Norway’s sovereign wealth fund was established in the 1990s to invest surpluses from the country’s oil and gas sector.
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Norway’s sovereign wealth fund on Tuesday reported a loss of 1.64 trillion Norwegian kroner ($164 billion) for all of 2022, citing “unusual” market conditions.
The so-called Global Government Pension Fund, among the world’s largest investors, returned -14.1% last year, which is said to be 0.88 percentage points better than the return on the benchmark index.
“The market is affected by the war in Europe, high inflation, and rising interest rates. This has a negative impact on the equity market and the bond market at the same time, which is very unusual,” said Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen in a statement. .
“All sectors in the equity market have negative returns, except for energy,” Tangen said.
The biggest loss before the fund was 633 billion kroner in 2008 in the middle of the global financial crisis.
The $1.3 trillion fund was established in the 1990s to invest surpluses from Norway’s oil and gas sector. To date, the fund has invested in more than 9,300 companies in 70 countries around the world.
Norway’s vast oil and gas reserves in the North Sea are the foundation of the fund’s wealth. Indeed, rising fossil fuel profits amid Russia’s war in Ukraine have fueled fierce debates about international justice.
Opposition lawmakers, Norway’s leading economists, and even the country’s energy industry giants are calling on the government to set an example to the world by pumping bumper petroleum revenues into a new international solidarity fund.
Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says it is aware of the responsibility that comes with energy sources.