World’s largest wealth fund posts $30 billion loss after bond market

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund — the largest in the world — said Thursday that its investment portfolio delivered a loss of $30 billion in the third quarter, as rising interest rates dented returns on its bond holdings.

Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which manages the $2.3 trillion fund, said the accounting return for the period was a loss of 278 billion kroner ($29.7 billion). Around 70% of NBIM’s fixed income portfolio is allocated to government bonds, with the remainder invested in corporate debt.

The third quarter saw a global bond market rout. Government bond yields surged as major central banks, including the U.S. Federal Reserve, began rate-hiking cycles and concerns about inflation and government debt levels mounted.

NBIM’s fixed income investments delivered a negative return of 3.5%, with the fund’s management saying this was a key driver of the overall downturn.

“The fund’s return was close to flat, ending slightly negative as rising interest rates led to weaker results on our fixed-income investments,” NBIM’s Deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a statement.

Fixed income accounts for just over a quarter of the fund’s entire portfolio, with NBIM invested in 1,664 bonds across 51 countries.

Last month, NBIM said it wanted to cut its U.S. Treasury holdings as part of wider plans to reduce its allocation to government-issued debt.

Equities, which account for 72% of the sovereign wealth fund’s investments, returned 0.5% for the fund in the third quarter.

The fund has small stakes in around 7,100 companies across most countries. With holdings in 1.5% of all listed companies globally, it is the world’s largest single investor.

Stock markets were turbulent in the three months to September. Wall Street’s major averages ended the third quarter in mixed territory. The S&P 500 index added 2.03%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.9% and the tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite ended the quarter 2.2% higher.

The average change across the three indexes was just 0.6%, marking a slowdown in the rally that saw double-digit gains in the previous quarter.

NBIM is an investor in America’s biggest companies, with its top holdings including a $65.4 billion stake in Nvidia, as well as positions in Apple, Alphabet and Microsoft.

Its positions in the world’s biggest companies make NBIM influential in terms of both voting power and setting investment trends.

“Equity returns were also close to zero, but there were large differences between sectors. Energy companies rose the most, while interest-rate-sensitive sectors such as utilities and real estate fell,” Grande said Thursday.

Energy stocks benefited from surging oil prices in the third quarter, as the U.S.-Iran war continued, said NBIM, which has stakes in various energy majors, including Exxon Mobil, Shell and Chevron.

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