Norway SWF Has a Tough First Quarter of 2022
Posted on 04/21/2022
In the first quarter of 2022, Norway Government Pension Fund Global returned -4.9%, equivalent to -653 billion kroner. The return on the fund’s equity investments was -5.2%. The return on the investments in fixed income was -4.8%, whereas the investments in unlisted real estate returned 4.1%. Unlisted real estate played as a buffer for the quarter. The return on unlisted renewable energy infrastructure was -3.3%.
The fund’s return was 0.66 percentage points, or 82 billion kroner, stronger than the return on the benchmark index.
“The first quarter has been characterised by geopolitical turbulence, which has also affected the markets. The return was negative for both equities and fixed income, but positive for unlisted real state”, says Deputy CEO at Norges Bank Investment Management Trond Grande in a press release.
The Norwegian krone strengthened against several major currencies in course of the quarter. Currency movements contributed to a decrease in the fund’s value of 171 billion kroner. In the first quarter, inflow into the fund amounted to 141 billion kroner.
The fund had a value of 11,657 billion kroner as at March 31, 2022. 70.9% of the fund was invested in equities, 26.3% in fixed income, 2.7% in unlisted real estate, and 0.1% in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.