In its annual Institutional Investment Report, which was released on November 11, The Conference Board provides a comprehensive analysis of the asset growth and portfolio composition of institutional investors operating in the United States. It documents the presence over 30 years of different types of institutional investors in single asset classes such as equity, debt securities, alternative instruments, and foreign securities, drawing on data from a wide range of sources. This year’s report includes definitive data for 2009 and focuses on the impact of the financial market rebound on institutional asset value and investment decisions.

Following 2008’s dramatic decline of the securities markets, by the end of 2009 the investment industry had registered substantial gains across virtually all classes of financial instruments, with total institutional assets rising 14 percent to $25,351.1 billion—a level similar to that recorded between 2005 and 2006. This constitutes an extraordinary upward movement from the 21.3 percent plunge of 2008, albeit still far from the best performances of an industry that between 1995 and 2007 had experienced unprecedented growth of 23.3 percent on an annualized basis. Of course, the historical significance of this finding should also be put in context with the new economic uncertainties and the added market volatility of the last few months.

The following are the other major findings discussed in the report.

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