Norway wealth fund’s former chief breaks silence

The former chief executive of the $1 trillion Norwegian oil fund has broken a decade-long silence, criticising Norway’s government and politicians for their handling of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund.

Knut Kjaer, who was the first head of the oil fund from 1998 until 2007 said in an interview he was deeply concerned over the governance, organisation, and risk-taking at the investor, which on average owns 1.4 per cent of every listed company globally.

He has long refrained from directly commenting on the oil fund, but decided to change his position after the government recently decided to keep the rainy day investor inside Norway’s central bank rather than in an independent organisation as an expert committee had recommended.

Decision time

“This is the decision time. This is the time for thinking 20 years ahead and getting the structure right. I feel that the proposals are going in the wrong direction,” he added.

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His intervention – also in the form of a detailed letter to Norway’s parliament that warned the proposal would “pulverise accountability” – carries weight as he is the most high-profile figure yet to criticise Norway’s management of its fund.

He joins a number of experts railing against what they see as a growing politicisation of the fund, one of the rare sovereign wealth investors in a democracy.

– Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2019