“The Executive Board is satisfied that the return both in 2017 and over a longer period has been good and higher than the return on the benchmark index,” says Øystein Olsen, Chairman of the Executive Board of Norges Bank.

Equity investments returned 19.4 percent. Unlisted real estate investments returned 7.5 percent, and fixed-income investments 3.3 percent. The overall return on the fund was 0.7 percentage point higher than the return on the benchmark index.

“The fund’s cumulative return since inception has passed EUR 415 billion. One out of four kroner return was generated in 2017, after a very strong year for the fund. Again, our equity investments returned strongest with a return close to 20 percent,” says Yngve Slyngstad, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management.

The krone weakened against several of the main currencies during the year, which increased the fund's value by 15 billion kroner. Net withdrawal from the fund was 61 billion kroner.

The fund had a market value of EUR 881 billion at 31 December 2017, of which 66.6 percent was invested in equities, 2.6 percent in unlisted real estate and 30.8 percent in fixed income.