European Pension Funds Accelerate Treasury Divestment Amid Fiscal Concerns
Sweden's Alecta pension fund has liquidated $7.7-$8.8 billion in U.S. Treasuries since January 2025, marking the second major European institutional retreat this week after Denmark's AkademikerPension announced its $100 million bond exit. CIO Pablo Bernengo cited 'policy unpredictability' as the driver, with both funds signaling eroding confidence in dollar-denominated debt.
The moves coincide with growing institutional interest in alternative stores of value. Bitcoin (BTC) and ethereum (ETH) holdings among Nordic funds have increased 17% year-to-date according to Arcane Research, while gold-backed tokens like PAXG and yield-bearing stablecoins (DAI) are seeing record inflows.
Market analysts note parallel surges in treasury-hedging instruments: Bitcoin's 30-day correlation with 10-year Treasury yields turned negative (-0.42) for the first time since 2021, while DeFi protocols like PENDLE (PENDLE) and Aave (AAVE) report unprecedented demand for rate-swap products.