Marsh marks the launches of the 2026 Global Asset Owner Barometer at the London Stock Exchange
Marsh is opening the market at the London Stock Exchange to mark the launch of its flagship research, the 2026 Global Asset Owner Barometer, convening senior asset owners and market participants to examine how global institutional portfolios are adapting to a fast-changing investment landscape.
Drawing on the views of 430 respondents representing more than US$5 trillion in assets under management, the Global Asset Owner Barometer charts an investment environment defined by abundant opportunity - and increasing selectivity over where and how risk is taken.
Investor discipline is reshaping the flow of capital. Infrastructure and emerging markets lead allocation intentions, while private markets remain firmly embedded in institutional portfolios, with many investors becoming more selective in their allocations.
Asset owners are taking decisions against a backdrop of powerful near- and long-term forces. Geopolitical risk is set to continue shaping near-term decisions, while technology, automation and broader disruption dominate the five- to 10-year horizon.
The research also points to a second challenge: building the institutional capabilities to navigate an expanding opportunity set. Marsh’s findings reinforce the extent to which investment success rests on the governance, data, technology and implementation capabilities that drive long-term outcomes.
Launching the Barometer at the London Stock Exchange brings these questions to the heart of global capital markets. The Market Open will form part of a broader dialogue around structural shifts in private markets, evolving approaches to liquidity and access, and the mechanisms required to support the next phase of institutional capital flows.
“The investment industry has spent decades expanding the opportunity set. Today, asset owners have access to more markets, strategies, data and investment ideas than ever before, but greater choice places a greater premium on judgment.”
“As portfolios grow more complex, governance and implementation become critical to converting investment conviction into outcomes. Bringing this conversation to the London Stock Exchange gives us an opportunity to consider how some of the world’s largest asset owners are navigating those choices - and what their decisions could mean for the future direction of institutional capital.”
Mick Dempsey
President, Investments and Retirement, Marsh
By convening asset owners and market participants around the 2026 Global Asset Owner Barometer, Marsh is creating a forum to look beyond individual allocation decisions to the bigger picture: how institutional investors are adapting portfolios, deploying capital and building the capabilities required to exercise choice with discipline in an increasingly complex investment system.
