World's Largest Fund Booms After Q3 Bust
Norway’s $860B sovereign wealth fund is rebounding from its terrible Q3 losses and expects to post a profit in Q4 by dumping bonds and buying stocks and real estate instead.
The Chinese stock crash and looming Fed rate increase hit the fund hard in Q3, when it posted its biggest loss in four years.
Fund CEO Yngve Slyngstad (just call him Yngve) tells Bloomberg negative interest rates in some countries create a rough investment climate. On top of that, the fund's being squeezed by low oil prices after a decade of price hikes.
Instead of throwing extra oil cash into the fund, Norway is withdrawing $440M next year to shore up its oil-based economy.
Next spring the fund will look for the Finance Ministry’s permission to throw more cash into infrastructure and real estate.
The fund is already one of the biggest buyers of US real estate, closing deals throughout the year on New York trophy properties and billion-dollar portfolios. [Bloomberg]
