Manager Intelligence and Market Trends - November 2025

IN THIS PAPER

Asset manager search activity by bfinance clients in Q3 2025 indicated rising demand for Emerging Market Equity, Private Debt and higher quality Fixed Income strategies, while appetite for Private Equity has been muted as weaker-than-expected distributions in the sector persist. In Public Equities, new mandates are primarily targeting Regional strategies (with the exception of the U.S.) rather than Global as investors seek diversification and resilience.

The bfinance Risk Aversion index is holding near its long-term average of 0.5 (having spiked to 0.9 earlier this year), thanks to easing trade tensions and the Federal Reserve’s first rate cut in over a year. Multi-asset managers have increased equity allocations to return to neutral positioning relative to long-term averages, while also extending duration.

Strong (and narrowly-led) stock market gains in Q3 created a difficult environment for active Global Equity managers: more than 75% of these lagged the MSCI ACWI net of fees, with broad-based underperformance across nearly all styles. Conversely, Enhanced Index strategies (the subject of a December 2024 article) have produced consistent year-to-date outperformance. Active Fixed Income managers delivered broadly positive average results relative to benchmarks.

Within the liquid alternatives landscape, Macro and CTA strategies enjoyed a much-needed rebound from a difficult first half, recouping losses and ending September up 1.9% year-to-date (on average) net of fees. Meanwhile, Equity Long/Short hedge funds had a strong quarter, with long-biased managers benefiting most from the narrow rally in large-cap equities, though Equity Market Neutral managers did also manage to deliver positive returns.

Sentiment toward Real Estate among bfinance clients appears more positive than market-wide fundraising data would suggest, with an uptick in manager search activity. Expectations of a positive post-inflection-point trajectory, coupled with attractive valuations and low supply, are supporting an ongoing resurgence in activity.

WHY DOWNLOAD?

Each quarter, bfinance publishes information on investor activity, key market trends and manager performance. A quarterly snapshot of the key developments within equity, fixed income and alternative investments, including analysis of which asset manager groups performed well and which didn't.