Norway's SWF Posts Record US$184 Billion Profit in Six Months
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), posted a record profit in the first half of 2026. During the first six months of the year, NBIM recorded a gain of more than US$184 billion (Rp 3,380 trillion).
The performance was driven by a rally in Asian technology stocks, which helped NBIM achieve a return of 9.4%.
“This growth was driven by good returns in the equity market, particularly from Asian technology stocks,” said NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen in a statement on Wednesday, as cited by CNBC International on Thursday (13/8/2026).
NBIM was originally established in the 1990s to invest Norway’s revenues from the oil and gas industry. The sovereign wealth fund, currently valued at around US$2.34 trillion (Rp 41,354 trillion), invests in more than 7,000 companies across more than 50 countries.
More than two-thirds of the total portfolio is in equities. In addition to equities, NBIM also invests in fixed-income instruments, real estate, and renewable energy infrastructure.
For equities specifically, around 40% of NBIM’s portfolio consists of US stocks. Its largest holdings include Nvidia, Apple, and Microsoft.
NBIM’s first-half report revealed that the fund holds a 0.05% stake in SpaceX, valued at more than US$1.2 billion. The SpaceX position is indeed much smaller compared to several of NBIM’s other largest investments.
NBIM held around 1.3% of Nvidia shares worth US$61.8 billion and 1.2% of Apple shares worth US$52.7 billion as of 30 June. The investment in SpaceX makes NBIM a major investor in two public companies led by Elon Musk.
The sovereign wealth fund also holds around 1% of Tesla shares, reported to be worth approximately US$15.7 billion at the end of the first half. However, Musk’s relationship with NBIM has not always been smooth.
In 2024, NBIM voted against Musk’s historic US$56 billion compensation package from Tesla. It was later reported that Musk declined Tangen’s invitation to attend a private dinner and conference held by NBIM in Oslo.
NBIM subsequently voted again against Musk’s US$1 trillion compensation package at Tesla’s general meeting of shareholders in late 2025.
“We appreciate the significant value created under Musk’s visionary leadership,” NBIM said at the time.
Meanwhile, at a press conference on Wednesday, Tangen highlighted the significant contribution of the semiconductor sector to the fund’s growth in the first half. The list includes Samsung, SK Hynix, TSMC, ASML, Intel, and Nvidia.
“Chips, chips, chips, chips,” Tangen said while standing in front of a chart showing the best-performing stocks in NBIM’s portfolio.
However, like global equity markets, the fund also faced volatility. Its equity investments fell 2.6% in the first quarter of 2026, when markets were hit by concerns over valuations and the outlook for artificial intelligence (AI), as well as uncertainty due to the US-Iran war.
In the second quarter of 2026, NBIM’s equity holdings then surged 15.98%, producing a return of 12.95% for the first half.
In a speech at the Arendalsuka political conference in Norway on Tuesday, Tangen described the sovereign wealth fund as “a piggy bank for all of Norway”. However, he cautioned that Norway must be prepared for fluctuations in the fund’s value.
“Can this fund disappear? The answer is ‘yes’ – and the worst part is that, in the world we live in today, it is quite possible,” Tangen said.
“No country in history has managed to maintain large financial wealth over the long term. Wealth is ultimately always lost,” he stressed.