Institutional investors globally are pivoting to more of a risk-on posture, seeking new opportunities in niche markets as macro conditions shift. Capturing the views of the largest investors in the world with participation of 800 institutions representing $19 trillion in assets under management, Nuveen’s EQuilibrium Global Institutional Investor Survey.

“Aligned with what we’re hearing from clients on a day-to-day basis, three main themes emerged from the survey this year,” says Harriet Steel, global head of institutional at Nuveen. “First, investors are considering ways to play the next real estate cycle; second, private markets will play an expanded role in portfolio construction with nearly 40 percent of investors seeking out a broader selection of asset managers to help grow these allocations; and third, among the insurance cohort — a client segment with a unique set of challenges and objectives —respondents indicated both a greater appetite for co