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BLOOMBERG
Norway’s $1.6 trillion wealth fund added to its bets in the biggest technology companies last year after interest in artificial intelligence drove a surge in the sector.
The fund, the world’s single-biggest owner of publicly listed stocks, raised its holdings in Apple Inc, Microsoft Corp, Alphabet Inc, Amazon.com Inc, according to a list of holdings Norges Bank Investment Management publishes once a year on its website.
It also upped its stakes in the world’s two most valuable chip firms, Nvidia Corp and Taiwan Semiconductor anufacturing Co, as well as chip equipment producer, ASML Holding NV.
With Apple, Microsoft and Alphabet among its biggest stock holdings, the fund has reaped the rewards of advances in artificial intelligence and the surge in demand for semiconductor components. The fund was scheduled to report its key results for the full year on Tuesday.
Created in the 1990s to invest Norway’s oil and gas revenues abroad, the fund — also known as Norges Bank Investment Management — largely tracks a benchmark index based on a framework handed down by parliament. The fund’s 1.26% stake in Microsoft was valued at about $35 billion at the end of last year, overtaking its 1.11% stake in Apple as its single biggest holding. Tesla is now the fund’s 11th biggest holding.