Norway sovereign wealth fund CEO warns of ‘rocky ride ahead’
2022.05.03 12:01
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Nicolai Tangen, appointed as the new CEO of the Norges Bank Investment Management attends a news conference, in Oslo, Norway May 28, 2020. NTB Scanpix/Hakon Mosvold Larsen via REUTERS/Files
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OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s $1.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, expects difficult market conditions in the time to come, affected by geopolitical events and inflation, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
Inflation, already on the rise before the war in Ukraine, has continued to increase, while interest rates are still very low and share prices at the moment remain high, he said.
“The geopolitical consequences of the war are difficult to predict, but we probably face the greatest changes for 30 years,” Nicolai Tangen said in prepared remarks published ahead of his testifying in front of parliament’s finance committee.
“There is little doubt that growing frictions between superpowers and a reversal of globalisation will affect the markets,” he added.
The Norwegian fund, which invests all its assets in foreign stocks, bonds, real estate and renewable energy projects, has “nowhere to hide” and must manage the risk that comes with exposure to global markets, he added.
“All this taken together means that we have a rocky ride ahead,” Tangen said.
Market value of Norway’s wealth fund https://graphics.reuters.com/NORWAY-SWF/lgpdwajadvo/chart.png
($1 = 9.4587 Norwegian crowns)
