Published: January 30, 2024 at 6:36am ET
The Norwegian Oil Fund on Tuesday reported its biggest annual return in its history, with performance led by U.S. technology companies and Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company that makes the diabetes-turned-weight-loss drug Ozempic.
Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, said it also benefited in 2023 from market excitement over the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT.
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The Norwegian Oil Fund on Tuesday reported its biggest annual return in its history, with performance led by U.S. technology companies and Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company that makes the diabetes-turned-weight-loss drug Ozempic.
Norwegian Government Pension Fund Global, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, said it also benefited in 2023 from market excitement over the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence technologies such as ChatGPT.
Oil fund manager Nikolai Tangen said the fund’s value rose 16% in the same year to 15.765 trillion kroner (about $1.5 trillion) despite “high inflation and geopolitical turmoil.” reported. This equates to $273,000 per inhabitant in Norway, a country of 5.5 million people.
The six largest contributors to the fund’s growth were U.S. technology companies: Microsoft, Apple, Nvidia, Meta, Amazon, and Alphabet. Electric car maker Tesla came in 7th place.
The next largest contributor was Denmark-based Nova Nordisk. Ozempic was originally developed as a diabetes treatment, but its growth accelerated in 2023 as more people sought it as an obesity treatment.
Nova Nordisk also makes a higher-dose version of the same drug, which is sold as a weight loss drug under the brand name Wegovy.
The Global Government Pension Fund, commonly known as the Oil Fund, invests profits from Norwegian oil and gas and owns approximately 1.5% of all listed companies in the world. The fund is mostly made up of stocks, but also includes government bonds, real estate and renewable energy infrastructure.