Norway's wealth fund posts US$84 billion quarterly profit
NORWAY’S US$1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, one of the world’s largest investors, on Friday (Apr 21) posted a 5.9 per cent return on investment for the first quarter, boosted by rising equity markets.
“It’s actually one of the strongest quarters we ever had,” Deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a video posted on LinkedIn.
Despite market turmoil in March amid concerns of a new banking crisis, equity markets provided the biggest boost for the fund, with a nearly 8 per cent gain, he said.
Meanwhile, falling interest rates benefited its bond portfolio, which returned almost 3 per cent.
“The rise of the equity market was to a great extent driven by the technology and consumer discretionary sector,” Grande said in a statement.
The profit of 893 billion Norwegian kroner (S$112.2 billion) contrasted with a loss of 653 billion a year earlier.
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Norway has a population of just 5.5 million, meaning the result works out to more than US$15,000 per person.
However, the return was 0.06 percentage point below its benchmark index, said the fund, which has posted positive annual relative returns since 2009.
The fund, which saves revenue from Norway’s large oil and gas industry, received 217 billion kroner in fresh government funds during the quarter.
Some 70 per cent of the assets were held in stocks as of March 31, while 27.3 per cent was invested in fixed income, 2.4 per cent in unlisted real estate and 0.1 per cent in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.
Norway’s central bank manages the fund, which owns 1.5 per cent of all globally listed shares and has stakes in 9,200 companies.
It posted a record loss of 1.64 trillion kroner last year. REUTERS
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