An investigation in Turkey has affected the assets of the largest sovereign wealth fund, worth $208 million
The collapse of funds in the Turkish market affected Norges Bank Investment Management
NBIM acquired stakes in most of the 10 companies involved in the case during 2025 and increased its holdings in 2026. Photo: Poetra.Rh/Shutterstock
Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, Norges Bank Investment Management — the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund, with $2.3 trillion in assets — held stakes in Turkish companies under investigation for market manipulation, according to Bloomberg. The total value of these stakes amounted to nearly 2 billion kroner ($208 million).
As of June 30, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), the fund manager, held shares in 10 companies that Turkish prosecutors or regulators had linked to this case. At that time, these assets accounted for about 10% of NBIM’s total Turkish portfolio, valued at 20.4 billion kroner ($2.12 billion); however, their value plummeted once the investigation began.
Turkish prosecutors are investigating the role of investment funds in buying up illiquid stocks and artificially inflating their prices, which in some cases rose nearly 100-fold, Bloomberg reports. The investigation began this month when two asset management firms—Pusula Portfoy and Tera Portfoy—were unable to repay investors in their funds.
An NBIM spokesperson declined to comment to Bloomberg on whether the fund still holds Turkish securities. He noted that the organization discloses its asset holdings twice a year and does not comment on changes between those disclosures.
Companies in the NBIM portfolio that have been hit hard
NBIM acquired stakes in most of the 10 companies involved in the case during 2025 and increased its holdings in 2026, according to Bloomberg. Although most of the Norwegian fund’s assets are invested in accordance with the Norwegian Ministry of Finance’s benchmark index, a small portion of the portfolio is actively managed. At the same time, several funds under investigation held large stakes in the same issuers, Bloomberg notes.
The Norwegian fund's largest investment in this group was a 2% stake in the electrical equipment manufacturer Astor Enerji, whose stock fell 41% this month.
The second-largest holding was Destek Finans Faktoring, a factoring company, in which NBIM purchased a 0.17% stake in 2025. Destek’s shares—which were listed on the stock exchange by the investment bank Tera and were owned by its funds—soared by more than 600% this year and peaked in July, but then lost most of their value.
In addition, the Norwegian fund held stakes in the financial firm Tera Yatirim Menkul Degerler—which found itself at the very center of the crisis—and its affiliate, Tera Yatirim Teknoloji Holding. Emre Tezmen, the founder and chairman of the board of this Istanbul-based company, was arrested, and the stock prices of both companies plummeted.
Another problematic asset turned out to be a stake in the technology company Odine Solutions Teknoloji Ticaret VE Sanayi, backed by the Pusula fund. The company’s stock soared 987% to a peak on August 12, and then fell 94%.
Context
Established in the 1990s to invest Norway’s oil and gas revenues, NBIM posted a record profit of 1.8 trillion kroner ($83.5 billion) in the first half of the year thanks to investments in the global technology sector. This month, the fund proposed reducing its holdings of government bonds to increase the share of riskier debt securities.
This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor
