Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the fund manager that oversees Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, has announced that it is closing its Shanghai office and instead moving more of its activity to Singapore.
The firm says the move is “driven by operational considerations” and does not affect the fund’s investment strategy. However, it comes amid growing concern among international funds and asset owners about their China interests.
The Shanghai office was originally opened in 2007 and currently has eight members of staff. Meanwhile, NBIM’s Singapore office has “increasingly served” as the hub for the whole Asian region and has been built up to take care of the firm’s operations in the region, including its China assets.
As of the end of 2022, Norway’s US$1.4 trillion government pension fund was invested in 850 Chinese companies with $42 billion in assets under management.
Nor is NBIM the only asset manager looking to Singapore rather than China. UK asset manager LGIM recently opened a Singapore office, while Canadian pension fund Alberta Investment Management Corp (AIMCo) recently opened its first Asian office, also in Singapore.
The pension fund’s CEO, Evan Siddell, told Canadian media that the decision to choose Singapore rather than China was influenced by geopolitical factors.
"We're not rushing into China. We basically have almost nothing (invested) in China and really only in passive instruments," Siddall told the Canadian Press. "There are some countries, where the rule of law and corruption are concerns, that we would rather just avoid, frankly."
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