Summary: international investors were the sellers of Soberanos in March, selling PEN1.02bn and accounting for 97% of all gross outflows during the month, with holdings now at 44.4%. Pension funds and insurance companies were the largest buyers of Soberanos, buying PEN635mn, and PEN603mn, respectively. Meanwhile, local bank holdings were virtually flat at 33.0%. The net issuance of Soberanos in March amounted to just PEN689mn (+0.4% MoM). Pension funds shortened duration, allocating more towards ‘34s and ‘37s from 39’s and ‘40s. International investors mainly divested partially from the belly to long-end of the curve between ‘33s to ‘39s.
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International investors were the main sellers in March, decreasing their holdings of Soberanos by PEN1.02bn, boosting their holdings to c.PEN83.1mn and representing an decrease of 1.2% MoM in nominal holdings relative to the market growth of 0.4% MoM. As a result, international investors’ percentage ownership of total bonds outstanding decline by 0.7pp to 44.4%, from 45.1% in February.
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Pension funds were the largest buyers in March, with portfolio reallocation also shifting to slightly lower duration. Pensions bought PEN635mn of Soberanos in March, increasing their holdings from PEN14.8bn to PEN15.5bn. Local pension funds hold 8.3% of the Soberanos market, continuing to rebound off the previous low of 7.6% in January 2026 the lowest market share since 2012, due to persistent withdrawals from the AFP system since 2020; pre-COVID ownership was closer to 27% of the market and averaged just below a third of the market.
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Insurance Companies were the second largest buying of Soberanos in March purchasing PEN603mn of which roughly half was concentrated in VAC bonds (inflation linkers) from local pension funds and the remainder was concentrated in nominals.
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Local bank positioning was flat with small net buying in March of just PEN4mn. Total allocation amounts to PEN61.7bn, or 33.0% of the market. Bank holdings as a percentage of market ownership are currently at the 86th percentile since 2012.