It's a small comma that costs the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund dearly.
Although it is one of the largest on the planet, representing 1.5% of the world's stock market capitalization, it is not immune to administrative errors.
In February 2023, an error crept into one of its Excel tables relating to the calculation of a financial index.
If it was immediately corrected, the damage was done, and the sovereign fund lost 92 million dollars (86 million euros), reports the
Financial Times
.
In total, this represents almost twice the cumulative operational and accidental losses suffered by the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund from 2010 to 2020.
“This is a good example of how even tiny operational inaccuracies can have colossal consequences when you manage one of the largest pools of capital in the world
,” points out Norges Bank Investment Management.
In reality, these 92 million dollars seem almost insignificant compared to the 1,500 billion dollars (1,400 billion euros) in assets that the sovereign fund has, present in 9,000 companies.
This is why the author of the error and his superiors received an email from the head of the fund, Nicolai Tangen, who played down the situation:
“These things happen!
You are both super professional and you contribute to the success of the company.
Don't let this ruin your weekend.
Forward and uplift our hearts!”