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Norwegian state pension fund reports new high
Mar 5, 2010, 13:12 GMT
Oslo - Norway's government pension fund reported its best year to date with a 25-per-cent gain for full-year 2009, officials managing the fund said Friday.
The Norwegian Government Pension Fund - Global gained 613 billion kroner (103 billion dollars) during the year and was worth some 2.64 trillion kroner at the end of the quarter, officials from Norges Bank said.
At the end of 2008, it was worth 2.27 trillion kroner, bank officials said.
'The values have come back much sooner than we could have expected,' said Yngve Slyngstad, head of Norges Bank Investment Management.
The Norwegian government via its pension fund invests income from the country's petroleum and gas riches with entities outside of Norway for the country's future health and pension expenditure.
During the year 2000, a total 169 billion kroner was transferred to the fund, the lowest since 2004, bank officials said.
The fund currently owns an estimated 1.8 per cent of European equity markets and about 1 per cent of the world's listed companies. At the end of 2008, the fund was estimated to own shares in some 7,700 companies worldwide.
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