A decade after creating the enormous fund that invests Norway’s oil wealth, Knut Kjaer is looking for a new challenge. The 51-year-old chief executive will leave Norges Bank Investment Management, the central bank arm that oversees the 1.9 trillion Norwegian kroner ($355 billion) Government Pension Fund, as soon as a replacement is found, a process that could take several months. “Periodic renewal is always positive, and after ten years it is time for a change for both myself and the fund,” he says.
Kjaer graduated at the top of his class with a master’s in economics from the University of Oslo in 1982, founded a forecasting firm and then started a banking operation for financial services group Storebrand before launching the state pension fund -- a model for today’s proliferating sovereign wealth funds -- at the behest of the central bank. He says he will consider just about any interesting position in finance next. “If it is out of the media limelight and does not involve carrying the nation’s wealth on my shoulders, that will be fine with me.”
