Family offices intend to up their allocations to alternative assets over the next two years, with infrastructure likely to see the biggest increase, according to a new study.
Global research by fund administrator Ocorian revealed that family offices identified the diversification benefits of alternative assets as the main reason for boosting allocations, followed by increased transparency of the asset class.
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The ability to provide an income was rated the third most important benefit of investing in alternatives by the family members, senior family office employees and intermediaries working for family offices with total wealth of $68.26bn (£50.37bn) that took part in the study.
The recent strong performance of alternative assets was the fourth most common attraction of the asset class, while greater choice in the sector ranked fifth and the ability of some alternative asset classes to provide protection against inflation came in at sixth.
The research found that 64 per cent of family office investment managers plan to increase allocations to infrastructure by between 25 per cent and 50 per cent over the next two years, while 32 per cent expect to boost allocations to private debt by a similar range.
Ocorian reported that 22 per cent are planning similar increases to real estate allocations and 21 per cent to private equity.
Among those surveyed, 45 per cent are expecting a 10 per cent to 25 per cent increase in private debt allocations in the next two years.
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The study by Ocorian found that fund managers working for family offices intend to increase their exposure to all major alternative asset classes, with none planning to reduce their exposure.
“We’re seeing a clear acceleration in the shift toward alternative investments across both mature and emerging family office markets,” Simona Watkis, head of private client, Cayman at Ocorian, said.
“Family offices, as they’ve matured over the past two decades, are behaving more like institutional investors than ever before – seeking data-driven, operationally efficient ways to gain exposure to and track alternatives,” added Vince Calcagno, head of US growth for Ocorian.
Read more: Investors increasingly see alternatives within core portfolio
