State Pension Fund (Norway)
The State Pension Fund of the Kingdom of Norway ( Norwegian Statens pensjonsfond or Oljefondet ) is the largest state fund in the world (as of May 2018). The assets under management amounted on 31 December 2018 8.256 trillion Norwegian kroner , approximately 828 billion euros. On September 19, 2017, the US dollar mark was exceeded for the first time . In mid-2018, 66.8% of the fund's assets were invested in shares, 30.6% in bonds and securities, and 2.6% in real estate.
The fund has also been investing in stocks since 1998 and in the 20 years since then has achieved an average annual return that is higher than the German benchmark index DAX . With the fund, the state oil revenues are to be invested in order to provide for the time in which the oil reserves of the North Sea are running out. In 2016, Norway was the eleventh largest oil exporter in the world, and in terms of total production , the country was ranked 15th in 2015. The Norwegian government is allowed to withdraw up to three (previously: four) percent of the fund volume for social purposes per year.
Sub-fund
The sovereign wealth fund, founded on January 1, 2006, consists of the two previously independent funds, the Oil Fund and the National Insurance Fund . The Norwegian Ministry of Finance is formally owned by the Norwegian Ministry of Finance , which decides on the fundamental strategic direction. The investments are also subject to ethical, social and ecological rules. As a result, investments in a number of companies are excluded, for example parts of the armaments industry or the tobacco industry. In June 2015, for example, the Norwegian parliament decided that all stakes in mining companies and electricity companies should be sold whose share of coal in sales is 30 percent or more.
State Pension Fund Norway ( English Government Pension Fund Norway , GPFN; Norwegian Statens pensjonsfond Norge , SPN)
This part of the fund administers social security funds and was set up in 1967. The aim of the fund was to invest social security contributions as profitably as possible. This sub-fund is managed by Folketrygdfondet ; it invests 85% in Norway and 15% in other Nordic countries , with 60% in stocks and 40% in interest-bearing securities .
State pension fund abroad (English Government Pension Fund Global , GPFG; Norwegian Statens pensjonsfond utland , SPU)
In 1990 the oil fund was founded, which to this day receives direct income from oil production . The administration of the foreign fund , within the guidelines of the Ministry of Finance, is the responsibility of the central bank Norges Bank , which operates the Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) department. The funds are invested exclusively in foreign stocks, interest-bearing securities and real estate .
Investments
In total, the state pension fund holds shares valued at over US $ 500 billion in 77 countries. At the end of 2017, it had a share of 2.33% of the total market capitalization of all European stock markets, making it the largest shareholder in Europe. The GPFG is u. a. the largest single shareholder of the British supermarket chain Tesco , although the stake (managed via NBIM) was reduced to below 6% at the end of 2015 (as of November 2017) and is (as of May 2016) the fourth largest shareholder in Volkswagen AG . The following list provides an overview of the well-known companies in which the fund holds shares (as of 2017; not complete). An overview of all investments can be found on the Norges Bank global website.
In addition to stocks, the fund holds government and corporate bonds and owns land and real estate around the world. The property portfolio has also included the One Beacon Street office building in Boston since 2014 and the new Axel Springer high-rise in Berlin since July 2017.
Ethical investment
The fund's investment guidelines are shaped by the principles of ethical investment . In accordance with its ethical guidelines, the fund no longer invests in companies that manufacture weapons of mass destruction or violate human rights. A five-person ethics council appointed by the Ministry of Finance advises management.
According to the fund's calculations, the divestment caused by this investment policy in the years 2006 to 2016 a lower return of 1.11% or 1.3 billion euros. The relative return was lower by 1.16% due to the exclusion of tobacco companies and 0.75% due to the exit by arms manufacturers. The disinvestment for environmental reasons (since 2015: coal, palm oil), however, increased the relative return by 0.78%.
By March 2016, the fund had withdrawn from 66 companies due to its ethical principles. So were u. a. ended its holdings in Airbus and Boeing (manufacturing weapons of mass destruction), Rio Tinto (causing environmental damage) and Walmart (disregarding workers' rights).
documentary
- Oil, Billions and Morals. The Norwegian state fund and the financial markets. From Assle Skredderberget and Frederik Horn Akselsen, 45 minutes. ( Phoenix on July 9, 2020)
Web links
- Real-time display of the market value of the Pension Fund on the Norges Bank website(English / Norwegian)
- The Government Pension Fund on the Norwegian Government website
- Government Pension Fund Global on the Norges Bank Investment Managementwebsite
- Norway: This is how the world's largest sovereign wealth fund ticks . ( Memento from January 27, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) In: Wirtschaftsblatt , January 24, 2014.
- Lena Schipper: Norwegian State Fund: The most powerful fund in the world . In: Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) , August 14, 2014.
- Harald Schumann : The Viking Treasure . In: Der Tagesspiegel , January 17, 2016.
- Sebastian Balzter: This is the world's largest shareholder speaking . In: FAZ , February 7, 2016 (interview with Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management).
- Ina Lockhart: "Most of them did not understand what risk means". In: FAZ , March 31, 2017 (interview with Knut Anton Mork).
Individual evidence
- ^ Sovereign Wealth Fund Rankings. Largest Sovereign Wealth Funds by Assets Under Management. Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute, accessed May 26, 2018 .
- ↑ Norges Bank Investment Management Performance Results, conversion NOK – EUR at the rate of December 31, 2018. (PDF) Retrieved April 25, 2019 (British English).
- ↑ Largest state asset in the world: Norway's fund rises to over a trillion dollars. In: Spiegel Online . September 19, 2017. Retrieved September 19, 2017 .
- ↑ Asset allocation. Retrieved October 9, 2018 (UK English).
- ↑ Successful investment: Oil fund beats DAX - 2017 and since 1998 on the website Reich wie Norway
- ↑ Heiko Metzger, Jennifer Tiede: series of images. The largest sovereign wealth fund in the world . ( Memento of August 23, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) In: Financial Times Deutschland , August 20, 2008, accessed on November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Bruk av oljepenger on the website of the Finance Ministry
- ↑ Daniela Lehner: Norwegian Oil Fund overtakes Abu Dhabi Investment Fund ( Memento from January 14, 2013 in the web archive archive.today ) Austrian Chamber of Commerce, June 10, 2011, accessed on November 6, 2012.
- ↑ Thomas Pany: Norway decides on "coal divestment" . Telepolis , June 7, 2015, accessed January 4, 2017.
- ^ The investment strategy of the Government Pension Fund Global . In: The Management of the Government Pension Fund in 2013 . Norwegian Ministry of Finance, June 2014. ( Memento from December 2, 2014 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Market value. Retrieved November 18, 2017 (UK English).
- ^ Tesco PLC - Investors - Major shareholders
- ↑ Tesco's top investor slashes its share stake . In: The Sunday Times , November 27, 2015.
- ^ Holdings. Norges Bank, accessed November 18, 2017 (UK English).
- ^ The fund makes new investment in Berlin. Norges Bank, July 17, 2017, accessed July 15, 2019 (UK English).
- ↑ Kurt Becker: Ethics as a performance killer: Norwegian state fund is being rebuilt . institutional-money.com, Fonds Professionell Multimedia, June 28, 2017, accessed on November 19, 2017.
- ↑ Norwegian State Fund - Ethical investing costs returns . In: Spiegel Online , March 21, 2017, accessed November 19, 2017.
- ↑ Ethics Committee wants to tighten selection . In: Handelsblatt , March 11, 2016, accessed on November 19, 2017.
- ↑ Pension fund withdraws money from palm oil companies . In: Handelsblatt , August 17, 2015, accessed on November 19, 2017.