(Boursier.com) — $174 billion! An impressive amount that does not correspond to the profits of Apple or Saudi Aramco. This is indeed the loss suffered by the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund in the first half. “The market has been characterized by rising interest rates, high inflation and war in Europe,” said Nicolai Tangen, managing director of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the fund. “Tech stocks performed particularly poorly with a -28% return.” Overall, although negative at 14.4%, the fund’s total return was 1.14 basis points better than the benchmark against which it is measured.
In the first half, the ‘Government Pension Fund-Glob’ lost 17% on equities, which constitute the bulk of its investments, and 9.3% on bonds. All of the sectors in which the fund invests recorded negative returns in the first six months of the year, with the exception of energy, where returns reached 13% due to the surge in oil prices and the gas following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Norway decided on February 27 to withdraw Russian assets from the fund in response to the war in Ukraine, but faced problems in implementing its exit from the country after Russia banned foreigners from carrying out transactions. on its stock markets.
The fund’s unlisted real estate assets, on the other hand, grew by 7.1% over the period, boosted by logistics.
Founded in 1996, the fund weighs more than 1,300 billion dollars. It invests earnings from the Norwegian oil and gas sector and holds stakes in more than 9,300 companies worldwide, or 1.3% of all listed shares. In total, 68.5% of the fund was invested in equities at the end of June, 28.3% in bonds, 3.0% in unlisted real estate and 0.1% in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.
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