OSLO, Feb. 26 (Xinhua) -- Norway's sovereign wealth fund posted a return of 6.9 percent, or 447 billion kroner (53.5 billion U.S. dollars), in 2016, the fund said on Wednesday.
Equity, fixed-income and real estate investments returned 8.7 percent, 4.3 percent and 0.8 percent respectively in the quarter, according to a statement of the fund, formally known as the Government Pension Fund Global (GPFG) and ranked as the world's biggest sovereign wealth fund.
"The return in 2016 was characterised by falling international interest rates in the first half of the year, and strong equity markets in the second half," said Yngve Slyngstad, chief executive officer of Norges Bank Investment Management, which is the part of the Norwegian central bank that is responsible for managing the fund.
The fund's market value was 7.51 trillion kroner at the end of 2016, up from 7.475 trillion kroner a year earlier.
The market value of the fund's investments in equities was 4.692 trillion kroner, fixed income 2.577 trillion kroner, and real estate 242 billion kroner.
The fund's asset allocation at the end of 2016 was 62.5 percent equities, 34.3 percent fixed income and 3.2 percent real estate, it said. (1 U.S. dollar = 8.35 kroner)
