‘This was a weak result for the portfolio, but the high oil price meant that the Norwegian equity market performed better than the global stock markets. We are pleased that our investment choices helped us achieve a better return than the market,’ says Kjetil Houg, CEO of Folketrygdfondet.
The return on the equity portfolio was minus 4.4 per cent as of 30 June 2022. That is 1.1 percentage points higher than the benchmark index for equities. The return on the fixed-income portfolio was minus 7.3 per cent, which was 0.3 percentage points lower than the benchmark index for fixed-income investments.
‘The big hike in interest rates made this the weakest half-year for the fixed-income portfolio in the history of the Government Pension Fund Norway. This is due to an unusual spike in inflation and interest rates,’ says Kjetil Houg.
Since 2007, Folketrygdfondet’s active management approach has resulted in NOK 42 billion in excess return for society at large.