The world's largest sovereign wealth fund reduces holdings in Meta and ASML, while increasing holdings in Shell and three other energy giants
The latest holdings report from the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund shows that as of June 30th, the fund's market value reached $1.67 trillion, an increase of about 7% from the end of 2023. The fund reduced its holdings in Meta, Nokia, and ASML, and increased its holdings in Exxon Mobil, Shell, BP PLC-Spons, and other energy stocks, while reducing its holdings in Tesla and Volkswagen. The fund's stake in Meta decreased from 1.22% to 1.18%. The fund plans to update its investment portfolio twice a year in the future
According to Zhitong Finance, the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund has released its latest holdings data. As of June 30, the fund's market value reached $1.67 trillion, an increase of about 7% from the end of 2023. In the first half of this year, it reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms (META.US), Novo Nordisk (NVO.US), and ASML Holding (ASML.US), but these three companies are still among its top ten holdings. The fund also increased its holdings in three major energy stocks - Exxon Mobil (XOM.US), Shell (SHEL.US), and BP PLC (BP.US), while reducing its holdings in Tesla (TSLA.US) and Volkswagen.
The fund reduced its stake in Meta from 1.22% at the end of 2023 to 1.18%, valued at about $15.1 billion as of mid-year. By mid-year, the fund held 1.75% of Novo's shares, down from 1.87% at the beginning of the year. During the same period, its holdings in ASML decreased from 2.61% to 2.54%.
Traditionally, the fund updates its portfolio annually, but it will now do so twice a year. As of the end of June, the fund's top three holdings were Apple Inc. (AAPL.US), Microsoft Corporation (MSFT.US), and NVIDIA Corporation (NVDA.US).
The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund was established in the 1990s with the aim of investing Norway's oil and gas revenues overseas. It mainly tracks benchmark indices based on frameworks set by parliament. The company is scheduled to announce its first-half performance on Wednesday. As of the end of June, the fund held stakes in over 8,800 companies globally, with 72% in equities and around 26% in fixed-income investments.
The Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund has been stepping up efforts to use its influence to impact companies, especially on issues such as climate change, gender diversity on corporate boards, and executive compensation. Since 2021, it has been releasing voting intentions ahead of annual general meetings and started submitting its own shareholder proposals last year. In this voting season, the Norwegian giant provided a customized rationale for voting against Tesla CEO Elon Musk's $56 billion compensation package and against the appointment of Exxon Mobil director Joseph Hulie