© Floatel International/SCANPIX NORWAY/AFP/Archives View of a Statoil floating oil platform in May 2010 in the Norwegian Sea.
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund continues to grow. The state investment fund, which is closely linked to oil, has seen an increase of no less than 168 million euros for the first half of this year. The lights are green regarding the investment choices made by the country on each of the major stock market indices.
According to information from Échos, the good performance of the stock markets in the first half of 2024 would have allowed the country to benefit from the resulting financial windfall. The world's largest state investment fund, with 1,530 billion euros injected, it has been managed since September 2020 by the experienced eye of Nicolai Tangen, a former hedge fund manager and founder.
With a yield of 8.6%, half of the country's stock portfolio is overseas. Successful investments, which have enabled a 15% increase in returns on investments in the technology sector with Wall Street alone.
An interest in the Americans that counterbalances the regressions observed in Japan, due in particular to the fall of the yen. According to the head of the Norwegian oil fund, American performance would be the product of hard work that Europeans cannot surpass. Furthermore, their taste for innovation leads to a pace that the Old Continent cannot follow. This is observed again with the advent of artificial intelligence (AI), which Europeans still have difficulty accepting while Americans have little hesitation in developing it.
In addition to these areas, the sovereign wealth fund intends to invest for the good of its future generation. As such, more environmentally friendly investments such as ESG (Environment, Social and Governance) are being considered, despite the tough competition for these green investments.
Norway, renowned in Europe for its primary energy, is saving part of the revenues obtained by the gas and oil sectors by investing them in this fund. However, as these energies are decreasing, the fund will, according to calculations by Echos, redistribute 276,000 euros to each inhabitant of the country when the slope becomes steep.
Although Europe is perceived as not very competitive, the Nordic country has managed to hold its own by banking on foreign economies to build its own fund. A tactic that France has failed to develop. Perhaps we can learn some lessons from it ?
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