Norway's wealth fund posts US$109 billion Q1 profit as tech stocks soar

NORWAY’S $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, on Thursday (Apr 18) posted a profit of US$109 billion for the first quarter of 2024, boosted by strong technology stocks.

Return on its global shareholdings stood at 9.1 per cent in the period from January through March.

“Our equity investments had a very strong return in the first quarter, particularly driven by the tech sector,” deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a statement.

The profit compares with a profit of 893 billion kroner (S$110.3 billion) at the same time a year ago.

The fund’s overall return on investment of 6.3 per cent was 0.1 percentage point below its benchmark index, it said.

The fund invests the proceeds of the Norwegian state’s oil and gas production into stocks, bonds, unlisted property and renewable projects abroad.

Its size is equivalent to US$283,000 for every Norwegian man, woman and child.

Some 72.1 per cent of the assets were held in stocks as of March 31, while 26.0 per cent was invested in fixed income, 1.8 per cent in unlisted real estate and 0.1 per cent in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.

A unit of Norway’s central bank manages the fund, which owns 1.5 per cent of all globally listed shares and has stakes in about 8,900 companies.

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Separately on Thursday, the fund said it would vote in favour of a proposal letting NatWest buy back more of its stock from the British government, amid efforts to speed up privatisation. REUTERS