Foreign investors snap up federal debt, bank stocks

After two months of outflows, foreign buying of Canadian securities outpaced domestic investors’ acquisitions of foreign securities in November, Statistics Canada reported.

According to new data, cross-border securities transactions generated a net $4.2 billion inflow to the Canadian economy in November.

Foreign investors added $11.8 billion worth of Canadian securities during the month, “largely purchases of federal government debt,” the agency said Monday. Canadian investors acquired $7.6 billion of foreign securities, led by U.S. equities.

Federal government borrowing slowed significantly in November, but foreign investor buying of government debt hit its highest level in six months, StatsCan reported.

Total foreign investment in Canadian debt reached $7.3 billion, driven by acquisitions of money market instruments and federal government bonds.

Conversely, offshore investors reduced their holdings of Canadian corporate debt by $6.0 billion in November, “the largest divestment since July,” StatsCan said.

Additionally, foreign investors snapped up $4.5 billion worth of Canadian equities in November, marking “the largest investment since February 2019.”

The equity buying activity was led by investors grabbing Canadian bank stocks, the agency noted.

Canadian investors also boosted their holdings of foreign equities for the eighth straight month in November, with investors adding $7.1 billion worth during the month.

Large-cap U.S. tech stocks were the primary target for Canadian investors.

Conversely, investors also sold $1.2 billion worth of non-U.S. foreign stocks, marking the fifth consecutive monthly divestment.

At the same time, Canadian investment in foreign debt dropped from $6.4 billion in October to just $475 million in November, StatsCan said.

“This decline was led by a slowdown in investment in non-U.S. foreign government bonds and a $1.1 billion divestment in U.S. government bonds,” it noted.

James Langton

James is a senior reporter for Advisor.ca and its sister publication, Investment Executive. He has been reporting on regulation, securities law, industry news and more since 1994.