Norway wealth fund posts loss of $74 bln for Jan-March

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, posted a loss of 653 billion Norwegian crowns ($74.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2022 as the war in Ukraine and other global events hit stocks and bonds, it said on Thursday. The $1.3 trillion fund's return on investment stood at a negative 4.9% for the January-March period, which was still 0.66 percentage points better than the return on the fund's benchmark index.

Norway's sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, posted a loss of 653 billion Norwegian crowns ($74.2 billion) in the first quarter of 2022 as the war in Ukraine and other global events hit stocks and bonds, it said on Thursday.

The $1.3 trillion fund's return on investment stood at a negative 4.9% for the January-March period, which was still 0.66 percentage points better than the return on the fund's benchmark index. "The first quarter has been characterised by geopolitical turbulence, which has also affected the markets," said deputy CEO Trond Grande of Norges Bank Investment Management, which operates the fund.

"The return was negative for both equities and fixed income, but positive for unlisted real estate," he said in a statement. In addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, global markets also took a hit from a rise in COVID-19 infections led by the Omicron variant in the quarter as well as a surge in inflation that drove down the value of government bonds.

In total, 70.9% of the fund was invested in equities at the end of March, while 26.3% was invested in fixed income, 2.7% in unlisted real estate and 0.1% in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure. Founded in 1996, the fund invests revenue from Norway's oil and gas sector and holds stakes in some 9,300 companies globally, owning 1.3% of all listed stocks.

The fund holds the equivalent of $240,000 for every Norwegian man, woman and child. ($1 = 8.8006 Norwegian crowns)