106: Norway's Ethical Investing Model - The Oil Fund That Invests for the World

This is the story of how a small Nordic nation, blessed with vast North Sea oil reserves, transformed temporary resource wealth into the world's largest sovereign wealth fund, managing over one and a half trillion dollars as of February 2026. Unlike many oil-rich countries that fell victim to the resource curse - boom-bust cycles, corruption, inequality, and economic distortion - Norway built a fund designed to preserve wealth for future generations while adhering to some of the strictest ethical guidelines in finance. It excludes companies involved in tobacco, weapons, coal, and serious human-rights violations; it engages actively with holdings on issues like climate change and corporate governance; and it has become a global leader in responsible investing, influencing pension funds, endowments, and asset managers worldwide.