The sovereign wealth fund of Norway

In the following paper the sovereign wealth fund of Norway is presented analysed and evaluated. It will be examined how a country like Norway with a population of just under five million has been able to build up the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world and even manage to surpass China's sovereign wealth fund. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is the first fund in the world to reach the value of one trillion US dollars. Furthermore the strict self-imposed ethical guidelines which among other things prohibit the fund from investing in profitable industries such as tobacco or weapons are discussed and their impact on the fund's performance is discussed. The consequences of enforcing the guidelines for the fund but also for the entire capital market are examined and critically questioned. Furthermore the question is clarified whether the fears of the managers of capital market companies regarding the investment decisions of the fund as reported in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung are justified.