OSLO (Reuters) – Norwegian conglomerate Aker ASA has hired Yngve Slyngstad, the former head of Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, to lead its asset management unit, focusing on renewable energy projects, the company said on Tuesday.
“Slyngstad will be responsible for building and developing active asset management to become a new business area in Aker, on par with the company’s industrial holdings,” it said in a statement.
Aker Asset Management will be majority owned by Aker ASA, with key staff as co-owners, including a 5% stake for Slyngstad, and plans to invest heavily in energy transition projects.
“The goal is to establish funds totalling 100 billion euros ($113 billion) that will invest in profitable climate solutions that create value. Green energy, green industry and green cities will be our prioritised investment areas,” Slyngstad said.
He will take his new position from March 1, stepping down from Norway’s sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest with assets of some $1.4 trillion, where he worked for more than 20 years, and was its CEO from 2008 to 2020.
Norges Bank Investment Management, which manages the sovereign fund, confirmed in a separate statement that Slyngstad would be leaving.
($1 = 0.8861 euros)
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Nerijus Adomaitis)
