(Bloomberg) -- Norway’s $1.3 trillion sovereign wealth fund has in recent years slashed its exposure to the Adani Group companies whose shares have plummeted after fraud allegations emerged last week.
The Oslo-based fund now holds much less of the stocks than its benchmark, following risk assessments on the investments, its chief executive said on Tuesday.
“We have over the last few years sold down our exposure to the group,” Nicolai Tangen told reporters. The fund holds about $200 million of the stocks, compared with the roughly $800 million in the benchmark index, he said. “So, massive underweight position. We had risk-based divested a large proportion of that holding due to various factors.”
The comments come after allegations of stock manipulation and accounting fraud from New York-based investor Hindenburg Research are piling pressure on the Indian conglomerate and its 60-year-old founder Gautam Adani.
Norway’s fund, the world’s biggest single owner of equities, largely tracks a benchmark index based on a framework handed down by parliament. It seeks to make the most of its limited leeway to try to beat the benchmark it’s measured against, including underweighting stocks based on risk reviews.
A portfolio update on Tuesday showed that at the end of last year, the fund held an $84 million stake in Adani Total Gas Ltd, a $53 million position in Adani Green Energy Ltd, and $63 million in Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone Ltd, which has been placed under observation by the fund due to an unacceptable risk that the company is contributing to serious violations of the rights of individuals in situations of war or conflict.
--With assistance from Rob Dawson.
©2023 Bloomberg L.P.
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