revenues were to disappear entirely. our economic future depends above all on our capacity to produce goods and services that others value. but the visible oil revenues may give the impression that we have a huge treasure trove at our disposal. sound wealth management is therefore first and foremost a question of maintaining and developing the value of our productive resources, particularly our labour resources. a nation that comes into a large fortune must make a number of choices and trade - offs. they can be considered from a legal, ethical or financial standpoint. in my speech today, i will alf collet ( 1915 ) : familien collett og christianialiv i gamle dage ( the collett family and life in christiania in olden days ), cappelen, kristiania. see facts 2011 – the norwegian petroleum sector, ministry of petroleum and energy : http : / / www. npd. no / en / publications / facts / facts - 2011 / report to the storting on long - term perspectives for the norwegian economy, section 4. 5 : http : / / www. regjeringen. no / en / dep / fin / press - center / press - releases / 2009 / long - term - perspectives - for - thenorwegian. html? id = 542381 bis central bankers ’ speeches discuss in particular what sound management entails from an economic viewpoint. i will also touch upon how we practice oil wealth management in norges bank. intergenerational saving the first question that must be answered is : who owns the oil wealth? does it belong to the present generation of norwegians? does it also belong to future generations? 4 even though i will be speaking from an economic vantage point, i will borrow a point made by the philosopher henrik syse. he asks whether we have the right in the course of a single generation to expend resources that it has taken nature millions of years to produce. but there are also counter arguments. the next generations are likely to be wealthier than us in any case. should we save for them? saving for the future can also be supported with vicarious arguments by those who are worried about their own upcoming pension payments. today ’ s pension obligations are underfunded but can be more easily met if oil revenues are saved. is this the “ 68 generation ” that first went on a spending spree and is now arguing in favour of saving to secure their own pensions? 5 moreover,

p. 182 ( norwegian only ). for more on the fund ’ s real estate investments, see the nbim website : http : / / www. nbim. no / en / investments / asset - mix / real - estate / the ministry of finance decides which companies to exclude. for more on exclusion from the government pension fund global, see website : http : / / www. regjeringen. no / en / dep / fin / selected - topics / the - governmentpension - fund / responsible - investments / negative - screening - and - exclusion. html? id = 447009 bis central bankers ’ speeches we now own shares in more than 8 000 companies worldwide. as shareholders, we are entitled to vote when important decisions are made about companies in which we have an ownership stake. should we actively seek to influence developments or should we remain passive observers? many large funds choose the latter. it requires time and effort to consider the issues to be addressed at company agms, and not least : we may be confronted with uncomfortable questions. the fund now owns around 1 per cent of the world ’ s listed companies. this is both a lot and a little. for less than 0. 1 per cent of the global population to own 1 per cent of global equities is a lot. but 1 per cent may seem too little to exert ownership influence. nonetheless, we have chosen to exercise our voting rights. in many companies, ownership is spread across many shareholders, in which case even a 1 per cent interest is a large stake. the fund also has larger holdings – up to 10 per cent – in a number of companies, which gives us the opportunity to steer companies in what we consider to be the right direction. voting is governed by a few main principles. 30 as a minority shareholder, equal treatment of shareholders and board accountability are two key elements of our long - term management. in addition, as the fund is invested in a wide range of companies with a long investment horizon, our concerns must go beyond the purely business - related. a manufacturing enterprise that emits pollutants and harms neighbouring enterprises may not be of concern to the enterprise itself. but it is of concern to us because we own shares in the enterprises affected by the pollution. water management and climate change are two of our strategic focus areas. in addition to voting, we engage in dialogue with management teams in a number of companies. we must remember that when we point a finger