Technology stock-driven losses were the main contributor to a negative investment return for the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund in the first quarter of 2025.
The Government Pension Fund Global, Oslo, returned -0.6% in the first quarter, equivalent to a 415 billion Norwegian kroner ($36.6 billion) loss. The fund returned -0.24% in the quarter ended Dec. 31, and gained 6.3% in the first quarter of 2024.
Assets fell by 6.2 % vs. figures as of Dec. 31, and grew by 4.6% for the year, to 18.53 trillion kroner ($1.63 trillion).
The fund’s 70% equity exposure lost 1.6% in the first quarter, which CEO Nicolai Tangen said in a statement was “largely driven by the tech sector.”
As of Dec. 31, technology-sector equities accounted for 19.2% of the fund’s total investments, with Magnificent Seven stocks Apple, Alphabet, Meta, Microsoft and NVIDIA representing a total 6.53% of fund holdings, according to calculations using information available on the website. Figures as of March 31 were not available.
The remainder of the fund’s investments made positive returns. The 27.7% allocation to fixed income gained 1.6%, while the 1.9% investment in unlisted real estate added 2.4% to investment returns. GPFG’s 0.4% allocation to unlisted renewable energy infrastructure gained 1.2% in the first quarter.
An appreciation of the kroner against main currencies also contributed negatively to the fund’s assets, decreasing the value by 879 billion kroner.
