According to Towers Watson’s
Global Alternatives Survey, this represents 49.2% of the approximately
$2.5 trillion total assets under management (AuM). Of the asset classes
in the survey, real estate remained the largest block of alternative
assets for pension funds (39.7%), followed by private equity
fund-of-funds (18%), private equity (14.1%) and hedge funds (9.8%).
Total
alternative assets managed on behalf of all clients by the top 100
managers was $3.14 trillion. Pension funds represent one-third of the
total AuM, followed by insurance firms, sovereign wealth funds and
foundations and endowments.
Of all alternative
asset classes report, real estate is the largest block (35%), followed
by private equity (22%), hedge funds (21%), private equity fund-of-funds
(9%), fund of hedge funds (6%), infrastructure (4%) and commodities
(3%).
As for where assets are invested, North
America accounts for the largest share of alternative assets, followed
by Europe and Asia Pacific.
The Global Alternatives Survey report can be downloaded from http://www.towerswatson.com/research/7415.