By David G. Barry
Norges Bank Investment
Management, which manages what may be the world’s largest sovereign wealth
fund, has appointed two individuals to oversee its investing.
Daniel Balthasar and Pedro
Furtado Reis were named co-chief investment officers equities. They will
begin their new roles on July 1.
They replace Petter Johnsen,
who announced last month that he was stepping down from that role but remaining
with Norges as a senior portfolio manager. Johnsen has been chief equities
officer since 2011.
Balthasar has been with Norges
since 2006 and has held roles such as portfolio manager, and head of basic
industries and autos. For the last 18 months, he has been global co-head of
sector strategies. Reis has been with Norges since 2011. He served as a portfolio
manager, a senior portfolio manager and head of banks. Since the end of 2020, he
has served as global co-head of sector strategies.
In a statement, Balthasar said
that “under Petter Johnsen’s leadership, the team has delivered excellent returns.
Going forward, we want to keep a strong focus on investment process and the
quality of decision-making. Also, we want to ensure we utilize tools and
resources in the best possible way."
Norges manages assets currently worth 11,700 billion kronor ($US1.2 trillion).
The fund was established to manage the capital emerging from Norway’s oil
production in the North Sea.
