– We are not very ambitious – E24

In an interview with the Financial Times, the Oil Fund manager describes a clear difference in mentality between Europe and the US.

Europe is less hard-working, less ambitious, less risk-averse and more regulated than the US, according to the Norwegian Oil Fund manager. This is written by the Financial Times, which has interviewed Nicolai Tangen.

Tangen tells the newspaper that it is “worrying” that American companies are outperforming their European competitors on innovation and technology, which leads to American stocks performing far better.

– There is a mentality problem when it comes to accepting mistakes and risks. In America, if you fail, you get a second chance. In Europe you are finished, says Tangen.

Tangen says that there is a difference in the general level of ambition between Europe and the US.

– We are not very ambitious. I should be careful to talk about the balance between work and leisure, but the Americans just work harder, says the oil fund manager to the FT.

Stricter regulations

Tangen is also asked if he and the people at the Oil Fund are worried about the outcome of this autumn’s US presidential election, which will be between Donald Trump and incumbent President Joe Biden.

To this question, Tangen answers “yes”, but adds that perhaps he should not say too much about this.

– We only invest in good American companies in the long term. It will have no implications on how we allocate our capital. We have almost half of our assets in the US and will continue to invest in the US, he adds.

The seven major American technology companies, which have been nicknamed the “magnificent seven”, Amazon, Alphabet, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla, make up approximately 12 percent of the stock holdings.

Tangen tells the newspaper that there is a reason why “the winner takes it all” as developments in artificial intelligence unfold.

The oil fund manager says that American CEOs have complained about how difficult it is to conduct business in Europe due to strict regulations.

– I’m not saying it’s good, but in the US you have a lot of AI and no regulations, while in Europe you have no AI and a lot of regulation. It’s interesting, says Tangen.