Schemes are less concerned with high returns than low return assets such as infrastructure and property, and are even facing the recurrence of surpluses, the National Association of Pension Funds investment conference heard in March.

Following Pensions Management's roundtable discussion on the  future for alternative investing, JPMorgan Asset Management's head of UK institutional business, Peter Ball, discusses the key points learned from  the roundtable.

Two-thirds of large UK schemes plan to dramatically increase their hedge fund and private equity exposure over the next three years.

An innovative venture to encourage pension schemes to fund social housing projects will be rolled out in the next quarter.
An M&G fund to arrange loans between schemes and housing associations is close to securing a commitment from at least one scheme client.

Defined benefit (DB) pension scheme deficits prevented at least 100 companies on the brink of insolvency being saved by vital recapitalisation last year.

UK pension schemes have allocated more than £650m to commercial property in the last three months, highlighting the asset class’s growth in popularity.

The European hedge fund industry has continued to see a resurgence in returns, while there is cautious optimism for amendments to the much maligned EU directive.

UK pension funds have rejuvenated their interest in real estate, with more than 50% looking to up their allocation to the asset class in the next three years.

Proponents of hedge funds have argued the asset class’s strong returns in the first half of this year show it is still a valuable investment for pension funds.

Recent falls in property prices could undermine corporate guarantees made by sponsors to pension schemes, according to research by Trustee GAAPS.

Large pension funds were the biggest relative underperformers of all UK commercial property investors over 2008, according to the Investment Property Databank (IPD) Annual Index.

Litigation funding could prove to be a recession-proof asset class, according to US law firm Juridica.