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OIL FUND

Oil fund makes all Norwegians millionaires

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the biggest in the world, has nearly doubled in three years, the central bank said Friday, which would make all 5.2 million Norwegians millionaires -- at least on paper.

Oil fund makes all Norwegians millionaires
Øystein Olsen presenting the oil fund 2014 annual report. Photo: Gorm Kallestad / NTB scanpixe
The fund comprised of stock, bonds and property from around the world returned 7.6 percent in 2014, ending the year at 6.431 billion kroner (745.1 billion euros, $788 billion). At the end of 2011, the fund was worth 3.312
billion kroner.
 
The fund's increase of 544 billion kroner from 2013 was attributed in particular to earnings in last year's bullish stock markets as more than 60 percent of the fund's portfolio is in stocks.
 
To pay for future expenses Norway traditionally puts aside all of the huge revenue from its public oil company and is authorised to use only up to 4 percent to balance the country's budget.
 
"We must be ready for earnings that are not as high in the future," said Øystein Olsen, governor of the Bank of Norway which manages the fund.
 
Oil-rich Norway expects its record-high energy investments in 2014 to drop by 15 percent this year after crude prices more than halved since June.
 
The fund's investments are regulated by acts of parliament which have banned investing in groups accused of human rights violations, weapons manufacturers and tobacco producers.
 
Invested in nearly 9,200 businesses, Norway's fund controls the equivalent of 1.3 percent of the world's stocks capitalisation, and 2.4 percent of the European markets.

OIL FUND

Norway oil fund loses 18 billion euros in first half of 2020

Norway's huge sovereign wealth fund, the world's biggest, lost 188 billion kroner (18 billion euros, $21 billion) in the first half of the year as the global economy reels from the Covid-19 pandemic, the central bank said Tuesday.

Norway oil fund loses 18 billion euros in first half of 2020
Unusually empty slopes and ski lifts in Hemsedal in April. Photo: AFP

The fund, in which the Norwegian state's oil revenues are invested, was hit by plummeting share prices, with stocks accounting for 69.6 percent of its investments.

Its share portfolio posted a negative return of 6.8 percent in the first six months of the year.

At the end of June, the fund was valued at 10.4 trillion kroner (989 billion euros), up from the 9.98 trillion kroner seen at the end of the first quarter.

“The year started with optimism, but the outlook of the equity market quickly turned when the coronavirus started to spread globally,” the fund's deputy chief executive, Trond Grande, said in a statement.

“However, the sharp stock market decline of the first quarter was limited by a massive monetary and financial policy response,” he added.

Real estate investments, which represent 2.8 percent of the portfolio, also posted a negative return, of 1.6 percent, while bond investments, which account for 27.6 percent of assets, posted a gain of 5.1 percent.

“Even though markets recovered well in the second quarter, we are still witnessing considerable uncertainty,” Grande said.

The fund is meanwhile still mired in controversy over the appointment of a new chief executive.

Nicolai Tangen, a billionaire who founded the AKO Capital hedge fund in London, is due to take over the fund on September 1st, replacing Yngve Slyngstad who is retiring.

But critics have complained about Tangen's possible conflicts of interest, as well as his use of tax havens.

The central bank has meanwhile been criticised for irregularities in the recruitment process.

As a result, some major political parties are opposed to Tangen's appointment, and it remains up in the air.

READ ALSO: Norway's oil fund loses 1.3 trillion kroner ($125bn) in coronavirus crash

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