Nearly half of big investors plan to boost infrastructure as they pull back from real estate and venture
Infrastructure now sits at the front of many institutions’ private markets plans for 2026, with nearly half of surveyed investors preparing to raise allocations, according to Bloomberg Intelligence’s latest Private Markets Investor Survey.
The results show most limited partners plan to hold overall private markets exposure steady while rebalancing towards infrastructure, private credit and selected secondary strategies, and reducing allocations to traditional real estate, venture and conventional energy.
Infrastructure draws the clearest swing in new commitments.
Over the next 12 months, 48 percent of respondents plan to increase allocations.
Within that bucket, investors show a marked tilt to digital infrastructure (77 percent) and utilities (74 percent), followed by water and waste (71 percent), energy transition (70 percent) and transportation and logistics (68 percent).
Only 19 percent see social infrastructure as attractive.
The survey also points to a change in how allocators use private markets.
Reza Hasan, private markets associate analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence and author of the survey, said institutional investors are moving away from broad private‑markets allocations after several years of weak deal flow and exits, and are now targeting income‑ and diversification‑focused strategies.
He said private credit is drawing fresh capital and that infrastructure is emerging as a preferred option because it offers yield, inflation protection, macro stability and some downside protection.
Private credit remains a central pillar.
Direct lending draws interest from 58 percent of respondents, with 46 percent pointing to asset‑backed finance.
At the same time, investors flag clear fault lines in credit risk: 62 percent cite deteriorating credit quality, 57 percent point to rising defaults, 40 percent highlight macroeconomic headwinds and 39 percent mention underwriting failures.
Together, those figures point to a strong emphasis on downside protection as conditions evolve.
Beyond infrastructure and private credit, allocators show appetite for secondaries, with 44 percent planning to lift exposure, and private debt, with 37 percent looking to add.
Planned increases in growth and buyout strategies appear more muted.
On the other side of the ledger, real estate (21 percent), venture (20 percent) and traditional energy (21 percent) record the highest shares of respondents looking to reduce allocations, indicating a more selective stance in those areas.
Geopolitical risk shapes much of the outlook.
Against a backdrop of conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East and rising US–China strategic competition, 63 percent of respondents identify geopolitical risk as the most significant threat to private markets portfolios over the next year.
In venture, the survey shows artificial intelligence firmly embedded rather than treated as a side theme.
Respondents classify AI as core (14 percent), important (34 percent) or opportunistic (30 percent).
They also highlight healthcare/biotech and industrial/deep tech as leading complementary themes (51 percent each), followed by cybersecurity at 38 percent, while climate tech ranks lowest among the listed venture focuses at 16 percent.
Views on real estate have become more granular.
Instead of broad sector calls, respondents favour property types tied to structural demand trends such as e‑commerce, supply chain resilience, digital infrastructure, and housing constraints.
Industrial/logistics is the top segment to overweight in 2026, cited by 52 percent of investors, followed by data centres at 39 percent and residential/multifamily at 36 percent.
The survey captures a clear divide on the role of retail capital in private markets.
A majority, 57 percent, hold a negative or very negative view of increased retail participation, citing concerns that it could draw general partners’ attention away from core investment execution and alignment with traditional limited partner priorities.
Roughly 20 percent hold a positive or very positive view of retail money entering the space.
The survey gathered responses from about 102 institutional investors worldwide through an online questionnaire conducted between January and March 2026.
