In a year when sovereign wealth funds outpaced the growth of large global pension funds, Norway surpassed long-term frontrunner Japan as the largest holder of assets in the world for the first time.

New research by WTW’s Thinking Ahead Institute shows that the world’s 100 largest asset owners held a record $29.3 trillion in 2024, up 11.3 percent from the year prior. Norges Bank Investment Management holds $1.7 trillion in assets under management, putting it in the top spot and pushing Japan’s $1.6 trillion Government Pension Investment Fund to second place.

Sovereign wealth funds grew the most among large asset owners in 2024: Up 16.7 percent year-over-year. They now make up nearly 41 percent of total assets, with an average size of $543 billion — almost double the overall average of $293 billion.

Meanwhile, despite remaining the largest asset owner group, pension funds saw the smallest year-on-year growth in 2024, rising only by 6.5 percent. Pensions continue their long-term decline, having shrunk by almost 12 percent since 2017. For the first time in WTW’s study, pension funds now manage less than half of total assets globally.