Time is money, as the saying goes, and the CEO of the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund is make sure every day counts– he even has a countdown timer in his office to prove it.
Nicolas Tangen runs Nordic giant Norges Bank Investment Management, which governs revenues generated by Norway’s oil and gas resources, with the aim of ensuring its profits are distributed fairly among current and future Norwegian generations.
Similar to a presidential cycle, the role of CEO of the 1.6 trillion dollars The fund operates on a five-year, renewable contract.
As a result, Tangen knows the precise day his term will end and has added a large countdown clock in his office that ticks down each day.
“I have 580 days left,” Tangen told ’20VC’ podcast earlier this year. “Now why do I have this?” Is it because I don’t like my job? No, I love my job.
“But the problem is, when someone in my office says, ‘Yeah, we can do that in the next three months,’ I say, ‘Hey, look at that.’ I have 580 days left, we have to hurry.
Tangen said the tool “completely changes the mindset” of his colleagues, adding: “They say, ‘Oh yeah, oh my God, you only have 580 days left, we have to do this right away.’ ‘ You feel this urgency in reflection.
The official, who rose to the top job in 2020, has indicated in the past that he expects more from his European colleagues. Tangen told Financial Times in April: “We are not very ambitious. I should be careful when I talk about work-life balance, but Americans work harder. »
Tangen, Norway’s so-called ‘trillion dollar man’added 20VC that having a dynamic workforce is the difference between success and failure. “Organizations that make quick decisions are generally better,” he added.
Work-life balance
Norges Bank Investment Management is one of the most powerful financial vehicles on the planet: it is the largest owner of global stock markets, controlling 1.5% of the shares of the world’s listed companies.
As a result, its leader has access to some of the biggest names in business, including Nvidia founder and CEO Jensen Huang.
The AI chipmaker’s boss and Tangen discussed work-life balance, with the former…who is a hard worker and notorious perfectionist– saying he almost never stopped working.
Tangen explained, “(Huang) said, ‘Nicholai, there is hard work and there is mindless hard work… I do insanely hard work.“I asked but when do you relax? (Huang) said, “I relax all the time because I love what I do.”
“I think if you really love what you do, it won’t feel like work. I set aside time for (my wife and children),” Tangen added. “But I work because I love what I do.”
Act quickly but think long term
Despite Tangen’s obvious willingness to work and desire for operational speed, as custodian of Norges Bank Investment Management, the CEO must think long-term about the vehicle’s performance for generations to come.
“The weather is really interesting and I think it’s really funny,” Tangen said. “Let’s say you’re 20, you’re in such a hurry. Three months is an eternity.
“You’re getting old… so I’m so patient. For what? I don’t have many years left compared to a 20 year old and yet I am much more patient than these young people. It does not mean anything.”
Tangen continued: “Why are you more impatient when you are 20? Three months is a higher percentage of your life than when you’re 50.
At age 50, “you found that the long term pays off,” Tangen said. “If I could say anything to my 20-year-old self, it would be: ‘You have so much time.’ Think longer term.
Norges Bank Investment Management has in fact deployed a longer-term strategy over the last 10 years: turning more towards the United States. After all, America is home to the “magnificent 7” stocks that formed the backbone of the stock market boom and, according to analystswill continue to do so.
Investments in the United States now represent 46.9% of Norges Bank’s portfolio, whereas ten years ago the United States represented just under 30%. Going back ten years, in 2003, the organization’s investments in America represented only 26.3% of all investments.
Conversely, in 2003, 59.5% of Norges Bank’s portfolio was invested in European countries, a figure which, by 2023, had fallen to 28.7%.
