Norway's $1.4 trillion sovereign wealth fund posted a profit of $111 billion for the first half of 2021, as its equity portfolio rose in value.
According to Arab Net, the fund achieved a return on investment of 990 billion Norwegian kroner ($111 billion) between January and June, 0.28 percentage points higher than the fund's benchmark.
The Norwegian Wealth Fund achieved a 4% return on investment and a profit of 382 billion Norwegian kroner ($45.7 billion) between January and March, surpassing its benchmark.
The fund benefited from the strategic shift last year, after it achieved returns of 123 billion dollars from investing in US stocks, after transferring its holdings of European shares to American technology stocks.
The Norwegian Ministry of Finance said, on April 10, 2021, that the Norwegian Wealth Fund should reduce the size of its global benchmark companies index between 25% and 30% in order to improve the tracking of companies, mainly by deleting small stocks.
The move is in line with a growing awareness among global investors about environmental, social and governance risks, an area in which the Norwegian wealth fund has long been a pioneer.
The Ministry of Finance stated in its annual recommendation to Parliament that the fund's benchmark should be reduced to about 6,600 companies from the current 8,800.
