Norges Bank Sees Negative Returns in 1st Quarter of 2025
Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages Norway’s $1.78 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, reported a loss of 415 billion Norwegian kroner ($40 billion) in the first quarter of the year.
The fund was not immune to the ongoing stock market volatility during the quarter, although it did outperform its benchmark by 16 basis points.
“The quarter has been impacted by significant market fluctuations,” said NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen in a statement. “Our equity investments had a negative return, largely driven by the tech sector.”
The fund’s equities portfolio, which accounts for 70% of NBIM’s assets, declined 1.6% during the quarter. The fund, which is globally diversified, touts its ownership of 1.5% of all listed companies in the world.
North America accounts for 56.9% of NBIM’s equity exposure, according to the fund’s annual report released in December 2024. North American investments were followed by Europe at 25.2% and Asia at 14.2%. In the first quarter of 2025, the S&P 500 Index declined 4.6%, the Stoxx 600 Index of European equities rose 5.2%, and the MSCI AC Asia Index returned 1.29%.
The rest of the fund’s portfolio had single-digit returns, with real estate returning 2.4%, fixed income returning 1.6% and unlisted renewable energy returning 1.2%. As of March 31, the fund had invested 27.7% of its assets in fixed income, 1.9% in unlisted real estate, and 0.4% in a portfolio of renewable energy infrastructure, including wind and solar farms.
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