Accessible version of figures

Exhibit 1. Investment Portfolio Allocation

1. Household Financial Assets

Household Financial Assets - 2006

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.31	0.08	0.3	0.31
U.K.	0.24	0.01	0.15	0.6
Japan	0.49	0.04	0.12	0.35
Canada	0.11	0.02	0.18	0.69
U.S.	0.14	0.07	0.28	0.51

Household Financial Assets - 2015

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.34	0.04	0.26	0.36
U.K.	0.23	0.02	0.13	0.63
Japan	0.51	0.03	0.1	0.36
Canada	0.11	0.01	0.2	0.68
U.S.	0.14	0.06	0.3	0.49

2. Banks

Bank Financial Assets - 2006

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Loans	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.3	0.18	0.41	0.07	0.04
U.K.	0.32	0.11	0.35	0.04	0.19
Japan	0.02	0.23	0.6	0.05	0.1
Canada	0.02	0.12	0.53	0.16	0.16
U.S.	0.06	0.21	0.64	0.01	0.08

Bank Financial Assets - 2015

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Loans	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.3	0.17	0.41	0.06	0.08
U.K.	0.27	0.12	0.3	0.03	0.28
Japan	0.15	0.2	0.52	0.03	0.11
Canada	0.02	0.11	0.62	0.12	0.13
U.S.	0.16	0.22	0.55	0.01	0.07

3. Insurance Companies & Pension Funds

Insurance Company & Pension Fund Financial Assets - 2006

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Loans	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.12	0.33	0.11	0.36	0.08
U.K.	0.04	0.24	0.04	0.45	0.23
Japan	0.02	0.57	0.13	0.13	0.14
Canada	0.01	0.35	0.05	0.47	0.12
U.S.	0.01	0.31	0.03	0.44	0.21

Insurance Company & Pension Fund Financial Assets - 2015

Country	Currency & Deposits	Debt Securities	Loans	Equity	Other
Euro Area	0.09	0.38	0.08	0.38	0.06
U.K.	0.03	0.25	0.04	0.35	0.32
Japan	0.03	0.66	0.08	0.07	0.15
Canada	0.02	0.36	0.05	0.47	0.1
U.S.	0.01	0.29	0.02	0.42	0.26

4. Household Debt

Dates	Canada	U.K.	Euro Area	Japan	U.S.
31 March 2003	60.72	73.49	36.34	68.83	78.15
30 June 2003	62.62	74.97	37.09	67.61	80.49
30 September 2003	63.31	76.53	37.2	67.67	80.91
31 December 31 2003	64.04	77.68	37.51	67.26	81.71
31 March 2004	63.78	79.73	37.39	66.57	82.18
30 June 2004	64.63	80.94	37.8	66.3	83.48
30 September 2004	65.29	83.17	38.21	65.95	84.32
31 December 31 2004	66.2	84.34	38.73	65.83	86.07
31 March 2005	67.07	84.44	38.9	65.28	85.88
30 June 2005	68.1	84.58	39.32	64.44	87.3
30 September 2005	68.25	84.08	39.67	64.37	88.38
31 December 31 2005	68.26	84.04	40.08	64.9	89.36
31 March 2006	69.3	84.5	40.35	64.77	90.2
30 June 2006	70.48	85.66	40.77	64.28	91.66
30 September 2006	71.88	87.57	40.84	64.52	93.29
31 December 31 2006	73.43	88.71	41	63.66	94.11
31 March 2007	73.45	88.87	40.99	63.14	94.27
30 June 2007	74.64	90.25	41.37	63.14	95.07
30 September 2007	76.7	91.26	41.57	63.18	95.77
31 December 31 2007	77.38	91.36	41.85	63.15	96.4
31 March 2008	77.33	91.69	42.41	62.51	97.37
30 June 2008	77.73	93.14	43.3	62.59	95.87
30 September 2008	78.82	94.39	43.73	63.64	96.51
31 December 31 2008	83.64	95.95	45.28	64.08	96.33
31 March 2009	87.52	97.38	47.64	67.01	96.17
30 June 2009	90.09	97.49	47.86	65.85	96.23
30 September 2009	90.86	96.71	47.6	66.02	95.89
31 December 31 2009	90.16	96.28	47.76	65.11	94.55
31 March 2010	89.1	95.71	47.31	63.88	92.93
30 June 2010	90.47	94.02	46.71	63	91.31
30 September 2010	91.18	93.86	46.36	62.07	90.04
31 December 31 2010	90.48	92.95	46.6	62.55	88.79
31 March 2011	89.01	90.84	46.02	63.82	88.39
30 June 2011	89.74	91.66	46.56	64.38	86.56
30 September 2011	89.85	91.26	46.55	63.13	85.36
31 December 31 2011	89.65	90.58	46.53	63.12	84.34
31 March 2012	89.9	90.04	46.05	62.25	83.2
30 June 2012	91.13	90.56	45.88	62.79	82.54
30 September 2012	91.96	88.83	45.29	63.1	81.82
31 December 31 2012	92.13	88.79	45.46	63.24	82.02
31 March 2013	90.81	88.01	45.48	62.74	80.81
30 June 2013	91.72	87.67	45.16	62.29	80.57
30 September 2013	91.81	86.75	44.9	62.02	80.27
31 December 31 2013	91.54	86.61	44.49	62.46	79.47
31 March 2014	90.52	85.9	43.98	61.99	79.3
30 June 2014	90.93	84.95	43.74	61.8	79.07
30 September 2014	91.36	84.66	43.25	62.08	78.5
31 December 31 2014	92.31	84.86	43.11	61.92	78.45
31 March 2015	93.52	85.2	42.23	60.96	77.96
30 June 2015	95.22	84.76	41.84	60.98	77.8
30 September 2015	96.22	85.65	41.81	61.07	77.63
31 December 31 2015	97.34	86.31	41.64	61.63	78.03

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Exhibit 2. Bond Markets: Yields, Spreads, and Issuance

Panel 1 of Exhibit 2 shows the time series for the period 2003-2015 of non-financial corporate debt as percent of GDP for Canada, the euro area, the U.K, Japan, and the United States. Before the global financial crisis the chart shows a slight decline for Japan and Canada and a slight increase for the Unites States, the U.K., and the euro area. After the global financial crisis it is declining for Japan and the U.K., it is mostly flat for the United States and the euro area, and it is increasing only for Canada.

Panel 2 of Exhibit 2 shows the time series for the period 2003-2015 of the high yield share of corporate bond issuance for Canada, the euro area, the U.K, Japan, and the United States. The data show some increase in the supply of high yield bonds from the euro area and the U.K. from 2009 onwards.

Panel 3 of Exhibit 2 shows the time series for the period end-2008 through early-2015 of euro area investment in U.K. portfolio debt (in billions of euros) and the 10-year sovereign yield differential between the U.K. and Germany. Until the beginning of 2013 both series generally decline. From 2013 onward investment starts to increase as the yield differential also increases.

Panel 4 of Exhibit 2 shows the time series for the period end-2008 through early-2015 of euro area investment in U.S. portfolio debt (in billions of euros) and the 10-year sovereign yield differential between the United States and Germany. The two series follow each other closely: as the yield differential increases sharply starting in early-2013 so does investment in the United States.

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Exhibit 3. Holdings of U.S. Corporate Bonds, by Country

Panels 1 and 2 of Exhibit 3 show the time series for the period 2003-2014 of the average yield of holdings of U.S. corporate bonds by Canada, the euro area, the U.K, and Japan. The panel also plots as benchmark the BofA Merrill Lynch U.S. corporate bond investment grade index. Until 2009, the yield of euro area holdings followed closely the BofA Merrill Lynch Investment Grade U.S. Corporate Bond Index, but it has since started to diverge and as of 2014 is 0.5 percentage points higher than the Index. Average yields observed for holdings by Canadian investors show a less pronounced divergence and U.K. investors show only some divergence.

Panels 3 and 4 of Exhibit 3 show the time series for the period 2003-2014 of the average maturity of holdings of U.S. corporate bonds by Canada, the euro area, the U.K, and Japan. The panel also plots as benchmark the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. corporate bond investment grade index. The average maturity of the euro area's portfolio of U.S. corporate bonds has edged up since 2009 and exceeds its peak in 2005. The maturity of Japanese holdings has also increased. The maturity of Canadian holdings has declined, while the BofA Merrill Lynch benchmark has been pretty stable over the entire period.

Panels 5 and 6 of Exhibit 3 show the time series for the period 2003-2014 of the average credit rating of holdings of U.S. corporate bonds by Canada, the euro area, the U.K, and Japan. The panel also plots as benchmark the Bank of America Merrill Lynch U.S. corporate bond investment grade index. After following closely the Index, the average credit rating of euro area and Canadian holdings declined substantially since 2009, with the gap with the index widening over time. For U.K. and Japanese investors there is not much of a decline in the average credit ratings of the foreign assets they hold.

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