The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the Government Pension Fund Global, sold its stakes in key tanker and gas stocks during the first half of the year.
It offloaded stakes in DHT Holdings, Dorian LPG and Teekay Tankers.
The fund also exited International Seaways and offshore wind vessel owner Cadeler.
Its shipping portfolio, which consists of about 40 stocks grew to around $3.3bn at the end of June from $3bn at the end of 2023.
The wealth fund’s biggest shipping stock holdings are DSV, Royal Caribbean Cruises, AP Moller-Maersk, Viking Holdings, NYK and Carnival PLC.
Several cruise line holdings increased in both size and value. The investment in Royal Caribbean Cruises surged from $316m to $469m.
The fund also bought into cruise ship owner Viking Holdings’ IPO in New York during the spring.
The stake in Viking was 1.4%, which was worth about $209m at the end of June.
The fund returned 8.6% in the first half, achieving a record total value of NOK 17.745bn ($1.7trn).
The value was boosted by a weakening Norwegian krone. The global wealth fund only invests in assets outside Norway.
The return on the fund’s equity investments was 12%, the return on the fixed income investments was -1%, whereas investments in unlisted real estate returned -1%. The return on unlisted renewable energy infrastructure was -18%.
“The equity investments gave a very strong return in the first half of the year. The result was mainly driven by the technology stocks, due to increased demand for new solutions in artificial intelligence,” said Nicolai Tangen, chief executive of Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the fund.
| Country | Name | Market Value (USD) | Voting share | Ownership share |
| Denmark | DSV | 1,109,193,130 | 3.38 | 3.38 |
| US | Royal Caribbean Cruises | 468,453,966 | 1.14 | 1.14 |
| Denmark | AP Moller-Maersk | 238,416,582 | 0.11 | 0.87 |
| US | Viking Holdings | 208,574,129 | 0.39 | 1.42 |
| Japan | Nippon Yusen KK | 195,969,968 | 1.46 | 1.46 |
| UK | Carnival | 187,665,431 | 0.86 | 0.86 |
| Japan | Mitsui OSK Lines | 154,007,378 | 1.42 | 1.42 |
| Qatar | Qatar Gas Transport | 115,136,193 | 1.62 | 1.62 |
| Germany | TUI Group | 98,469,954 | 2.74 | 2.74 |
| US | Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings | 92,722,750 | 1.15 | 1.15 |
| Taiwan | Yang Ming Marine Transport | 82,967,418 | 1.03 | 1.03 |
| US | Carnival Corp | 69,767,886 | 0.29 | 0.29 |
| US | Scorpio Tankers | 48,753,434 | 1.13 | 1.13 |
| India | Container Corp Of India | 39,915,840 | 0.52 | 0.52 |
| Denmark | TORM | 37,307,844 | 0.74 | 1.01 |
| Denmark | D/S Norden | 22,955,912 | 1.65 | 1.65 |
| Denmark | DFDS | 22,356,336 | 1.36 | 1.36 |
| Hong Kong | Pacific Basin Shipping | 21,891,523 | 1.32 | 1.32 |
| China | Cosco Shipping Energy Transportation Co | 21,611,497 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| India | Great Eastern Shipping Co | 17,316,971 | 0.83 | 0.83 |
| UK | Clarksons | 16,921,539 | 1.05 | 1.05 |
| China | COSCO SHIPPING Holdings Co | 15,629,725 | 0.06 | 0.06 |
| Belgium | Euronav | 9,894,616 | 0.27 | 0.27 |
| Denmark | NTG Nordic Transport Group | 9,327,306 | 0.94 | 0.94 |
| Hong Kong | Orient Overseas International | 8,268,265 | 0.08 | 0.08 |
| Thailand | Precious Shipping PCL | 7,938,835 | 1.91 | 1.91 |
| United Arab Emirates | Adnoc Logistics & Services | 6,418,977 | 0.08 | 0.08 |
| US | Star Bulk Carriers | 5,757,044 | 0.2 | 0.2 |
| Estonia | Tallink Grupp | 4,412,983 | 0.86 | 0.86 |
| US | SFL Corp | 3,342,304 | 0.17 | 0.17 |
| US | Nordic American Tankers | 1,913,461 | 0.23 | 0.23 |
| Italy | d’Amico International Shipping | 1,581,903 | 0.16 | 0.16 |
| Taiwan | U-Ming Marine Transport | 1,389,777 | 0.1 | 0.1 |
| Singapore | Cosco Shipping International Singapore | 1,088,180 | 0.44 | 0.44 |
| Brazil | Oceanpact Servicos Maritimos | 814,122 | 0.35 | 0.35 |
| Taiwan | First Steamship | 695,849 | 0.34 | 0.34 |
| US | Golar LNG | 93,110 | 0 | 0 |
| US | Zim Integrated Shipping Services | 77,395 | 0 | 0 |
| Taiwan | Wan Hai Lines | 32,901 | 0 | 0 |
| Taiwan | Wisdom Marine Lines | 1,972 | 0 | 0 |
| China | Cosco Shipping Development Co | 145 | 0 | 0 |
Nvidia, Microsoft, Alphabet and Amazon were the biggest contributors to absolute return.
The fund’s return was 0.04 percentage points less than the return on the benchmark index.
Equities accounted for 72% of the fund, 26% was invested in fixed income, 1.7% in unlisted real estate and 0.1% in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure.
The fund, which gets inflows from Norway’s oil and gas revenues, has a shareholding in about 8,800 companies in 71 countries. On average, the fund holds about 1.5% of the entire roster of globally listed companies.
In connection with this half-year report, for the first time, the fund published an updated holdings list for the first half of the year.
“We are already the world’s most transparent fund, but now we are increasing transparency even further. From now on, everyone will be able to find an updated overview of all our investments on a half-yearly basis,” Tangen said.
