The management team initially notes that the month was characterized by increasing geopolitical uncertainty, where the escalation in the Middle East triggered initial risk aversion.
Cyclical and economically sensitive sectors performed poorly, while defense and energy-related stocks showed strength. Historically, market dynamics have stabilized after the initial shock, but future developments remain heavily dependent on the duration of the conflict, which necessitates flexible and active portfolio management, according to the managers.
Among the largest positive contributors were Icelandic Salmon, Nibe and Sdiptech on the long side, as well as Sandvik, Wärtsilä and Invisio on the short side. Conversely, Dometic, Thule and Essity weighed on the fund's returns on the long side.
Against the backdrop of the dynamic market environment, the managers worked to steer the fund's net exposure during the month. By shifting parts of the cyclical long book from equities to derivative instruments, primarily call options, the ability to actively manage the portfolio's gamma exposure has increased.
"This has enabled more tactical trading around market movements, where we have continuously increased exposure during weakness and adjusted via index futures to keep the total risk level stable", the managers write.
At month-end, the fund's net exposure stood at 65 percent, corresponding to a beta-adjusted net exposure of 40 percent.
In addition, the managers took advantage of the broad downturn to selectively increase exposure to high-quality cyclical companies that had fallen disproportionately in a short period, including Atlas Copco, Boliden, Epiroc and Hexagon.
"Our assessment is that the underlying fundamentals are essentially intact, while valuations have been sharply adjusted downwards", the management team concludes.
The fund's largest holdings at month-end were Atlas Copco at 6.15 percent and Essity at 5.28 percent, followed by Vestum and Valmet with portfolio weights of 4.80 percent each.
| Norron Nordic Long/Short Equity, % | March, 2026 |
| Fund MTD, change in percent | -2.87 |
| Fund YTD, change in percent | -3.21 |
