Government Pension Fund of Norway
From Taighde
| The Government Pension Fund of Norway - Global | |
|---|---|
| Country: | Norway
|
| CEO: | Yngve Slyngstad
|
| Inception: | 1990
|
| Assets: | $743 billion
|
| Website: | http://www.nbim.no/
|
| Reports | Sovereign Wealth Funds Contact and Information Report |
The Government Pension Fund Global (GPF) is the state-owned investment fund of Norway. The fund currently has $743 billion. While the fund is 100% controlled by the government, the GPF is managed by the Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). While the GPF is a continuation of the former Petroleum Fund, which was established in 1990. The Norwegian Storting adopted the Act relating to the Government Pension Fund in 2005. The Ministry of Finance is responsible for the management of the Fund, and has delegated responsibility for the operational management of the Fund's international assets to NBIM. The capital is invested in non-Norwegian financial instruments (bonds, equities, money market instruments and derivatives), and in 42 developed and emerging equity markets and 31 currencies for fixed income investments. NBIM manages the Fund partly internally and partly by engaging external managers.
Norway's government took back $21.4 billion in May 2013 to spend on the economy and government spending. [1]
Contents |
Key Personnel
Board of Directors
Yngve Slyngstad is executive director, succeeding Knut Kjaer in 2008, who managed the fund since its inception.
Investments are overseen by The Ministry of Finance’s Advisory Council on Investment Strategy (Investment Strategy Council)
Strategy
According to the GPF, their strategy is "...based on the objective of high return subject to moderate risk in order to contribute to safeguarding the basis of future welfare, including national pensions."
Additional Principles of Investment as set forth by the Investment Strategy Council: "It is the return in terms of international currency that is relevant when gauging the Fund’s international purchasing power. The Fund shall be invested abroad in its entirety. The Fund shall be a financial investor and not a tool for strategic ownership of individual companies. The Fund shall be well diversified. A long-term investment horizon shall be applied."
Investments
The investment portfolio comprises more than 12,000 companies worldwide. It owns 2.5% of all equity in Europe.[2]
The Ministry of Finance has defined a benchmark portfolio which consists of specific equities and fixed income instruments. These securities reflect the owner's investment strategy for the Government Pension Fund (former Petroleum Fund). The benchmark portfolio is important for managing risk in the Fund and for measuring Norges Bank's management performance.
Composition of the benchmark portfolio
The GPF focuses on stocks and bonds. They have, in recent years, sought to branch out by allowing investments in property and in the future in private equity and infrastructure.
2009 Economic Stimulus Package
The Norwegian government has announced a NOK 20 billion (EUR 2.2 billion, USD 2.88 billion) stimulus package that will invest in construction, infrastructure and renovation projects, as well as corporate tax breaks. The stimulus will be financed by tapping into the Government Pension Fund. It is believed the Norwegian government will use at least 5.2% of the fund to simulate the economy.
2008 losses
GPF lost ₤65.21 billion (633 billion crowns) in its investments in 2008. It was the worst return ever for GPF with negative 23.3% return. The fund lost $18,000 per Norwegian.
Losses were due to both due to the global economic downturn and falls in currency levels particular in the UK and the EU.
Excluded companies
The fund has excluded several dozen companies from investments. These companies are excluded by ethical concerns by the GPF.
The fund has announced that it would ask companies to minimize their impact on rainforests.[3]
Property investments
In 2010, the GPF was granted permission to invest in real estate assets. The first property investment was The Crown Estate’s Regent Street properties, which occurred in November 2010. The GPF is expected to have up to 5% of its assets in the real estate sector.[4]
Office Locations
| ||||||||||||||
