World’s Largest Sovereign Fund Sees $10B Q1 Loss
Norway’s $870B sovereign wealth fund saw losses of $10B in Q1 amid global market turmoil—a .6% drop after posting a nice 3.6% climb in Q4 ’15.
The fund, overseen by Norges Bank Investment Management, saw its biggest loss in four years during Q3 ’15, and used Q4 to recover and then some—only to be routed by the commodities crash and worries over China’s economy, Bloomberg reports.
“The two first months of 2016 were characterized by high market volatility and concerns for a Chinese slowdown,” NBIM Deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a statement. “The turbulence eased considerably in March.”
The fund has been pushing to lift its 5% cap on property investment recently, and the government just conceded, proposing a plan to free up an additional $17B for the relatively safe haven of real estate.
And other funds are following suit—Abu Dhabi’s sovereign wealth fund, the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, has also been ramping up its real estate investment, recently closing a $3.15B deal for 58M SF of US industrial property from Exeter Property Group.
But when it comes to sovereign wealth funds, Saudi Arabia is about to shake up the whole landscape, as it preps to launch a $2 trillion fund of its own. [Bloomberg]
