After his death, Collett’s heirs insisted on maintaining an extravagant lifestyle as if the income was still intact. Their wealth rapidly withered away and in 1829 the coffers were empty. The farm was taken over by the state. 1 The time it took Collett to make a fortune is about the same as it took Norway to build up its oil-based financial wealth. Nearly 40 years after Phillips Petroleum discovered commercially viable oil reserves in the Ekofisk field 2, we have an oil-based sovereign wealth fund worth more than NOK 3 trillion. Few other countries are sitting on such huge financial reserves. But our wealth primarily comes from other sources than the oil fund, now called the Government Pension Fund Global. The value of our current and future labour resources is more than ten times as great as the value of our oil and the oil fund combined. 3 The oil fund would be depleted in three years if government tax revenues were to disappear entirely. Our economic future depends above all on our capacity to produce goods and services that others value. But the visible oil revenues may give the impression that we have a huge treasure trove at our disposal. Sound wealth management is therefore first and foremost a question of maintaining and developing the value of our productive resources, particularly our labour resources. A nation that comes into a large fortune must make a number of choices and trade-offs. They can be considered from a legal, ethical or financial standpoint.
Companies that produce weapons in violation of fundamental humanitarian principles and companies that produce tobacco are excluded. Corruption or contributing to severe environmental damage may also lead to exclusion. About 50 companies are excluded. 29 There is often the dilemma of whether we should withdraw entirely from a company or enter into dialogue. If we withdraw, we lose a channel of influence. 24  See Credit Suisse Global Investment Returns Yearbook 2011: https://infocus.credit-suisse.com/app/ _customtags/download_tracker.cfm?dom=infocus.credit-suisse.com&doc=/data/_product_documents/_shop/ 300847/credit_suisse_global_investment_yearbook_2011.pdf&ts=20110326172226  25  Private investors, with shorter investment horizons, should have lower allocations to equities. 26  For more about the Government Pension Fund Global’s investment strategy, see the NBIM website: http://www.nbim.no/en/Investments/  27  Aanund Hylland (2005): “Statens reservefond 1904–25. Et forsøk på å binde politisk handlefrihet? [The government reserve fund 1904-25. An attempt to bind the political room for manoeuvre? ]”, Norges Bank Penger og Kreditt, no. 3, p. 182 (Norwegian only). 28  For more on the fund’s real estate investments, see the NBIM website: http://www.nbim.no/en/Investments/ asset-mix/Real-estate/  29  The Ministry of Finance decides which companies to exclude. For more on exclusion from the Government Pension Fund Global, see website: http://www.regjeringen.no/en/dep/fin/Selected-topics/the-governmentpension-fund/responsible-investments/negative-screening-and-exclusion.html?id=447009  8  BIS central bankers’ speeches  We now own shares in more than 8 000 companies worldwide. As shareholders, we are entitled to vote when important decisions are made about companies in which we have an ownership stake. Should we actively seek to influence developments or should we remain passive observers? Many large funds choose the latter.