Norway's $960 billion wealth fund should be split from central bank - reform proposal

OSLO (Reuters) - Norway's $960-billion wealth fund, the world's largest, should be split from the country's central bank, which has managed the fund since its launch in 1996, a government-appointed commission said on Friday.

"The Commission proposes that (an) investment management company be established as a separate statutory entity," it said in a statement.

The recommendations will be closely examined by Norwegian politicians, who had said ahead of the publication they were waiting for the report's conclusions before deciding what new asset, if any, the fund could invest in.

The fund, which is managed by a unit of the central bank, invests in bonds, stocks and real estate abroad, but is seeking to add new higher-yielding investments such as unlisted equity or infrastructure.

(Reporting by Joachim Dagenborg, editing by Terje Solsvik)