OSLO, April 18 (Reuters) – Norway’s $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund on Tuesday welcomed a authorities request that it take into account investing in unlisted equities and stated it can make a advice by December.
The Norwegian Finance Ministry stated final month it had requested the fund, the world’s largest single inventory market investor, to evaluate whether or not to start out investing in unlisted equities.
Successive Norwegian governments had avoided permitting the fund from investing in that asset class, as a result of threat it might be caught with an funding it couldn’t divest from.
Norway’s central financial institution manages the fund, which owns 1.5% of all globally listed shares with stakes in 9,200 firms.
Whereas greater than two thirds of its investments are in shares, the fund additionally invests the Norwegian state’s revenues from oil manufacturing in bonds, actual property and renewable vitality tasks.
“Norges Financial institution appears positively on this overview, and we are going to return with our recommendation and assessments in the direction of the top of the yr,” the central financial institution’s governor Ida Wolden Bache informed a parliamentary listening to on Tuesday.
At current, the fund is simply capable of put money into a non-public firm whether it is about to be listed, however this implies the fund dangers lacking out, its CEO Nicolai Tangen informed Reuters.
“A lot … of the worth creation has already taken place. We need to have a component in that worth creation,” Tangen stated.
Earlier, Tangen informed the parliamentary listening to that investing in non-public fairness had develop into extra clear.
“Transparency has elevated loads. All the massive comparable funds are pretty closely invested on this (phase),” he stated.
“The repute threat in non-public fairness is definitely decrease in comparison with how we’re arrange now,” Tangen stated, including such investments may doubtlessly yield vital further returns.
Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Victoria Klesty, modifying by Terje Solsvik
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