In a public hearing in the Standing Committee on Finance and Economic Affairs in January, CEO Yngve Slyngstad explained that the fund’s exposure to the coal sector was between 2.6 billion kroner and 116 billion kroner at the end of 2013, depending on how the coal sector is defined. The criticism towards the fund that the fund has given inaccurate information in the hearing, is groundless.
Yngve Slyngstad participated in the public hearing 28 January to provide information about the fund’s investments in coal companies. Slyngstad stressed that it is complex to define the overall coal exposure, as many companies, to varying degree, are exposed to the coal sector.
In the hearing, Slyngstad provided an overview of the fund’s total investments in coal companies, mining companies and utility companies. Approximately 2.6 billion kroner of the fund’s holdings at the end of 2013 was invested in companies that mainly extract coal, but it was underlined by Slyngstad that many companies within general mining and utilities have exposure to the coal sector as well. As explained in the hearing, the fund’s holdings in general mining was 36.6 billion at the end of 2013, while 77.3 billion kroner was invested in utilities.
See Slyngstad’s powerpoint-presentation (Norwegian only)