Return of -2.9 per cent on the Petroleum Fund in the second quarter
The return on the Government Petroleum Fund in the second quarter of 2002 was -2.9 per cent measured in terms of the currency basket that corresponds to the composition of the Fund's benchmark portfolio. The negative return is due to a clear fall in the most important stock markets, particularly in the US and Europe. A price fall of 12.0 per cent was recorded for the equity portfolio. The decline in the equity market was accompanied by falling yields, and hence a rise in prices for the Petroleum Fund's fixed income investments. The return on the fixed income portfolio was 3.6 per cent.
The second quarter return on the Petroleum Fund was -11.2 per cent, measured in NOK. The substantially lower return in NOK is due to the marked appreciation of the krone against the currencies in the benchmark portfolio in the second quarter. This has no effect on the international purchasing power of the Fund, however. It is therefore most relevant to use return figures measured in foreign currency.
The overall return on the Petroleum Fund in the first half of 2002 was -2.4 per cent, measured by the Fund's currency basket.
The return on the Petroleum Fund's ordinary portfolio in the second quarter of 2002 was 0.01 percentage point lower than the return on the benchmark portfolio defined by the Ministry of Finance. For the first half of the year, there was an excess return of 0.21 percentage point.
The second quarter return on the Environmental Fund was -12.4 per cent measured in terms of the benchmark currency basket.
In the second quarter, capital equivalent to NOK 53.5 billion was transferred to the Petroleum Fund's equity and fixed income portfolios, bringing the market value of the combined securities portfolio to NOK 605.4 billion at the end of the quarter.
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