Chapter 302
Chapter 302
It feels like the new year started yesterday, but the calendar has moved to December.
I boarded a plane with Taek-gyu and headed to Norway. The reason I go to a place where no one knows me is because there is a Nobel Prize ceremony.
For the same reason, Professor Homin Kim also went to Sweden.
When the Nobel Prize was created, Norway belonged to Sweden. In 1905, Norway became independent and took only the right to award the Nobel Peace Prize. So, while other Nobel Prize awards are held in Stockholm, Sweden, only the Nobel Peace Prize is held in Oslo, Norway.
“How are you living in Norway?”
“Huh. The per capita income is about 80,000 dollars.”
Taehyung was surprised.
“Eighty thousand dollars? What’s so high?”
Korea is now barely over ,000, so it’s more than twice as high. Well, the population is ten times different, so Korea’s overall GDP is overwhelmingly high.
“Is there anything famous in Norway other than salmon?”
“I wonder if I could have made that much money by selling salmon? It’s all about oil.”
In addition to tourism, manufacturing, and fishing, there are also export of resources, which occupies an overwhelming position. If there were no North Sea oil fields, we would not be able to enjoy the wealth we have today.
“Is it cold in Norway?”
“Perhaps? Because it is higher in latitude than Korea.”
“But it’s too cold in Korea.”
“right.”
Summer is insanely hot, and winter is insanely cold. It feels like the weather is just like summer and winter.
Is this all because of global warming?
“In winter, I have to go to a warm country to play.”
Would you like to go on a trip you haven’t been to before? Guam or Hawaii?
Taek-gyu looked out the plane window and turned his head towards me.
“By the way, are you really getting a Nobel Prize?”
“I hope you don’t give me a call.”
I never thought I would get a Nobel Prize in my life.
I thought it was like that when I was selected as the winner, but now that I am going to Norway like this, I feel a little more real.
Alfred Nobel, as we all know, was the entrepreneur who invented dynamite. And he made a lot of money selling it. However, the explosives he made were far more likely to be used on the battlefield than for construction purposes.
Feeling very sorry for that fact, Nobel left a will to create a foundation based on his legacy to create a Nobel Prize.
Thanks to this, he left his name as a person who contributed to the peace and development of mankind instead of the stigma of being a merchant of death, and his homeland was honored with the most prestigious award in the world.
Had he not made the Nobel Prize, his legacy would have been shredded by his relatives, and Nobel would have remained one of those ordinary businessmen. Perhaps it has now been forgotten in everyone’s memory.
In this respect, how you spend your money is just as important as how you make money.
Shall I build something like Rockefeller Center or Carnegie Hall?
“But can I take this by myself?”
“It’s a joint prime minister with President Ronald and Professor Mohan.”
“No, you are.”
It’s because he doesn’t like being known, but Taek-gyu is the same as he tried to save people. He also deposited all his shares with me.
However, I feel a bit sorry for receiving it alone.
Taek-gyu patted my shoulder and said.
“With something like that. Isn’t our friendship more important than the Nobel Prize?”
“… … .”
That’s too cool a line for this kid to say.
Taek-gyu folded his arms.
“It reminds me of the Nobel Prize, but before I die, should I make something like an OTK award?”
“Huh? OTK Award?”
“It is awarded across games, anime, manga, and novels. OTK Game Award, OTK Anime Award. Can I give you one million dollars in prize money? I think it would be good if it became the most prestigious award in the subculture.”
“Really?”
“There’s nothing you can’t do. Then won’t my name go down in the history of subculture like Nobel?”
“… … .”
I guess I’ll just be called an otaku-san.
* * *
The plane landed at Osler Gardermoen Airport.
The X-Cop security guards arrived before us and had finished preparing the security. There was already a large crowd in front of the airport.
We got into the waiting car.
As we entered the city center, we saw protesters holding up signs everywhere. There was also a sign on the sign that read “Fossil fuel removal” in English.
After the oil spill, Norwegian environmental groups unanimously demanded that the North Sea oil field be closed and completely converted to eco-friendly energy.
Among the cars on the street, there were many electric cars. Norway has announced a plan to ban the sale of internal combustion engine vehicles within five years, and has given various preferential treatment to the spread of electric vehicles.
As a result, the sales rate of electric vehicles among new cars exceeded 30 percent, which is the highest in the world.
Therefore, it can be said that it is a very important market for Karos.
The problem is that as the number of electric vehicles increases, more power is required. This was a controversial topic in Norway as well.
More thermal power plants should be built, nuclear power plants should be built, eco-friendly power generation should be increased, etc.
Thermal power generation inevitably emits pollutants. Nuclear power generation is cheap and emits less pollutants, but radioactive waste disposal is a problem. Not to mention accidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima.
The best thing is green energy… … .
“Strictly speaking, there is no such thing as a completely green energy.”
Generally, wind power, hydropower, solar power, solar power, and geothermal power are regarded as eco-friendly energy. However, the wind makes a huge noise, and many birds are killed by hitting the blades. Solar heat and sunlight cannot be used on a flowing day, and the energy production per unit area is low, so a large area is required. Hydropower changes the ecosystem of the river as much as it blocks waterways and builds dams. Geothermal power has the risk of causing earthquakes by changing the flow of energy in the ground.
Taehyung nodded his head.
“Huh, environmental destruction is inevitable for humans to survive.”
It’s just a matter of how little you do it.
In the past, economic development took priority even if it pollutes the environment. However, environmental pollution has now reached a serious level and has taken hold of the economy.
The global temperature is rising year by year, and abnormal climate phenomena are becoming more frequent.
In China, fine dust is so severe that it is difficult to walk without a mask. In order to breathe properly, factories near the city have to be shut down.
We need to think about how we will grow in the future.
Can technological advances solve this problem?
* * *
We stayed at the Grand Paros Hotel, a famous American hotel chain.
I roughly unpacked and spoke to Ellie.
[How about Norway?]“The city is beautiful. I wish I could have come with you.”
[Hey, I wanted to go too.]Ellie says she’s never seen her come to Norway before when she was studying in London.
“It’s because of work, so I can’t help it.”
The end of the year is a busy time for financial institutions.
[There are a lot of beauties there. You can’t look away.]“Is there a woman prettier than Ellie?”
Ellie laughed out loud at my words.
[That’s a good attitude.]After the call, I washed up and rested. President Ronald and Professor Mohan are due to arrive tomorrow.
Around evening, a middle-aged man came to the hotel and visited me. He is in his mid-50s, tall, and has a typical white skin tone.
His name is Nicholas Carlsen.
The general public doesn’t know, but he is a name that anyone in the financial world has heard of at least once. He is the managing director of the Norwegian Sovereign Wealth Fund (GPFG).
The Norwegian sovereign wealth fund currently has $1 trillion in assets under management. This is more than double the amount of the Korean national pension. So when you think of Norway in the financial world, the first thing that comes to mind is the sovereign wealth fund.
The source of operating funds is the North Sea Oilfield.
Countries that are suddenly blessed with resources tend to spend most of the time, or to be monopolized by some ruling classes. But Norway wasn’t that stupid.
Resources were managed transparently and fairly, and the members agreed to create a sovereign wealth fund to invest for the future.
Crude oil is the largest raw material market and also the most distorted market.
In a normal market, the price is naturally determined at the point where supply and demand coincide. However, in the meantime, the oil market has been supplier-centered and dominated by OPEC’s collusion.
Collusion disrupts the normal functioning of the market. The world had to go through two oil shocks as OPEC member countries arbitrarily adjusted supply and skyrocketed prices.
This was possible because oil is the grain of wheat in modern civilization. No civilization could survive without oil, so we had to cry and eat mustard no matter how expensive it was.
Although the North Sea oil producers did not belong to OPEC, they have enjoyed the benefits of collusion among OPEC members.
Wouldn’t it be good if oil prices go up no matter what anyone does?
The reason why the Opec cartel, which seemed to last forever, started to crack is because a huge supplier appeared outside the cartel.
The United States developed a technology to crush shale rock and extract oil and gas from it, and secured profitability.
The United States changed from being the world’s largest oil importer to an exporter, and the OPEC member states were hit hard.
Venezuela collapsed, and Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Kuwait, Iran, and the United Arab Emirates suffered a significant decline in exports.
Although we have prepared well before, Brant oil exporting countries such as the UK, the Netherlands and Norway are also suffering from the drop in oil prices.
In particular, the damage to oil fields and oil spills will be quite devastating.
Currently, the North Sea oil field is in the process of being restored to a state of shutdown. Winter is a time when oil demand increases due to seasonal factors. While the North Sea oil field was shut down, Middle Eastern countries were excitedly selling Dubai oil, contributing to oil price stabilization.
Although monetary loss is also a loss, environmental damage caused by oil spills is a more serious problem. Among the countries in the North Sea, Norway suffered the most. A black strip of oil covered the coast, and fishermen put all their efforts into disaster prevention.
This is why environmental groups have come up with it.
General Manager Carlsen greeted in British English.(Read more @ wuxiax.com)
“It is very nice to meet CEO Kang Jin-hoo.”
“I always wanted to see you too.”
How many funds manage $1 trillion in assets?
We are investing in about 10,000 companies in about 80 countries, so it was good to say that we are actually investing in the world. It also invests in domestic stocks and bonds, and is a major shareholder of large domestic companies including Seosung Electronics.
We drank coffee and talked.
After a brief greeting, he brought up the main topic.
“I would like to make two proposals to the representative.”
“What?”
“The first proposal is to invest in OTK Company. As you may know, Norway has one important principle when it comes to managing sovereign wealth funds.”
I nodded and answered.
“Investing in assets that have little correlation with oil prices.”
“Yes.”
A country that feeds on a specific resource is good when the resource price rises, but suffers a huge loss when the resource price falls. That is why we have this principle to spread the risk of falling oil prices.
Companies owned by OTK Company have little correlation with oil prices. In particular, as the main focus of Karos is electric vehicles, it can be said to be the opposite.
Norway has invested heavily in electric vehicle-related companies as much as it has put its efforts into distributing electric vehicles. Nikola, BID, CL Chem, etc. But the problem is that the stock prices of those companies are not very good these days.
If the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund says it will invest, most companies will welcome it with open arms, but I am different.
“It’s because we don’t need additional investment right now.”
General Manager Carlsen nodded his head as if he knew it.
“I would like to continue talking about that in the future. Secondly, I would like to ask for advice on the management of the sovereign wealth fund.”
I was startled inside.
Investment proposals for OTK Company were expected to some extent. However, the proposal to take on the role of management advisor was unexpected.
The capital market is strictly one won, one vote. So, having a lot of money is always an advantage. And it doesn’t really matter if the money is mine or someone else’s.
The stake value is large, but in terms of cash that can be used, it is not much. If I accept the offer, my influence in the financial world will increase.
Since it is not a personal asset, it is the money of the Norwegian people, so my investment will not be decided immediately. However, it was clear that it would be an important guideline.
Because I have never failed an investment before.
If you can manage sovereign wealth funds as you wish, where should you invest?
General Carlsen looked at my face and said.
“We will match the conditions and treatment as much as possible.”
