New research from Nickel Digital Asset Management (Nickel), an investment manager dedicated to the digital assets market, revealed that 25 percent of professional investors see the appetite for risk from pension funds and other institutional investors increasing dramatically over the next two years.

Institutional investors and wealth managers from the US, UK, France, Germany, and the UAE who collectively have $275.5 billion in assets under management were surveyed. The main reason why they see institutional investors taking on more risk is that economic and fiscal policies from governments will ensure that riskier asset classes will remain attractive – this is the view of 62 percent of professional investors interviewed.

Another reason, cited by half of respondents, was because there will be strong economic growth as we come out of the Covid-19 induced economic crisis. One in three of those interviewed (33 percent) said low returns on bonds and cash mean investors will be prepared to take on more risk to meet their income and growth targets.

Stronger transparency and regulation around cryptocurrencies and other digital assets were also cited by 29 percent of professional investors interviewed as a reason for institutional investors being prepared to take on more risk, and 15 percent said this about other riskier asset classes such as hedge funds.