The fund, Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM), currently holds stakes in about 1.5% of all publicly listed companies globally. But its ethical rules have frozen it out of major defence contractors that contribute to nuclear weapons production, including Airbus, BAE Systems, Boeing, BWX Technologies and Lockheed Martin. The fund does hold some defence stocks – a 2.3% stake in Germany's Rheinmetall and a 1.5% stake in Italy's Leonardo – but the nuclear weapons criterion has been a barrier to broader investment.
The Gjedrem Committee, which was ordered to review the guidelines in November 2025 after controversy over divestments from Israeli and American firms, recommended that the nuclear weapons ban be retained but with a narrower scope. Under the proposed change, companies that produce nuclear weapons could be included if they are domiciled in a nuclear-weapon state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons that is allied with Norway. That would allow several European and American companies that produce components for nuclear weapons to be reincluded.
The committee also proposed removing the requirement for arms-makers to be assessed on whether their products are being used by nations in accordance with international humanitarian law. It said the fund should be able to invest in companies producing weapons that Norway needs for its own defence.
"The Fund is not to be invested in companies that produce nuclear weapons, unless the company is domiciled in a nuclear-weapon state under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) that is allied with Norway," the committee said in its report. "Several European and American companies that produce components for nuclear weapons can therefore be reincluded."
The committee noted rising geopolitical instability, wars in the Middle East and Ukraine, and energy security concerns as reasons for the reassessment. "The liberal, rules-based international order is in decline," the report stated. "Economic policies are increasingly used as instruments of foreign policy. Cooperation between countries has become more transactional and negotiation-driven in recent years." It added that the fund's size and reach give it better access to company management and boards than it had in 2003, providing opportunities to influence companies in a more demanding political environment.
The Norwegian Ministry of Finance will now consider the committee's recommendations. Any change to the ethical guidelines would require parliamentary approval.