By some estimates, the amount of money insurers have pumped into private credit has more than doubled from $490bn in 2021 to $960bn in 2023. This, according to a recent paper, has had a “profound” impact on the asset class’s risk-return profile

Bank of England deputy governor Sarah Breeden, speaking at the FT’s Private Credit Connect conference, compared the problems within private credit to “lemons” and “sausages”

Investments in private equity by European institutional investors have remained broadly flat since the end of the Covid-19 pandemic but there are signs asset owners are looking at smaller scale opportunities

Asset owners are concerned about another sovereign debt crisis and are weighing their liquidity needs as they prepare for periods of market stress. But investors continue to show interest in private credit, despite concerns over default risk

Blue Owl Capital recently gated one of its direct lending funds but pension funds which have committed money to the company say they are not worried

The Bank of England’s governor Andrew Bailey is among the policy makers to express bubble fears within the private credit sector, but many asset owners still see the asset class as a necessary component of their investment portfolio.

Indirect crypto exposure among Dutch companies, institutions and households has grown rapidly, with Dutch pension funds holding the largest shares. But with wariness around the asset persisting, those who have committed remain elusive.

Texas has established a new Strategic Bitcoin Reserve, administered through the Texas Treasury Safekeeping Trust Company, making it the first US state to invest in bitcoin. We at AOX take a look at what the allocation actually looks like.

The boom in demand for private credit has led to an influx of asset managers into the sector, and a growth in the number of funds available to asset owners - which is what concerns Mercer’s Niall O’Sullivan

The use of continuation vehicles, which involve private equity managers selling expiring assets to themselves in a new package, has been soaring and some asset owners have been buying into it. What are the risks?

Fraz Siddiqui, chief financial officer of the Abu Dhabi Investment Council, said the trend towards the retailisation of private assets was something asset owners would need to accept and work around

We seem to be living through a boom time for commodities, with the price of gold breaking the $5,000 barrier for the first time. But as commodity markets become dominated by institutional investors, this may have unintended consequences

The NFL recently opened-up minority stake ownership in its teams to institional investors, which has prompted some asset owners to dip their toes into the sport. What’s the thinking behind asset owners getting involved in sport?

The UK’s Financial Conduct Authority has published proposed rules on cryptoassets which it says are the most comprehensive regime globally

The growing need for green infrastructure in the UK and across Europe is driving large-scale investors like Norway’s Government Pension Fund Global and the Australian-owned IFM Investors into projects - with family offices also joining the party

Appetite for hedge funds has been strongest among European asset owners, so far in 2025, while those in other regions seem less keen

Many US asset owners are crowding into sectors which have seen strong demand: medical offices, self-storage and care homes and are wary of traditional office space

Many asset owners are casting their eyes over private credit, as they see a public market increasingly dominated by AI companies and nascent companies increasingly reluctant to float. But the very public collapse of First Brands also brought the opaque private credit market into the spotlight. Has this meant asset owners across the globe are becoming suspicious of the asset class?

Insurers are increasingly keen to invest in private markets, but the lack of opportunities which match their risk profile requirements means their options are limited

Family offices are using the blockchain to tokenise art works, meaning investors can now own small parts of a single piece of art