Portfolio investment abroad, 2014

There has been a big increase in the Norwegian portfolio investments abroad in the last six years. In 2009, the investments amounted to NOK 3 757 billion and in 2014 the investment at the end of the year was NOK 7 809 billion. In the last two years there has been a considerable increase in portfolio investments, from NOK 4 988 to NOK 7 809 billion.

There has been a stable distribution between equity and debt instruments in the last six years, where on average, 55 per cent are equities. The government sector is the dominating sector with a share of 81 per cent of Norway’s total portfolio investments abroad. The sectors insurance, including pension funds, and unit trust each have a 6 per cent share.

The central government sector, dominated by the Government Pension Fund Global, has placed NOK 6 341 billion in portfolio investments abroad by the end of 2014. The sector has investments in more than 90 countries, where the largest position placements are in the USA with NOK 1 982 billion.