Published 8th March 2010

According to the Funds press release on Friday the 5th March, 2009 turned out to be the best year in the history of the Pension Fund: “The fund returned 25.6 percent, equivalent to 613 billion kroner. This was 4.1 percentage points higher than the return on the benchmark portfolio”, it reads.

The Pension Fund has since 2007 been represented in Shanghai, China, and hence been able to follow closely its Chinese portfolio, the market value of which exceeded 24 billion NOK at the turn of the year.

The Pension Fund has 946 separate investments in China. The largest is in China Construction Bank Corp, where the Fund’s share is valued at nearly 1,7 billion dollars. About one third of the total market value of the portfolio in China is derived from the financial sector.

The Fund also has substantial holdings in oil & gas, basic materials and telecommunications. In telecom only 5 companies have been selected, but the investments in each company stand out as among the largest in the China portfolio. The stake in China Mobile, Industrial & Commercial Bank of China, CNOOC and China Life Insurance were all valued at more than 1 billion NOK.

The Pension fund holds a stake in more than 200 consumer goods and services companies. Together they represent about 7% of the total value of the China portfolio, suggesting a growing consumer market and commercially viable homegrown companies.

Norwegian ownership does not earn Norwegians a big say in the development of Chinese Industries and Trades though. Very few investments reach a voting share of 1%. Even relative to the fund itself, the investments in China remain modest: Less than 1,5 % of the total market value of the fund stems from it’s China investments.

Might we suggest that we will see that share grow in the years to come?

For more information on the pension fund, follow this link: