A Danish pension fund is planning to sell its entire holdings of U.S. Treasuries \u2014 about $100 million \u2014 over concerns about the U.S. government’s financial stability.<\/p>\n
AkademikerPension confirmed to CBS News that it is exiting U.S. Treasuries by the end of this month and that it will instead turn to the U.S. dollar and short-duration debt.<\/p>\n
“The decision is rooted in the poor U.S. government finances, which make us think that we need to make an effort to find an alternative way of conducting our liquidity and risk management,” Anders Schelde, chief investment officer of AkademikerPension, told CBS News in a statement.<\/p>\n
Moody’s Ratings in May\u00a0downgraded the U.S. credit rating<\/a>\u00a0from the highest level \u2014 Aaa \u2014 to Aa1, one notch lower, citing rising government debt and heightened policy uncertainty tied to President Trump’s trade policy.<\/p>\n Danish-owned AkademikerPension, which offers pension plans for academics, has used U.S. Treasuries for many years as a source of liquidity, Schelde said in his statement.<\/p>\n The move comes as President Trump steps up his pressure campaign to acquire Greenland. Schelde claimed on Tuesday that the company’s decision was “not directly related to the ongoing rift between the US and Europe,” adding, “but of course that didn’t make it more difficult to take the decision.”<\/p>\n The president has repeatedly said he wants the U.S. to take over the island<\/a>, which is a territory of Denmark. He argues the acquisition is necessary to ensure the security of the U.S<\/a>. and its allies, a claim that has drawn pushback from NATO<\/a>.<\/p>\n Over the weekend, Mr. Trump said he would levy tariffs \u2014 starting at 10% in February and then going up to 25% in June \u2014 on 8 major NATO trading partners until a deal is reached “for the Complete and Total purchase of Greenland.” Following the tariff announcement, made<\/a> on Truth Social, U.S. and European stocks slid<\/a>.<\/p>\n The U.S. relies on foreign investment to help finance its debt. According to Deutsche Bank Research, European countries own $8 billion worth of U.S. bonds and equities, nearly double the amount of the rest of the world combined. Some of the largest foreign holders of U.S. debt include Japan, the U.K. and China, according to the U.S. Treasury Department.\u00a0<\/p>\n Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent denied on Tuesday that European countries would bail on U.S. Treasuries while speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.<\/p>\n “I think it is a completely false narrative,” he said, according<\/a> to the Guardian. “It defies any logic, and I could not disagree more strongly,” he added.<\/p>\n