'Tougher times ahead': Don't expect blowout returns to continue, CEO of $2.3 trillion fund warns after record first half

Nicolai Tangen, CEO of Norges Bank Investment Management, pictured in Oslo, Norway, on Tuesday, April 28, 2026. Carina Johansen | Bloomberg | Getty ImagesInvestors shouldn't expect the bumper gains returned by the equity market so far this year to continue, the CEO of the world's largest sovereign wealth fund told CNBC on Wednesday. Nicolai Tangen, who leads Norges Bank Investment Management — which oversees Norway's $2.3 trillion oil fund — was speaking to CNBC's Ben Boulos after the fund posted a record first-half profit nearing $185 billion. But the fund, overwhelmingly comprised of equities, saw a turbulent first six months of the year. NBIM's equity portfolio dropped 2.6% in the first quarter of the year before surging 15.98% in the subsequent three months, leading to a first-half return of 12.95%.Asked what lies ahead for markets, Tangen told CNBC that he was surprised by how well markets and economies held up in the wake of the U.S.-Iran war and renewed inflationary pressure."If you went back two years and told me this is going to happen with the Hormuz strait, trade barriers, geopolitical tensions, and so on, I would never have thought that the market would be as resilient ...