Geopolitical risks remain top risk; more investors looking to increase cash exposure: Marsh survey
Large-asset owners are also raising their infrastructure holdings and being pickier about private markets
The 2026 Global Asset Owner Barometer survey by Marsh has revealed that geopolitical risks continue to be a top concern for investors. In response to global volatility, large asset owners are increasing their exposure to cash, infrastructure, and emerging markets. Geopolitics remains the primary risk among these investors, with over three-quarters of respondents naming it as the top risk. To hedge against this uncertainty, 38% of investors plan to increase their cash allocations in the next year, up from 9% in 2025.
The survey, which polled 430 global asset owners with assets under management exceeding US$5 trillion, found that infrastructure is also gaining attention. More than half of the respondents intend to increase allocations to infrastructure investments over the next 12 months, with 41% planning to raise their allocations to inflation-linked assets.
This shift is driven by the perception that infrastructure projects, particularly in energy, present long-term income opportunities and exposure to economic and digital development.
Private markets are also attracting significant interest, with 96% of investors planning to increase their allocations to these assets. However, Marsh notes that asset owners are becoming more selective due to elevated valuations. The survey found that interest in private debt and private equity has cooled compared to last year, with only about a third planning to increase holdings in private debt this year.
Emerging market equities are gaining momentum, with 47% of investors looking to increase their allocations to this class. Investors are shifting away from US and UK equities in favor of emerging markets, such as Korea and Taiwan, which have shown strong performance recently. Marsh views equities in this space as overweight, driven by AI adoption and strong earnings growth.
The capital expenditure involved in AI-related projects supports US growth, with much of the hardware, particularly chips, coming from Asia, notably Taiwan and Korea.
Written by urgent.news from The Business Times - Companies & Markets's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
