Nearly half (47%) of Asian institutional investors plan to significantly increase allocations to private debt in the next three years, research from Crisil Coalition Greenwich has revealed.
Asian institutional investment portfolios logged their second consecutive year of strong growth last year, climbing approximately 7% from 2024 to 2025. Overall portfolio positioning remained relatively stable from year to year, with allocations to both international and domestic equities increasing only slightly on the basis of strong market-wide performance and increased demand for Asian equities.
“Asian institutions also kept allocations to alternative asset classes relatively stable last year,” said Ken Yap, head of investment management, APAC ex. Japan, at Crisil Coalition Greenwich.
“However, it is notable that within the alternatives sleeve, private debt now represents the biggest allocation, at roughly 3.6% of total assets.”
The share of Asian institutions citing manager selection as a key issue for the year ahead increased to 37% in 2025 from just 24% in 2024- a shift that likely reflects the broad move into private markets.
“Performance dispersion among managers is a fact of life in private markets,” said Yap.
“Given that reality, as Asian institutions move into private markets, the challenge of hiring the right asset managers is becoming an increasingly important consideration.”
The share of Asian institutions citing “quality of reporting” as a key criterion used in manager searches in private markets tripled to 33% in 2025 from 10% in 2024. Institutions also rate timely and clear communication around capital calls and distributions as a key service from private managers, along with high-quality and frequent investor communications.
