Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global, returned 2.1% on its investments in the quarter ended March 31, driven primarily by equity returns. Total assets grew to 3.1 trillion Norwegian kroner ($560 billion), up 0.8% from the end of 2010.
Equities returned 2.9% in the quarter, 13 basis points above the fund’s custom benchmark, driven by strong corporate earnings, higher oil prices and global growth expectations. Equity returns were 8.4% in the last quarter of 2010. Fixed-income assets returned 0.7%, as positive gains in corporate bonds outpaced a decline in government bonds. Bond investments outperformed the fund’s custom benchmark by 48 basis points. Bond investments lost 2.5% in the previous quarter.
