The Government Pension Fund Norway, managed by Folketrygdfondet, made an investment return of 2.93 per cent in the first quarter of the year.

Publishing its quarterly results, the pension fund, which only invests within Scandinavia, said this was equivalent to NOK 11bn and in line with the benchmark. It brings total capital managed by the fund to NOK 389bn, as of 31 March 2025.

Broken down, the return on the equity portfolio was 4.40 per cent and the return on the fixed income portfolio was 0.47 per cent.

"We delivered a result in line with the market. On the equities side, companies in the financial sector in particular are pulling upwards, while companies in areas such as healthcare are falling. The fixed income portfolio was stable throughout the quarter," Folketrygdfondet CEO, Kjetil Houg, said.

Regarding the Nordic stock market, the GPFN said the market was “very diverse” during the quarter, with the Norwegian market leading the way in the Nordic region with a return of 6.4 per cent, followed by the Finnish market with 4.9 per cent and the Swedish market with 1.6 per cent.

However, the Danish market was characterised by the fall in the healthcare sector with a decline of 17 per cent. The figures are measured in local currency.

"The year started off with a solid recovery in the Nordic market, but rising geopolitical uncertainty related to international trade dampened sentiment towards the end of the quarter," Houg said.

Since 2007, the GPFN’s return has been 7.5 per cent annually. During this period, active management has generated an excess return of 1 percentage point per year. This is equivalent to around NOK 61bn and more than 15 per cent of the fund's value.

Over the past 10 years, the pension fund’s return has been 7.2 per cent annually.

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