Norway's SWF Expands Investments in Asia

(July 1, 2010) — Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s second largest, plans to boost investments in Asia to take advantage of the region’s strong economic growth.

The fund follows the lead of other sovereign wealth investors including Temasek Holdings Pte and the Qatar Investment Authority that have also upped their investments in the region.

Norges Bank Governor Svein Gjedrem, who was in Singapore as part of yesterday’s opening of the SWF’s second Asian office, said the fund is currently underweight in Asia. The SWF’s new Singapore office will be responsible for portfolio management and securities trading and will help NBIM’s existing office in Shanghai to cover the increasingly important Asia region, the fund stated in a release. Currently, the fund has about $1.1 billion invested in Singapore.

“An office in Singapore will strengthen our operations in Asia,” commented Gjedrem. “Having a presence in a region with strong economic growth is important for achieving good management results.”

Sigmund Kyrdalen, a senior portfolio manager at NBIM who managed its London office for two years, has been appointed general manager in Singapore.

Norway invests the country’s oil and gas revenue abroad in a fund called the Government Pension Fund Global, which had a market value of almost 2.8 trillion Norwegian crowns at the end of June. Around 10% of the fund is invested in Asia, and around 15% of its equity investments are in Asian companies.

In addition to Singapore, NBIM has offices in Oslo, London, New York and Shanghai.