The return on the Government Petroleum Fund in the third quarter of 2003 was 1.68 per cent measured in terms of the currency basket corresponding to the composition of the Fund’s benchmark portfolio. In the first three quarters of 2003, total return was 7.68 per cent.
The return on the equity portfolio in the third quarter was 4.24 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark portfolio’s currency basket. Equity prices in all three main markets rose through the quarter. The return on the fixed income portfolio, however, was slightly negative in the third quarter, -0.15 per cent measured in terms of the currency basket.
The return on the Petroleum Fund’s ordinary portfolio in the third quarter was 0.15 percentage point higher than the return on the benchmark portfolio that has been defined by the Ministry of Finance. The Fund reports an excess return of 0.49 percentage point for the first three quarters of 2003. The third quarter return on the Environmental Fund was 4.99 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark portfolio’s currency basket. In the first nine months of 2003, total return was 11.14 per cent.
The market value of the Fund’s total securities portfolio was NOK 803.3 billion at the end of the third quarter, which is an increase of NOK 27.8 billion during the quarter and an increase of NOK 194.3 billion since year-end.
The increase in market value in the third quarter is a result of positive returns and the transfer of new capital. A stronger krone in relation to the currencies in which the Fund is invested contributed to reducing the Fund’s market value by approximately NOK 7.4 billion in the third quarter. This has no effect on the international purchasing power of the Fund. NOK 21.9 billion in new capital was transferred to the Fund, while the return on invested capital, measured in international currencies, amounted to roughly NOK 13.3 billion.