OSLO (Reuters) -Norway’s $1.7 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, reported on Thursday a quarterly loss of 415 billion Norwegian crowns ($39.72 billion) for the January to March period, largely driven by negative returns in the tech sector.
“The quarter has been impacted by significant market fluctuations,” Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the fund’s operator said in a statement.
It made no mention of how the market turmoil in April had impacted investments.
NBIM, which invests the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil and gas production, is one of the world’s largest investors, owning on average 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide. It also invests in bonds, real estate and renewable energy assets.
Over half of its assets were held in the United States, across companies, Treasuries and property, as of the end of 2024, according to fund data.
The fund had a negative return on investment in the first quarter of 0.6%, which was 0.16 percentage point better than the return on its benchmark index.
The return on equity investments was a negative 1.6% while fixed income gained 1.6%, NBIM said.
At the end of the quarter, 70% of the fund’s assets were in equities, down from 71.4% at the end of 2024, while bonds stood at 27.7% of the portfolio, up from 26.6%.
($1 = 10.4493 Norwegian crowns)
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik)
