The market value of the Nobel Foundation’s capital was SEK 4,902 m at the end of 2019. The total market value of investment capital (total invested capital excluding directly owned properties) amounted to SEK 4,618 m. During 2019, return on this investment capital was +16.6 per cent. The economic crisis of recent months connected to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected the Foundation’s capital. Today its investment capital is estimated at around SEK 4.3 billion. This is about the same level as in the spring of 2019. 

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, 24 April 2020, the Nobel Foundation’s 2019 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.

Beyond this, 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.

During 2019, the Nobel Foundation continued its work with responsible investments, mainly by significantly reducing holdings related to tobacco and fossil fuels via its equity asset managers and by choosing active equity managers that integrate sustainability criteria and objectives in their selection of companies.

The market value of the Nobel Foundation’s total capital amounted to SEK 4,902 m (4,338) at the end of 2019. The total market value of investment capital (total invested capital excluding directly owned properties) amounted to SEK 4,618 m (4,073) at year-end. During 2019, return on investment capital was +16.6 (−2.1) per cent.

The Nobel Foundation evaluates its investment activities 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 during the years 2012-2019, when a new asset management organisation with an active, decision-making investment committee was introduced, amounted to 9.6 per cent. In the most recent five-year period, average annual return on the portfolio was 7.3 per cent. During the corresponding periods, average annual return on the benchmark index was 8.4 per cent and 6.8 per cent, respectively.

Events after the balance sheet date

In late February and early March, it became clear that the spread of COVID-19 around the world would have major consequences for developments in our societies. After that, large-scale measures have been taken to reduce the impact of the virus outbreak on public health. The disease also began to affect national economies. This led to both sizeable economic policy interventions and powerful movements in financial markets. Today the market value of the Nobel Foundation’s investment capital is estimated at around SEK 4.3 billion. This is equivalent to the size of its investment capital during the spring of 2019. 

The Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation, 2020             

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         (re-election for new 2-year term)        

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                      (re-election for new 2-year term)        

Professor Gunnar Ingelman                                                       1 May 2019 – 30 April 2021

Secretary of the Nobel Committee for Physics