During the first quarter of 2026, global financial markets created a challenging environment for many asset classes amid increasing geopolitical tensions and ongoing uncertainty, the State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) told APA-Economics.
It was noted that rising geopolitical tensions and uncertainty in global financial markets affected the investment portfolio.
The Fund stated that although pressure was observed in equity and bond markets during the reporting period, gold investments made a significant positive contribution to the portfolio. At the same time, SOFAZ’s private equity, real estate and infrastructure assets also demonstrated positive returns.
It was emphasized that although yields in developed countries’ bond markets declined in the first two months of the year, an increase was recorded in March due to rising energy prices and strengthening inflation expectations amid escalating tensions in the Middle East. This negatively affected bond prices. While this dynamic was felt more in European markets, the portfolio of US dollar-denominated debt instruments remained relatively resilient.
According to the information, although global equity markets showed positive dynamics at the beginning of the quarter, they later declined due to increasing geopolitical risks.
The Fund added that gold also started 2026 with strong performance. Although a partial decline in prices was observed in March, overall the quarter ended positively, contributing to the formation of off-budget revenues for SOFAZ’s gold sub-portfolio.
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