The Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, lost 14.6% in the first quarter, with equity markets dragging down performance.
The world's largest sovereign wealth fund, reporting preliminary figures Thursday, said the return equated to a 1.17 trillion Norwegian kroner ($110.5 billion) loss.
Equity investments lost 21.1%. The fund had a 70.8% allocation to equities as of Dec. 31. Up-to-date figures were not available.
The fund gained 5.1% for the fourth quarter 2019, and 9.1% for the first quarter 2019.
"The global equity markets saw a sharp decline in the first quarter, but picked up somewhat towards the end of the quarter," a commentary accompanying the preliminary results said. "There have been major fluctuations throughout the whole quarter."
The coronavirus pandemic hit global markets in the first quarter, with the S&P Global 1200 index down about 20%.
The fund did not report fourth quarter 2019, figures in its latest annual report. GPFG's 69.2% equity allocation as of March 31, 2019, gained 12.2%.
Fixed-income allocations gained 1.3% in the three months ended March 31. The 2019 year-end fixed-income exposure was 26.5%. For the first quarter 2019, a 28% allocation gained 2.9%.
The remainder of the fund is invested in unlisted real estate. However, preliminary first-quarter figures "have not been updated with valuations of the properties." Those figures will be presented April 23, the fund said. GPFG had a 2.7% allocation to real estate as of Dec. 31. For the first quarter 2019, a 2.8% unlisted real estate exposure gained 1.7%.
The fund's assets fell 0.9% to 10 trillion kroner, but were up 11.9% compared with figures from March 31, 2019.
"We have seen a substantial decline in the world's equity markets in the first quarter, with considerable fluctuations from one day to the next. The market situation is very challenging," said Yngve Slyngstad, CEO at the fund's manager, Norges Bank Investment Management. "However, the fund has a long-term horizon."
