Norway’s domestic wealth fund raised its holding in John Fredriksen’s Frontline last year, when the tanker giant engaged in a titanic takeover battle with Euronav.
Frontline was in the top 10 contributors in the fund’s stock portfolio in 2023.
Kjetil Houg, chief executive of Folketrygdfondet, which manages the fund, told TradeWinds: “We do not comment on single companies, but in general, the upturn in the shipping sector has been driven by macro factors, which has provided a positive momentum.
“This has been a rewarding sector for us to be exposed to, and Frontline is listed on our top 10 list of single largest contributors to our equity portfolio in 2023.”
The Government Pension Fund Norway, which holds assets worth NOK 354bn ($33.7bn), increased its ownership in Frontline to 4.8% from 4.1%.
The stake was worth around NOK 2.2bn at the end of last year.
The fund returned 11.4% in 2023, which was 1.5 points better than its benchmark, according to its annual report.
“We delivered the second-best result in the fund’s history in 2023, but this must be seen in the context of the drop in value in 2022,” Houg said in a statement.
“We are satisfied with once again delivering a high excess return in both the stock and bond portfolio.”
The wealth fund’s portfolio of shipping and offshore stocks had a value of about NOK 13.8bn.
The biggest holdings were Subsea 7, followed by Frontline, Hafnia, BW LPG, Borr Drilling and Golden Ocean Group.
The fund marginally raised the stakes in Subsea 7, which made a short-term play for DOF in the period, and BW LPG, one of the best-performing shipping stocks in Oslo last year.
The holding in Hafnia jumped from 2.65% to 4.4%, while the stake in Golden Ocean rose from 3.16% to 4.67%.
One of the fund’s newer bets is Hoegh Autoliners. It bought shares in the second half of the year and now holds about 4.3% of the car carrier owner.
| Company | Number of shares | Stake | Value in million NOK |
| BW LPG | 10,022,916 | 7.16% | 1.516,47 |
| Hafnia | 22,437,029 | 4.40% | 1 575,08 |
| Frontline | 10,633,705 | 4.78% | 2 157,58 |
| Subsea 7 | 24,777,507 | 8.14% | 3 672,03 |
| Treasure | 7,628,031 | 3.73% | 160,95 |
| AP Moller-Maersk A | 8,941 | 0.07% | 161,20 |
| MPC Container Ships | 15,481,635 | 3.49% | 206,29 |
| Flex LNG | 990,049 | 1.82% | 295,43 |
| Stolt-Nielsen | 1,524,055 | 2.60% | 474,74 |
| Hoegh Autoliners | 8,206,940 | 4.30% | 757,09 |
| Wallenius Wilhelmsen | 10,228,160 | 2.42% | 910,31 |
| Golden Ocean Group | 9,402,318 | 4,67% | 925,38 |
| Borr Drilling | 12,616,013 | 4.78% | 956,92 |
| AP Moller-Maersk B | 3 .76 | 0.07% | 58,02 |
Norway’s domestic wealth fund holds 60% stocks and 40% bonds. Around 85% is invested in Norway and 15% in the rest of the Nordics.
It is the largest institutional investor on the Oslo Stock Exchange with ownership of around 5% of the Norwegian stock market.
The return on the stock portfolio was 13.6% in 2023. The bond portfolio returned 8.2%.
The fund held bonds issued by Wallenius Wilhelmsen, Stena International, Norden, DFDS and Odfjell at the end of 2023.
Norway also has a global wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, which is valued at $1.6trn.
| Company | Value in million NOK |
| Wallenius Wilhelmsen | 342,98 |
| Stena International | 235,90 |
| Dampskibsselskabet Norden | 161,78 |
| DFDS | 135,66 |
| Odfjell | 100,82 |
| Ocean Yield | 69,97 |
| BW Offshore Limited | 51,68 |
| Stolt-Nielsen | 41,53 |
