Why China, Japan and the Fed are shaking up the $26 trillion U.S. Treasury market

When investors think of the financial markets, the first thing that likely comes to mind is the stock market.

But there is a bigger, less-flashy counterpart to the equity market: the bond market. At the heart of the fixed income space lies U.S. Treasurys, one of the safest investments in the world.

"We have not paid attention to the Treasury market because it was a market for foreigners or for the Fed," said Priya Misra, fixed income portfolio manager at J.P. Morgan Asset Management. "Now it's a market for all of us, and it's giving you better yield. So it's something which we should not ignore."

Buyers of U.S. Treasurys have been changing, with major players including China, Japan and the Federal Reserve seeing their respective holdings decline in recent years. The shift could have broad implications for the U.S. economy.

"What we're observing is that [the new buyers] are a lot more price sensitive," said Anders Persson, global fixed income chief investment officer at Nuveen. "They're just not quite as sticky."

Watch the video above to find out more about why major buyers are fleeing the U.S. Treasury market, the impact on yields and the economy at large, and how investors can best navigate the market going forward.