The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest of its kind, revealed its portfolio holdings in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) at the end of 2022. According to the filing, the fund had billions of dollars invested in 70 different Israeli companies listed on the New York and Tel Aviv Stock Exchanges. According to the SEC filing, the fund’s ten largest investments in Israeli companies are worth $1.8 billion.

Its portfolio contains shares in 9,228 companies and represents 1.3% of all shares traded on the world’s stock exchanges. These shares account for 70% of its total capital, with the remainder invested in bonds, renewable energy projects, real estate, and infrastructure.

When the Norwegian government decided to implement and promote SEG principles as part of its investment policy, the country’s sovereign wealth fund began selling holdings in industries and businesses that did not meet the criteria of the new guidelines. Last December, for instance, it made headlines in Israel by announcing plans to sell all of its investments in businesses operating across the “Green Line.”

In fact, this is the primary reason why the fund already has prior experience selling shares of Israeli companies. Companies such as Cognyte Software, which develops investigative analytics software, and Israeli construction firms such as Ashtrom Group, Shapir Engineering, Mivne Real Estate, Electra, and Danya Cebus.

According to documents submitted to the SEC, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund owns a sizable stake in each of the five largest banks in Norway – Hapoalim, First International Bank of Israel, Leumi, Mizrahi Tefahot, and Bank Discount.

Other major holdings include a stake in Bezeq Israel Telecommunications Company, ICL, and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries.

Large stakes are also held in energy companies such as Delek Group, Paz Oil Company, and renewable energy firms Energix, and Enlight Energy.

Last but not least, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund is invested in the Israeli tech sector. It holds shares in Tower Semiconductor, Matrix, NICE Systems, Hilan, Perion Network, One Software, Nova Measuring Instruments and Radware.

In 2022, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund suffered its largest one-year loss of $164 billion, representing a 14.1% negative return.

However, the fund has benefited from higher-than-expected prices for Norwegian oil and gas exports in 2022, which has resulted in a surplus of profits.