Investments of institutional investors; foreign investments 1980-2017

Investments of institutional investors; foreign investments 1980-2017

Institutionalinvestors Periods Total foreign investments (mld euro) Direct property (mld euro) Equity, investment fund shares or units (mld euro) Debt securities (mld euro) Long-term loans (mld euro) Other investments (mld euro)
Total institutional investors 2017* 1,435.7 0.8 741.0 657.4 13.1 23.4
Pension funds 2017* 580.9 0.0 255.7 314.1 0.8 10.3
Insurance corporations 2017* 172.7 0.0 25.7 140.2 3.3 3.5
Non-MMF investment funds 2017* 682.1 0.7 459.6 203.2 9.0 9.6
Source: CBS.
Explanation of symbols

Dataset is not available.


This table covers foreign investments of institutional investors. Foreign investments get regularly attention because of the relation with the Dutch economy. Proposals have been made to invest a greater part of the pension funds in the Dutch economy, for instance by taking over mortgage loans from banks or invest in infrastructure.
This table describes the magnitude as well as the composition of foreign investments from 1980 onwards. It enables the conclusion that the growth of foreign investments of institutional investors consists mainly of foreign shares and bonds.

Data available yearly figures from 1980 to 2017, quarterly figures from 2005 to 2017.

Status of the figures:
Figures up to 2015 are definitive, figures as from 2016 are provisional.
Because this table is discontinued, figures will not be updated anymore.

Changes as of 7 September 2018:
None, this table is discontinued.

When will new figures be published?
Not applicable anymore.
The strategic alliance between Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the Dutch Central Bank (DNB) has led to a reallocation of tasks between the two institutions. Institutional investors is now part of the dominion of DNB. Publication of tables on institutional investors by the CBS is discontinued. DNB provides the OECD with figures for its statistic Institutional investors. See paragraph 3 for links to the websites of DNB and OECD.

Description topics

Total foreign investments
For direct property foreign investments relate to the location of the property. For all other types of investments, foreign investments relate to the residency of the borrowing party according article 1 of the Wet financiële betrekkingen buitenland (Std 1980, 321). The borrowing party is the foreign counterparty to which loans or deposits are granted. For shares and bonds quoted on the stock exchange, the borrowing party is the issuer.
Direct property
Direct property consists of residential buildings, offices and shops, rural estates (land, grounds, farms, nature reserves, building lands), other domestic direct property (parking lots, factory buildings, holiday parks).
Equity, investment fund shares or units
Equity and investment fund shares or units.
Equity and investment fund shares or units are claims, which are -fully, or partly- entitled to a share in profits or in the own funds in case of liquidation.
Debt securities
Debt securities are negotiable financial instruments serving as evidence of debt. Short-term securities include all securities with a maximum term of one year, which in principle are transferable against a price that has been fixed in advance. Usually, the obliged interest payments of the debtor have been discounted in the value. 'Transferable' means that assets can be converted into cash from, or on a date that has been appointed at the moment the bond was issued. This transaction covers treasury paper issued by both the Dutch government and foreign governments, saving certificates to bearer and transferable certificates of deposits, issued by banks. Long-term securities include all transferable securities, which generally do not mature within one year. They are usually quoted at the stock exchange. The interest on long-term bonds is made payable through coupons. Mortgage bonds, notes issued by banks and convertible bonds as long as they have not been converted into shares, also belong to this type of assets.
Long-term loans
Long-term loans are all credits, which do not have the characteristics of deposits and which do not mature within one year. They mainly concern long-term loans on obligations, mortgage loans and long-term consumer credit.
Other investments
Currency, transferable deposits, other deposits and short-term loans. Currency consists of notes and coins in circulation that are commonly used to make payments. Transferable deposits are deposits exchangeable for currency on demand, at par, and which are directly usable for making payments by cheque, draft, giro order, direct debit/credit, or other direct payment facilities, without penalty or restriction. Other deposits include all deposits in euros and foreign currency at any resident and non-resident bank (except for saving deposits in euro’s), which are not immediately transferable without restrictions. Short-term loans are all credits, which do not have the characteristics of deposits and which mature by contract within one year. Included are short-term loans from financial institutions, balances on current accounts (except transferable deposits), short-term consumer credit, bills (of exchange) and promissory notes.