Institutional investors are continuing to shift their exposure to real assets. The BlackRock 2019 Global Institutional Rebalancing Survey, a survey of more than 230 institutional clients representing over $7 trillion in investible assets, found that 54 percent of respondents are increasing their allocation to real assets. This shift is occurring as investors continue to seek alternative allocations, including infrastructure and real estate, over equities and fixed income. In fact, 51 percent of respondents intend to decrease their allocations to equities. Diversification and absolute return are the major drivers of the increase to real assets, as more investors seek total returns, yield and uncorrelated returns. Insurers in particular are seeking alternative sources of income. Private real assets can provide an illiquidity premium, and, as such, more than 66 percent of insurers stated they are looking to increase their allocations to the sector.

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