Pension Funds Account For A Third Of Large Alt Asset Managers' AUM

The issue of pension fund allocations to alternative asset classes is a bit fraught as they try to figure out how to reach ambitious target returns while bringing fees under control. But that doesn’t mean pension funds have turned their back on alternatives as an industry. In fact, according to a recent Towers Watson report, of the $3.5 trillion in AUM that the 100 largest alt asset managers control, a third of it was invested by pension funds.

Wealth managers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, banks, funds of funds, and endowments make up the rest of alternative asset managers’ AUM, in that order, with the total having increased from $3.27 trillion in 2013. Towers Watson lists Australia’s Macquarie Group...