By Dominic Chopping

Norges Bank Investment Management, the arm of the central bank that manages the country’s $1.2 trillion sovereign-wealth fund, said Friday that it has appointed Daniel Balthasar and Pedro Furtado Reis as co-chief equities investment officers starting July 1.

“Balthasar and Furtado Reis will be co-responsible for company investments, including internal equity and credit security selection,” NBIM said in a statement.
Mr. Balthasar joined the fund in 2006 as a portfolio manager and in 2014 became head of basic industries and autos–a position he held until the end of 2020, when he was appointed global co-head of sector strategies.
Mr. Furtado Reis joined Norges Bank Investment Management in 2011 as a portfolio manager and in 2014 became a senior portfolio manager and head of banks–a position he held until he was appointed global co-head of sector strategies together with Mr. Balthasar.
The appointments follow last month’s announcement that Chief Equities Officer Petter Johnsen was stepping down to take on a new role as senior portfolio manager, strengthening the fund’s active portfolio management.
Mr. Johnsen will remain in his current role until his successors take over.
Established in the 1990s to invest the revenues from North Sea oil discoveries, the oil fund, as it is known, is the world’s largest single shareholder, owning on average 1.5% of the world’s listed companies.
Write to Dominic Chopping at dominic.chopping@wsj.com