Business

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund owns almost 1.5% of the world’s listed shares in aggregate, with voting decisions spanning thousands of companies

The fund does not own 1.5% of every listed company. NBIM reports 10,873 shareholder meetings and 108,325 proposals voted on in 2025.

Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global is a large, diversified shareholder. Norges Bank Investment Management describes its holdings as almost 1.5% of all shares in the world’s listed companies in aggregate. Its individual stakes differ, and it does not hold 1.5% of every listed company.

Meetings and proposals are different counts

In its 2025 responsible-investment report, NBIM says it voted at 10,873 shareholder meetings on 108,325 proposals. A meeting may contain several ballot items, so meeting totals and resolution totals are not interchangeable.

The report says voting decisions have been published five days before shareholder meetings since 2021. The earlier article wrongly placed disclosure after the vote.

The ownership percentage is an aggregate

A portfolio’s share of the global market can be small even when its absolute value is large. That aggregate percentage does not identify its holding in Tesla, Apple or any other particular company. Individual holdings must be checked separately.

The fund’s breadth creates a reason to consider issues affecting many companies at once. That is an argument about the incentives of a diversified investor, rather than evidence that it owns every business or always votes a particular way.

The scale of stewardship

Published voting records make it possible to examine decisions instead of inferring them from portfolio size. Directors, executive remuneration and governance proposals can be considered individually.

The earlier comparison between a supposedly 20-person voting team and restaurant staffing lacked a verifiable, dated basis in the sources cited. It has been removed, along with calculations built on that headcount.

The voting workload is substantial on the fund’s own published figures. It does not need an unsupported staffing comparison to demonstrate its scale.

Oslo waterfront fjord — Photo by Dua’a Al-Amad on Pexels

shareholder meeting boardroom — Photo by Vlada Karpovich on Pexels

Correction, 3 October 2026: The earlier article misrepresented an aggregate global ownership share as 1.5% of every company, confused meetings and resolutions, and misstated disclosure timing. The 2025 voting figures are now sourced; unsupported staff counts and comparisons have been removed.

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