Today, I’ve been studying the the world’s largest investor’s portfolio. I noticed three things. First, this mega-fund loves owning shares. Second, it loves UK commercial property. Third, it owns large stakes in various FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 firms.
Norway’s riches
In 1969, Norway discovered one of the world’s largest offshore oilfields. This find boosted the Norwegian economy, leaving the country flush with cash. To protect the economy from oil-price swings — and to preserve wealth for future generations — the government created a fund to invest this windfall.
The Government Pension Fund Global was created in 1990. After 29 years of operation, guess how much the Fund — which supports just 5.6m people — is worth today? The answer is a gigantic $1.9trn, which equates to £1.4trn.
Putting this figure into perspective, it’s worth more than half (55.2%) of the UK’s FTSE All-Share index (at £2.56trn). That equates to about $343,000 (£254,000) for each Norwegian. Wow.
What the Fund owns
Currently, about 70.6% of the Fund is invested in global equities, spread across 8,374 companies in 62 countries. Indeed, it’s estimated that it owns around 1.5% of the entire global stock market.
To generate income and reduce risk, 27.1% of it is invested in fixed-income securities. These IOUs (debts) issued by governments and companies are less risky than shares. The Fund has stakes in 1,583 bonds across 50 countries. The remaining 2.3% is invested directly into property and renewable-energy infrastructure. To me, that’s a great spread of risk.
It loves UK property
The Fund states: “By spreading our investments widely, we reduce the risk of losing money.” That said, it has hefty exposure to UK equities, especially listed property businesses.
Take FTSE 250 firm Shaftesbury Capital (LSE: SHC), a £3bn business that converted into a real estate investment trust (REIT) in December 1999. Formerly known as Capital & Counties Properties, the group has origins dating back to 1933. The company owns £4.9bn of prime property in London’s West End, including famous locations such as Covent Garden, Chinatown and Carnaby Street.
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The Fund owns over a quarter (25.2%) of this REIT, making it Shaftesbury’s largest shareholder. In March 2025, the Fund exchanged contracts on a £570m deal to buy a quarter of the Covent Garden estate from Shaftesbury Capital.
Why have such hefty exposure to this individual stock? My guess would be first, prime London property has been a great long-term investment, as many of our richest nobility would confirm.
Second, following the 2020/21 Covid-19 crisis and 2022/23 interest-rate rises, the UK commercial-property market has struggled. Third, the Fund bought at prices below the current share price of 153p. Fourth, rents provide extra dividend income to the Fund.
In other words, this entity is doing exactly what I aim to do: buy sizeable stakes in good businesses at fair prices, with the aim of owning these holdings over the long term. Therefore, I have added Shaftesbury Capital to my watchlist of UK shares!
