Norwegian sovereign wealth fund Norges Bank Investment Management has opened its investment office in Singapore, signifying the importance of the jurisdiction and surrounding region to the organisation, media reports said.

Sovereign wealth funds such as NBIM have, among other investments, held stakes in wealth management firms. Temasek, which is the state investment business of Singapore, has investments in banks such as Standard Chartered and DBS (source: Temasek’s website).

Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang said the opening of the office is an affirmation of the growing importance of Asian markets in the portfolios of many long-term investors.

He said that last year, SWFs collectively managed over $3 trillion of assets and over the next three years, this pool is expected to grow to $7 trillion.