Danish pension fund to sell off US Treasury bonds

Danish pension fund to sell off US Treasury bonds

Akademiker Pension fund says its decision is not related to the Greenland dispute but due to poor US finance management.

US treasury secretary Scott Bessent rejected notions Europeans targeted US debt in retaliation over Greenland, calling it a ‘false narrative’. (Federal Reserve pic)
COPENHAGEN:
Denmark’s Akademiker Pension fund said Tuesday it will sell off its US Treasury bonds due to poor management of public finance in the United States.

The decision is not related to the dispute between the United States and Europe over the future of the autonomous Danish territory of Greenland, coveted by US President Donald Trump, the fund said.

Instead, it is linked to “poor US 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,” chief investment officer Anders Schelde told AFP.

“It is not directly related to the ongoing rift between the US and Europe, but of course that didn’t make it more difficult to take the decision,” he added.

The fund holds US$100 million dollars of US bonds out of a total of US$25.7 billion in assets.

At the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Tuesday, US treasury secretary Scott Bessent rejected the notion that Europeans were targeting US debt in retaliation for Washington’s designs on Greenland, calling it a “completely false narrative”.

Responding to a question at a press briefing, Bessent said that such a strategy from Europe could destabilise the market.

“I think everyone needs to take a deep breath. Do not listen to the media who are hysterical,” he said.

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