World’s largest sovereign wealth fund posts record $213 billion profit
From CNBC:
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund reports a record profit of 2.22 trillion kroner in 2023, the highest return in kroner ever, with a 16.1% return on investment. This comes after a 1.64 trillion kroner loss in 2022. The fund attributes its success to robust returns on technology stocks, with 80% of the fund being invested in equities and 27.1% in fixed income.
The Government Pension Fund Global, one of the world’s largest investors, was established in the 1990s to invest Norway’s oil and gas sector surplus revenues. The fund has invested in over 8,500 companies in 70 countries around the world. In 2023, the fund saw a 21.3% return on equity investments, a 6.1% return on fixed income investments, and a -12.4% return on unlisted real estate investments due to rising interest rates and subdued demand.
Norges Bank Investment Management’s CEO, Nicolai Tangen, says that despite high inflation and geopolitical turmoil, the equity market was strong in 2023, particularly for technology stocks. He also highlights geopolitical tensions such as those between America and China, nearshoring and production moves as inflationary forces, and the impact of geopolitical issues on freight costs and longer trading routes.
The fund returns 3.7% on investments in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure in 2023, and 1.9% of the fund is invested in unlisted real estate while 0.1% is in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure. The fund experienced a negative year for unlisted real estate investments due to rising interest rates and subdued demand, but saw a strong return on equity investments.
Read more: World’s largest sovereign wealth fund posts record $213 billion profit