SWF Radar GovernmentPensionFundGlobal

Reuters reports that, “Norway’s $300 billion (£201.12 billion) sovereign wealth fund [Government Pension Fund–Global] will remain a big buyer of equities after raising its holdings to 1.25 percent of European stocks and about half that proportion in markets elsewhere, its chief said.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Norway’s sovereign wealth fund [Government Pension Fund - Global] shrank by 1.3 percent to a preliminary 2.09 trillion Norwegian crowns ($301 billion) in October from the end of September, the central bank’s monthly balance sheet showed on Friday.”

The International Herald Tribune reports that, “The leading advocates in this movement include the Norwegian Government Pension Fund-Global; ABP, the huge Dutch government pension fund; and the pension fund of the British Environment Agency. In the United States, the California State Teachers’ Retirement Fund [CalSTRS], one of the largest pension funds in the United States, is one of the few American funds that has taken on a similar mantle.”

The International Herald Tribune has published an interview with Martin Skancke, director general of the Norwegian Ministry of Finance and head of the asset management department, which oversees Norway’s Government Pension Fund - Global.

Among other things, he says that, “We are asking the Norwegian public for their trust in setting aside every year between 15 percent and 20 percent of GDP in this fund. We would not be able to do that if the investment policy diverged too much from the basic, core, ethical belief of the average Norwegian.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Norway should earmark some of its $295 billion oil fund [the Government Pension Fund–Global] for long-term investments in environmental stocks, Environment Minister Erik Solheim said on Thursday.”

The Business Standard writes that, “Even as foreign institutional investors rapidly pull out their money from Dalal Street, Norway’s sovereign wealth fund [the Government Pension Fund–Global], the world’s second largest, is set to invest $2 billion in Indian stocks.”

IceNews reports that, “Economists suggest that [Norway’s] sovereign wealth fund [the Government Pension Fund–Global] would have more money in it today had the government simply placed the cash in the bank.”

Thomson Reuters reports that, “Norway’s sovereign wealth fund [the Government Pension Fund–Global] is sticking to its previous estimate for its year-end value, despite losses on the back of global financial turmoil, daily Aftenposten reported on Thursday.”

The New York Times has published an interview with Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive of Norway’s Government Pension Fund–Global.

The Financial Times writes (reporting the findings of a report for Noway’s SWF by the SRI-consultancy Innovest) that, “Sovereign wealth funds lag significantly behind the leaders in the field of socially responsible investing, missing a chance to enhance returns as well as help mitigate climate change.”

I don’t understand why SRI is so often accepted as being something that will increase returns. Are fund managers actively screening-out ethically sound investment opportunities? Are they actively screening-in financially unsound yet immoral ones?

The article adds (paraphrasing the report) that, “Since the Norwegian government has announced its intentions to set an example in international climate change efforts, this would be in line with government policy.”

Climate change isn’t the kind of hot-button political issue that helped drive anti-SWF sentiment earlier this year. But it does seem strange that the report’s authors could have thought, given the furore, that aligning its investment policies with its respective government’s political policies is something that should be welcomed in an SWF.