Danish Pension Fund Exits U.S. Treasuries Over Trump Credit Concerns

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension is preparing to liquidate its remaining U.S. Treasury holdings by the end of January, citing concerns over America’s long-term fiscal stability and heightened credit risks tied to President Donald Trump’s policies. 

The move represents one of the most explicit public rebukes of U.S. government creditworthiness by a major European institutional investor.

In an interview with Bloomberg on Tuesday, the fund’s chief investment officer Anders Schelde delivered an unusually stark assessment of Washington’s fiscal health.

AkademikerPension, which manages roughly $25 billion for Danish teachers and academics, currently holds around $100 million in U.S. Treasury securities, according to its end-2025 filings. The position is now being unwound entirely.

Schelde said the fund had maintained Treasuries primarily for risk-management and liquidity purposes, noting they served as a stabilizing asset during bouts of market stress. However, he argued that the dynamics supporting that strategy have changed fundamentally.

Trump’s Policies Spark Investor Jitters

Among the factors shaping the Danish fund’s exit, Schelde cited Trump’s revived threats regarding Greenland, which has been a geopolitical flashpoint that rattled Denmark during Trump’s first term, and broader concerns over the administration’s fiscal posture.

The CIO pointed to widening deficit projections, recurring debt-ceiling brinkmanship, and persistent warnings from credit-rating agencies about U.S. governance as indicators that Treasuries no longer meet the fund’s evolving risk criteria.

Concerns over potential dollar weakness also contributed to the decision, as currency risks have become more prominent for European investors amid structural shifts in U.S. monetary policy.

A Rare Public Break From the Global Treasury Consensus

While foreign governments and private institutions periodically adjust Treasury exposure, it is unusual for a major pension fund to publicly declare the asset class unfit for long-term credit reasons. The move comes despite U.S. Treasuries remain the backbone of global finance, and an anchor of perceived safety, even during periods of political turbulence.

To contextualize the scale of the market AkademikerPension is stepping away from, the largest holders of U.S. Treasuries span both sovereign and institutional giants. 

Japan, the United Kingdom, and China are among the top foreign holders, each maintaining hundreds of billions to over a trillion dollars of exposure, according to U.S. Treasury data.

Table of largest foreign holders of U.S. Treasury shares (Source: U.S. Treasury)

Financial hubs such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Ireland, and the Cayman Islands also rank highly, in part because custody banks and investment funds domiciled in those jurisdictions hold Treasuries on behalf of global investors. Countries like Canada, France, and Switzerland are also among the top foreign stakeholders.

Massive Domestic Holders Dominate the Market

Domestically, the Federal Reserve is by far the largest single holder of U.S. government debt. Through years of quantitative easing and balance-sheet expansion, the Fed has accumulated trillions in Treasury securities.

Private-sector holders also play a dominant role:

Mutual funds, particularly those managed by Vanguard, BlackRock, and Fidelity, collectively hold more than $4.4 trillion in Treasuries.

Pension funds remain major buyers, using government bonds to match long-term liabilities and stabilize portfolio risk.

Banks and insurance companies maintain substantial Treasury positions for liquidity and regulatory compliance.

On the corporate side, Berkshire Hathaway, led by Warren Buffett, has become one of the largest private holders of U.S. Treasury bills, reportedly accumulating over $360 billion in short-term government debt by late 2025.

In the digital-asset sector, stablecoin issuer Tether has emerged as a significant private holder as well, backing its dollar-pegged tokens with an estimated $120–$135 billion in U.S. Treasuries.