Norway’s $2 Trillion Wealth Fund Earns $247 Billion in 2025 as Technology and Banking Shares Surge

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth vehicle, recorded a profit of 2.36 trillion Norwegian kroner (US $246.9 billion) in 2025, according to results released on Thursday by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). The performance, driven largely by gains in technology, financial and basic-materials equities, marks the fund’s strongest annual showing since it was established in the 1990s.

By year-end, the fund’s total market value reached 21.27 trillion kroner. Over the course of the year it generated an overall return of 13.5 percent, a figure NBIM said was 0.28 percentage point below the return on its benchmark index. Despite lagging the reference portfolio slightly, the absolute gain eclipses the results of most global asset managers and underscores the breadth of the market rally that gathered pace through 2025.

Equity portfolio delivers double-digit gains

Equities, which account for approximately 71 percent of the fund’s assets, returned 19.3 percent. Holdings in the information-technology sector were the largest contributors. As of 31 December, NBIM owned 1.3 percent of Nvidia, 1.2 percent of Apple and 1.3 percent of Microsoft, positions that benefited from robust demand for artificial-intelligence hardware, smartphones and cloud-computing services.

Financial stocks also added materially to results. The fund holds significant stakes in Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs, as well as sizable positions in European lenders Santander, UBS, HSBC and UniCredit. A rebound in net-interest margins, coupled with lower-than-expected loan-loss provisions, supported share-price appreciation across the sector.

In basic materials, NBIM’s investment in Fresnillo proved particularly lucrative. Shares in the Mexico-focused precious-metals miner, listed on London’s FTSE 100, soared 452.5 percent last year, propelled by a rally in silver prices and the company’s acquisition of Probe Gold. The position was one of the single-largest individual equity contributors in 2025.

Diversified assets provide additional ballast

Outside public stocks, fixed-income securities returned 5.4 percent. Unlisted real-estate assets delivered 4.4 percent, while renewable-energy infrastructure holdings, a relatively small but growing slice of the portfolio, generated an 18.1 percent gain. Taken together, non-equity assets provided diversification during periods of equity-market volatility, even though stocks remained the primary engine of growth.

Currency movements and capital inflows also supported the fund’s expansion. NBIM said the fund’s overall value increased by 1.53 trillion kroner (about US $159.9 billion) through a combination of investment income and net new transfers from Norway’s petroleum revenues. The sovereign vehicle was originally set up to invest excess proceeds from the country’s oil and gas industry and now holds stakes in more than 7,000 companies across roughly 60 nations.

Controversy over divestments in U.S.-linked holdings

Although financial results were robust, some portfolio decisions attracted criticism during the year. In September, NBIM exited positions in U.S. heavy-equipment manufacturer Caterpillar and five Israeli banks, concluding that there was an “unacceptable risk” the firms might be involved in human-rights violations in the Palestinian territories. The move prompted a public rebuke from the U.S. State Department, which said it was “very troubled” by the decision and described the fund’s rationale as based on “illegitimate claims.”

Norwegian Finance Minister Jens Stoltenberg later stressed that the divestment was “not a political decision.” Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week, he added that there was no reason for the fund to reduce its overall exposure to the United States. American equities represented 38.8 percent of the portfolio at the end of 2025, reflecting the size and liquidity of U.S. capital markets.

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Benchmark comparison and long-term perspective

The 13.5 percent return achieved in 2025 fell slightly short of the benchmark index selected by Norway’s Ministry of Finance. NBIM attributed the underperformance primarily to the timing of specific trades and sector-weighting differences. Even so, the absolute gain reinforces the fund’s long-term strategy of broad diversification and low-cost passive management, an approach that has generally aligned closely with its reference portfolio over multi-year horizons.

NBIM Chief Executive Nicolai Tangen said in a statement that shares in technology, financials and basic-materials companies “stood out” during the year by making “a significant contribution to the overall return.” He noted that the fund remains committed to systematic, transparent investment processes designed to capture global economic growth while managing risk on behalf of current and future generations of Norwegians.

According to data compiled by the Norges Bank Investment Management, the sovereign wealth fund has delivered an average annual return of roughly 6 percent since inception. Assets under management have expanded in tandem with petroleum revenues, positive market performance and the reinvestment of dividends and interest income.

Outlook

NBIM did not issue formal guidance for 2026, consistent with its mandate to focus on long-term capital preservation and growth rather than short-term market forecasts. The portfolio remains heavily weighted toward listed equities, with supplementary exposure to bonds, real estate and renewable-energy infrastructure intended to provide stability and inflation protection.

For Norwegian policymakers, the 2025 results underscore the importance of global market conditions to national wealth. While the fund’s size offers substantial fiscal flexibility, its managers emphasized that returns can vary widely from year to year, and that long-term discipline remains essential.

Crédito da imagem: Bloomberg | Getty Images