Danish pension fund Akademikerpension announced on January 20, 2026, that it will divest its entire holdings of US Treasury bonds by the end of the month, citing concerns over weak American government finances under the Trump administration. The move represents one of the most explicit public rebukes of US government creditworthiness by a major European institutional investor.
Akademikerpension, which manages approximately 25 billion dollars for Danish teachers and academics, currently holds around 100 million dollars in US Treasury securities according to its end-2025 filings. Investment Director Anders Schelde stated that the decision is rooted in poor US government finances, which prompted the fund to seek alternative ways of conducting liquidity and risk management.
While the fund insisted the decision was not intended as a political statement linked to the ongoing rift between Denmark and the United States over Greenland, Schelde acknowledged that geopolitical tensions did not make the decision more difficult. Among the factors shaping the exit, he cited Trump's revived threats regarding Greenland, which has been a geopolitical flashpoint that rattled Denmark during Trump's first term, and broader concerns over the administration's fiscal posture.
The announcement comes amid escalating trade tensions between the United States and European allies. President Trump posted on Truth Social over the weekend that it is time for Denmark to give back to the US, announcing a 10 percent tariff on Denmark, Norway, Sweden, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Finland starting February 1. These tariffs will increase to 25 percent from June 1 and continue until a deal is reached for the complete and total purchase of Greenland.
The Danish fund's decision could signal broader concerns among European institutional investors about US fiscal stability and the unpredictability of American trade policy. While 100 million dollars represents a relatively small position in the 26 trillion dollar Treasury market, the symbolic weight of a European pension fund publicly questioning US creditworthiness may resonate with other investors reassessing their exposure to American sovereign debt amid growing geopolitical uncertainty.