Norway’s NBIM Takes Top Spot as World’s Largest Asset Owner

Japan's GPIF was dethroned due to a weak yen, despite strong fiscal returns in 2023.



Norway’s government pension fund has dethroned Japan’s as the biggest asset owner in the world.

On Friday, Japan’s Government Pension Investment Fund, which had been the world’s largest pension fund since 2002, announced Friday that it achieved a 22.67% return in the 2023 fiscal year. The fund’s assets grew to 245,982 trillion yen ($1.53 trillion) at the end of March, primarily boosted by foreign and domestic equities, which returned 40.06% and 41.41%, respectively.

Despite the fund’s strong returns, the GPIF was dethroned as the largest asset owner in the world: Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, took the top spot with roughly $1.68 trillion in assets.

A weak yen, currently hovering near 38-year lows, is partially to blame for the decline of the value of the GPIF’s assets when measured in dollars.

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The GPIF’s foreign bonds returned 15.83% in the fiscal year, while domestic bonds returned negative 2%. The fund allocates a roughly 25% split to foreign and domestic stocks and bonds. The fund’s allocations to other asset classes are marginal, although the fund is exploring investing in new asset classes. 

In March, the GPIF issued a request for information on asset classes such as gold, cryptocurrency and timber. In April, the GPIF announced an infrastructure investing partnership with Dutch pension fund APG.

NBIM reported a 6.3% return in the year’s first quarter, with its assets growing to 17.719 trillion kroner at the end of March ($1.68 trillion).

“Our equity investments had a very strong return in the first quarter, particularly driven by the tech sector,” said Trond Grande, deputy CEO of NBIM, in an April statement.

According to WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute, the top 3 largest asset owners at the end of 2022 were GPIF, NBIM and China Investment Corporation, according to the firms Asset Owner 100 index. 

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Norway Pension Giant Excludes 2 Firms for Alleged Human Rights Violations

A Norges Bank probe revealed cases of rape and harassment at plantations owned by France’s l'Odet and subsidiary Bolloré.

Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s $1.68 trillion Government Pension Fund Global, announced it is excluding two companies from the pension giant’s portfolio due to their contribution to “serious human rights violations.”  

Norges Bank also maintained its observation on another company due to the risk of “gross corruption” and revoked the exclusion of a fourth company. 

The bank’s Council on Ethics recommended excluding French conglomerate Bolloré S.E. and its majority owner, Compagnie de l’Odet S.E., “due to an unacceptable risk that the companies contribute to or are responsible for serious human rights violations.” According to the bank, Bolloré has a significant ownership stake in Socapalm, which operates oil palm plantations in Cameroon. 

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The council’s investigations into Socapalm’s plantation operations revealed labor rights violations “including rape, sexual violence and harassment of women by supervisors and security guards.” Socapalm’s workforce consists mainly of contract workers or day laborers, almost none of whom have an employment contract and who earn less than the legal minimum wage. The company also allegedly docks workers’ pay for social benefits they never receive, and the workers can be fired at will. 

“Moreover, Socapalm has extended the plantation to areas belonging to local communities and made it difficult for them to access their properties, which also weakens their livelihoods,” the council wrote in its recommendation.   

According to the council, similar abuses and sexual harassment of women and female workers have been reported for many years at several plantations in Liberia and Sierra Leone that belong to Luxembourg-based Socfin, a holding company of oil palm and rubber plantations in which Bolloré also has a significant ownership interest. 

“Bolloré should have sufficient influence to improve the situation at the plantations if the company so wished,” the council wrote. “Neither Cie de l’Odet nor Bolloré seem to acknowledge the risk of contributing to serious norm violations relating to the plantation business.” 

On the council’s advice, Norges Bank’s executive board also decided to continue its observation of actions by Canadian private jet maker Bombardier Inc., observation initiated in March 2022 due to an “unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to or is itself responsible for gross corruption.” 

The recommendation was based on “the fact that Bombardier or its subsidiaries could be linked to allegations or suspicions of corruption in six countries over a period of more than 10 years” related to bribery or suspicious transactions worth more than $100 million. The council added that during the observation period, Bombardier has provided “limited documentation to show how the company’s anti-corruption and anti-money laundering systems work in practice.”  

Finally, the board announced it has decided to revoke the exclusion of Atlanta-area manufacturer Mativ Holdings Inc., which was excluded in 2013 for producing tobacco. The firm lifted the exclusion because Mativ has stopped making tobacco products. 

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Norway’s Central Bank Adds 3 Firms to Government Pension Fund Global’s Exclusion List 

Norway’s Pension Fund Global Excludes Chinese Firm for Environmental Damage Risk 

Norway Pension Board Puts Indonesian Firm Under Observation 

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