Stock savings in Norway halved in twelve years – NRK Norway – Overview of news from different parts of the country

More Norwegians are saving in mutual funds than ten years ago, but an increasingly smaller proportion of the share savings is in companies listed on Oslo Børs.

This is shown by an overview the Verdipapirfondenes forening (Vff) has made for NRK.

On the streets of Molde, NRK meets Inger Stenseth, who saves in a fund.

– It’s a fund that I have when I’m going to be an old lady. A pension fund, she says.

– Do you know if there is a fund that invests in Norway or abroad?

– It is here in Norway, I save through the bank, she says.

– But when it goes down, because it does from time to time, do you get nervous?

– It hasn’t gone down that much, and then it just as quickly bounces back up. I’m following along, says Stenseth.

As a proportion of the households’ total stock of mutual funds, savings on the Oslo Stock Exchange has halved since 2012.

– Norwegians are increasingly placing their money abroad. New placements take place in foreign funds, says director Christian Henriksen of the Verdipapirfondenes forening.

Only 0.6 billion “new” NOK has been invested in Norwegian mutual funds since the end of 2012. More than 90 times more, NOK 56 billion, has found its way into foreign mutual funds.

– It is quite interesting. There has been a sharp turnaround, and there are completely different sums we are talking about in international fund savings, says Henriksen.

Increased focus on “not putting all your eggs in one basket”

Executive Director Håkon Hansen heads DNB’s asset management division. He is not surprised by the development.

– No, I’m not. I can confirm that it is correct. We see an increasingly large proportion of Norwegians’ savings in foreign shares and foreign mutual funds. It is completely natural and also in line with good advice. Since abroad is much bigger than Norway, says Hansen.

– A saying goes that you shouldn’t put all your eggs in one basket. Is it also smart when it comes to saving?

– It is very smart. I think that is perhaps the best advice you can give. Having all your money in a small basket is a higher risk than spreading it across several stock exchanges around the world, he says.

May have contributed to a weak krone

Håkon Hansen in DNB believes that one of the explanations for the Norwegian kroner’s weakening against our trading partners in the last decade may be that more of the savings are disappearing out of the country.

– This is probably one of the less important factors. I think the difference in interest rates abroad is the most important. But as one factor out of several? Yes I believe.

Nordea’s director of investment Robert Næss has also looked at the figures Vff has provided for NRK.

– For practical purposes, the funds placed in Norwegian mutual funds have halved since 2012. What has increased are international funds and frankly global mutual funds, says investment director Næss.

Næss believes that the fact that savings that have been earned in Norway and later invested abroad may be important for the Norwegian krone to have weakened in the same period.

– That alone cannot explain the krone’s weakening, but it may have been a small drop in the overall picture that caused the krone to be weak. That we move our savings out, says Næss.

Institutional investors have also sent more of their money out of Norway in the period, the figures show.