![]() “Therefore, it is the bank’s assessment that the government’s wealth can be made less vulnerable to a permanent drop in oil prices if the GPFG is not invested in oil and gas stocks” PGM CAPITAL’s ANALYSIS AND COMMENTS: “The return on oil and gas stocks has been significantly lower than in the broad equity market in periods of falling oil prices,” Europe’s index of oil and gas shares hit its lowest level since mid-October on the news and was trading down 0.39% by late afternoon. The recommendation by Norway’s central bank pushed down shares in European oil companies. The strategy shift, on the back of advice from the country’s central Norges Bank, will affect 1.2% of its equity holdings, worth about 66billion Norwegian krone (7.5 Billion USD). On Friday, March 8, it was announced that the fund will sell off stakes in oil and gas exploration and production companies investments, but will still hold stakes in firms such as BP and Shell that have renewable energy divisions. Norges Bank, which manages Norway’s $1 trillion oil-funded wealth pot, said on Wednesday February 27, that it bought 185 billion crowns (US$21.7 billion) worth of equities, with the bulk of purchases coming in November and December.ĭespite the Norges Bank purchases, the fund’s overall market value dipped over the course of 2018 by 6.1 percent, marking a steep reverse from the 13.7 percent growth witnessed in 2017.ĭuring 2018, equity investments for the fund returned a loss of 9.5 percent, while unlisted real estate investments gained 7.5 percent, and fixed-income investments returned 0.6 percent.Īt the end of 2018, the fund’s biggest equity holdings were in Microsoft (US$7.5 billion), Apple (US$7.3 billion), Alphabet (US$6.7 billion), Amazon (US$6.4 billion), Nestle (US$6.3 billion) and Royal Dutch Shell (U$6 billion).Īfter a strong start to 2019 for stocks, the Norges Bank website said the fund is currently valued at US$1.03 trillion. The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund went on a stock buying spree during the market turmoil at the end of 2018. Bought 22 billion USD of stocks during 2018 yearend rout: It also served as a tool to manage the financial challenges of an aging population and an expected drop in petroleum revenue. The fund was set up to give the government room for manoeuvre in fiscal policy should oil prices drop or the mainland economy contract. The management mandate defines the investment universe and the fund’s strategic reference index. Then again, when you have so much money, it may just not matter: Musk’s net-worth is almost 20 times the entire budget of the county he sued.The ministry determines the fund’s investment strategy, following advice from among others Norges Bank Investment Management and discussions in Parliament. We can all understand how eager he must be to continue his work ( particularly his pressing mission to, er, colonize Mars) but a global pandemic feels like a good moment for pause. (Bezos has now ended that entitlement, despite the virus still raging across the US.)Īs for Elon Musk, he could pay my monthly rent after less than 30 minutes of work – which makes you wonder why he violated California’s stay-at-home order to keep Tesla’s factory open, and why he sued local authorities after he was forced to shut it. Now that I know Bezos earns my entire salary in under a minute, it does make the additional $2 an hour that Amazon employees briefly received for working during the pandemic seem even more paltry. Remember when Elizabeth Warren helped billionaires calculate how much they would pay under her ultra-millionaire tax proposals, and it was pointed out that under her plan, even after tax, Bill Gates would still be a billionaire 60 years from now? Oh, and that time we learned that Zuckerberg takes about two minutes to earn the average US yearly wage? ![]() When Bezos was touted to soon become the world’s first trillionaire (he isn’t yet – but his net worth of $ 144bn puts him on track to become one by 2026), we learned he was richer than entire countries – and later also found out he was richer than combined countries (to take an example: Jamaica, Iceland, Tunisia and Estonia). Tech moguls are now so rich that it’s not unusual to see shocking comparisons that demonstrate exactly how egregious their salaries are. The data tells us the 15 best-paid CEOs in tech have a combined annual income of over $83bn – which is greater than the entire gross domestic product of hundreds of countries.
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