Valuation | Norges Bank Investment Management

Issued 1 July 2011
Last updated 15 October 2024

Policy

All assets and liabilities managed by Norges Bank Investment Management, including real estate and infrastructure subsidiaries, shall be included in the financial reporting for the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and Norges Bank, and measured at fair value, in accordance with international financial reporting standards (IFRS) and Global Investment Performance Standards (GIPS). The policy shall be continually reassessed against both IFRS developments and changes in internal practices.

Fair value definition

The accounting standard IFRS 13 Fair Value Measurement defines fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date.
GIPS defines fair value as the amount at which an investment could be exchanged in a current arm's length transaction between willing parties in which the parties each act knowledgeably and prudently.
Fair value according to IFRS and GIPS is expected to be equal. In case of deviations, IFRS shall prevail for financial reporting purposes.

Fair value measurement

For all assets and liabilities, the tradable price (for normal trade sizes in unstressed situations) gives the fair value and shall be the representative price.
For conversion between currencies WM/Reuters Closing Spot Rates 16:00 GMT Dollar fix shall be applied.
For assets and liabilities that are traded in active exchange or dealer markets, closing exchange prices shall be used for securities traded in exchange markets and bid prices for securities trading in dealer markets if available and if reflecting the tradable price.
For securities not trading in active markets, indicative (or alternatively independently evaluated) bid prices shall be used where these are available.
Bilateral derivative products will be valued at observable market quotes relevant to timing of the underlying cash flows.
For securities with unobservable prices, model-derived prices are used. Where model-derived prices are implemented, industry standard models with observable market inputs should be used as far as possible.
Prices shall be sourced independently of the investment area.
All unlisted real estate investments shall at least annually be valued by an appointed and certified independent valuation firm. Property valuations are required to be prepared in compliance with internationally recognized valuation standards. In the event an alternative standard is used, compliance with our requirements shall be reviewed on a case-by-case basis. The property valuations should be produced so that they are suitable for use in preparing financial statements under IFRS.
All unlisted infrastructure investments shall at least annually, and preferably at year end, be valued by an external and independent third party. Investments in infrastructure can be exempted from this requirement. The valuations should be produced so that they are suitable for use in preparing financial statements under IFRS.
Prices are obtained from independent market data providers and prioritised according to an internal hierarchy. If the prices received do not represent fair value, the principles outlined in this policy are applied to arrive at a price representing fair value.

Reporting

On a quarterly basis, reports shall be compiled for presentation to the LG investment meeting. These reports shall make it possible to evaluate the effectiveness and uncertainty of the valuation process, whereby anomalies, significant pricing issues and challenges in the fair value assessment have been identified.