The Government Pension Fund Global, a sovereign wealth fund in Oslo, Norway, announced its first-quarter profit of 1.21 trillion kroner ($109.9 billion) on the facade of Norges Bank. The fund’s equity investments in technology stocks led to exceptional returns during this period.
Trond Grande, the deputy CEO of the fund, highlighted the strong performance of their equity investments in the tech sector at the end of March when the fund had a value of 17.7 trillion kroner. Despite positive results from equity and fixed income investments, weak returns from real estate investments led to an overall negative result for the fund. The return on unlisted real estate investments was -0.5%, while renewable energy infrastructure yielded a -11.4% return.
Despite these setbacks, the fund’s overall return was only slightly lower than the benchmark index. Established in the 1990s to invest surplus revenues from Norway’s oil and gas sector, this sovereign wealth fund has invested in over 8,800 companies worldwide in more than 70 countries. As one of the world’s largest investors, it continues to play a significant role in global economies.