Direct investment, end-2024 positions: $45.6tn of cross-border holdings identified by pair; the largest is Hong Kong → China ($2,183bn)

• Direction. Rows hold, columns issued. One cell reads: “Direct investors in row hold the value of direct investment in column”.
• A stock, not a flow. Values are end-2024 positions at as the reporter values it, not what was invested that year; they grow with prices even without transactions.
• Residence basis. A holder is where the position is booked. A holder in an FC or FD economy is often not the final investor.
• FC · SPE. FC is an offshore financial centre: An offshore centre in the BIS grouping: shell companies, special purpose vehicles, hedge funds and holding companies of foreign firms (e.g. Chinese firms incorporated in the Cayman Islands). A holder here is usually a pass-through, not the final investor. SPE is a spe and holding-company hub: Where direct investment is booked through special purpose entities and holding companies (Luxembourg, Ireland, the Netherlands, Switzerland). In direct investment their positions are mostly such entities, not funds, so this page marks them SPE rather than FD. The investor here is often not the ultimate parent.
• Gross totals double count. The same money can appear twice: United States investors hold $643bn in Luxembourg (United States row × Luxembourg column), and Luxembourg holds $518bn in UK (Luxembourg row × UK column). Money can also return home through a pass-through, as in Hong Kong ⇄ China (round-tripping).
• Big markets are big on both sides. United States is both the largest holder and the largest destination: a large market that also diversifies abroad. This is gross data, so look at the net: foreign holdings $5.8tn less holdings abroad $6.4tn = net foreign holdings −$0.7tn.

How this differs from the Ladder: the panel tab Ladder vs Markets. For holdings restated by nationality (the final investor): Coppola, Maggiori, Neiman and Schreger (2021).