Norway sovereign wealth fund leans on tech as it trims Meta, Novo Nordisk stakes

By Steve Goldstein

Sovereign wealth fund reports 8.6% gain in the first half

Norway's sovereign wealth fund touted its investments in the picks and shovels of the artificial-intelligence revolution as its first-half performance virtually matched its benchmark.

With a slide that showed Microsoft, Alphabet and Meta Platforms using Nvidia's "shovels," the fund said its first-half performance was 8.6%, missing its benchmark by just 0.04%.

The fund said Nvidia (NVDA) provided the top contribution to its returns, as other tech investments including Microsoft (MSFT), Alphabet (GOOGL), Amazon.com (AMZN) and Taiwan Semiconductor (TSM) also boosted results in its equity investments that saw a 12% return.

For the first time, it published its holdings after first-half results, and that showed a reduction in its holdings of Meta Platforms (META), Novo Nordisk (NVO) and ASML Holding (ASML) compared to the end of 2023. By market value, Nvidia is now its third-largest investment, ahead of Alphabet and Amazon.

The equity part helped offset a 1% decline in its fixed-income return, a 1% decline in its unlisted real estate return and an 18% nosedive in its unlisted infrastructure return, hurt by its investments in renewable energy.

The fund takes Norway's oil and gas revenue and reinvests it in financial markets.

-Steve Goldstein

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08-14-24 0705ET

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