Institutional Investment in North America Changing, Survey Finds

The 2011 Consultant Search Forecast conducted jointly by eVestment Alliance and Casey, Quirk & Associates predicts a greater emphasis on outcome-oriented portfolios constructed by risk budgeting and return attribution.  

The survey found more than one-third of consultants expect more emerging markets equity and less international developed markets activity for the remainder of the year. More than half of U.S. equity, U.S. bond and EAFE searches will involve manager replacements in 2011.  

Half of those surveyed expect an increase in institutional interest in inflation hedging strategies this year, while more than one-third of investment consultants surveyed anticipate a boost in liability driven investing (LDI) mandates in 2011.Three-fifths of consultants expect moderate or strong bond search activity this year. Consultants expect significant increases in private equity and real estate mandates in 2011.