The assets run by the top 100 alternative investment managers globally have reached $3.3trn (£1.9trn), according to research by Towers Watson.
The group said assets had risen from $3.1trn at the end of 2012, according to its Global Alternatives Survey, which covers seven asset classes and seven investor types.
The latest survey showed the largest share of alternative assets was run by real estate managers at 31 per cent, followed by private equity fund managers (23 per cent), hedge funds (22 per cent), private equity funds of funds (10 per cent), funds of hedge funds (5 per cent), infrastructure (4 per cent) and commodities (2 per cent).
Craig Baker, global chief investment officer at Towers Watson, said: “For almost all of the past 11 years of this research we have seen increasing allocations to alternative assets by a wide range of investors.
“Not only has the appeal of alternative assets broadened to include many more insurers and sovereign wealth funds, but the range of alternative assets has also increased beyond the likes of hedge funds and infrastructure to include real [estate] assets, illiquid credit and commodities.
“It is therefore not surprising that allocations to alternative assets by pension funds, for example, now account for approximately 18 per cent of all pension fund assets globally, up from 5 per cent 15 years ago.”
The research shows that, for the top 100 managers, North America continues to be the largest destination for alternative capital (45 per cent), with infrastructure as the only major exception where more capital is invested in Europe.
Overall, 38 per cent of alternative assets are invested in Europe and 7 per cent in Asia Pacific, with 10 per cent being invested in the rest of the world.
