Context Summits' Second Annual Allocator Trends Report Reveals Increased Demand for Alternative Assets and New Strategies

NEW YORK, April 20, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Context Summits, the preeminent producer of investment summits for the alternative asset management industry, today released its second annual Allocator Trends Report. More than 200 institutions and family offices, representing prominent fund of funds, endowments, pensions, sovereign wealth funds and private investors, shared their views in a survey conducted at the recent Context Summits Miami 2017 event, held February 1-3, 2017. In total, Context Summits Miami 2017 convened more than 2,000 industry professionals, representing $3.1 trillion in cumulative assets under management.

"For the second consecutive year, one of the overarching themes from our Miami event is that institutions and family offices are maintaining their commitment to alternative asset managers," said Mark Salameh, co-founder and CEO of Context Summits. "These investors are seeking new managers that can produce strong risk-adjusted returns and help diversify a traditional portfolio from risks in equity and credit markets. The findings provide evidence that the alternative asset management industry continues to grow and mature, with new strategies and ideas entering the market every day."

John Culbertson, chief investment officer of Context Capital Partners, added, "In 2016, while some very large funds experienced net outflows, the hedge fund sector actually experienced its strongest performance in three years as the markets responded to two major low probability events that caused volatility spikes. Going forward, we expect the next 12 months will serve as a critical marker for the role of alternatives in an institutional portfolio. Alternative managers and allocators need to adapt to proposed policy changes from the new administration, as well as react to concerns about interest rate normalization in the U.S. and the implications of Brexit in Europe."

For more information and analysis, see the full 2017 Allocator Trends Report here: https://contextsummits.com/resources/allocator-trends/  

Key Allocator Trends:

• Allocators Increasing Allocations to New Alternative Asset Managers: Institutions and family offices are maintaining their commitments to alternative asset managers, continuing a trend from 2016 when 79% of allocators increased their overall allocation to alternatives. In 2017, 72% of investors plan to increase their allocations to alternative fund managers.
• Despite Challenging Market, Investors Putting More Capital to Work: More than two out of three investors (68%) surveyed intend to decrease their cash position by the end of the year, a higher percentage than in 2016 (62%), indicating a willingness to remain invested in the market. At the same time, 2016 was a turbulent year for markets, highlighted by two low probability events: the surprise Brexit and Trump votes.
• Allocators anticipate allocating to an average of 5.49 funds in 2017

• Investors Remain Optimistic on the Industry's Ability to Generate Strong Risk-adjusted Returns: More than half (51%) of allocators hold a positive outlook on the alternative asset management industry for 2017, with an additional 36% of survey respondents taking a neutral stance.
• Allocators Favor Emerging Managers Over Established Managers: A majority of allocators (59%) prefer to allocate to emerging managers rather than established managers, indicating a willingness to consider new ideas and strategies.
• Key Drivers for Evaluating Fund Managers: The top three drivers for evaluating fund managers were Investment Process, Performance and AUM. The three least important drivers were Redemption/Lockup terms, Operations and Track Record Length.
• Performance Expectations Still Sky-High: Despite the willingness to take on less established managers, allocators are seeking high annualized returns, 10.9 percent on average for hedge funds, according to investor respondents.
• Investors Split on Greatest Market Headwinds: Investors identified regulatory uncertainty, the new presidential administration and volatility in global markets as among the greatest market challenges in 2017.

Context Summits hosts five events each year. The next event is Context NYC 2017, which will be held on April 20 at 4 World Trade Center, followed by the inaugural Context Summits Europe 2017, taking place May 7-9 at the Hotel W Barcelona. For additional information, please visit http://contextsummits.com/nyc/ and https://contextsummits.com/europe/.

About Context Summits
As the preeminent producer of events for the alternative asset management industry, Context Summits focuses on elevating the conference experience through an innovative format and structure where relationship building leads to unmatched results. A pioneer of the one-on-one 'summit' format, Context Summits utilizes an innovative approach to deliver effective and transparent networking events that elevate the conference experience for managers, allocators and investors. Through its systematic approach, Context Summits is able to attract high quality attendees, making meetings efficient and productive. For more details, please visit: http://www.contextsummits.com.

About Context Capital Partners
Context Capital Partners, LP is an alternative specialist company that allocates its capital to talented investment managers and whose subsidiaries offer a diverse range of investment strategies, including hedge funds, liquid alternative mutual funds, and private equity funds. Through its unique approach to evaluating and overseeing highly-differentiated and specialized funds, Context seeks to identify opportunities in both liquid and illiquid markets and serves as a full financial and operational partner for its subsidiaries. Since inception, Context led seed deals totaling more than $400 million in aggregate. The firm's subsidiary businesses include Context Asset Management, Context Summits, Context BH Capital Management, Context Liberty Bell, Context Jensen Partners, and Context Business Lending.

Context Capital Partners is headquartered in Bala Cynwyd, PA. For more information about Context Capital Partners, visit www.contextcp.com.

Contact:
Nick Rust
212.279.3115 ext. 252
[email protected]

SOURCE Context Summits

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