Danish investors purchased foreign portfolio assets for US$ 40,497,804,800 (kr. 248 billion) in 2020. This is the largest-ever foreign portfolio investments by Danish investors. The investments were mainly in foreign shares.
“Danish investors' holdings of foreign securities amounted to US$646,249,574 (kr. 3,958 billion) at the end of 2020, just over half of which in shares,” reads the latest data of the Central Bank of Denmark.
Danish investors' purchases of foreign shares etc., totaling US$30,364,779,000 (kr. 186 billion) in 2020, hit a record high.
Danish investors postponed their purchases until after the sharp price drops in March – 96 per cent of the year's net purchases of foreign shares were made in the final three quarters of 2020. The insurance and pension sector was the largest buyer of foreign shares.
Danish investors mainly purchased US and European listed shares, totaling US$9,795,090,000 (kr. 60 billion) and US$8,652,435,500 (kr. 53 billion), respectively. The most popular single US shares were the NextEra Energy utility company, Microsoft, and Coca Cola. Among single European shares, the most popular ones were the airline company SAS, listed in Sweden, the UK consumer goods group Unilever, and the Dutch ASML IT manufacturer.
The banking sector mainly purchased foreign bonds. This sector accounted for 93 per cent of total Danish net purchases of foreign bonds in 2020. The sector mainly increased its holdings of Swedish mortgage backed bonds.
In 2020, Danish private investors purchased foreign listed shares for US$2,122,295,500 (kr. 13 billion), making large purchases in the airline companies SAS and Norwegian, while selling shares in the tech companies Samsung and Apple.
