Dutch pension fund PME has announced that, due to dissatisfaction with the direction of current US policies, it will increasingly shift its investment focus towards Europe, particularly in the technology sector.
PME Chairman Alae Laghrich stated in a declaration on Thursday that the United States is "no longer the reliable ally it once was." He cited the Trump administration's tariff policies and what he described as "threatening behavior and non-compliance with existing agreements."
Laghrich acknowledged that the US economy cannot be ignored, but he asserted that the current political climate makes a pivot towards European investments a prudent move for PME. The fund manages approximately 60 billion euros (about $718 billion USD) in assets. Laghrich stated that the objective is "not only for investment returns but also to protect the talent shaping the future, to keep them within the Netherlands and Europe, and to enhance economic, technological, and industrial independence and resilience."
Financial markets are speculating that European funds may opt to reduce their holdings of US assets due to policy decisions from the White House. According to data from the US Treasury Department, the total value of US assets held by the European Union exceeds $10 trillion.
PME has already trimmed some of its exposure to the US. Last year, the fund announced it was ending its partnership with BlackRock, citing an assessment that the world's largest asset manager no longer served PME's best interests on issues such as climate risk. This decision led PME to withdraw a 5-billion-euro equity investment mandate from BlackRock.