Norway’s oil fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth pot, fell to its biggest loss in the first half of 2022 as recession fears and inflation pummelled markets.
The fund controls 1.5 per cent of global stocks, and suffered a 14.4 per cent loss, equivalent to £144.5billion, in the first half of the year, driven by a sell-off across all sectors except energy.
It had gained 14.5 per cent during 2021. The £1trillion fund owns a number of UK stocks such as BP, Shell and NatWest.
£1trillion fund: Norway’s oil fund controls 1.5% of global stocks, and suffered a 14.4% loss, equivalent to £144.5bn, in the first half of the year
‘The fund is now so big that the sums become very big. We are a long-term investor so we have to tolerate these swings,’ said fund chief Nicolai Tangen.
‘What was unusual this time is that we lost money both in stocks and bonds.’
The equity portfolio was hit particularly hard, losing 17 per cent, while fixed income was down 9.3 per cent.
Facebook parent Meta was the single biggest contributor to the losses.
