Subject: Norway’s volatile wealth fund hits new peak - FT
From: "Michael Andrews" <[email-masked]>
To: "Hunter Biden" <[email-masked]>, "Devon Archer" <[email-masked]>, "Eric Schwerin" <[email-masked]>, "Neil Callahan" <[email-masked]>, "Curtis Hastings" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:40:37 -0400

Norway’s volatile wealth fund hits new peak
By Andrew Ward in Stockholm
Published: October 19 2010 23:54 | Last updated: October 19 2010 23:54
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund has topped NKr3,000bn ($518bn) for the  
first time, in a milestone that highlights the soaring financial  
reserves of western Europe’s biggest oil-producing state.

The Nordic country has been building the fund for 14 years in an  
attempt to preserve its oil wealth for future generations. Today it  
owns about 1 per cent of all global stocks and counts as the world’s  
second biggest sovereign wealth fund after Abu Dhabi’s.

EDITOR’S CHOICE
Norway to learn Gulf spill lessons - Jun-07

Norway raises rates - May-06

Rewards outweigh risks, says Statoil - May-05

Editorial: Thaw in the Arctic - Apr-29

Nordic countries agree €444m in Iceland aid - Apr-20

Norway to curb risk to SWF - Mar-28

The new peak comes after a volatile period for the so-called “oil  
fund”, which declined 23 per cent during the global financial crisis  
in 2008 before recovering most of the losses last year.

The fund has become one of Norway’s biggest sources of global  
influence, with the government using it to press foreign companies on  
issues such as corporate governance, labour rights and the  
environment. Wal-Mart, the US retailer, and Rio Tinto, the Anglo- 
Australian mining group, are among dozens of companies excluded from  
the fund for alleged ethical violations.

In another sign of muscle-flexing, Norway’s central bank, which  
manages the fund, last month sued Citigroup for losses resulting from  
alleged misstatements during the financial crisis.

Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management,  
which manages the fund, said it had “grown faster and bigger than most  
people expected” when it was set up with an initial NKr1.98bn in 1996.

He attributed the growth to a surge in oil prices since 2002 and  
increased investment in equities, particularly in emerging markets, as  
the fund has become gradually more aggressive in its investment  
strategy. The fund raised its share of equity investments to 60 per  
cent from 40 per cent between 2007 and 2009.

Norway’s finance ministry, which oversees the fund, gave its approval  
this year for the fund to invest up to 5 per cent of its assets in  
real estate, marking a further diversification of the portfolio.

The fund is intended to ensure that Norway continues to benefit from  
its oil windfall long after North Sea reserves run dry and to limit  
inflationary pressures by restricting the amount of oil revenues  
available for government spending.

In “normal” years the government may spend 4 per cent of the fund’s  
value – although this rule has been flouted over the past two years as  
Oslo sought to cushion the impact of the global downturn.

At the end of June this year, a total of NKr2,379bn in capital had  
been poured into the fund since its inception, with returns amounting  
to NKr430bn.

Norwegian oil production has fallen by half from its peak a decade ago  
as North Sea reserves decline. But 40 per cent of discovered resources  
on the Norwegian continental shelf have yet to be extracted, ensuring  
that capital will continue flowing into the fund for decades to come.