The invitation has been sent to a large number of Norwegian and foreign investment managers. An open invitation has also been put on the Internet to enable all interested managers to apply.

Managers are invited to submit tenders for active fixed income management. Active management implies that managers will have some latitude to base their selection of securities on their own analyses. However, each manager will be subject to clearly defined restrictions as regards the amount of risk they can take in relation to a benchmark index.

Managers will be able to invest in fixed income securities issued by the countries defined in the Norwegian Ministry of Finance's Regulation of 3 October 1997 relating to the Management of the Petroleum Fund. They will also be able to invest in fixed income securities issued by supranational organisations, in government-guaranteed securities, or in safe money market instruments.

Management according to the new mandates will commence in the second quarter of 1999 at the earliest. Norges Bank Investment Management has not yet decided upon the overall amount to be allocated to active managers, but any one manager will be allocated a minimum of USD 200 million. The largest portions of the fixed income portfolios will continue to be managed internally in Norges Bank Investment Management, with limited risk measured against the benchmark index.

The deadline for tenders for the mandates is 7 October 1998.