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Oil production near Stavanger in Norway (archive image)
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CARINA JOHANSEN / AFP
The share prices, which have risen sharply despite the corona crisis, have brought the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund enormous profits in 2020, especially the strong increase in the value of shares in tech companies.
"This is primarily due to the fact that the virus pandemic has caused a strong increase in demand for products for online work, learning, trading and entertainment," said Nicolai Tangen, who has been in office since September.
Norway has the largest state fund in the world.
It feeds on the income from the oil and gas business, and the money is then invested on the world's stock exchanges.
Last year it was a very profitable business: the fund achieved a profit of 1.07 trillion Norwegian kroner in 2020, which is equivalent to around 102 billion euros.
The fund's return was thus twelve percent, compared to 42 percent for technology stocks.
Still at a loss in the summer - then came the stock market bonanza
Among other things, Joe Biden's victory in the US presidential election, but above all the very positive results on corona vaccines and their approval, made investors optimistic.
The pandemic will soon be over and the economy will recover quickly, was the credo.
At the first half of the year, the fund had reported a loss of the equivalent of 18 billion euros.
Norway's pension fund, commonly referred to as an oil fund, acts as an insurance for future generations when oil can no longer be drilled.
It is fed with the income from Norwegian oil and gas production, administered by the central bank on behalf of the Treasury and invests in thousands of companies worldwide, including large corporations such as Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.
Last year, around 28.6 billion euros were withdrawn from the fund, bringing it to a total value of 1.046 trillion euros at the end of the year.
72.8 percent of this is invested in stocks, 24.7 percent in bonds and 2.5 percent in real estate.
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