Norway's $2.3 Trillion Oil Fund Loses $30 Billion in Third Quarter
The world’s biggest sovereign wealth fund, Norway’s $2.3-trillion Government Pension Fund Global, booked a loss of $30 billion for the third quarter as higher interest rates and market turbulence hit both its fixed-term and equity investments.
Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), which is commonly referred to as 'Norway's oil fund' because it was created with oil and gas revenues, is a shareholder in many large companies in the world, with more than half of the value of its equity investments in the U.S. market.
The Norwegian fund was created in the 1990s with the aim of ensuring long-term management of revenue from Norway’s oil and gas resources. Today the wealth fund holds, on average, 1.5% of all listed companies in the world.
Following a record-high profit of $185 billion for the first half of 2026, boosted by Asian tech stocks, the sovereign wealth fund booked a negative -0.5% return for the third quarter, the fund’s manager, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), said on Thursday.
The negative return is a loss of 278 billion Norwegian crowns, or $29.69 billion, in accounting terms, for the world’s single largest investor in Q3.
“The fund’s return was close to flat, ending slightly negative as rising interest rates led to weaker results on our fixed-income investments,” said Trond Grande, Deputy CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.
“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,” the executive added.
As of September 30, 2026, the fund was valued at 22.014 trillion Norwegian crowns, or $2.35 trillion at today’s exchange rate. Of the total value, 72.1% was invested in equities, 25.8% in fixed income, 1.6% in unlisted real estate, and 0.5% in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure. Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft are the most valuable investments of the Norwegian wealth fund.
