Stockholm (NordSIP) – Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, announced that Yngve Slyngstad has resigned as CEO of NBIM and that he will take care of the fund’s new mandate focusing on renewable energy.
“After a new CEO has taken up the position, Slyngstad will continue in the fund, and contribute to the further development of the investment strategy. His responsibilities will include building up unlisted renewable energy infrastructure as a new investment area,” NBIM explained. The executive has been pushing for NBIM to play a more significant role in renewables for some time.
Investing in Renewables
At the beginning of April 2019, the Norwegian government allowed NBIM to invest in unlisted renewable energy infrastructure under the dedicated environmental mandates.
The decision allowed a doubling of the size of special environment-related mandates, from NOK60 billion to NOK120 billion. The investments are to be actively managed. An additional upper cap will restrict the size of unlisted renewable energy infrastructure investments to 2% of the Fund to limit risk.
“The proposed regulation will enable Norges Bank to adopt a gradual approach in a relatively small market and to invest in a cost-effective manner,” said Siv Jensen, Minister of Finance, on that occasion.
A Decade at the Helm
Slyngstad has been NBIM’s CEO since January 2008, a role which he took after spending te years as head of equities. He is a graduate of the University of Oslo and the Norwegian School of Economics. He has an MA in Economics from the University of California at Santa Barbara and an MA degree in Political Science from the University of Paris.
“The Executive Board is very satisfied with the management of the fund under Yngve Slyngstad’s leadership. Over these 12 years, the fund has delivered very good results and the fund has achieved a strong position internationally and in Norway. Yngve Slyngstad has been a distinct leader of Norges Bank Investment Management and developed a leading and global investment organisation,” Øystein Olsen, Chair of the Executive Board of NBIM commented.
“It is an important milestone that the fund’s market value passed 10 trillion kroner 25 October. I am proud of having been part of building up a leading international investment organisation with talented and professional employees. We have delivered good returns for the best of our nation, Yngve Slyngstad commented on this occasion.
Image © NBIM
