Nicolai Tangen secures another term as Norway’s wealth fund CEO

COPENHAGEN (Reuters) -Nicolai Tangen has been appointed to a second term as CEO of Norway’s vast sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management, the central bank said on Tuesday.

Tangen, 58, who became the fund’s CEO in September 2020 for a five-year period, said in November he would seek a new term as chief executive of the sovereign wealth fund as he felt the job was not yet done.

“Nicolai Tangen is highly experienced with in-depth insight into international investment management,” central bank Governor Ida Wolden Bache said in a statement.

The $1.8 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, invests the proceeds of the Norwegian state’s oil and gas revenues in foreign bonds, stocks, property and renewable projects.

“Creating wealth for the Norwegian people is the most rewarding job I have ever had. I therefore deeply appreciate this renewed trust and look forward to five more years with my talented colleagues,” Tangen said in the statement.

The fund holds stakes in close to 9,000 companies globally, equivalent to 1.5% of all listed stocks, and has set the pace on many issues in the field of environmental, social and corporate governance (ESG).

Tangen, a wealthy former hedge fund manager, has a more outspoken style than his two predecessors and is, among other things, hosting corporate leaders on a podcast, including one he held with Tesla CEO Elon Musk.

Tangen later clashed with Musk, according to a record of a conversation between the two released in January.

(Reporting by Stine Jacobsen, Editing by Anna Ringstrom and Terje Solsvik)