Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund with $1.7 trillion in assets, has reported a loss of about $40 billion in the first quarter of 2025.
The turmoil in US stock markets, particularly in the tech stocks, is the primary reason behind the mammoth loss to the sovereign fund. The significant drop in the value of tech companies has resulted in a loss to the fund’s portfolio.
Nicolai Tangen, the CEO of the fund, said in a statement that the massive market fluctuations have impacted the first quarter of the year. He added that due to the effect of the tech sector stocks, their equity investment had a negative return on investment.
AI stocks overvalued?
Concerns over the overvaluation of AI companies, DeepSeek’s release, geopolitical tension and currency fluctuations have hit the tech companies in the first quarter of 2025. Also, it should be noted that these losses in NBIM were before Trump’s tariff policy effects in early April, which again shook the shares of tech companies.
Norges Bank Investment Management was established in 1990 to invest the surplus capital in various forms worldwide. Almost all its funds come from the surplus income from the petroleum industry, and till 200,6 it was called the Petroleum Fund of Norway.
Key investment
Presently, the fund has invested in 71 countries. About 70 percent of NBIM’s investment is in equities, mostly in the United States’ equity market. About 55 percent of the fund’s total equity investment is placed in the United States, followed by the United Kingdom (3.5%), France (3.2%) and Switzerland (3.5%).
The biggest investments of the fund are in tech companies. The fund has invested $46.21 billion in Apple and has an ownership stake of 1.22 per cent. Similarly, it has invested $43.76 billion in Microsoft and has ownership of 1.40 percent. Other significant investments are in Nvidia ($42.97 Bln), Amazon ($26.97 Bln), Alphabet ($29.27 Bln) and Meta ($19.75 Bln).