Safe-Haven Role Questioned: A $60 Billion Wealth Management Institution Shies Away from U.S. Treasuries Long-Term

For many people, this strategy is simply unimaginable. But over the past two decades, a Belgian wealth management firm managing $60 billion in assets has avoided U.S. Treasuries.

Degroof Petercam Asset Management stated that U.S. debt is not enough to be the investment target for its flagship sustainable government bond fund because the U.S. scores poorly on indicators like equality and democracy.

However, this originally niche strategy, which was only applied to a single fund, has recently expanded to other areas of DPAM’s business. This time, the focus is no longer on sustainability issues but on concerns about investment losses.

Ophelie Mortier, Chief Sustainability Officer at DPAM, said that the decision to cut U.S. Treasuries in other parts of the company’s portfolio “is more based on valuation considerations.”

With 15 years of experience in sustainable investing, Mortier refused to disclose how much U.S. debt the wealth management firm has reduced, citing compliance reasons. But she indicated that, from a valuation perspective, reducing U.S. Treasuries might be a wise move.

DPAM, majority owned by Crédit Agricole, is the latest Nordic investor to express concerns about U.S. debt, citing factors such as fiscal inflation, tariffs, and the unpredictable governance style of the White House, all impacting the market.

Although such actions are insignificant in the $30 trillion U.S. debt market, they can occasionally attract the attention of high-level U.S. cabinet officials. In January, a little-known Danish pension fund, AkademikerPension, announced it had liquidated a $100 million U.S. debt portfolio, causing market fluctuations.

At that time, U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, attending the World Economic Forum in Davos, tried to downplay the event. “Denmark’s investment in U.S. Treasuries, like Denmark itself, is insignificant,” he told reporters.

Anders Schelde, Chief Investment Officer of AkademikerPension, placed the decision to exit the U.S. debt market in the broader context of policies implemented by the Trump administration, adding that this move only concerns U.S. Treasuries and not other U.S. assets. He also said the fund aims to prioritize European assets.

“We have not abandoned investments in other U.S. markets,” Schelde told Bloomberg. “But we will try to choose European investment targets more frequently, especially stocks—including both listed and unlisted stocks—as well as key industries like energy, defense, and digital autonomy.”

Other institutional investors withdrawing from the U.S. debt market include Europe’s largest pension fund, Stichting Pensioenfonds ABP, with assets of about €540 billion ($622 billion). In January, the fund announced it had reduced its U.S. Treasury holdings by approximately €10 billion last year, bringing its total holdings down to €19 billion.

In most financial crises, U.S. Treasuries have served as a safe haven. But there are signs that European investors may be re-evaluating this view.

According to data compiled by Morningstar Direct for Bloomberg, government bond funds focused on U.S. dollar strategies registered in Europe experienced net outflows in 2024 and 2025, marking the first such redemptions since 2013.