Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets worth $1.7 trillion, reported a quarterly loss of 415 billion Norwegian crowns ($39.72 billion) for the January to March period. This loss was primarily attributed to negative returns in the technology sector.
Reuters news agency quoting Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the entity responsible for managing the fund, acknowledged that the quarter had been significantly affected by market volatility.
However, he did not provide details on how the market turmoil in April had impacted the fund’s investments.
NBIM manages the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil and gas production and is one of the largest investors globally. The fund owns, on average, 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide, in addition to holding investments in bonds, real estate, and renewable energy assets.
As of the end of 2024, more than half of its assets were concentrated in the United States, including in companies, Treasuries, and property.
For the first quarter, the fund’s return on investment was a negative 0.6%, though this was 0.16 percentage points better than its benchmark index. The fund’s equity investments saw a negative return of 1.6%, while fixed income investments gained 1.6%.
At the close of the first quarter, equities accounted for 70% of the fund’s total assets, a slight decrease from 71.4% at the end of 2024. Meanwhile, bonds represented 27.7% of the portfolio, up from 26.6% at the end of the previous year.
