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– A lot was burned up in the bond market turmoil, says Frida Bratt, savings economist at Nordnet.
According to Bratt, the years of negative and zero interest rates have meant that both managers and private savers have looked further and further up the risk scale to find returns. Money that could actually have been earmarked for short-term interest rate funds or even a savings account flowed over several years to funds with a high proportion of corporate bonds among holdings.
– When the turmoil and uncertainty in financial markets peaked in the spring, it became clear that certain corporate bonds became difficult to value or sell, which meant that several funds were closed for withdrawals. Savers were thus locked up. It was a scathing reminder that corporate bond funds should not be viewed as interest savings, says Frida Bratt.
This was something that caused savers to sell funds with exposure to corporate bonds.
– I think several lessons have been learned after the fact. On the one hand, it is about the industry taking measures to improve transparency in the corporate bond market, which is ongoing. On the one hand, a new, more equitable risk measure has been launched, and this is very important. The risk information for savers has been misleading before because the measure used in the fund information has not been adapted for corporate bonds, says Frida Bratt.
Looking at the shopping list, many savers continued to have global funds as their portfolio base even during turbulent 2020. But funds with a focus on Nordic tech companies became clear favorites throughout the year.
– The New Technology funds took savers by storm. There are funds with, for example, gambling companies between the participations, and they have done very well. Without a doubt, the pandemic also accelerated digitization in other areas, and Ny Teknik funds benefited from this, says Frida Bratt.
Digitization was, then, a megatrend that became more than clear in 2020. Another was sustainability.
– Sustainability issues did not end in the shadow of the pandemic as much as some may have feared. Above all, Joe Biden’s success in the US presidential election put renewable energy in the spotlight on the stock market. It made money savers invest in sustainable funds, says Frida Bratt.
Most bought and sold funds through Nordnet 2020:
| Most purchased through Nordnet | Bestsellers via Nordnet |
| Spiltan Aktiefond Investmentbolag | Spiltan Högräntefond |
| Swedbank Robur Ny Teknik | Active Norron |
| TIN New Technology | Carnegie Corporate Bond |
| Länsförsäkringar Global Indexnära | Handelsbanken Realräntefond |
| Handelsbanken Sustainable Energy | GodFond Sweden and the world |
| Länsförsäkringar Tillväxtmarknad Indexnära | SEB Eastern Euro Small and MidCap |
| Swedbank Robur Access Asia | IKC Avkastningsfond |
| SPP Aktiefond Global | Gladiator |
| SEB Sustainable Sweden Close to the index | Öhman Sustainable Sweden |
| AMF Aktiefond Småbolag | Brummer multi-strategy |
