Rate increases made bonds the fund’s weakest major asset class in the third quarter, as Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global posted an accounting return of -278 billion kroner, manager Norges Bank Investment Management said Oct. 22.
The fund’s return in its currency basket was -0.5%, 0.18 percentage point below its benchmark. Deputy CEO Trond Grande described the fund’s return as “close to flat.” The Straits Times reported the kroner result as S$37.9 billion; NBIM’s release gives the figure in kroner.
Fixed-income investments returned -3.5%, while equities gained 0.5%. Unlisted real estate returned 0.4%, and unlisted renewable-energy infrastructure gained 7.5%. Equities made up 72.1% of the portfolio at quarter-end, compared with 25.8% for fixed income, 1.6% for real estate and 0.5% for renewable-energy infrastructure. Within equities, energy shares performed best, while rate-sensitive utilities and real estate declined, NBIM said.
The fund’s reported value fell by 670 billion kroner to 22,014 billion kroner as of Sept. 30. The appreciating krone accounted for 472 billion kroner of that reduction; a separate 80 billion-kroner addition after management costs partly cushioned the fall. The change in total value measures more than the investment return. These details add context to EconoTimes’ earlier report on the fund’s negative third-quarter return.
NBIM’s half-year report recorded a 9.4% gain in the first half of 2026, an accounting return of 1,753 billion kroner, before the third-quarter decline. NBIM says the fund’s mandate is to manage Norway’s oil and gas wealth over the long term for current and future generations. Its overview says the fund holds shares in about 7,100 companies and owns nearly 1.5% of listed companies worldwide.
Separately, a Finance Ministry-appointed expert group is due to report by Jan. 25, 2027, on the fund’s purpose, risk tolerance and bond investment strategy, according to an NBIM submission.
