Norway's sovereign fund seeks permission to invest in unlisted firms

"If the Ministry does permit unlisted equity investments, the Bank will approach investment opportunities and build expertise gradually, invest via and alongside others," it said.

The aim of investing in unlisted stocks would be to improve the trade-off between risk and return, it added.

"A broader investment universe will thus not automatically mean that the Bank actually invests the fund in unlisted equity," Norges Bank wrote.

(Reporting by Terje Solsvik; Editing by Mark Potter)