For German institutions the pre-eminent investment challenge remains clear—generating target investment returns in the ongoing low interest-rate environment.

For many of the German institutions participating in the Greenwich Associates 2015 Continental Europe - German Institutional Investors Study, this has already meant investing significant amounts of assets in something other than domestic and government bonds. Investment managers are also helping them explore additional measures that are coming under greater consideration, with real estate and equity allocations continuing to climb.

“It’s important to note that these questions have been in the background for some time, and it’s unlikely that we will see dramatic shifts very quickly,” says Greenwich Associates consultant Lydia Vitalis. “The difference today is that more institutions are having conversations about how such changes could be implemented, and more institutions are reaching out to asset management firms and asking: If we were to do this, how would we go about it?”

2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders
Institutions’ desire for this type of assistance presents a real opportunity for investment management companies capable of demonstrating a clear understanding of clients’ overall situations, portfolios and needs.

Firms like Allianz Global Investors and Union Investment — the 2015 Greenwich Quality Leaders in German Institutional Investment Management — are already taking advantage of this growing need by engaging with institutions about portfolio strategy at the broadest level. 

In 2015 nearly 280 institutions were asked to name the external asset managers they employ and to rate them according to a series of investment and service criteria. Firms that receive quality ratings that top those of competitors by a statistically significant margin are named Greenwich Quality Leaders.