Global investors to boost alternatives exposure – survey

Almost 40% of respondents plan to increase their exposure to direct and unlisted investments in the coming year. Of those, Asian investors appear to the most conservative, with 36% saying their allocations in this area would likely rise, compared to 46% in Europe and 38% in the Americas.

Real assets already play a substantial role in existing strategies with 30% of respondents saying that such investments account for 10% of their total holdings. Nearly three quarters said they would most likely increase allocations to real estate, 56% plan on committing more to infrastructure, 28% to infrastructure debt and 17% to commodities.

Broken down by geography, only 18% of Asian respondents expect to increase allocations to real assets, compared to 46% of Europeans and 28% in the Americas.

"The trend for large institutional investors globally to increase their allocations to alternative asset classes is set to continue," said Antony Fasso, AMP Capital's international CEO and head of global clients. "This suggests that investors are seeing private, direct investments as an attractive source of alternative returns with less volatility than long-term equity and bond investments, despite the often illiquid nature of direct investments such as private equity, infrastructure and direct real estate."

Participants in the survey between them accounted for $1.9 trillion in assets under management as of March 2013. Two thirds are based in North and South America, 18% in Asia and 18% in Europe. Public and corporate pension funds accounted for nearly half of respondents.

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