Norway

NORWAY - Changes are likely to be made to some of the key elements of the proposed Norwegian pension reform in a bid to appease political parties and voters ahead of the next year's general elections.

NORWAY - The e111bn Government Petroleum Fund is expected to commence investments in real estate in the next couple of years.

NORWAY - The Government Petroleum Fund returned 2.93% in the first quarter of 2004, outperforming the benchmark by 0.24 percentage points.

NORWAY - The Norwegian Government has announced new ethical guidelines that will govern the investments of the e98bn Petroleum Fund.

NORWAY - The Norwegian government has said that new proposals aimed at providing work-related pensions for more than 900,000 workers will be included in a White Paper on pension reform to be presented to parliament in autumn.

NORWAY - The IMF has urged the Norwegian government to adopt the recommendations of the Pension Commission.

NORWAY - The Government Petroleum Fund (Statens Petroleumsfond) returned 12.6% for 2003, its highest returns ever.

NORWAY - The Norwegian Government Petroleum Fund (Statens Petroleumsfond) is setting up a new credit alpha team in London and is currently searching for portfolio managers.

NORWAY - The Government Petroleum Fund (Statens Petroleumsfond) is considering investments in emerging market fixed income.

NORWAY - Major pensions reforms are on the cards in Norway with the Pension Commission recommending sweeping changes to the existing system and proposing raising the retirement age to 70 years.