Canadian investors’ holdings of foreign securities (including both equity and debt) reached $1.68.0 trillion at the end of 2015, up 21.2% from 2014, Statistics Canada announced Tuesday.
Canadian portfolio investment abroad accounted for over 40% of Canada’s total international assets at the end of 2015, StatsCan notes, about the same share as Canadian direct investment abroad.
Holdings in the United States, Europe, and Asia and Oceania all advanced at a strong pace in 2015.
The value of Canadian portfolio investment abroad posted a fourth straight year of significant growth, StatsCan says, with investment in the U.S. accounting for about two-thirds of the increase over this period.
Canadian holdings of U.S. securities were up 24.2% to $1.04 trillion in 2015 Holdings of European securities were up 18.2% to $356.6 billion, and holdings of securities in Asia rose 20.5% to $206.1 billion.
According to the report, the impact of a depreciating Canadian dollar against most major currencies, coupled with $60.2 billion worth of acquisitions of foreign securities by Canadian investors, drove the growth in foreign portfolio holdings.
Canadian holdings of foreign securities have almost tripled since the end of 2008, following the global financial crisis, StatsCan adds.
And, by the end of 2015, Canadian foreign portfolio investment accounted for over 40% of total international assets, which is equivalent to Canadian direct investment abroad.
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