Nordic pensions quietly test how much US risk they can stomach

Foreign investors hold about US$10.4tn in US stocks. If even a small share of that starts to move, it matters for every pension plan plugged into global markets. 

According to Bloomberg, Greenland’s SISA Pension and several major Nordic schemes are now openly questioning how much US risk they want to carry as policy uncertainty, debt levels and geopolitics push up the perceived risk premium on American assets. 

A small Greenland fund, a big signal 

Bloomberg reports that SISA Pension, which manages roughly US$1.1bn, has around 50 percent of its portfolio in US assets, mainly equities.  

Its board and investment committee are actively debating whether to keep that exposure as US President Donald Trump presses his bid to take control of Greenland. 

Chief executive Søren Schock Petersen told Bloomberg they are “still discussing it” and will “probably sometime in the future” say “enough is enough.” He added that “this continuous pressure will perhaps end with a decision that we now have to act and can’t keep ignoring it.” 

Petersen admitted the fund is too small to move markets but said any divestment “could be symbolic. It could be a signal.”  

At the same time, he raised fairness and fiduciary questions, pointing out that “only half of the US population voted for Trump” and asking whether members would still “appreciate it” if US shares keep delivering strong returns. 

He described a US invasion of Greenland as the “worst‑case scenario”.  

The island’s prime minister has already told residents to prepare for a possible, if unlikely, military invasion.  

Petersen warned that such an event could push most Greenlanders to Denmark and hurt the value of SISA’s private holdings in the territory, including a recent stake in a local seafood firm.  

He assumes SISA’s assets would not be seized, “but of course you never know.” 

Nordic funds trim Treasuries, rethink US risk 

Beyond Greenland, large Northern European investors are starting to adjust at the margin.  

Reuters reports that two Nordic pension funds, Sweden’s Alecta and Denmark’s AkademikerPension, have sold or are in the process of selling their US Treasuries, citing increased risk tied to US government finances, Treasuries and the dollar.  

Both stressed these moves are not meant as direct political responses to the Greenland dispute. 

According to Reuters, the value of US Treasuries held by ABP, Europe’s largest pension fund in the Netherlands, has also dropped sharply, likely reflecting reduced holdings.  

Swedish insurer Folksam told Reuters it sold its US Treasuries in 2024 in part to reduce risk ahead of the US election. 

Van Luu, global head of solutions strategy, fixed income and FX at Russell Investments, said to Reuters that “about 50 percent” of clients — especially in Northern Europe and the Netherlands — are considering whether to “tilt away from US assets.” 

Russell advises retirement schemes with about US$1.6tn and manages US$636bn directly. 

Finland’s Ilmarinen, which manages just over €65bn, still sees the US as “very much investable” but says its risk premium has “continued to rise,” according to Reuters. 

Finnish provider Veritas told Reuters that higher US policy unpredictability makes the environment more difficult for the dollar. 

A deputy director at Insurance and Pensions Denmark told Reuters that current turmoil is forcing members to reassess “how exposed you should be to the US,” while stressing there is “no weaponisation of capital” and that it is not the sector’s job to make political statements. 

Symbolic bond sales, sticky equity exposure 

So far, most concrete action has hit US government debt, not corporate securities.  

Bloomberg reports that AkademikerPension’s move to divest roughly US$100m in Treasuries briefly jolted the market but is tiny compared to its more than US$6bn in US equities and corporate bonds.  

Sweden’s Alecta has sold most of its US Treasuries since early 2025, and several German states have reduced Treasuries on ESG grounds. 

Jordan Rochester of Mizuho told Bloomberg that Denmark “loves their ESG” and that many funds may be having similar conversations, but he emphasised that actual US Treasury positions tend to be small. 

Jack McIntyre of Brandywine Global Investment Management described the Danish selling to Bloomberg as “cleaning up a line item by selling US Treasuries as opposed to US equities and investment‑grade credit,” and called it “symbolic.” 

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent pushed back on fears of a broader backlash.  

He said talk of Europe “weaponizing” US assets “defies any logic,” called Denmark’s Treasury position “irrelevant,” and noted that “they’ve been selling Treasuries for years.” 

Why equities remain the real lever 

The real leverage still lies in equities and corporate credit.  

Bloomberg reports that about 70 percent of the MSCI World benchmark is made up of US stocks, and that European investors own roughly US$10.4tn in US equities — 49 percent of all US shares held by foreigners.  

More than half of that stake, sits in the eight European countries Trump targeted with tariff threats linked to Greenland. 

Norway’s sovereign wealth fund holds more than US$180bn of Treasuries but about US$759bn in US stocks; the country’s finance minister told Bloomberg TV the US$2.1tn fund has no reason to pull back from the US.  

In the Netherlands, the €2tn Dutch pension sector holds just €34bn in US government bonds versus €465bn in long‑term US investments in corporations and financial institutions. 

Bloomberg also notes that European investors have lifted their US equity holdings by 91 percent — about US$4.9tn — over the past three years, driven by both inflows and price gains.  

Any shift to “lighten up” on US assets, even gradually, would mark a meaningful change from that pattern. 

From “Sell America 2.0” to measured diversification 

So far, the tone from most managers is about diversification, not decoupling.  

Vincent Mortier, chief investment officer at Amundi SA, said client demand to “diversify away from the US” started in April 2025 and has “somewhat accelerated this week,” though he expects a “long and complex process” as funds work out departures from benchmark weights and dollar hedging. 

Raphael Thuin at Tikehau Capital told Bloomberg that after “five years of substantial inflows into US assets” and in light of dollar weakness and the “growing weaponization of the US currency,” diversification is now front of mind for most institutional investors.  

He said allocations to European assets could accelerate as investors reposition. 

Bloomberg points out that non‑US markets have recently delivered competitive returns, with the Stoxx 600 up 32 percent in US$ terms over the past year, Japan’s Topix up 23 percent, South Korea’s Kospi up 80 percent and Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite up 28 percent.  

It adds that the S&P 500 rose 16 percent over the same period and that Canada’s outperformance hit a 20‑year high before currency effects. 

Mathieu Racheter at Julius Baer told Bloomberg this is “an environment where you don’t want to be all exposed to US equities or US assets, especially not the dollar.”  

Yet Bloomberg, citing JPMorgan strategists, notes that daily ETF flow data still show “little change” in foreign demand for US equity funds.  

Edmond de Rothschild’s CIO Benjamin Melman told Bloomberg that “one can’t rule out longer term that the weight of the US will be readjusted moving forward.” 

Reuters adds that US policy uncertainty has also supported interest in gold, and quotes AP3 CIO Jonas Thulin saying that despite the noise, “for the time being I believe one should keep a cool head.”