Key Points
- Norway’s sovereign wealth fund recorded a $222 billion profit in 2024. The tech sector, including Apple, Microsoft, and Nvidia, was the main driver.
- The fund’s return on investment for 2024 was 13%. Equity investments gained 18%, while renewable energy investments dropped 10%.
- State inflows into the fund were 402 billion crowns, significantly lower than 2022’s record.
- Equities comprised 71.4% of the portfolio, while bond holdings declined slightly.
Norway’s $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, announced a record annual profit of 2.51 trillion crowns ($222 billion) for 2024, driven by strong gains in technology stocks. This marks the second consecutive year of record-breaking profits, surpassing the 2.2 trillion crowns earned in 2023.
Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the fund’s operator, credited the exceptional returns to the performance of American technology stocks. “The American technology stocks in particular performed very well,” Tangen said.
The fund invests in Norway’s oil and gas revenues and is one of the world’s largest investors, owning an average of 1.5% of all listed stocks worldwide. It also holds bonds, real estate, and renewable energy assets.
At the end of 2024, nine of the fund’s ten largest equity holdings were tech companies, with Apple (AAPL.O), Microsoft (MSFT.O), and Nvidia (NVDA.O) as the top three.
The fund recorded a 13% return on investment in 2024, slightly 0.45 percentage points lower than its benchmark index. Equity investments provided an 18% return, while fixed-income investments gained 1%. However, according to NBIM, unlisted real estate lost 1%, and renewable energy infrastructure investments had a negative return of 10%.
Despite record profits, state inflows into the fund in 2024 stood at 402 billion crowns, significantly lower than the 1.1 trillion crowns in 2022.
By the end of 2024, the fund’s asset allocation had shifted slightly:
- 71.4% in equities, up from 70.9% in 2023.
- 26.6% in bonds, down from 27.1%.
- 1.8% in unlisted real estate, slightly lower than 1.9%.
- 0.1% in renewable infrastructure, unchanged from the previous year.
The fund’s continued success underscores the dominance of U.S. tech stocks in global markets and highlights the growing importance of strategic investments in the face of economic fluctuations.
