The Netherlands - Two-thirds of Dutch institutional investors' assets of €1,069bn has been invested abroad, Statistics Netherlands has disclosed.

The amount of foreign investment is up from just under 50% five years ago, and from just around 20% in 1995, Statistics Netherlands, the central bureau of statistics.

The introduction of the euro has been a major factor of the fast increase of cross-border investments.

The investments abroad increasingly consist of equity and fixed income. The two asset classes combined share rose from 84 to 97% over a 10-year time span.

Within the Netherlands, investments in equity and fixed income are less than 60%. One-third of national investments are long-term loans, such as mortgages, Statistics Netherlands reported.

Compared with pension funds, insurers invest relatively more in foreign bonds. "This is due to the fact that insurers' main contracts are in euros, which are mainly covered by investments in euros," CBS explained.

Of the total increase in assets from €467bn in 1995 to €1,069, amounting to €602bn, some 97% has been invested abroad, according to the statistical bureau.

The increased cross-border focus also goes for the Dutch government, which is now using more foreign players for the financing of its debt. As a consequence, Dutch institutional investors have less opportunity for investments in Dutch government bonds, Statistics Netherlands said.

The foreign investments in real estate have dropped from 11% in 1995 to 2%, according to the bureau's figures.