Norway's $1.6 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world's largest, has today posted a profit of 1.2 trillion crowns ($109 billion) for the first quarter of 2024, boosted by strong technology stocks.
"Our equity investments had a very strong return in the first quarter, particularly driven by the tech sector," deputy CEO Trond Grande said in a statement.
The profit compares with a profit of 893 billion crowns the same time a year ago.
The fund's overall return on investment of 6.3% was 0.1 percentage point below its benchmark index, it said.
The fund invests the proceeds of the Norwegian state's oil and gas production into stocks, bonds, unlisted property and renewable projects abroad.
Its size is equivalent to $283,000 for every Norwegian man, woman and child.
Meanwhile, the sovereign wealth fund said today it would vote in favour of a proposal letting NatWest buy back more of its stock from the British government, amid efforts to speed up privatisation.
Ahead of its annual meeting on April 23, lender NatWest has asked its investors to back a resolution that would enable it to acquire up to 15% of its total stock from the UK government in a 12-month period, up from a previous ceiling of 5% a year.
The British government, which bailed out the lender at the height of the 2007-9 financial crisis, recently reduced its stake in NatWest to below 30%, making it no longer a controlling shareholder.
The UK government is steadily divesting its holding in NatWest ,including through a planned sale of stock to the public as early as June, and has said it wants to exit completely by 2026.
The state's holding in the bank was once as high as 84%.
Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), which operates the Norwegian fund, is one of NatWest's biggest investors, with a 3.23% stake in the British bank at the end of 2023, valued at the time at $794.3m.
NBIM did not give a specific reason for approving the motion.
The fund has said it aims to back the board and management of companies in which it owns stakes as long as proposals do not breach responsible investment guidelines.
