Analysis-From 'buy America' to 'bye America', Wall Street exodus gathers pace

By Lucy Raitano and Amanda Cooper

LONDON, Feb 20 (Reuters) - U.S. investors are pulling wealth retired of their ain banal marketplace astatine the fastest gait successful astatine slightest 16 years arsenic Big Tech returns slice and better-performing overseas markets look much attractive.

In the past six months, U.S.-domiciled investors person pulled immoderate $75 cardinal from U.S. equity ‌products, with $52 cardinal flowing retired since the commencement of 2026 alone, the astir successful the archetypal 8 weeks of the twelvemonth since astatine slightest 2010, according to LSEG/Lipper ‌data.

The displacement comes contempt a weakening of the dollar against different currencies, which makes buying overseas assets much costly for U.S. investors. It's a compelling motion that the diversification distant from U.S. assets by immoderate planetary investors successful the past ​year is gaining traction among U.S. investors.

Since the planetary fiscal situation ended successful 2009, the "buy America" commercialized has rewarded investors astatine location and overseas acknowledgment to a beardown system and net maturation and dominance successful the tech assemblage starring to outsized gains successful U.S. stocks.

More recently, the AI roar pushed the S&P 500 scale to grounds highs past year, a beardown buffer from U.S. President Donald Trump's unpredictable attack to commercialized argumentation and diplomacy, arsenic good arsenic his attempts to undermine Federal Reserve independence.

LOOKING FURTHER AFIELD

But arsenic concerns person grown astir the imaginable risks from AI, arsenic good arsenic the costs involved, the ‌lure of Wall Street stocks has ebbed. The surge successful worth ⁠in the U.S. megacap tech stocks that person led gains until present are making investors pickier and galore are spotting much charismatic opportunities elsewhere.

Bank of America's February money manager survey showed investors switched from U.S. equities to emerging marketplace equities astatine the fastest complaint successful 5 years.

"I've had tons of ⁠conversations with our wealthiness concern successful the U.S. this year," said UBS's caput of European equity strategy and planetary derivatives strategy Gerry Fowler.

"They're each talking astir investing much offshore due to the fact that astatine the extremity of the year, they looked astatine the show of overseas markets successful dollars and they're like, wow, I'm missing out."

U.S. investors person poured immoderate $26 cardinal into emerging-market equities truthful acold this year, with South Korea the largest azygous state ​destination, ​with an inflow of $2.8 billion, followed by Brazil, with $1.2 billion, LSEG/Lipper information shows.

One of the wide results of Trump's ​policies has been the 10% diminution successful the dollar against a handbasket ‌of currencies since past January. While that is simply a disadvantage for U.S. investors hunting for opportunities abroad, dividends successful dollar presumption from amended performing overseas markets volition besides beryllium plumped up.