Norway's Wealth Fund Set to Overhaul Ethical Rules After US Scrutiny

3-line summary

• Norway's roughly $2.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund is set to overhaul its ethics rules, with a government-appointed committee's review due October 15, following parliament's vote a year ago to suspend ethics-based divestments pending the review — after the Trump administration objected to the fund selling Caterpillar shares over the use of its bulldozers in Gaza and the West Bank (the government denies the suspension was to avoid provoking the US). More than half the fund's assets are invested in the US.
• Before the suspension, divestment recommendations from the independent Council on Ethics went to the central bank's board, which generally followed them; since the suspension, recommendations go to fund manager NBIM and no actual sales have occurred. Under review: possibly easing the fund's ban on investing in nuclear-weapons makers (which currently excludes firms like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, Airbus and BAE Systems) — Finance Minister Stoltenberg asked the committee to weigh nuclear-deterrence considerations, while groups like the Norwegian Red Cross oppose lifting it — and possibly ending public disclosure of the Council's recommendations, with some calling for the Council itself to be abolished. Stoltenberg noted the top 10 holdings (mostly US tech firms like Nvidia, Apple and Amazon) exceed 20% of the equity portfolio and said diversification remains the priority. The committee's proposals will feed into the government's own plan, due in a spring 2027 white paper; the fund supports roughly a quarter of Norway's government spending.

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