Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, returned 4% in the three months ended Sept. 30, although appreciation of the currency contributed to a slight 0.8% drop in total assets to 7.119 trillion Norwegian kroner ($885.2 billion).
The appreciation of the Norwegian kroner against other currencies decreased the value of the fund by 268 billion Norwegian kroner, said an update detailing preliminary figures for the third quarter.
The overall return equated to 240 billion Norwegian kroner, and improved on a 1.3%, or 94 billion Norwegian kroner, gain for the three months ended June 30. For the three months ended Sept. 30, 2015, the fund’s return was -4.9%.
The value of the sovereign wealth fund increased 1.4% over the year ended Sept. 30. The 10-year annualized return for the fund was 3.44%. Further long-term returns were not provided.
Equity investments performed strongest over the quarter, with positive returns across all regions, and were the main contributor to the fund’s results. The fund’s 60.6% allocation to equities returned 6%.
Fixed income, to which 36.3% of the fund is allocated, returned 0.9%, and the 3.1% allocation to real estate produced a 2.4% return.
Also in the third quarter, 30 billion Norwegian kroner was withdrawn from the fund. Further details could not be learned by press time.
The complete quarterly report will be published by the fund’s in-house manager, Norges Bank Investment Management, on Oct. 28.
