Jump to full article: The Wall Street Journal Interactive Edition, 2009-04-05
Intro: Norway's Government Pension Fund -- Global, often called the oil fund, is one of the world's largest sovereign-wealth funds, valued at about 2.3 trillion Norwegian kroner, or about $350 billion. The Nordic nation of 4.8 million people invests its surplus oil and gas wealth abroad . . .
A national Council of Ethics reviews the fund's holdings in more than 7,000 companies based on strict guidelines imposed in 2004. It reports ethical breaches to the government . . .
"We have tried to...further clarify the fund's role as a responsible investor," said Finance Minister Kristin Halvorsen as she presented a white paper on her review of the guidelines to parliament. . . .
The government wants to introduce measures such as excluding tobacco-industry investments, putting a greater focus on the environment . . .
The ministry also said it was preparing to put 20 billion kroner over five years from the fund into companies engaged in environmental technologies in emerging markets.
The presentation of the white paper came as the finance ministry said it will review the fund's investment strategy after it lost 633 billion kroner on global financial markets last year.
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