State Street Vision Paper Reveals Asset Owners' New Perspective on Asset Allocation Strategies

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State Street Vision Paper Reveals Asset Owners' New Perspective on Asset Allocation Strategies

Report Highlights Renewed Focus on Liquidity and Risk Management

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- State Street Corporation (NYS: STT) today announced the findings of its new Vision paper entitled, "The Asset Owners' Perspective: Evolving Investment and Operational Models." The report explores how the continued volatility of global financial markets has identified weaknesses in investment portfolios, causing institutional investors to reconsider their asset allocation strategies. As a result, investors are utilizing new approaches to liquidity management to modify their portfolio mix and balance the need for liquidity with the need for returns.


State Street's research found:

  • The top actions taken by asset owners to address the liquidity crunch include more vigorous stress testing and the revisions of liquidity-related investment policies.

  • Fixed income investing remains a growth area among defined-benefit pension plans. Thirty-nine percent of corporate plans surveyed expect to increase allocations to corporate investment-grade debt and 30 percent of public plans anticipate expanding allocations to emerging market debt investments in the coming year.

  • Nearly 84 percent of respondents still consider the endowment model of investing a highly effective framework for today's markets.

  • Forty-five percent of asset owners reported that low yields on traditional assets have increased their organization's appetite for alternatives, particularly among institutions at the smaller end of the market.

  • Data integration remains a top operational challenge. Nearly half of respondents cited challenges with achieving a comprehensive analysis of their portfolio and two-thirds expect their data management needs to increase over the next three years.

"Many asset owners are now placing liquidity high among their priorities for asset allocation decisions and reevaluating their liquidity management approach," said Dan Farley, senior managing director and chief investment officer for State Street Global Advisor's Investment Solutions Group. "This has led to the adoption of new asset allocation frameworks that focus on optimizing the trade-off between risk and return based on the unique characteristics of each portfolio. Asset owners must carefully consider their approach to this equation and consider more dynamic methods of generating returns using various liquidity strategies."

"The two biggest challenges for asset owners right now are risk management and investment complexity. These are industry challenges that must be met head on with increased transparency and new technologies to help investors manage complex exposures while remaining focused on generating returns," said Rebecca Schechter, senior vice president and head of Foundations and Endowments at State Street.

State Street's Vision Series addresses key trends and developments impacting the financial services industry. Previous reports have focused on regulatory implications, emerging markets, alternatives and technology innovation. To download a copy of this Vision Focus report or others in State Street's Vision series of in-depth reports, please visit www.statestreet.com/vision.

About State Street Corporation

State Street Corporation (NYS: STT) is one of the world's leading providers of financial services to institutional investors including investment servicing, investment management and investment research and trading. With $23.4 trillion in assets under custody and administration and $2.1 trillion in assets under management at September 30, 2012, State Street operates in 29 countries and more than 100 geographic markets. For more information, visit State Street's web site at www.statestreet.com.

*This AUM includes the assets of the SPDR Gold Trust ($75.3 billion as of September 30, 2012), for which State Street Global Markets, LLC, an affiliate of State Street Global Advisors serves as the marketing agent.

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State Street Corporation
Alicia Curran Sweeney, +1 617-664-3001
www.statestreet.com

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