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WASHINGTON – The findings from an annual survey of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2011 were released today and posted on the Treasury web site at http://www.treasury.gov/resource-center/data-chart-center/tic/Pages/fpis.aspx.

The survey was undertaken jointly by the U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. 

A complementary survey measuring foreign holdings of U.S. securities is also conducted annually.  Data from the most recent such survey, which reports on securities held on June 30, 2012, are currently being processed. Preliminary results are expected to be reported on February 28, 2013.

Overall Results

This survey measured the value of U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities at year-end 2011 as approximately $6.8 trillion, with $4.5 trillion held in foreign equity, $2.0 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities (original term-to-maturity in excess of one year), and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities.  The previous such survey, conducted as of year-end 2010, also measured U.S. holdings of approximately $6.8 trillion, with $4.6 trillion held in foreign equity, $1.7 trillion held in foreign long-term debt securities, and $0.4 trillion held in foreign short-term debt securities. The relative stability in U.S. portfolio holdings between the two surveys primarily reflects two offsetting factors: valuation losses on holdings of foreign equity reduced the value of U.S. holdings, but reporting coverage expanded significantly in the 2011 survey.

U.S. portfolio holdings of foreign securities by country at the end of 2011 were the largest for the United Kingdom ($989 billion), followed by Canada ($736 billion), the Cayman Islands ($709 billion), and Japan ($509 billion) (see Table 2). These four countries attracted 43 percent of total U.S. portfolio investment. 

The surveys are part of an internationally coordinated effort under the auspices of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to improve the measurement of portfolio asset holdings.

 

Table 1.  U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by type of security, as of survey dates [1]

(Billions of dollars)

 

Type of Security	Dec. 31, 2010	Dec. 31, 2011
Long-term Securities	6,362	6,480
Equity	4,647	4,501
Long-term debt	1,715	1,979
Short-term debt securities	402	360
Total	6,763	6,841

 

U.S. Portfolio Investment by Country

 

Table 2.  Market value of U.S. holdings of foreign securities, by country and type of security, for the countries attracting the most U.S. investment, as of December 30, 2011 [2]

 

Billions of dollars
Country or category	Total	Equity	Debt
			Total	Long-term	Short-term
United Kingdom	989	642	347	285	62
Canada	736	359	378	329	48
Cayman Islands	709	488	221	218	3
Japan	509	391	117	57	60
Australia	334	129	205	142	63
France	306	209	97	88	8
Switzerland	292	278	14	5	9
Germany	266	174	92	82	10
Netherlands	242	119	122	110	13
Brazil	196	155	42	41	*
Bermuda	161	135	26	25	*
Ireland	149	114	35	35	*
Korea, South	146	117	30	28	2
Hong Kong	116	112	3	3	*
Sweden	115	54	62	34	28
Rest of world	1,574	1,026	549	496	53
Total	6,841	4,501	2,339	1,979	360
*     Greater than zero but less than $500 million.

 

 

 

 

​[1] The stock of foreign securities for December 30, 2011, reported in this survey may not, for a number of reasons, correspond to the stock of foreign securities on December 31, 2010, plus cumulative flows reported in Treasury’s transactions reporting system.  An analysis of the relationship between the stock and flow data is available in Table 4 and the associated text of the “Report on U.S. Portfolio Holdings of Foreign Securities” at end-year 2011.

 

[2] China excludes Hong Kong and Macau, which are reported separately.

 

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