d3.js: force simulation starts slowly (but runs smooth)

Question

I'm trying to create a basic force simulation with 4 nodes and 3 links. Init logic looks like this:

d3.forceSimulation(this.data.nodes).on('end', ticked(this.data));

function ticked(data) {
    console.log('ticked 1');
    return function () {
        console.log('ticked 2');
        // click listeners for nodes are created below
    }
}

Now to the problem: the first log (ticked 1) comes up almost immediately, but not the second one (ticked 2) although it is the first line in the returned function?! Is there an other way to properly add event listeners?