THE Bank of Norway has announced that their sovereign wealth fund has returned 256 billion kroner (£30.4bn) in the second quarter of this year, despite the volatility of the world market.
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, also known as the Oil Fund, saw a 3.0% return in value.
The fund is based on petroleum surplus revenues, taxes from oil companies, and exploration fees.
It’s the largest pension fund in Europe and the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world. It differs from pension funds in other countries because it doesn’t require citizen contributions from their salaries, relying entirely on reinvesting the profits of Norway’s thriving North Sea oil industry.
Established in 1990, it was designed to manage the country’s oil revenues, which allows the money to fund Norway’s generous welfare systems, including pensions.
The Fund’s deputy CEO, Trond Grand, said: “Uncertainty about global trade and economic growth dampened returns early on, but markets rallied towards the end of the period, driven partly by the prospect of more expansionary monetary policy in developed markets.”
The Oil Fund’s total value swelled up to 9.16 trillion Kroner (roughly £1tn) at the end of the second quarter, equivalent to 1.74m kroner (£207,000) per person.
Much of the fund is dedicated to portfolios and real estate to help it grow; it invests in almost 10,000 companies across 73 countries. It also maintains a strong ethical stance and restricts the companies it will invest in. Experts attributed the strong second-quarter growth to the fund’s share portfolio, which makes up 69.3% of investments.
The announcement revealed that the return from portfolios was 3.0%, bonds returned 3.1%, and real estate holdings generated 0.2%.
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