When two of the biggest beneficiaries of fossil fuels abandon the cause is that an omen? Start with Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the biggest in the world. That nation created what is basically a giant investment portfolio with the huge profits earned from its vast oil fields. The managers of the fund just sold off positions in a bevy of coal miners and coal burning utilities, including Glencore, Anglo American and Germany’s RWE. The Norwegians have also pruned oil holdings modestly. This modesty here makes little sense from a risk management perspective (technically it is called a “Texas hedge”) because it leaves Norway doubly exposed to oil first as E&P capital provider/owner and again as an equity investor. But that might be next year’s story. The question this raises is “Can a multi billion investment fund manage without owning energy companies?” Following their recent severe stock price decline oil […]