Investor interest is growing in income, multi manager and real asset products, according to the Group of Boutique Asset Managers (GBAM).

At its ten-year anniversary meeting in Madrid, GBAM members agreed that, against a background of failing economic growth and rising inflation, there was an increase in client interest in income, multi-manager, and real assets.

The group reported diversification remains key, and members with direct to customer relationships citied the need to access private markets, including real estate and infrastructure.

One member- MAPFRE Asset Management - reported enjoying particular success with renewable energy projects that have predictable returns over the longer term.

The members also agreed  the demand for sustainable products, particularly Article 8 and 9 under SFDR, came predominantly from institutional and public sector investors rather than from consumers.

However, they also raised concerns that the nature of some Article 8/9 products being adopted as core investment products could potentially increase investor risk, and challenge diversification. This could prove to be negative for both clients, for the industry, and for ESG as a whole.

GBAM also reported there was an increasing investor interest in value but that had yet to translate into significant inflows.

Some suspicion was raised that the rotation to value was playing out in the ETF and passive market – a point which was felt to be ”illogical” given that volatility  should favour investment with active managers.