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Foreign Investors Buy U.S. Assets but Hedge Out the Dollar

Fresh analysis finds a sharp drop in the unhedged flows that finance the U.S. current account.

Overview

  • Deutsche Bank estimates roughly 80% of recent foreign inflows to U.S. equities and about 50% to U.S. bonds are FX‑hedged.
  • Hedged purchases require selling equivalent dollars, helping explain dollar weakness even as major U.S. stock indexes set records.
  • Unhedged inflows are running about 75% below last year’s peak, and hedged flows now exceed unhedged for the first time this decade.
  • Expectations of upcoming Federal Reserve rate cuts point to cheaper USD hedging, which could sustain the shift toward removing currency risk.
  • A research note cautions that in a future credit squeeze the usual dollar buffer could be smaller because many foreign holdings lack unhedged exposure.