NORWAY’S WEALTH FUND LOSES $21-B IN FIRST HALF OF 2020

Norway’s $1.15 trillion sovereign wealth fund posted a loss of 188 billion Norwegian crowns ($21.27 billion) in the first half of 2020 as stocks and real estate holdings fell in value during the COVID-19 pandemic, it said on Tuesday. 

The decline followed record earnings in 2019, when the fund raked in profits of $180 billion as global stock markets soared, Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik wrote for Reuters late on August 18, 2020.

“Even though markets recovered well in the second quarter, we are still witnessing considerable uncertainty,” the fund’s deputy chief executive, Trond Grande, said in a statement.

The world’s largest sovereign wealth fund holds stakes in some 9,200 companies globally, owning 1.5% of all listed stocks. It also invests in bonds and real estate. The overall portfolio had a negative return of 3.4%, with a decline of 6.8% for equities and minus 1.6% for unlisted real estate, while the value of fixed-income holdings rose 5.1% as interest rates plunged.