Asia Advisors Increase Alternative Investment Allocations
Financial advisors across Asia are planning to increase their allocations to alternative investments despite a sharp decline in economic confidence, according to a new survey by financial technology company iCapital.
The survey, which draws on responses from more than 870 registered financial professionals globally, included 62 respondents in Hong Kong and Singapore working across private banks, independent financial advisers and family offices.
More than a quarter of Asia-based advisors said they plan to increase allocations to alternative investments over the next 12 months. That commitment comes even as positive economic sentiment in Asia recorded the steepest decline of any region included in the survey.
The findings suggest that advisors' priorities are shifting as alternative investments become more established in client portfolios. Rather than focusing primarily on access to private markets, advisors are increasingly looking for technology, analytics, compliance support and other tools to help them manage alternatives at scale.
Risk analytics tops technology priorities
Risk and performance analytics emerged as the leading technology priority among Asia-based advisors, with demand for such tools increasing 22% from the previous survey.
At the same time, regulatory and compliance concerns increased 15%, making compliance the fastest-growing challenge identified by respondents.
The ability to assess liquidity and risk exposure remains the most frequently cited obstacle to investing in alternatives, highlighting the difficulties advisors face in evaluating assets that can have limited liquidity and less frequent pricing than traditional investments.
The technology priorities in Asia differ from those identified among advisors in other regions. European advisors, for example, place greater emphasis on model portfolios and client communication tools, while their counterparts in Asia are more focused on risk analytics, real-time pricing and compliance capabilities.
Private Credit Loses Ground to Real Assets
Investment preferences have also shifted over the past year.
Private credit, which was the leading area of interest among Asia-based advisors in 2025, fell 23% in the latest survey. Meanwhile, interest in real estate, other real assets and venture capital increased by double digits.
Interest in private equity and hedge funds remained broadly stable.
The shift suggests that investor appetite within alternatives is becoming more diversified after private credit attracted significant attention in recent years.
Complexity Becomes the Biggest Barrier
The survey also found that the challenges associated with explaining alternative investments to clients are becoming more prominent.
Complexity in explaining alternatives to clients has replaced client reporting as the leading barrier to scaling alternative investments in Asia. Client reporting, which ranked first last year, fell 18%.
At the same time, the proportion of advisors citing a lack of educational resources as a challenge doubled.
The findings point to a growing knowledge gap as advisors seek to expand alternative-investment offerings, particularly as products and strategies become more complex.
Education is consequently becoming a major priority. About two-thirds of Asia-based advisors selected advanced alternative-investment topics as their biggest area of interest, the highest level of demand for advanced educational content among all regions surveyed.
The results indicate that advisors in Asia are moving beyond basic education about alternative investments and seeking more sophisticated material to help them evaluate, explain and implement private-market strategies for clients.
Overall, the survey points to a changing phase of alternative-investment adoption in Asia. With advisors continuing to increase allocations despite weaker economic sentiment, the focus is increasingly shifting from simply gaining access to private markets toward building the analytical, regulatory and educational capabilities needed to incorporate them into portfolios at scale.
