Who Is Buying US Treasuries? - Apollo Academy (2024)

The buyer base for US Treasuries has shifted from yield-insensitive buyers (sovereign wealth funds and central banks, including the Fed) to yield-sensitive buyers (US households, US pensions, US insurance), see chart below.

This may become a problem once the Fed begins to cut rates because that could mean less demand from the yield-sensitive buyers, ultimately resulting in a steeper yield curve.

Who Is Buying US Treasuries? - Apollo Academy (2)

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Who Is Buying US Treasuries? - Apollo Academy (2024)

FAQs

Who Is Buying US Treasuries? - Apollo Academy? ›

The buyer base for US Treasuries has shifted from yield-insensitive buyers (sovereign wealth funds and central banks, including the Fed) to yield-sensitive buyers (US households, US pensions, US insurance), see chart below.

Who is buying US treasuries now? ›

The current Treasury buyer base is diverse, with non-domestic buyers and the Fed serving as the largest owners of Treasury securities.

Who are the largest holders of the US Treasuries? ›

U.S. Treasury Bonds

In fact, Japan is by far the largest foreign owner of U.S. treasury securities, with Japanese banks, pension funds, insurance companies etc. holding a total of $1.138 trillion at the end of 2023.

Why is everyone buying Treasuries? ›

Relative to higher-risk securities, like stocks, Treasury bonds have lower returns. Yet even during periods of low yields, U.S. Treasury bonds remain sought-after because of their perceived stability and liquidity, or ease of conversion into cash.

Why is China dumping U.S. Treasuries? ›

China sold a record $53.3 billion worth of Treasurys and agency bonds in the first-quarter, Bloomberg reported. It previously unloaded US debt to prop up its yuan, which has again grown weak against a rallying dollar. The country is piling into gold, which now makes up the highest share of its reserves since 2015.

Does Warren Buffett own Treasuries? ›

Berkshire Hathaway's portfolio includes a significant amount of short-term bonds, despite its leader's infamous public position. Speaking to CNBC's Becky Quick on Aug. 3, 2023, Buffett admitted: “Berkshire bought $10 billion in U.S. Treasurys last Monday.

Who buys the most U.S. Treasuries? ›

All values are adjusted to 2023 dollars. As of January 2023, the five countries owning the most US debt are Japan ($1.1 trillion), China ($859 billion), the United Kingdom ($668 billion), Belgium ($331 billion), and Luxembourg ($318 billion).

Are US Treasury bonds owned by China? ›

China owns around 2.6% of U.S. debt, which it buys because the Chinese yuan is pegged to the dollar. It would be impossible for China to call in all its U.S. debt at once, given the different maturity dates of the U.S. securities that China owns. United States Department of Treasury.

Who buys most US treasury bonds? ›

Foreign holders of United States treasury debt

Of the total held by foreign countries, Japan and Mainland China held the greatest portions, with China holding 797.7 billion U.S. dollars in U.S. securities. Other foreign holders included oil exporting countries and Caribbean banking centers.

Who does the Fed buy Treasury bills from? ›

The Federal Reserve Act specifies that the Federal Reserve may buy and sell Treasury securities only in the "open market." The Federal Reserve meets this statutory requirement by conducting its purchases and sales of securities chiefly through transactions with a group of major financial firms--so-called primary ...

Are countries dumping US treasuries? ›

China has offloaded USD 22.7 billion in US treasury bills recently over concerns over security and a further delay to expected interest rate cuts by the American Federal Reserve, amidst its intensified strategic rivalry with Washington.

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