Alternative investment managers worldwide experienced an 11% increase in assets under management in 2014 to an aggregate $6.9 trillion, recently released data from Preqin show.
Private equity, which includes private equity-style real estate and infrastructure funds, totaled $3.8 trillion as of June 30, up 8.6% from a year earlier; hedge funds totaled $3 trillion as of Dec. 31, up 13.5% from a year earlier; real estate was $742 billion, up 12.9% for the year ended June 30; and infrastructure was $296 billion as of June 30, up 21.3% from a year earlier.
Real estate performance has been strong over the past three years, with private real estate funds returning an annualized 16.7%. However, 66% of fund managers now believe it is harder to find attractive investments opportunities compared to 12 months ago, according to Preqin.
Meanwhile, 54% of private equity managers believe the private equity market is more competitive now compared to a year ago.
On infrastructure, 56% of investors expressed an interest in making direct infrastructure investments in 2015. Infrastructure funds closed with an average of $1 billion, up from $688 million last year.