This is not a stock picker’s market, says head of Norway’s $2 trillion wealth fund

Stock markets have been largely buoyant since the end of March after bouncing back from a sell-off sparked by the outbreak of the U.S.-Iran war, but one of the world's biggest investors is glad not to be buying individual names. Speaking to CNBC's Ben Boulos on the sidelines of the sovereign wealth fund's annual Investment Conference in Norway, Norges Bank Investment Management CEO Nicolai Tangen said global markets are "in a period where it's very good to be an index fund." NBIM manages Norway's $2 trillion sovereign wealth fund, the largest of its kind in the world. "What's happening with AI and technology and so on is deflationary and it's positive for the markets, but it's difficult to know exactly how you're going to navigate the market," Tangen said. "So in a way, I'd rather be invested in the whole market at this stage, rather than trying to pick individual stocks." Global stocks were volatile in the immediate aftermath of the U.S. and Israel's first strikes on Iran in late February, but have since shown resilience with many major indexes recouping losses incurred earlier on in the war. The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund's performance since the Iran war began is not publicly available information, but any returns would build on the near $250 billion profit NBIM made in 2025. Formally known as the Government Pension Fund Global, the wealth fund is given guidelines from the Norwegian government on where it can invest. …