With energy and living costs shooting up, and Ukraine and other influences jolting markets, it is unsurprising that a poll of investors around the world are focused on these issues.

A global poll of large investment organisations and consultants finds that rising inflation and the likelihood of extreme market events are more of a concern, understandable as price pressures build and the world is rocked by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Nuveen, a firm overseeing more than $1.3 trillion of assets under management, has issued its second annual EQuilibrium Global Institutional Study, drawing views from 700 investors and 100 consultants spanning North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific in October and November 2021. All survey respondents were decision-makers and represent organisations with at least $500 million in assets.

Around the world, two-thirds (66 per cent) of major institutional investors are more worried now than two years ago about extreme market events disrupting their investment strategies – and nearly as many (64 per cent) think that investors need to completely re-consider portfolio construction. Some 61 per cent of surveyed investors are taking steps to increase inflation risk mitigation over the next 12 months, the report found. Half of investors (51 per cent) said that fundamental long-term market dynamics have lost their relevancy. 

Private credit saw the biggest year-over-year increase in the percentage of asset owners who hold the asset class. Now, 72 per cent hold private credit, compared with 62 per cent in 2020, and 31 per cent said they plan to increase assets over the next two years.