The announcement of Norway’s central bank, Norges Bank in Oslo, was the backdrop for the news that the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, Government Pension Fund Global, had a first-quarter profit of 1.21 trillion kroner ($109.9 billion). The fund attributed its success to strong returns on its investments in technology stocks.
Trond Grande, deputy CEO of the fund, highlighted the exceptional performance of their equity investments in the tech sector during the first quarter. At the end of March, the fund had a value of 17.7 trillion kroner. Despite weak results from real estate investments leading to an overall negative result, the return on equity investments was 9.1%, yield on fixed income investments was -0.4%, and return on unlisted real estate investments was -0.5%. Additionally, there was a -11.4% return on unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.
Despite these setbacks, the fund’s overall return was only slightly lower than the benchmark index. Established in the 1990s to invest surplus revenues from Norway’s oil and gas sector, this sovereign wealth fund has invested in over 8,800 companies worldwide across more than 70 countries. As one of the world’s largest investors, it continues to play a significant role in global economy affairs
