{"id":358888,"date":"2023-09-11T20:11:12","date_gmt":"2023-09-11T12:11:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/?p=358888"},"modified":"2023-09-11T20:11:12","modified_gmt":"2023-09-11T12:11:12","slug":"norges-shutting-down-in-shanghai-in-shift-to-singapore","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/real-estate\/finance\/norges-shutting-down-in-shanghai-in-shift-to-singapore\/","title":{"rendered":"Norway\u2019s $1.4T Sovereign Fund Closing Shanghai Office in Shift to Singapore"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

NBIM’s Asia investments include a stake in the Otemachi Park Building in Tokyo (Image: Mitsubishi Estate)<\/p><\/div>\n

Norges Bank Investment Management has begun the process of closing its representative office in Shanghai, as the overseer of Norway\u2019s sovereign wealth fund continues to build up its Singapore branch as a hub of activity for all of Asia.<\/p>\n

The decision to shut the office is an adjustment driven by operational considerations and does not affect investment strategy or investments in China, according to NBIM. But the move comes at a time when several large pension funds and sovereign investors have scaled back plans in Asia\u2019s biggest economy.<\/p>\n

\"Altus<\/a><\/div><\/p>\n

The manager of the Nordic nation\u2019s $1.4 trillion-plus pension fund opened its Shanghai office in November 2007 and currently has eight staff there, it said in a release<\/a>. At the end of 2022 the fund was invested in 850 Chinese companies with a total value of $42 billion.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will ensure that the closing process is conducted in an orderly manner for all affected persons at the office and in line with local requirements and procedures,\u201d NBIM said.<\/p>\n

Lion City Hub Grows<\/h3>\n

NBIM opened the Singapore outpost<\/a> in 2010 as the fund\u2019s second office in Asia and fifth worldwide. Described then as a \u201cgood supplement\u201d to the Shanghai office, the Lion City hub has grown to supervise all operational functions in the region, including for China, under the leadership of portfolio manager Sigmund Kyrdalen.<\/p>\n

\"\"

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management<\/p><\/div>\n

The sovereign fund made its first foray<\/a> into Asian real estate in 2017, buying a majority stake in a set of five retail and office properties in Tokyo for JPY 92.75 billion (then $823 million) under a joint venture with Japan\u2019s Tokyu Land Corporation.<\/p>\n

In March 2020, NBIM announced an agreement<\/a> to acquire a 39.9 percent interest in a portion of the Otemachi Park Building, a Tokyo office complex, for JPY 79.7 billion (now $540 million) under a JV with Mitsubishi Estate. The property in the Marunouchi commercial district comprises 72,744 square metres (783,010 square feet) of office space, 1,544 square metres of retail space and 14,140 square metres of serviced apartments.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

NBIM invests on behalf of the Government Pension Fund Global, which deploys Norway\u2019s horde of surplus oil revenue and ranks as the largest sovereign wealth fund in the world, according to tracker SWFI<\/a>. The fund reported a negative return<\/a> of 14.1 percent for 2022, a year marred by war in Europe, high inflation and rising interest rates, CEO Nicolai Tangen said in January.<\/p>\n

Tapping the Brakes in China<\/h3>\n

Mingtiandi reported in May<\/a> that two of Canada\u2019s biggest pension funds, Ontario Teachers\u2019 Pension Plan and British Columbia Investment Management Corp, were pausing mainland China investment amid rising tensions between Beijing and Ottawa. Ontario Teachers\u2019 and BCI invest in Asia real estate through their respective Cadillac Fairview and Quadreal property arms.<\/p>\n

A third Canadian pension fund, Ivanhoe Cambridge parent Caisse de Depot et Placement du Quebec, is closing its Shanghai office and has stopped making private deals, according to a June article in the Financial Times<\/a>. The FT had reported in February<\/a> that Singapore sovereign fund GIC was reducing private investments in China amid Beijing\u2019s tech crackdown and the country\u2019s property market turmoil.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

At least one sovereign investor is resisting the chill wind: Abu Dhabi\u2019s Mubadala Investment Company, which opened a Beijing office<\/a> this month amid warming ties between China and the Gulf Arab states, Reuters reported.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Norges Bank Investment Management has begun the process of closing its representative office in Shanghai, as the overseer of Norway\u2019s sovereign wealth fund continues to build up its Singapore branch as a hub of activity for all of Asia.<\/p>\n

The… Read More>><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":9671,"featured_media":358857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3391],"tags":[4,5359,6565,22,702,5391],"ppma_author":[8847],"authors":[{"term_id":8847,"user_id":9671,"is_guest":0,"slug":"christopher-caillavet","display_name":"Christopher Caillavet","avatar_url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/500c291c35a85a2ad5827cf7c6d198e1?s=96&d=mm&r=g","user_url":"","last_name":"Caillavet","first_name":"Christopher","description":""}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358888"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/9671"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358888"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358888\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358857"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358888"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358888"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358888"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mingtiandi.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/ppma_author?post=358888"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}