, among others. Performance may become negative due to losses and it may vary considerably within periods.