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> On average, the fund holds 1.4 percent of all of the world’s listed companies. Why fund businesses in other countires? Shouldn't Norway try to set up some mo

> On average, the fund holds 1.4 percent of all of the world’s listed companies. Why fund businesses in other countires? Shouldn't Norway try to set up some more industries at home? Everyone claim Europe (was: EU) needs more VC funding to stop the brain drain. Well, here is a huge pool of money just waiting to be spent

utopian3 7y ago
The point is diversification. If norway’s economy collapses, they’ll still be invested elsewhere. It’s financially unwise to keep all your eggs in one basket
sct202 7y ago
Norway isn't in the EU, so that wouldn't exactly be home for them either.
- panpanna 7y ago
  My bad, you are correct. Anyway, the point still stands. Why not make Oslo the silicon valley of Europe? I mean the weather is roughly the same, give or take 30 degrees :)
  - lallysingh 7y ago
    Do we need another SV? It's not really putting out the same quality of startups it used to.
  - nemothekid 7y ago
    If all it took was money, New York would be Silicon Valley.
  - mcv 7y ago
    Do you think they need even more money? The goal of this fund is not to invest in the economy, but to work as an insurance if ever the economy turns bad. If for whatever reason the economy in Norway collapses, they will still have this.
belltaco 7y ago
It's called diversification. If there's a downturn in Europe, you want to be insulated against it, otherwise you'd then be out of funds right when you actually need them the most. It'd be like investing all your savings in your company stock. If the company falls into tough times and you get laid off, you'd be out of money exactly when you need it real bad.
andy_ppp 7y ago
Because it allows them to maximise the returns? If it was Norway first the fund would be worth nowhere near a trillion dollars...
- Majromax 7y ago
  > Because it allows them to maximise the returns? That's also the major difference between a sovereign wealth fund, designed to provide income to the state, and an economic development fund. It also raises real political risks: it takes government competence over the long term to not use such a fund as an easy source of money for patronage-type "investments."
vetinari 7y ago
Norway is not an EU member, so by funding EU industries, they would found businesses in other countries ;)
- punnerud 7y ago
  We have to follow all their legislations and fund a lot of EU investment (based on our GDP). So we are practically a member, but don't get to vote. This is not a bad thing because EU is mainly about social benefits, and not politics as we are used to (and a lot of people think): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/
  - panpanna 7y ago
    EU is also about single market (to simplify life for businesses), which iirc Norway is mostly part of.
- buboard 7y ago
  They 're in the EEA and have interest in the growth of european economy in general (presumably to sell them their oil & gas? hehe)
nashashmi 7y ago
It's how countries conquer other countries in the new world. Before it was take over by region. Now it is franchise the region into a bunch of smaller obtainable parts. Norway is conquering the way it knows best.
punnerud 7y ago
There is a legislation on vote these days to open up for investment in companies that is not listed on the stock market. A lot of greentech companies is not listed yet, this is the main driver for the change. They still have to publicly give out information about their investments.
NeedMoreTea 7y ago
They already do this. It's the global fund that's reached $1tn, there's another side which is the Norway fund, though it actually limits to the Nordic countries and is a significant presence in that market. The Norway fund is worth a fraction of the Global fund, but I have no idea what proportion of oil revenues go into each.
petercooper 7y ago
Well, yes, they should, but the Norwegian economy is not really built around original ideas. Despite its current image as a country, Norway is historically incredibly conservative and this continues to be the case in their business environment. Nearly all of their exports are petroleum, fish or metal. Try to think of even a single notable Norwegian startup.. without Googling :-D
Emma_Goldman 7y ago
I'm from the UK and I've never heard of anyone talk of 'brain drain' as a problem. I think you may be generalising from the tech sector.
- buboard 7y ago
  Brain drain is very real in the european south. The UK is the sink where all this drain ends up thats why you don't hear about it.
elygre 7y ago
Norway doesn’t have the spare capacity to build more industries. Putting money into the Norwegian economy would just drive inflation.
vidarh 7y ago
The Norwegian government also owns about a third of the total shares by value listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. This fund is explicitly only investing outside Norway to prevent driving inflation, but the government also pumps a lot of money into Norwegian businesses.

utopian3 7y ago

The point is diversification. If norway’s economy collapses, they’ll still be invested elsewhere. It’s financially unwise to keep all your eggs in one basket

sct202 7y ago

Norway isn't in the EU, so that wouldn't exactly be home for them either.

panpanna 7y ago
My bad, you are correct. Anyway, the point still stands. Why not make Oslo the silicon valley of Europe? I mean the weather is roughly the same, give or take 30 degrees :)
- lallysingh 7y ago
  Do we need another SV? It's not really putting out the same quality of startups it used to.
- nemothekid 7y ago
  If all it took was money, New York would be Silicon Valley.
- mcv 7y ago
  Do you think they need even more money? The goal of this fund is not to invest in the economy, but to work as an insurance if ever the economy turns bad. If for whatever reason the economy in Norway collapses, they will still have this.

belltaco 7y ago

It's called diversification. If there's a downturn in Europe, you want to be insulated against it, otherwise you'd then be out of funds right when you actually need them the most. It'd be like investing all your savings in your company stock. If the company falls into tough times and you get laid off, you'd be out of money exactly when you need it real bad.

andy_ppp 7y ago

Because it allows them to maximise the returns? If it was Norway first the fund would be worth nowhere near a trillion dollars...

Majromax 7y ago
> Because it allows them to maximise the returns? That's also the major difference between a sovereign wealth fund, designed to provide income to the state, and an economic development fund. It also raises real political risks: it takes government competence over the long term to not use such a fund as an easy source of money for patronage-type "investments."

vetinari 7y ago

Norway is not an EU member, so by funding EU industries, they would found businesses in other countries ;)

punnerud 7y ago
We have to follow all their legislations and fund a lot of EU investment (based on our GDP). So we are practically a member, but don't get to vote. This is not a bad thing because EU is mainly about social benefits, and not politics as we are used to (and a lot of people think): http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/ http://www.europarl.europa.eu/legislative-train/
- panpanna 7y ago
  EU is also about single market (to simplify life for businesses), which iirc Norway is mostly part of.
buboard 7y ago
They 're in the EEA and have interest in the growth of european economy in general (presumably to sell them their oil & gas? hehe)

nashashmi 7y ago

It's how countries conquer other countries in the new world. Before it was take over by region. Now it is franchise the region into a bunch of smaller obtainable parts. Norway is conquering the way it knows best.

punnerud 7y ago

There is a legislation on vote these days to open up for investment in companies that is not listed on the stock market. A lot of greentech companies is not listed yet, this is the main driver for the change. They still have to publicly give out information about their investments.

NeedMoreTea 7y ago

They already do this. It's the global fund that's reached $1tn, there's another side which is the Norway fund, though it actually limits to the Nordic countries and is a significant presence in that market. The Norway fund is worth a fraction of the Global fund, but I have no idea what proportion of oil revenues go into each.

petercooper 7y ago

Well, yes, they should, but the Norwegian economy is not really built around original ideas. Despite its current image as a country, Norway is historically incredibly conservative and this continues to be the case in their business environment. Nearly all of their exports are petroleum, fish or metal. Try to think of even a single notable Norwegian startup.. without Googling :-D

Emma_Goldman 7y ago

I'm from the UK and I've never heard of anyone talk of 'brain drain' as a problem. I think you may be generalising from the tech sector.

buboard 7y ago
Brain drain is very real in the european south. The UK is the sink where all this drain ends up thats why you don't hear about it.

elygre 7y ago

Norway doesn’t have the spare capacity to build more industries. Putting money into the Norwegian economy would just drive inflation.

vidarh 7y ago

The Norwegian government also owns about a third of the total shares by value listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange. This fund is explicitly only investing outside Norway to prevent driving inflation, but the government also pumps a lot of money into Norwegian businesses.