World’s Biggest Wealth Fund Dings Tesla: “We Want To Be Invested In Companies That Make Money”


Norway’s $1 trillion wealth fund – the largest in the world – reported earnings for Q2 on Tuesday, a quarter in which it made $20 billion but mostly thanks to the oil and gas stocks that it looking to divest as part of its clean mandate. However, its overall return was hurt due to its massive exposure to global stocks which suffered in the quarter due to trade war fears: in the second quarter, the fund posted a 1.8% return following a loss in the first quarter, resulting in a paltry 0.24% return in the first half, its worst performance in 8 years.

The fund, which owns 1.4% of global stocks, saw its total stock holdings rise 2.7%, while bonds were unchanged and real estate provided a 1.9% return.The fund, also known as Norges Bank Investment Management, is a major shareholder in the U.S. tech giants. Its largest stock holdings at the end of the quarter were Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Microsoft Corp. Its largest bond holdings were in U.S. Treasuries, followed by Japanese and German government debt.

As shown below, at June 30, the fund held 66.8% in stocks, 30.6% in bonds and 2.6% in real estate. The return missed the benchmark index by 0.2% point.

And while the world’s biggest wealth fund benefited in the first six months from a rally in U.S. markets, fueled by tax cuts, it warned about the impact on the world economy of rising protectionism after U.S. President Donald Trump imposed tariffs on key trading partners.

“The prospect of increased trade barriers is something that is high on everybody’s agenda,” Trond Grande, the fund’s deputy chief executive officer, said on Tuesday. “It’s fair to say that increased trade barriers, or even trade wars, will not be beneficial for the fund as a long-term global investor.”

Sure enough, the fund lost 5.7% in emerging market stocks and 4% on Chinese equities. Ironically, as Bloomberg notes, the biggest sector driver for its returns were oil and gas stocks, which it has proposed divesting. Financial stocks were the weakest performers, led by Banco Santander SA.

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