Alternative Asset Holdings by US Pension Funds Since the 2008 Financial Crisis
Stephen J. MacLean, PhD

Abstract
Since the 2008 Financial Crisis, the percentage of alternative assets held by institutional investors has increased dramatically. The current study analyzes both the drivers and impacts of this increased allocation to alternative assets on US pension funds. Results indicate a significant divergence in asset allocations since the 2008 Financial Crisis. However, naïve simulation analysis shows that, despite the argued motivation for the adaptation of alternatives by market research, those funds that adopted the highest level of alternatives would have actually performed worse during the 2008 Financial Crisis than those funds that made only modest allocation changes since that time.

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