Despite a 2025 finding by regulators that the stocks were manipulated, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, run by Norges Bank Investment Management, continued this year to own positions in three Turkish companies. Filings further indicate the Oslo-based investor kept positions in other lesser-known Turkish stocks after cutting ties with Istanbul Portfoy Yonetimi AS, previously in charge of a slice of its 20.4 billion kroner in Turkish equities. Istanbul Portfoy managed about $600 million for NBIM, and the seriousness of the watchdog's findings - along with the firm's alleged failure to alert NBIM proactively - led the fund to cut ties. NBIM then hired Neo Asset Management and kept participating in Turkish deals.
External firms handle 1.1 trillion kroner for NBIM, around 5% of total assets. While most of the fund follows a custom benchmark set by the Finance Ministry, at least part of its Turkey exposure sat with outside managers. As of June 30, records show it continued to hold positions in a minimum of 10 Turkish companies that prosecutors or regulators have flagged in the ongoing probe.
Because NBIM only reveals positions twice a year, it is unclear whether it still holds Visne, Baticim or Peker. A spokesperson declined to comment on the stakes.
Even the largest funds can find themselves unable to exit a position. Market Briefs covers the big allocators free every morning.
The fallout in Turkey has accelerated since last month. Authorities are examining a group of domestic financial firms to assess whether the funds under their management - and accessible to retail investors - inflated prices in thinly traded shares. Justice Minister Akin Gurlek has likened the behavior to "Ponzi-like schemes." Dozens have been arrested or detained, among them fund managers, finance executives and company heads. From a May record, the Borsa Istanbul All Share Index is down 22%, erasing 4.6 trillion lira in market value, or $94.6 billion.
Baticim shows how extreme the swings became. In 2024 the cement maker's market value shot to 45 billion lira - roughly 10 times its historical average - before plunging within weeks. In October, the Capital Markets Board fined a managing partner at Istanbul Portfoy 18.5 million liras for "creating a misleading impression about the supply, demand and price" of Baticim shares.
Regulators also reviewed trading in Visne and Peker, both closely tied to Tera Yatirim Menkul Degerler AS, which handled Visne's February 2025 IPO; afterward the shares leapt more than 2,000%, placing its market worth at $2.4 billion. Tera's overseen funds held almost 40% of the traded shares in Peker, and the stock had advanced more than 1,000% in that same period. In October, the markets watchdog levied an 8.9 million-lira penalty on Alper Ozturk, who leads a Tera subsidiary, for manipulating Visne shares, and in December it imposed a record set of fines on 19 individuals over manipulation involving Peker.
Since June 30, the slide in the three names has been steep: Visne has lost more than half its value, Baticim is down 67%, and Peker has fallen more than 80%. The companies did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment.
"The Turkish holdings raise a broader governance question for NBIM," said Karin Thorburn, a professor at the Norwegian School of Economics who has sat on several committees addressing the fund's strategy. "When investment decisions are delegated to external managers, are they subject to the same scrutiny and oversight as investments made internally?" She said the Finance Ministry should consider "tightening the mandate" for outside managers and setting limits on what they can buy. NBIM likewise cut ties with some outside managers in Israel last year and sold out of Israeli stocks amid public backlash over the war in Gaza. After replacing Istanbul Portfoy with Neo Asset Management, NBIM remained active in new issues - in July it was a key buyer in the IPO of SA-RA Enerji Insaat, arranged by Tera, and the shares have since fallen by roughly 50%.
For your money, the takeaway is simple: when markets heat up fast, governance and liquidity risks can hide in plain sight - and when they snap back, they do not ask whether you meant to be in the blast zone.
Liquidity risk is easy to ignore until the moment you need it. Get the free Market Briefs daily newsletter and think it through.
