Norway sovereign wealth fund to invest in Tokyo office properties

[TOKYO] Norway's Norges Bank Investment Management, the manager of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, will target Tokyo's prime office buildings as it starts investing in Japan, said Karsten Kallevig, the fund's chief investment officer for real estate.

The fund, built on revenues from the country's oil and gas production, is planning to seek local partners to co-invest in Tokyo properties, Mr Kallevig told Reuters in an interview on Thursday. He declined to disclose financial targets for the investments.

The fund, which manages US$880 billion in assets, has only recently been allowed to invest outside Europe. Its initial focus in Asia will be Tokyo and Singapore, where the economy is expected to grow further, Mr Kallevig said, in Japan for the formal opening of the fund's Tokyo office.

Even though the fund is on its track to increase its property portfolio to as much as 5 per cent of its assets while it cuts bond holdings, it has no immediate plans to add other Asian cities to its target cities, he said.

The fund first broadened its investment targets outside Europe in 2013, targeting properties in the United States.

REUTERS