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About the fund

The aim of the fund is to ensure responsible and long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources, so that this wealth benefits both current and future generations. The fund’s formal name is the Government Pension Fund Global.

How the fund is invested

9,228 Companies

The fund has a small stake in more than 9,000 companies worldwide, including the likes of Apple, Nestlé, Microsoft and Samsung. On average, the fund holds 1.5 percent of all of the world’s listed companies.

70 Countries

The Norwegian oil fund is one of the world's largest funds. Investments are spread across most markets, countries and currencies to achieve broad exposure to global growth and value creation, and ensure good risk diversification.

4 Investment areas

Most of the fund is invested in equities, which are ownership interests in companies. Another part is invested in bonds, which are a type of loan to governments and companies, and a final slice is invested in real estate and renewable energy infrastructure.

See every single investment

Search in all of the fund’s investments by country, asset class and sector. This information is updated annually and is available for every year since our first investment in 1998.

Responsible investment

The fund exists to help finance the Norwegian welfare state for future generations. The future value of the fund depends on sustainable growth, well-functioning markets and value creation at the companies we invest in.

The fund's development

Returns on the fund’s investments account for the biggest part of the fund's market value. Inflows from the government make up 4,392 billion kroner of the value. Fluctuations in the krone lie behind the remainder. The values in the chart is as at 30.06.23.

Currency

Market value

The fund's market value is affected by investment returns, capital inflow and withdrawals, and exchange rate movements.

Return

Since 1998 the fund has generated an annual return of 5.99 percent, or 7,871 billion kroner.

The history

  • 1969
    We discover oil in the North sea
  • 1990
    The Parliament adopts the Government Pension Fund Act
  • 1996
    The first money transfer to the fund
  • 2019
    The fund's value reaches 10,000 billion kroner

Investment insights

The fund’s investment decisions are based on research and analysis of the developments in financial markets and the global economy. We share internal research and analysis as well as content from conferences or seminars. We invite to dialogue and have a strong collaboration with academics, peers and practitioners with an aim to improving the investment strategy and our results.

Seminar on private equity

The Ministry of Finance has asked Norges Bank to give advice on whether the fund should be allowed to invest in private equity. To shed light on this question, we hosted a seminar about private equity at our Oslo office on 14 September.

Get to know the CEOs of the world's largest companies

In this podcast our CEO Nicolai Tangen is having in-depth interviews with leaders of some of the largest companies in the world, such as OpenAI's Sam Altman, Nicolas Hieronimus, CEO of L'oréal and Benedetto Vigna, CEO of Ferrari. You will get to know the leader, their strategy, and how they interact with a large investors like us.

News

Publication of global framework to tackle nature-related financial risk

19 Sep. 2023

Norges Bank Investment Management has been an active member of the Taskforce on Nature-related Financial Disclosures (TNFD) since 2021. Today the group publishes its new framework which aims to guide companies and investors in managing nature-related financial risks.

Sharpened expectations on climate

15 Sep. 2023

Norges Bank Investment Management has published updated expectations to companies on climate, highlighting the need for companies to move from target setting to transition planning.

New Discussion Note: Strong performance from private equity

14 Sep. 2023

Norges Bank Investment Management has today published a Discussion Note on private equity. In the note, we describe how the market has grown over time and review the academic literature. Comparing private equity funds to public equities, we find that buyout funds on average have meaningfully outperformed public equities by 3-4 percentage points annually net of fees.