Global investors trim US exposure amid debt fears

According to The Express Tribune, citing CNBC, some of the world's largest institutional investors and central banks are rethinking their exposure to US assets over mounting public borrowing, higher bond yields and geopolitical uncertainty. Norway's sovereign wealth fund, which holds $2.3 trillion, has recommended cutting the share of government bonds in its benchmark from 70% to 50%. Under the proposal, its US Treasury holdings would drop from 34.1% to 21.9% of its government bond portfolio.

The Dutch central bank, DNB, moved about 86 metric tons of gold from New York and Ottawa to London between March and August, just over a quarter of its reserves previously held in North America. DNB said storage with the Bank of England provides the most easily tradable gold, as the bars meet international trading standards. Governor Olaf Sleijpen linked the transfer to stronger contingency planning, while France had earlier moved 129 metric tons from the New York Federal Reserve.

Over the last 12 months, gold rose about 25%, and the metal was recently quoted near $4,430 an ounce. Analysts quoted in the report see a gradual, not sudden, pullback from US markets, though the shift stops short of a full abandonment. It signals that the once-dominant role of US assets in global portfolios is no longer assured.