Norway’s $860 billion fund drops 52 companies linked to coal

Oslo: Norway’s $860 billion (dh3.15 trillion) sovereign wealth fund unveiled the first list of miners and power producers to be excluded from its portfolio following a ban on coal investments.

The 52 companies being barred include American Electric Power Co. Inc, China Shenhua Energy Co. Ltd, Whitehaven Coal Ltd, Tata Power Co. and Peabody Energy Corp, according to a statement from Norges Bank Investment Management, the unit of Norway’s central bank that manages the world’s biggest wealth fund. The exclusions are based on new criteria introduced by the government in February impacting companies that base at least 30 per cent of their activities or revenues on coal.

“Further exclusions will follow in 2016,” NBIM said.

Norges Bank has estimated that the ban on coal investment would force the fund to sell holdings valued at about 55 billion kroner (Dh24.8 billion, $6.7 billion) in 120 companies. It said in a letter to the Finance Ministry last year that most of the companies will have been evaluated by the end of 2016, and that some could remain in the investment portfolio while the fund continued a dialogue on their future use of coal.