Norway‘s $2.2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, on Thursday reported a first-quarter loss of 636 billion Norwegian crowns ($68.44 billion) as the war in the Middle East weighed on global stocks.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which holds around half of its funds in the United States, posted a negative return of 1.9% for the January-March period, beating its benchmark index by 0.01 percentage point.
“The result reflects a quarter with challenging market conditions,” Deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a statement.
“We saw limited impact on fixed income and real estate, but it was the decline in equities, especially among large US technology companies, that determined the outcome,” he added.
The war that began with the US and Israel launching coordinated strikes against Iran in late February left the S&P 500 stock index with its deepest quarterly decline since 2022, although markets have since recovered.
The return on the fund‘s equity investments was a negative 2.6%, while fixed income saw a decline of 0.2%, unlisted real estate rose 1.2% and unlisted renewable energy infrastructure declined 1.9%, it said.
The fund, which owns shares in more than 7,000 companies worldwide, held its biggest stakes in Nvidia, Apple and Microsoft at the start of 2026, its most recent disclosure shows.
The fund last year reported a first-quarter loss of 415 billion crowns as weaker technology shares dragged on returns, highlighting how even a diversified portfolio can be driven by swings in large US stocks.
Reuters
