More global investors are quietly redirecting money from the US toward Europe, according to Euroclear, one of the world’s largest custodians of securities.
Speaking to Bloomberg Television, Euroclear CEO Valerie Urbain said the firm is seeing a growing effort by investors to diversify away from US assets and increase exposure to European markets, a trend that has accelerated amid renewed geopolitical tension and policy uncertainty under Donald Trump’s second term.
“We have seen a growing diversification of investment away from the US,” Urbain said, adding that investors are now openly discussing dollar hedging, something that was rarely part of portfolio conversations in the past.
Relief over Russian assets decision
Euroclear’s comments came after European leaders decided in December not to seize frozen Russian state assets to fund Ukraine, opting instead for a €90 billion loan backed by European debt.
Urbain said using the frozen assets would have risked damaging confidence in Europe’s capital markets.
“It would have certainly put into question the confidence of some investors,” she said.
Euroclear acts as custodian for roughly €195 billion in frozen Russian state holdings, giving it a front-row view into how political decisions can affect market trust.
A financial giant with a market-wide view
Euroclear processed nearly 360 million transactions last year and held more than €43 trillion in assets under custody, according to results released this week. Annual turnover rose around 20 percent to €1,390 trillion.
That scale allows the firm to observe early shifts in investor behavior, particularly during periods of geopolitical stress.
One such shift followed recent EU-US tensions over Greenland, which briefly raised concerns about trade, diplomacy, and retaliation. While those tensions have eased, the underlying portfolio adjustments appear to be continuing.
Europe quietly outperforming
Market data support the shift. Over the past year, the euro has strengthened about 14 percent against the dollar, while the Stoxx 600 has slightly outperformed the S&P 500.
Urbain said this relative performance, combined with political uncertainty in the US, is encouraging investors to rebalance gradually rather than make abrupt moves.
Not a stampede, but a trend
While there is no sign of a mass exit from US assets, Euroclear’s leadership suggests the change is structural rather than tactical.
“In my career, nobody was talking about hedging the dollar,” Urbain said. “Now people talk about it openly.”
The message from Europe’s largest financial plumbing system is clear. Investors are not abandoning the US, but they are no longer treating it as the default destination for global capital.
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