The Nobel Foundation is ultimately responsible for ensuring that the intentions of the will of Alfred Nobel are fulfilled. The main mission of the Foundation is to manage the assets left behind by Nobel, as well as the extensive intellectual property related to the Nobel Prize. 

The institutions that Alfred Nobel designated in his will to select Laureates choose the Trustees of the Nobel Foundation. The most important task of the Trustees is to appoint the Nobel Foundation’s Board of Directors and to examine the Nobel Foundation’s financial statements. At the meeting of the Trustees on Friday, 26 April 2019, the Nobel Foundation’s 2018 financial statements were presented.

The objective of the Nobel Foundation’s investment activities is to achieve a sufficiently high return over time to maintain the financial base of the Nobel Prize and guarantee the independence of the work of the Prize Committees in selecting the Laureates. The Foundation’s asset management must take into account the various risks that exist in financial markets. The Nobel Foundation has a total of about 30 investments, nearly all in funds or similar structures. The Foundation invests in equities, fixed income instruments and properties, as well as hedge funds and other “alternative” assets.      

The ambition of the Nobel Foundation is to carry out asset management that contributes to long-term sustainable development and also in other respects to follow good ethical principles in its investment activities. In the equity portfolio, during 2018 the Foundation divested all known holdings in companies related to controversial weapons and greatly decreased its exposure to coal, other fossil fuels and tobacco.

The market value of the Nobel Foundation’s total invested capital amounted to SEK 4,338 m (4,496) at the end of 2018. The total market value of investment capital (total invested capital excluding directly owned properties) amounted to SEK 4,073 m (4,263). The year’s return on investment capital was -2.1 per cent. This outcome was better than the Foundation’s benchmark indices, but somewhat worse than the average for the peer group of asset managers that the Foundation compares itself to. 

The Foundation reduced its exposure to equities from 50 per cent at the end of 2017 to 44 per cent at the end of 2018. Instead it increased its investments in properties and alternative assets to 42 per cent, from 32 per cent.

The Nobel Foundation evaluates its investment capital in a long-term perspective. In addition to its return target, the Foundation uses a benchmark index and a peer group of investors to evaluate its asset management. The Foundation’s average annual return on the portfolio was 7.3 per cent during the years 2014-2018. During the same period, the benchmark index returned 5.2 per cent annually. During this period, the Foundation also earned higher returns than the average for its peer group.

Today the Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation set the amount of the 2019 Prize at SEK 9 m for each Prize category.

Board appointments

Decisions were made to appoint new members to several Boards of externally financed public entities in the Nobel sphere.

To the Board of the Nobel Center Foundation: 
Dilsa Demirbag-Sten, Co-founder and General Secretary, Berättarministeriet
Professor Åsa Wikforss
Lisa Månsson, Director, Vasa Museum

To the Board of Nobelhuset AB: 
Monica von Schmalensee, Architect
Olov Amelin, PhD

To the Board of Nobel Media AB:
Peje Emilsson, Entrepreneur

The Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation, 2019              

Regular members                                       Term of office

Professor Carl-Henrik Heldin, Chairman                                         1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021

Professor Göran K. Hansson, Vice Chairman                                  1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021
Secretary General of the Royal Swedish                                                                                   
Academy of Sciences

Dr Lars Heikensten                                                                           1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021
Executive Director of the Nobel Foundation

Professor Mats Malm                                                                        1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021 

Tomas Nicolin, MSc                                                                         1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021

Professor Thomas Perlmann                                                             1 May 2018 – 30 April 2020
Secretary of the Nobel Assembly at Karolinska Institutet 
and of the Nobel Committee for Physiology and Medicine

Berit Reiss-Andersen, Attorney                                                        1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021
Chair of the Norwegian Nobel Committee

Deputy members                                     Term of office

Professor Gunnar von Heijne                                                            1 May 2018 – 30 April 2020
Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Chemistry

Professor Gunnar Ingelman                                                              1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021
Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physics

For the Nobel Foundation’s guidelines for responsible investments, click here:
https://www.nobelprize.org/uploads/2018/07/guidelines_investments_18.pdf

The Nobel Foundation’s Annual Report for 2018 and an Annual Review are found here:
https://www.nobelprize.org/about/reports-and-statements/