An analysis of the Government Petroleum Fund’s equity allocation

1. Introduction

In its letter of 20 December 2000, the Ministry of Finance announced that it would undertake a new evaluation of the Petroleum Fund’s equity allocation. This was deemed necessary as a result of the increased size of the Fund and the longer investment horizon than assumed when the equity proportion was set at 40 per cent in the autumn of 1997. Norges Bank was requested to assess factors that are relevant to this evaluation. The Ministry was particularly interested in an assessment of the Fund’s expected return and risk in connection with different equity allocations. Moreover, the Ministry wished to receive information concerning the equity allocation chosen by large international funds. The Ministry also requested Norges Bank to evaluate any operational consequences of a change in the equity allocation.

Read the whole letter  (PDF on Norges Bank's web page)