Dutch pension funds sell $92.3 billion in assets, partially related to interest-rate hedges
Dutch pension funds sold €88 billion ($92.3 billion) in assets in the first six months of the year, in part to meet payments required under derivatives contracts, De Nederlandsche Bank said.
Pension funds using derivatives contracts to hedge against interest rate rises have faced increased collateral calls due to rising rates, since the price of bonds has fallen in tandem.
DNB said in an update Thursday that pension funds contributed €82 billion to margin accounts in the first six months of the year.
The record €88 billion in divestments represents about 4.6% of pension fund assets.
Dutch pension funds sold a “large proportion of their equities” in the first half of the year, at €82 billion. Around €2 billion in bonds were also purchased, DNB said. The large divestments in equities might be due to rebalancing of asset allocations to bring allocations back into line with strategic objectives, the central bank said in its update.
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