Norway’s giant sovereign wealth fund, worth nearly $1.75 trillion, invested over $1.57 billion in company shares in Türkiye as of the end of 2024.
According to information gathered by Anadolu from Norges Bank, the organization in charge of overseeing the Norwegian Wealth Fund, the fund invested a portion of its holdings in 44 diversely sized businesses that operate in a range of industries last year.
The Norway Wealth Fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, invested over $1.57 billion in the shares of Turkish companies.
The fund’s portfolio included shares worth approximately $90 million in two energy companies: Türkiye Petrol Rafinerileri AS (Tupras) and Astor Enerji AS.
– Biggest investment in Koc Holding
Koc Holding was the recipient of the largest share investment of the wealth fund in Türkiye. The fund owns a 0.90% stake in the company, with a total investment of approximately $115.6 million.
The fund invested $113.53 million in Akbank, $111.38 million in Birlesik Magazalar AS (BİM), $82.96 million in Turkish Airlines, and $77.42 million in Turkcell.
The fund’s largest percentage stake in the Turkish portfolio is in MLP Sağlık Hizmetleri AS, in which it holds a 3.10% interest with an investment of $63.97 million.
Aksa Akrilik Kimya Sanayisi and Is Investment followed with the fund holding a 3% share in each. The total amount invested in the shares of these companies amounted to $42.64 million and $62.30 million, respectively.
– Fund invests in 63 countries in 2024
Since 1990, the Norwegian Wealth Fund has invested in foreign stocks, bonds and real estate markets with the returns from the country’s oil and natural gas production.
Just a small percentage of the fund’s earnings are available for use by the Norwegian government and the majority must be set aside for future generations.
Last year, the fund invested in 8,659 companies in 63 countries, and in recent years the fund has invested heavily in renewable energy projects.
The market capitalization of the fund reached 19.75 trillion Norwegian kroner ($1.74 trillion) as of Dec. 31, 2024.
Since 2008, the Norwegian Wealth Fund has boosted its holdings in Turkish company equities, having previously made modest investments in Türkiye since 2001.
The Norwegian Wealth Fund is also interested in stakes in major companies operating in the transportation, chemical, automotive, software and steel sectors in Türkiye.
The fund had increased its investments in Türkiye from $485 million in 2021 to $1.2 billion in 2022 and $1.3 billion in 2023.
The latest investment of $1.57 billion dollars was the fund’s largest investment in Türkiye so far.
Last year, the fund reported a record annual profit of $222 billion dollars, the highest annual profit ever in kroner terms. It was noted that the most important factor in this profitability was the ‘rally’ in US technology stocks.
