An Australian bank renowned for infrastructure funds is the world's number one provider of alternative assets, a new study shows.

Australia’s Macquarie Group is the world’s largest provider of alternative assets because of its dominant position in running infrastructure funds, putting it ahead of firms running property and hedge funds, a survey says. 

The Global Alternatives Survey by professional services firm Towers Watson says that in total there were $6.3 trillion of “alternatives” in 2014, suggesting that the very notion of calling these assets “alternative” might be out of date.  

The report covers nine asset classes and seven investor types. Of the top 100 alternative investment managers, real estate managers have the largest share of assets (33 per cent and over $1 trillion), followed by hedge funds (23 per cent and $791 billion), private equity fund managers (22 per cent and $767 billion), private equity funds of funds (PEFoFs) (10 per cent and $342 billion), funds of hedge funds (FoHFs) (5 per cent and $214 billion), infrastructure (4 per cent) and illiquid credit (3 per cent).

The research also lists the top-ranked managers by assets under management in each area. Data from the broader survey (all 623 entries) show that total global alternative AuM is now $6.3 trillion ($5.7 trillion in 2013) and is split between the asset classes in broadly similar proportions to the top 100 alternative investment managers, with the exception of real estate, which falls to 23 per cent, and hedge funds, which increases to 27 per cent of the total.

“Institutional investors continue to invest capital in opportunities other than bonds and equities,” said Brad Morrow, head of investment manager research, Americas, Towers Watson. 

“Lines are blurring between individual asset classes as investors focus more on underlying return drivers,” he added.

Pension fund assets represent a third (33 per cent) of the top 100 alternative managers’ assets, followed by wealth managers (19 per cent), insurance companies (8 per cent), sovereign wealth funds (5 per cent), banks (4 per cent), funds of funds (3 per cent), and endowments and foundations (2 per cent).

For the top 100 managers, North America continues to be the largest destination for alternative capital (47 per cent), with infrastructure and illiquid credit as the exceptions where more capital is invested in Europe. Overall, 36 per cent of alternative assets are invested in Europe and 9 per cent in Asia-Pacific, with 8 per cent being invested in the rest of the world. 

In addition, among the top 100 managers, illiquid credit assets grew the most in 2014, adding nearly a third (28 per cent) more assets.

Macquarie Group is the largest infrastructure manager, with over $92 billion, and tops the overall rankings, while Bridgewater Associates is the largest hedge fund manager, with almost $90 billion. In the ranking, CBRE Global Investors ($82 billion) is the largest real estate manager, and TPG Capital is the largest private equity manager, with $67 billion. 

Blackstone is the largest FoHF manager, with over $63 billion, and Carlyle Investment Solutions is the largest PEFoF manager, with over $46 billion. M&G Investments is the largest illiquid credit manager, with over $33 billion; PIMCO is the largest commodities manager, with nearly $19 billion, and the largest manager of real assets is TIAA-CREF, with over $7 billion.

In descending order of size, the top-25 firms are: Macquarie Group; Bridgewater Associates; CBRE Global Investors; Blackstone; TPG Capital; The Carlyle Group; TIAA-CREF; Blackstone; CVC Capital Partners; UBS Global Asset Management; JP Morgan Asset Management (direct hedge funds); AXA Investment Managers; LaSalle Investment Management; Kohlberg Kravis Roberts; Hines; Principal Global Investors; Carlyle Investment Solutions; Och-Ziff Capital Management Group; Blackstone (direct private equity); JP Morgan Asset Management (direct property funds); Man Group; Cornerstone Real Estate Advisors; Credit Suisse Asset Management; Goldman Sachs Asset Management, and Apollo Global Management. 

(Note: several firms, such as JP Morgan Asset Management, appear twice in this list because they are ranked for different forms of alternative asset.)