The CEO of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund has told colleagues he "really screwed up" in accepting a chartered flight paid for by the hedge fund manager who was later named as his replacement.
Travel taken by Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, which oversees the 10.5 trillion Norwegian kroner ($980 billion) Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, is under scrutiny for possibly breaching guidelines in accepting the travel arrangement.
The appointment of his replacement, Nicolai Tangen, as the new CEO is also being examined.
In November, Mr. Slyngstad — whose resignation was announced Oct. 30 — traveled to Oslo following a conference at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. Both the chartered flight and the conference were organized by Mr. Tangen, who was named incoming CEO at Norges Bank Investment Management in March. Mr. Tangen, currently co-CEO and CIO of the $17 billion hedge fund firm AKO Capital, is set to replace Mr. Slyngstad in September.
"As for my own performance, I really screwed up," wrote Mr. Slyngstad in a memo to colleagues, obtained by Pensions & Investments. "I got on a chartered flight back from Pennsylvania instead of a commercial flight back from New York. Since this will be my last business trip as CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, I am embarrassed to give myself a fail this time. Norges Bank Investment Management holds 130 presentations every year in different fora. I have typically done a third of them. So, I am the one who should know."
He said he could try to justify taking the flight with the time he saved but noted that the reputational loss for NBIM "would have justified weeks of travel. It was not in line with our modest profile or our brand."
Mr. Slyngstad added: "It was lack of good judgment and a classic example of how not to be professional, disregarding all my years of experience and caution. This is like mountain climbing. It is while climbing down, when you are tired and think that you have made it, that you fall."
Of his relationship with Mr. Tangen, Mr. Slyngstad said: "We have a professional, colloquial tone, but not a personal relationship."
The CEO of the sovereign wealth fund is appointed by the executive board of Norway's central bank, Norges Bank. Mr. Slyngstad "has not been involved in the hiring process in any way," a spokeswoman for NBIM said in an email Tuesday.
The bank's supervisory council held an "extraordinary meeting" Wednesday on the subject, with bank Gov. Oystein Olsen giving an account of the process that led to Mr. Tangen's appointment.
"The Supervisory Council has announced that after the meeting it will send over a number of questions to be answered in writing. We are looking forward to providing clarification on the matters raised," Mr. Olsen said in a statement on the central bank's website.
The bank said it will wait to issue further responses to questions related to Mr. Tangen's appointment and Mr. Slyngstad's participation in the conference.
Separately, the fund announced that it lost 1.35 trillion kroner ($127.5 billion) for the quarter ended March 31, more than the original estimate of 1.17 trillion kroner.
NBIM said Thursday that "reconciliation and controls" led to adjustments to the figures posted April 2. The change in value due to a depreciation of the kroner against other currencies was also corrected to 1.33 trillion kroner, up from 1.15 trillion kroner.
Finally, NBIM said its unlisted real estate allocation, which totaled 2.7% of the fund as of Dec. 31, gained 0.4% in the quarter.
