Novo Holdings reports assets down 34% for 2025

Novo Holdings, the investment company that controls Novo Nordisk on behalf of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, said on March 12, 2026 that its total assets under management fell to DKK 694 billion (€93 billion) at the end of 2025, down from DKK 1,060 billion (€142 billion) a year earlier ^[1]. That is a drop of 34%, or from about $163.8 billion to roughly $107.3 billion in dollar terms ^[2]. The company said the decline "primarily" reflects the significant drop in the market value of Novo Nordisk, the maker of Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus ^[1].

The headline number is about the stock, not the investment business. Novo Holdings' own investment portfolio actually grew slightly, from DKK 216 billion (€29 billion) to DKK 226 billion (€30 billion) ^[1]. That portfolio returned 9.2% measured in constant exchange rates, down from 14.8% in 2024, but only 2.3% when measured in Danish kroner because the U.S. dollar fell more than 11% against the krone during the year ^[1]. Five- and 10-year returns stand at 8.0% and 8.9% in constant currency, which the company says is above its benchmark ^[1].

The numbers behind the drop

Total income and investment returns came to DKK 21 billion (€2.8 billion) for 2025, made up of DKK 15 billion (€2.0 billion) in dividends from the Novo Group companies and DKK 5.8 billion (€0.8 billion) from the investment assets portfolio ^[1]. Novo Holdings said results were hurt by two things beyond the share price: the dollar's slide, and the absence of proceeds from a Novo Nordisk share buyback, which the drugmaker suspended in 2025 ^[1][2].

Inside the portfolio, life science investments made up 52% of the total and capital investments 48% ^[1]. Life science assets ended the year at DKK 124 billion (€17 billion) with a return of -0.3% in kroner, equal to DKK -422 million, though 9.8% in constant currency ^[1]. Capital investments ended at DKK 114 billion (€15 billion) and returned 6.4% in kroner, or DKK 6.2 billion ^[1]. Novo Holdings deployed DKK 13 billion (€1.8 billion) into life sciences, added 12 new companies, exited 36, and ended the year with 170 companies in the portfolio ^[1]. CEO Kasim Kutay pointed to "significant monetisations such as the exit of Clario and KabaFusion" and said the year brought "considerable headwinds for the life sciences industry" ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

Novo Holdings' assets are a rough gauge of how the market now values the company that first brought semaglutide to the obesity market. Novo Nordisk's market capitalization fell in February 2026 to a level it had not seen since before Wegovy was approved in June 2021 ^[2]. The Foundation is not a passive owner: in May 2025 it overhauled Novo Nordisk's board and removed CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, after the company ceded its lead in the obesity market to Eli Lilly ^[2]. Maziar Mike Doustdar took over and has taken a more aggressive approach, including an unsolicited bid for obesity biotech Metsera in October ^[2].

For people using or considering these drugs, the practical link runs through price and competition. Novo Nordisk told investors in early February that it expects sales to decline about 5% in 2026, mainly because of lower drug prices in the United States ^[2]. The company also said its oral Wegovy launch was going well, with 100,000 Americans on the pill within weeks ^[2]. Meanwhile Lilly's orforglipron, which will be sold as Foundayo, was expected to win FDA approval soon and launch in the second quarter ^[2]. More competition and falling U.S. prices are part of why the owner's balance sheet shrank, and they are also what patients feel at the pharmacy counter.

None of this says anything about drug supply, safety or whether any particular product will stay on the market. Those questions are not addressed in the annual results.

What happens next

Two announced exits are still closing: KabaFusion closed in the first quarter of 2026, and Clario is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026 ^[1]. Both deals were signed in 2025 ^[1]. Novo Holdings also said it opened an office in Mumbai during the year as part of a push into Asia ^[1]. The company has not given a 2026 asset or return forecast in this release.