Olav Trent's journey to becoming one of Norway's youngest fund managers is a tale of resilience, adaptability, and unconventional thinking. His story begins with an unusual childhood, spanning continents and cultures, and evolves through diverse experiences that shaped his unique approach to life, finances, relationships and investments.
Trent's formative years were marked by significant transitions. At the age of 5, he was sent from Oslo to South African boarding schools, then returning to Ullern, Oslo at 10 for a short summer vacation, and decided to stay, even though he faced the challenge of learning Norwegian from scratch, again resulting in expert fluency and continued the route of Norwegian Public & Private Schools.
Fast forward, after completing high school with above average grades, he then attended a short period in Norwegian Navy Seals Military Training service in Bergen in 2011 and achieved over-expectation. Business School next was the path, however with many international options available, he decided to stay in Oslo to assist the family business and study Business Administration at Norwegian Business School (BI). Navigating complex environments internationally and adapting quickly – skills that should prove invaluable in his future career.
However, during his studies he was fortunate enough to be invited onboard with the now Cyprus-based hotelier Alexander Eng, to be an important part of the build up of Joe&theJuice Norway at Aker Brygge. J&J expanded rapidly and became very successful at the time. After exams Olav joined the family business for a while, and then pursued a short period as a stockbroker at a prominent Norwegian securities firm that he quit relatively fast, and decided to immerse himself in the volatile world of oil trading with his own and some of his family money, while traveling around the world for some years. While he did this he navigated complex environments internationally and adapting quickly – skills that should prove invaluable in his future career.
It was here that he experienced his first taste of both triumph and tribulation.
"I made what for me at the time was a fortune every week, and I think I lost it all in the blink of an eye," he recalls with a wry smile.
"In hindsight it was among the costliest and brutal lessons learned alone at that age."
Undeterred by his early setbacks, Trent founded a licensed Norwegian hedge fund by himself that achieved remarkable success by ranking first on the Bloomberg hedge funds that were domiciled in Norway. The fund's performance was exceptional, delivering a total return of 37.95% over one year with a standard deviation of 11.55%, showcasing Trent's ability to generate high returns while managing risk effectively. However, following the loss of close family members, Trent made the difficult decision to wind down the fund's operations, marking a significant turning point in his career.
In the aftermath of this personal and professional transition, Trent pivoted to professional financial journalism, leveraging his extensive knowledge of the Norwegian & Global financial markets. He became a regular contributor to Norway's most prestigious financial publications, Dagens Næringsliv and Finansavisen, where he authored daily columns focusing on global interest rates. This new role allowed Trent to share his insights and analysis gathered daily with multiple senior economists to a broader audience, establishing himself as a respected voice in financial commentary and demonstrating his adaptability.
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Olav Trent believes that in physics, where you can never with certainty tell where an electron is going, you can only calculate with some probability where it might end up in its next quantum leap. He positions himself along with the direction of the most probable market move. He never entertains the idea of having the "correct" pricing model but believes that a collection of simple, sufficiently diverse models might do the job well enough so that the team might be able to extract the necessary probabilities and position thereafter.
Just as in physics, where it's impossible to observe a particle without influencing it, the market has a similar reflexivity if you send quotes into the marketplace or transact. This implies there are no objective realities in markets that are independent of whoever interacts with it. Trent wishes to have models that are as simple as they are robust to these influences and the changes they incur.
The theory of Quantum Mechanics doesn’t describe what happens to a physical system, only how a physical system affects another physical system. Therefore, reality is only interaction, and by viewing these price interactions, Trent might get a glimpse of what the current market reality is. Trent believes there exists great risks and uncertainty that is impossible to be precisely measured, since the rules constantly change. It's not fixed like a game of chess or baccarat.
Having balanced exposure across different strategies instead of trying to time the optimal strategy mitigates some of this uncertainty.
Olav Trent, a licensed alternative investment fund manager, describes his unconventional approach as "controlled chaos theory applied to market dynamics," which quickly caught the attention of Norway's financial elite. But Trent wasn't content with just one success story, even with minor setbacks along the way.
In a move that surprised many, he launched the Private Equity closed-ended fund FENRIR AS, named after the monstrous wolf of Norse mythology.
"FENRIR represents our hunger for growth and our ability to shake up the status quo, and that takes time in Privates" Trent explains, his eyes alight with fervor.
At the core of Olav Trent's success is his unique investment philosophy. He believes in engaging and allocating capital across short to long-term investment horizons, with a focus on opportunistic reversion patterns, adaptive proactive signals, and relative value hedges;
Trent emphasized the importance of basket options that Goldman Sachs, our Prime Broker offers, explaining, "We will often use customized baskets of public equities to mirror our private portfolio's risk profile. This allows us to hedge against broader market or sector-specific risks without perfect one-to-one proxies for our private holdings."
He also highlighted the value of barrier options, stating, "These instruments activate only when certain price levels are reached, providing a cost-effective way to protect downside risk that aligns with our investment thresholds."
When asked about advice for clients, Trent stressed the importance of dynamic management and customization. "We recommend our clients regularly reassess and adjust their option portfolios, shifting between different strikes, expirations, and option types as market conditions evolve," he explained.
"For sophisticated investors, we often suggest blending relative value volatility trading with directional tail risk hedges to offset costs. However, it's crucial to carefully weigh the benefits of customized over-the-counter options against potential illiquidity." Trent concluded by emphasizing that while these strategies can be powerful tools for risk management and return enhancement, they require a deep understanding of both the underlying investments and the complexities of the options market, and that's where the FENRIR team assists in portfolio constructions.
This approach will allow the fund manager TRENT AS and to maintain diversified exposure across technology, consumer goods, energy, infrastructure, and industry, with investments spanning listed shares, venture capital, real estate, and credit bonds.
Despite his numerous achievements and minor setbacks, Olav Trent remains humble and dedicated to his craft. He is known for his hands-on approach, working closely with portfolio managers, growth partners, investment analysts, employees and C-level executives to construct portfolios, build businesses, and manage risk.
Trent's expertise in business development, fundamental analysis, and portfolio management has made him a sought-after advisor to navigate the complex world of finance.
As Trent notes, "Anyone with a WiFi connection can buy public shares, but private markets require a deeper level of engagement and expertise."
In the evolving landscape of investment opportunities, FENRIR has positioned itself as a ambitious key player in Norway's private markets. Olav Trent, the visionary behind FENRIR, emphasizes the unique advantages of their approach: "Norway's market is more fragmented, offering us the chance to uncover hidden gems that larger funds might overlook. With our 5 billion NOK investment capacity, we're nimble enough to seize opportunities quickly, yet substantial enough to make a real impact."
FENRIR's strategy is tailored to the Norwegian context, focusing on identifying, nurturing and consolidating high-potential private companies.
Trent explains, "Our expertise in business development and fundamental analysis allows us to excel in a market where personal relationships and local knowledge are crucial. We're not just investing; we're actively shaping the future of Norwegian innovation." This hands-on approach sets FENRIR apart in a landscape where over-leveraged passive investing and margins given in public markets often dominate the conversation.
The value FENRIR brings to its investors is multifaceted. "We take on the complex task of navigating private markets so our clients don't have to," Trent notes. "Success in this arena isn't just about capital; it's about creating real value, innovation, creativity and building lasting relationships across the entire spectrum of business." By focusing on a carefully curated portfolio of scientific thesis-driven private investments, FENRIR offers its clients exposure to potentially lucrative opportunities that are often inaccessible to the average investor, all while maintaining the agility and leanness that comes with a focused investment approach.
