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Bloomberg
Norway will let its sovereign wealth fund raise real estate holdings by about $17 billion, while rejecting a proposal to expand into infrastructure projects.
The upper limit on real estate investments for the $850 billion fund, the world’s biggest, should be raised to 7 percent from 5 percent, the Finance Ministry said on Tuesday.
The real estate assets will also be separated from the overall portfolio and “be included in the existing framework for deviations,†according to the ministry.
But the government warned the fund to avoid getting close to the upper limit.
The government launched a process a year ago to consider expanding the fund’s mandate to include infrastructure.
The investor has been lobbying to expand its mandate beyond stocks and bonds.
In 2010 it was freed to invest 5 percent of its assets in real estate and it has since built a $28 billion portfolio of high-profile properties from Paris to London and New York.
The central bank, which oversees the fund, proposed in December that it be allowed to invest as much as 5 percent in infrastructure as it seeks to boost returns.
It also wanted to raise its exposure to real estate to as much as 10 percent. It has suggested that changes would come at the expense of its bond portfolio.