Norway wealth fund should not invest in private equity, government says

Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, should not be allowed to include private equity investments in its portfolio at this time, the government said on Friday, in a setback for the fund's management.

Norway's central bank, which runs the fund via an asset management unit, last year recommended allocating up to 5% of assets to private equity investments, currently corresponding to about $80 billion. "We've concluded that we do not open to unlisted stocks at this time," Finance Minister Trygve Slagsvold Vedum told a press conference, citing higher fees, lower transparency of information, and the need for a broad political consensus.

"We will continue to consider it," he added. Parliament previously rejected requests to move assets into private equity, arguing it could be too costly and would hamper the ability to judge performance on an ongoing basis.

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