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Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

reuters.com

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Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#741

Post by Eupolemos »

JumpCrisscross wrote: post #672
alphazard wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> It's symbolism. It's not. This is where the financial rubber meets the road, actions have consequences, and the rest of the world is looking at the US as increasingly unlikely to pay above inflation on its debts. The people managing the pension funds (if they are acting in good faith) really want to generate yield, and really want to preserve capital for the Danish people. They don't want to symbolically do those t…

> debts This is shoehorning. We’re threatening to go to war with Denmark. You don’t want to be owed money by folks who are attacking you.

A counter argument is that this is just a small pension company.

If all Danish Pension Funds etc. decide that we better divest because of imminent war, we are talking way, way more money. I have no idea how much, but Danish pensions are big.

This may indeed be a warning shot.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#742

Post by devlovstad »

AkademikerPension is a quite unusual pension fund, even by Danish standards due to them being quite political in their holdings. This stance is based on surveys made from their members, where many have indicated that placing their money ethically is as important as getting a good return/minimizing risk. In March 2025, they chose to drop their Tesla shares due to union-busting, lack of independence in the board and due to Elon Musk's actions[1].

Last year, AkademikerPension had a return between 3 and 6 percent, which is lower than other Danish pension funds[2].

[1] https://akademikerpension.dk/nyheder/vi-ekskluderer-tesla/ (Danish)

[2] https://akademikerpension.dk/nyheder/afkast-mellem-3-og-6-pr... (Danish)

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#743

Post by SideburnsOfDoom »

StephenHerlihyy wrote: post #442
g_delgado14 wrote: post #152

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A new civil war that drives the US to fragment into several independent regions over the course of the next ~five years would kind of be the best scenario from a global perspective. The US isn't going to passively give up its hold on the world order. You don't think this would trigger a world war? And if / when the US does topple (whether in 10 years or in 1000 years), at the moment it looks like the only viable ne…

The opposition to American hegemony shifted from Europe (ie the USSR) to Asia (ie China). To that end, NATO lacks the capacity to meaningfully impact a conflict in the Pacific. The EU simply does not have the means to project power in that way nor do they have the ability to meaningfully implement economic policies that would effectively reduce Chinese growth. Trump is an asshole, but the strategy hasn’t really chang…

> To that end, NATO lacks the capacity to meaningfully impact a conflict in the Pacific.

NATO is literally the North Atlantic Treaty Org. Basic map-reading tells you that the Pacific is not the North Atlantic. Sure, securing the Pacific might take a "Pacific Treaty" of regional powers, but we see no signs of that kind of thinking at present from the USA. Bridges are being burned not built.

> Trump is an asshole, but the strategy hasn’t really changed ... Trump hasn’t really changed the plan -- he’s just subtle like a brick to the face

Is this the new talking point? That it's business as usual with an uglier face? This is rubbish though on multiple dimensions, this is now a kakistocratic and kleptocratic US administration, that is going out of its way to alienate allies .

> America is gonna be well ahead of the rest of the world by the 2040s.

I think you'll find that kleptocrats don't tend to have that "get ahead" effect.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#744

Post by watwut »

epistasis wrote: post #627
everyone wrote: post #618

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The people of the USA really remind me of the people of Russia: totally depoliticized. I think in the USA many people are really focused on a pointless culture war yet aren't politically active at all.

I think it's not so much the people that have been Russified as the institutions themselves. The media, big law firms, big corporations, have all given in to bullying and handed their power over to the authoritarian. Universities are on the cusp of doing so too. Even the Democratic Party has leadership so weak that in the current environment they will only talk about affordability and healthcare. The media the public…

> The media, big law firms, big corporations, have all given in to bullying and handed their power over to the authoritarian

The media were supporting and whitewashing republicans for years now. For years now, they were full of bad faith false equivalencies. Hysteria whenever someone says true but negative things about conservatives. Somehow, only rural people count as real Americans, people in cities dont. It was important to "challenge" liberals while it was equally important to scold anyone who says something negative about republicans. Republicans must not be challenged, their actions need to be painted in the best possible light.

> big corporations

Big corporations supported Trump, because they thought he will get rid of pesky rules that prevents them from harming more people. They like when the law allows them to harm the environment, when it facilitates frauds committed by big companies.

> big law firms

Is there anything to suggest they were opposed?

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#745

Post by watwut »

kevin_thibedeau wrote: post #688
xorcist wrote: post #410

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> stop relying on America to fight the Russians for them, That's a very uncharitable take. Europe relies on NATO to fight the Russians. Of course it does. There is no alternative, and the US would never allow other credible alliances to form. Because why would they? It's certainly not in their interest. It's good that Europe spends more in security, and it's good that Europe seems to be serious about Ukraine. However…

Until recently, most NATO members were not meeting their commitment to spending 2% minimum GDP on defense. They were demonstrably externalizing their defense costs onto the US.

The only country that ever actually asked for help as NATO member was USA. And they helped. And now, the biggest threat is USA, who is trying to cast itself as a victim.

This is not the case of Europe externalizing the cost. It is the case of USA using other countries for own benefit, then starting aggression against them while trying to cast itself as victim.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#746

Post by pjc50 »

bluGill wrote: post #626
epistasis wrote: post #468

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's definitely going on. There's also something that I've heard called "reactionary centrism:" a feedback loop of people who think that truth lies in the middle between the two extremes, and also that assumes that no mainstream position in a political faction can itself be the "extreme." And that if they find that one political faction is doing something that seems extreme to them, that in the interests of fairnes…

Right vs left makes the assumption there are two sides / options. I have long thought that the 'left' was too extreem socialist - that doesn't mean I think current 'right' is any better.

Would Kamala have invaded Greenland? No, of course not, and you know it.

Plenty of people wouldn't even count her as "left".

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#747

Post by actionfromafar »

tinfoilhatter wrote: post #367
tinfoilhatter wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The petrodollar (a product of Kissinger) has been in collapse since Saudi Arabia began divesting from it. We've been printing pretend money for quite some time, and supressing the value of precious metals (which is why you're now seeing silver bullion sell for $100+ an ounce). Copper is also selling out now. These precious metals are extremely valuable because they're used to manufacture all of the technology consume…

Gotta love HN - getting downvoted with no explanation, but most likely because the truth is uncomfortable and people would rather press the downvote button than face facts.

I think you should rather assume that when you mention crypto taking over fiat, it's just too outlandish to even comment.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#748

Post by eunos »

whimsicalism wrote: post #231
jacquesm wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the contrary. The ones that want to see dead Americans are currently sitting in the Whitehouse. Mostly because it won't be them on the receiving end of it and they get to plunder the country. Smaller cake, but more for me seems to be their motto.

I think perhaps multiple people can want to see dead Americans. There is definitely a subtext of glee in this discussion of modern American civil war imo.

Imperial boomerang after decades of adventurism in the middle east.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#749

Post by wolvesechoes »

ponector wrote: post #666
wolvesechoes wrote: post #533

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Russia can't even take few miles off Ukraine And yet Europe is unable to support Ukraine enough to change the course of war. Which is the direct cause of the current situation. If Europe was so strong and ready, war in Ukraine would be over, Russia was defeated, and US wouldn't even think of doing what it is doing. Everything else is copium.

>> Europe is unable to support Ukraine enough to change the course of war. It's not unable. There is little political will in Europe and USA to support Ukraine with arms to the victory. They support Ukraine just enough to not loose. It's in their interest to grind russian meat and tanks in Ukraine as long as possible.

> It's not unable. There is little political will in Europe

But that's the point - will is everything. No one denies that Europe has enough money. Thing is, it doesn't have much else.

Re: Danish pension fund divesting US Treasuries

#750

Post by messe »

OrvalWintermute wrote: post #283
jacquesm wrote: post #216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not a one sided thing. The US has been allowed to do a lot of things under the NATO umbrella that it benefited from (such as: selling a vast quantity of arms). Soft power is a thing and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization came into being to deal with exactly the kind of situation that we are viewing today. To see the US bow out, and in fact threatening allies is duplicitous at best.

The Euros also underfunded their defense obligations and received huge amounts of US investment in facilities, enabling them to upfund social programs, socialized healthcare and most egregiously 8 - 12 week vacations which are completely unheard of in the US.

> socialized healthcare

So why does the US spend more per capita on healthcare than the EU?

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