What US assets are held overseas?

The FRED Blog recently discussed who holds Treasury securities in the US and abroad. Today, we answer a related question: How do Treasury securities fit into the overall portfolio of US financial assets held overseas?

Our FRED graph above uses data from the Treasury International Capital (TIC) system to show the class shares of US financial assets held overseas. In April 2026, those asset classes were (in descending order)

1. Equities (blue area). Common stock, preferred stock, and fund shares of US corporations made up 59.4% of the overall portfolio of US financial assets held overseas
2. Long-term Treasury securities (pink area). Bonds issued by the US Treasury and maturing more than a year into the future amount to 19.9%
3. Long-term corporate bonds (purple area). This category also includes state and local governments bonds (including municipal bonds) and it represents 13.3%
4. Short-term Treasury securities (orange area). Bills issued by the US Treasury that mature in less than one year amount to 3.8%
5. Long-term agency bonds (green area). Those bonds are issued by US federal agencies Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Ginnie Mae, representing 3.6% of the overall portfolio of US financial assets held overseas

The graph also shows a shifting mix of asset holdings. Between 1984 and 2008, equities made up roughly one third of foreign portfolios of US assets. But the 2007-2009 Great Recession greatly boosted holdings of risk-free Treasury securities, and those peaked at 36.5% in 2009. Between then and the time of this writing, equities gradually reclaimed their lion’s share of foreign portfolios of US assets, amounting to more than half of their overall value.

To learn more about this topic, check out this May 2026 FEDS Note.

How this graph was created: Search FRED for and select “Foreign Portfolio Holdings of U.S. Equity Securities: All Countries.” Click on the “Edit Graph” button and select the “Add Line” tab to search for “Foreign Portfolio Holdings of U.S. Long-Term Agency Bonds: All Countries.” Don’t forget to click on “Add data series.” Repeat the last two steps to add data on “U.S. Long-Term Corporate Bonds,” “U.S. Long-Term Treasury Securities,” and “U.S. Short-Term Treasury Securities.” Next, select he “Format” tab and select “Graph type: Area” and “Stacking: Percent.”

Suggested by Diego Mendez-Carbajo.