Continued commitment to U.S. markets despite policy uncertainty, concerns around market concentration, calls for better climate tools and caution around AI come to the forefront in recent conversations.
CHICAGO, May 27, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Morningstar, Inc. (NASDAQ: MORN), a leading provider of independent investment insights, today shares results from the qualitative phase of its Asset Owner Perspectives Survey. The findings were taken from interviews with 25 of the largest institutional asset owners from North America, Europe and Asia-Pacific.
These individual discussions, conducted by Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics in March and April 2026, are designed to check the pulse of the global asset owner community, identifying the most challenging issues and evolving trends. The qualitative phase of the survey will inform and direct the global quantitative survey to be conducted later this year.
Lindsey Stewart – Director of Institutional Insights, Morningstar:
“Asset owners act as stewards for some of the largest pools of global capital and as fiduciaries for a wide range of beneficiaries and key stakeholders. As a result, they often find themselves on the forefront of shifts in the market environment, global investment strategy, and regulatory standards and policy. This year, we’ve seen plenty of changes across all of those factors, so the conversation with this cohort has brought several important issues and pressure points to the surface.”
Asset owner interviews this year centered around global investment outlook, opinion on private markets, sustainable investment strategy and use of artificial intelligence (AI), among other topics. Notably:
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Concentration in US markets concerning, yet necessary. Asset owners are viewing concentration risk in the Magnificent Seven stocks and the US more broadly as a major risk. Despite growing frustration with policy uncertainty and geopolitical volatility coming from the US, asset owners understand the need to continue to stay invested in this market, yet deeper diversification is required. “If you ignore it (the US market) your opportunity cost becomes enormous, particularly if you’re an index manager,” commented an asset owner.
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Diversification and resilience in focus. In response to portfolio concentration and geopolitical risks, asset owners are increasing diversification across asset classes. This includes prioritizing inflation-linked and stable cash flow investments such as infrastructure and real estate, alongside continued expansion into private markets through private credit and private equity. As one Australian superannuation fund noted: “What works in a world of greater divergence and volatility? Diversification. You want a resilient portfolio.”
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AI Operating in the Backroom, Not the Boardroom. Asset owners are increasingly using AI to improve internal efficiency and productivity but remain cautious about deploying it in strategic decision-making. Risk and governance concerns continue to slow broader adoption, with most taking a measured, test-and-learn approach rather than leading from the front. “It still needs a bit of NI, or natural intelligence, to critically assess the output and make sure it doesn’t contain errors,” noted one asset owner.
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Climate Remains Material, Just More Nuanced. Climate and broader sustainable investment priorities remain but how they are discussed is being reshaped by political and regulatory pressures. Asset owners continue to ask for better data, particularly around climate, nature and biodiversity. According to one asset owner in Continental Europe, “What we see is many US companies and banks and asset managers don’t publish climate targets anymore. That doesn’t necessarily mean that they have retreated from doing anything about it.”
