Norway’s wealth fund reports record profits. It’s now worth $319,900 per citizen.

There are some strong contenders for the best financial decisions of all time: franchising a hamburger restaurant in the 1950s; shorting the housing market in 2007; and, despite this week’s slump, buying a bunch of Nvidia stock at its IPO.

Near the top of the list, though, is one made by Norway’s government. After declaring sovereignty over the Norwegian Continental Shelf back in 1963, Norway started drilling, and before long, they struck oil — lots of it. 

Oil for one, and one for oil

In 1990, the country established the Government Petroleum Fund, which would invest its newfound oil wealth into a range of assets to be drawn on for its citizens “when required”. After an initial investment of 1.98 billion Norwegian Krone (~$175 million), the fund’s value began to compound quickly, as returns from real estate, government bonds, and stocks stacked up.

Cut to today, and Norway’s sovereign wealth fund is the biggest in the world. It owns 1.5% of all listed stocks globally, making it the world’s largest single investor. Now, following a bumper year for big tech, the fund posted a record-breaking annual profit of ~$222 billion on Wednesday, with the fund’s value topping $1.78 trillion at the time of writing — the equivalent of ~$319,900 for each Norwegian citizen.

While equities make up more than two-thirds of the fund’s value, its operator, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), has been driving more capital into renewable energy infrastructure in recent years.

Still, Norway’s big green push (the country is also set to become the first to fully transition to electric vehicles, with EVs accounting for 96% of new cars sold so far this year) being owed to literally trillions of petrodollars doesn’t come without a slick of irony.

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