Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG), widely known as the Oil Fund, invests under a mandate set by the Ministry of Finance and is managed operationally by Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM). Its 70/30 equity-and-bond benchmark is a reference for measuring performance, not a fixed recipe for every holding. Returns depend on markets, management decisions, the period measured and—in krone terms—exchange rates.
Who owns and manages the fund?
The fund belongs to the Norwegian people, represented by the Government and the Storting, Norway’s parliament. The Ministry of Finance has formal responsibility for the fund and sets its overall investment strategy through a management mandate. Norges Bank carries out operational management within that mandate; NBIM, a part of Norges Bank, manages the investments and reports on results. NBIM’s investment-strategy overview describes the mandate and objective.
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The aim is the highest possible long-term return after costs, subject to acceptable risk. Responsible management is part of the mandate within that financial objective. The mandate also defines eligible markets, asset classes and risk limits. The GPFG is a sovereign wealth fund—not a consumer investment fund or an account from which individuals can invest or withdraw money.
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The Ministry’s strategic benchmark is 70 percent equities and 30 percent fixed income. It is the reference portfolio used to assess the fund’s results; it does not require the actual portfolio to hold exactly those proportions at every moment. The strategic weights have been 70/30 since 1 May 2019. NBIM says the equity component uses FTSE Russell indices and the bond component uses Bloomberg indices. See NBIM’s benchmark-index description.
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At year-end 2025, actual holdings were 71.3 percent equities, 26.5 percent fixed income, 1.7 percent unlisted real estate and 0.4 percent unlisted renewable energy infrastructure. Those are the portfolio’s reported weights at 31 December 2025, not the benchmark allocation.
The real estate and renewable infrastructure holdings are unlisted and are not extra components of the benchmark’s 70/30 allocation. The fund finances them by selling equities and fixed income from the benchmark portfolio; comparisons for these investments account for the benchmark securities sold to fund them.
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How does NBIM invest?
NBIM groups its investment work into three complementary strategies. They operate over different horizons, so their contributions can vary from one period to another.
Market exposure
This strategy provides broad, cost-effective exposure to the equities and bonds represented in the benchmark. It anchors the portfolio to the markets and asset classes chosen in the mandate.
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Security selection
NBIM analyses and selects companies and other securities, taking positions that can differ from benchmark weights. It uses both internal and external managers. These choices can add to or detract from performance relative to the benchmark in a given period.
Fund allocation
This strategy seeks to improve the fund’s return and risk characteristics over time, including through unlisted real estate and renewable energy infrastructure. Such investments are not guaranteed to outperform the benchmark, particularly over shorter periods.
In its 2025 annual report, NBIM said market exposure contributed positively to relative return that year, while security selection and fund allocation contributed negatively. It also reported that total return over the preceding three years had been below the benchmark, with fund allocation making a negative contribution. These are NBIM’s retrospective attributions, not forecasts. The 2025 annual report gives the period-specific detail.
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What returns did the fund earn?
The figures below are reported by NBIM. Unless specified otherwise, returns are measured in the fund’s currency basket, a weighted mix of currencies in the equity and bond benchmark. The figures for the separate asset classes cover 2025; the long-run figures cover the stated periods.
| Measure | NBIM-reported result | Period and basis |
|---|---|---|
| Total return | 15.1% | 2025; 0.28 percentage point below the benchmark |
| Equities | 19.3% | 2025 return |
| Fixed income | 5.4% | 2025 return |
| Unlisted real estate | 4.4% | 2025 return |
| Unlisted renewable energy infrastructure | 18.1% | 2025 return |
| Average annual return | 6.6% | 1998–2025 |
| Annual net real return | 4.3% | 1998–2025; after inflation and management costs |
| Average annual excess return from equity management | 0.44 percentage point | Since 1999 through 2025; relative to the adjusted equity benchmark |
| Average annual excess return from fixed-income management | 0.25 percentage point | Since 1998 through 2025; relative to the adjusted bond benchmark |
Excess return is the amount by which management performance is above or below its adjusted benchmark; it is not the same measure as the fund’s total return. A positive long-run average does not mean active management outperformed in every year.
NBIM’s returns page reported an annualised return of 6.86 percent from 1 January 1998 through 30 June 2026. That later, updated period should not be treated as the same statistic as the 6.6 percent average annual return through 2025. The page’s figure is as of 30 June 2026; consult NBIM’s fund-returns page for the dated series.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why can the fund’s value in kroner change differently from its return?
A currency-basket return measures investment performance in the currencies used by the benchmark. The fund’s value stated in Norwegian kroner also changes when exchange rates move. A stronger krone can reduce the reported krone value of assets held in other currencies, even when the investments have earned a positive return in the fund’s currency basket.
NBIM reported a 2,362 billion kroner accounting return for 2025, while the fund’s value increased by 1,526 billion kroner during the year. These figures are not contradictory: inflows added capital, while krone appreciation against several major currencies reduced the value expressed in kroner. Return, cash flows and currency conversion are distinct contributors to the change in reported fund value.
What drove the 2025 result?
NBIM CEO Nicolai Tangen said in the 29 January 2026 release, “The fund delivered very strong results in 2025. Stocks in technology, financials and basic materials stood out, making a significant contribution to the overall return”. The statement describes that year’s contributors; it does not establish which sectors will lead in the future. NBIM’s 2025 results release reports the headline figures and quotation.
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