Norway's $85bn (€82bn) Petroleum Fund, one of the largest institutional investors in the world, is looking to place more than $8.5bn of equity mandates with external fund managers.

All the mandates were tendered in 2002, including the latest 'request for proposal' on $1.25bn off assets. This includes $500m in active specialist sector mandates within the consumer staples/defensive area, plus $750m to be invested in active specialist sector mandates within the consumer cyclical and business sectors. The process of appointing managers on all the sector and regional mandates is still ongoing.