Danish pension fund to ditch U.S. Treasuries, says Greenland not the cause

AkademikerPension said the decision was due to 'poor U.S. government finances' and not intended as a political statement linked to the rift between Denmark and the United States.

Danish pension fund AkademikerPension said on Tuesday it would sell off its holding of U.S. Treasuries, worth some US$100 million, by the end of this month, blaming weak U.S. government finances.

AkademikerPension said the decision was not intended as a political statement linked to the rift between Denmark and the United States over Greenland.

“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,” Investment Director Anders Schelde said in a written statement.

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

AkademikerPension has in total 164 billion Danish crowns ($25.74 billion) under management, it said on its website.