The world's wealthiest investors are increasingly looking beyond stocks and bonds, pouring money into hedge funds, private equity and infrastructure assets, as market volatility and fears about stubborn inflation spur diversification.
From Asian billionaires to global family offices, alternative investments are becoming a bigger part of portfolios once dominated by traditional assets, said industry watchers
JPMorgan Asset Management's private wealth alternative assets in Asia-Pacific surged 40% over the past 12 months, according to Dan Watkins, the firm's regional chief executive officer, underscoring the growing appetite among high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients.
"So you really have this huge appetite for alternative exposure happening in that ultra-high-net-worth, high-net-worth category," Watkins said recently at a media summit in Singapore.
The shift comes as investors grapple with increasingly concentrated equity markets, geopolitical uncertainty and concerns that stocks and bonds may not provide the same protection against market downturns as they once did, experts said.
"We are seeing a sharp increase in planned asset allocation to alternatives among the family offices we speak to," said John Woods, chief investment officer for Asia at Lombard Odier.
Alternative…