Norway’s sovereign wealth fund loses $34 billion in the third quarter
The Norges Bank, Norway’s central bank, in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, October 17, 2023.
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Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, reported losses of 2.1% in the third quarter on Tuesday as all asset classes fell in value.
The so-called Government Pension Fund Global returned a loss of 374 billion Norwegian crowns ($34 billion) in the third quarter, reflecting a weaker three-month period compared to the first half of the year.
The results were still 0.17 percentage points higher than the return of the fund’s benchmark index. The fund last recorded a quarterly loss a year ago.
This comes at a time when the market continues to be weighed down by longer-term concerns about the broader economic environment.
“The stock market had a weaker quarter compared to the previous two quarters,” said Trond Grande, deputy chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management. said in a statement. “In particular, the technology, industrials and consumer discretionary sectors contributed negatively to returns,” he added.
Norway’s huge sovereign wealth fund was created in the 1990s to invest the excess revenue from the country’s oil and gas sector. To date, the fund has invested money in more than 9,200 companies in 70 countries worldwide.
The fund posted a quarterly loss of 3.3% on its investments in unlisted real estate, while the third quarter loss on its investments in renewable energy infrastructure was 2.4%.
At the end of the third quarter, stocks accounted for 70.6% of the fund’s investments, down slightly from three months earlier.
