Although institutional investors by and large are worried about the same investment issues and have similar financial market outlooks, they are pursuing markedly different investment strategies. OFI Global Asset Management, an OppenheimerFunds company, partnered with Pensions & Investments to conduct a comprehensive survey of 240 institutional investors and gauge their perceptions, attitudes and investment strategies.
The professionals surveyed represent:
• endowments and foundations;
• sponsors of corporate and public defined benefit pension plans; and
• sponsors of defined contribution pension plans.
The survey showed remarkable consistency across all three groups in how they are focusing their investment efforts and what concerns them most as they look to the next five to 10 years and beyond. However, the survey's results also revealed significant differences in how the current market environment — with volatile stocks and low interest rates — is affecting each of these groups. Additionally, they reveal how investors are responding differently to the challenges they face.
We examine a range of investment issues — from asset allocation and the role of consultants to the adoption of environmental, social and governance principles — and provide a window into the strategies that institutional investors are pursuing to meet their goals.