The World's Largest State Investment Fund Lost Millions on Purpose

The Norwegian Oil Fund lost more than five hundred million euros in half a year on a handful of European cornerstone companies. Despite clear warnings, it did not sell down its positions. Now the fund is being accused of putting politics ahead of profit.

Norway's Government Pension Fund Global – better known as the Norwegian Oil Fund – is the world's largest state investment fund. It was established in 1990 to manage Norway's oil and gas revenues. At the end of June 2026, its market value was estimated at 2.1 trillion euros. The Norwegian fund is a co-owner of 7,200 companies in 68 countries.


Political agenda

According to what The Liberty Bulletin has learned, the Oil Fund has this year lost enormous sums due to political pressure from Norwegian authorities. All the losses have occurred in Europe. You don't abandon a Europe at war. Much therefore suggests that the fund has acted politically. It has done something unthinkable in fund-management terms. It has put solidarity ahead of profit. If this is correct, it is unprecedented in modern fund management. In funds with private owners, such as BlackRock or Vanguard, it would be unthinkable to deliberately lose shareholders' money. The problem for the Oil Fund is that the Norwegian people are the shareholders. And the fund is not required to ask the owners what they think. Instead, it is required to carry out its job according to a mandate from the Norwegian government.


Forced into losses

The most direct historical parallel we can find is the old case of British "sterling balances" after the Second World War. Britain pressured Commonwealth countries and other allied nations such as India, Egypt and Brazil to keep holding their currency reserves in pounds sterling in London. They had to do so out of loyalty to the British Empire, even though everyone knew the pound was heavily overvalued and headed for devaluation. Today we see the Norwegian Oil Fund operating in the same way.


Saint-Gobain

As of 31.12.25, the Oil Fund owned 1.82% of French Saint-Gobain. Around Christmas, the shares were worth 855,874,613 euros. Had the fund sold in mid-July 2026, it would have received 667,583,137 euros. The fund has taken a loss of 188,291,000 euros. The fund has lost nearly two hundred million euros on this company alone. And that in half a year. The fund lost this money despite countless warnings.


Alstom

Exactly the same can be said of the company Alstom. The Oil Fund owned 3.39% of Alstom as of 31.12.25. In December 2025, the shares were worth 431,671,047 euros. Had the fund sold in July 2026, it would have received 252,668,639 euros. The fund has taken a loss of 179,002,408 euros. Also, on this company alone, the Norwegian Oil Fund has an unrealized loss over half a year of around two hundred million euros. Everyone following these companies knew they would decline in value. The Oil Fund has some of the world's best fund managers. No one suspects them of making such mistakes.


Volkswagen

The fund also lost astronomical sums on car manufacturers in both Germany and France. Despite the Volkswagen CEO himself having warned of coming problems, the Oil Fund did not sell down its position. On the contrary, the Oil Fund kept its holding and took a loss in the millions. The Oil Fund owned 0.33% of Volkswagen AG as of 31.12.25. The shares were then worth 188.5 million euros. If the fund has not sold the shares, they are as of 24 July 2026 worth approximately 140.9 million euros. That means the fund, on just this one energy-vulnerable German company alone, has lost a staggering 47.6 million euros in half a year.


Renault

Exactly the same thing happened with Renault in France. The Oil Fund was warned, and there wasn't a single analyst in Europe who hadn't heard that the share price would fall. In the companies Alstom and Saint-Gobain, the losses were even greater. Here too, there was no shortage of advance warnings. It is out of the question to speak of an accident. The Oil Fund owned 1.35% of Renault as of 31.12.25, worth 151.7 million euros. Had the fund sold as of 24 July 2026, it would have received 103.1 million euros. The fund has thus taken a loss of 48.7 million euros.


Doing well

It is difficult to criticize a fund that has delivered fantastic profits year after year. In terms of overall value creation, the fund has performed solidly over time. Total returns since its inception in 1998 amount to around 1,4 trillion euros, or more than half of the fund's current value. We are talking about an annual return of 6.86 percent nominally. Recent years have been especially good. The fund is so large that it is therefore possible to conceal deliberate losses in Europe. No one likes to criticize something that is doing so well.


Best in Asia

In the first half of 2026, the fund, despite the losses in the European companies, achieved a return of 9.4 percent, equivalent to 162 billion euros. That is the highest return ever. The fund's CEO, Nicolai Tangen, explained the upturn by saying that "the result is driven by strong returns in the stock market, particularly from Asian technology stocks." And he is quite right about that. He is wise not to talk too much about the fund's investments in Europe.


Political pressure

What the Oil Fund's loss-making investments have in common is that they have occurred in highly energy-vulnerable companies in Germany, Britain and France. These companies are collectively important to Europe's ability to fight Russia, but they are poor investments from a euro and dollar perspective. That the fund nevertheless keeps shares and securities in Europe that it knows will result in losses is therefore striking.


A democratic conundrum

Perhaps it is also a parliamentary problem for Norway that funds are allocated in this way outside the democratic system, where the public gets to know exactly how much aid is being given to, for example, Ukraine. For Norwegian politicians, million-euro losses were acceptable. But who knows what the public would have said if they had been asked for their opinion.