IPE Nordic Briefing: Norway opens Arctic division of sovereign wealth fund

Norway officially opened a new division of its sovereign wealth fund earlier this month – in part as a consequence of the continuing growth of the country’s financial wealth. The new Arctic unit of the fund – referred to by the Finance Ministry as the Government Fund in Tromsø (Statens fond i Tromsø) – is a branch of Folketrygdfondet, which runs the domestic and Nordic part of the overall SWF, the Government Pension Fund Norway (GPFN).

Unveiling the new premises in Tromsø, a near two-hour flight from Oslo, finance minister Jens Stoltenberg said the Arctic fund would strengthen the financial environment in Northern Norway, and give the SWF access to skilled employees in the North.

Meanwhile, the huge internationally invested side of Norway’s SWF, the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), has been using its significant influence to sway EU policy on capital market development. Reminding policy proposers that it is the largest single-owned investor in EU markets, GPFG manager Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) told the European Commission this week in response to a consultation that capital markets supervision should be unified at a European level.

But holding stakes in so many companies around the world also leaves the GPFG open to harsh criticism, an example of which came from United Nations special rapporteur Francesca Albanese on 20 May. Her investigations had found that 6.9% of the GPFG was invested in companies “involved in supporting or enabling egregious violations of international law in the occupied Palestinian territory”, she told Stoltenberg in a letter.  

In his lengthy reply, the finance minister said the Norwegian government was confident the GPFG’s investments did not violate Norway’s obligations under international law.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension has been exerting its influence directly on US internet giant Alphabet lately, with CIO Anders Schelde making a speech at the company’s digital AGM on Friday to move a resolution – in conjunction with other investors – on the impact on human rights of Google’s targeted advertising. 

In Sweden, the big losses suffered by four of the five AP national pension buffer funds from the bankruptcy of battery maker Northvolt are continuing to have repercussions. At the end of May, the Swedish government ordered an external analysis of the way AP1-4 invest in unlisted assets, saying It was important to learn from the funds’ Northvolt experience. 

It highlighted the structure the four funds had used to invest, saying the limited partnership 4 to 1 Investments had no employees and made no other investments.

In Finland, the country’s financial watchdog may have to go back to the drawing board in its drafting of regulations to interpret the pension reform legislation. Pensions lobby groups, as well as other stakeholders, warned the FSA in its consultation that some of the guidelines departed too far from the original wording of the law – or even attempted to replace it entirely.

Items to note:

• Danish pension funds Velliv and Lægernes Pension feature in a pan-European article by IPE writers on how pension funds view active management – available online and in the IPE May/June 2025 magazine.
• IPE Iceland, a one-day forum for the country’s investment decision makers, asset managers, and European pension funds, is taking place on 8 October at Reykjavik’s Harpa Concert Hall and Conference Centre.

Rachel Fixsen

Nordic Correspondent