Advisors Prioritise Diversification; Lean Into Private Markets – Blackstone Survey

Editorial Staff

15 January 2025

A survey of 157 financial advisors by US-listed finds that against a volatile economic background, more than half (55 per cent) of the advisors’ clients ranked portfolio diversification as a top priority.

Almost 80 per cent of respondents expect to increase allocations to private markets in clients' portfolios in 2025, according to Blackstone’s Private Wealth Solutions group.

Some 18 per cent of respondents said preserving capital was a priority, 11 per cent gave “higher income generation,” 13 per cent said “returns,” and 3 per cent said “other.”

The survey also looks at private infrastructure as an investment area, taking in examples of a number of large asset managers, such as BlackRock, DWS and Vontobel.

, for example, has forecast that infrastructure will be one of the “fastest growing segments of private markets in the years ahead,” buoyed by a need for upgraded fibre broadband, cell towers and data centres; renewed investment in logistical hubs such as airports, railroads and shipping ports as supply chains are rewired; and a movement towards decarbonisation and energy security. (This news service has written an editorial on the topic, here.)

The Blackstone survey found that 40 per cent of respondents said clients had only 1 to 3 per cent exposure to private infrastructure, 41 per cent said there was no exposure at all, and 13 per cent said holdings stood at 3 to 5 per cent and just 6 per cent gave a result of 5 per cent or more.

Asked what allocations they expect to increase in 2025, 79 per cent said “private markets” – by far the largest area. Far behind, at just 7 per cent, said “fixed income,” followed by 7 per cent at “stocks,” 5 per cent said “other/no change” and just 1 per cent gave cash holdings.

Picking up on the widespread talk about artificial intelligence, 52 per cent of respondents said digital infrastructure was best positioned to benefit from the rise of AI; some 16 per cent said healthcare; 13 per cent said logistics; 10 per cent said cybersecurity and 8 per cent gave energy.