The Midyear Global Investor Report 2026 draws on nearly 1,000 allocators convened at Global Alts New York and a survey of almost 120 global LPs. The headline: appetite for alternatives is intact, with 59% of LPs planning to increase allocations and just 2% planning to decrease. Underneath it, the room has gotten harder to read: uncertainty about allocation plans jumped from 1% to 11%, 80% now cite geopolitical risk as a top concern, equity optimism has surged, and the Miami and New York audiences flatly disagree on the Fed. For managers, each finding carries a specific implication for how to position a fund right now.

Most allocator research asks a room how it feels once a year. This report had a different setup: a survey of almost 120 global LPs, fielded against the backdrop of nearly 1,000 allocators who convened at Global Alts New York in June, with a comparison point from the Miami audience in February. That makes it one of the few midyear reads on what institutional allocators actually think, measured in two cities four months apart.

Finding One: Alternatives Appetite Is Intact

Start with the number that matters most to anyone raising: 59% of LPs plan to increase their alternatives allocation. Just 2% plan to decrease.

For managers, this is the floor under the market. Whatever the headlines say, the structural bid for alternatives has not gone away, and the ratio of increasers to decreasers is nearly 30 to 1. The raise ahead is not about convincing allocators that alternatives belong in the portfolio. That argument is already won.

Finding Two: Indecision Is the New Competitor

The same room that plans to add is less sure of itself than a year ago. LPs unsure of their allocation plans jumped to 11%, from just 1% in 2025.

That ten-point swing is the finding managers should sit with. Allocators who are unsure do not say no; they say not yet, and not yet is where raises go to stall. When uncertainty rises, the funds that keep moving are the ones already visible and familiar, because an undecided allocator defaults to the managers they know. The practical implication: the cost of going quiet between events just went up. Staying in front of the market year-round is how a fund survives someone else’s indecision.

Finding Three: Geopolitics Is the Dominant Risk Lens

80% of LPs now cite geopolitical risk as a top concern, up from 61%.

When four out of five allocators share one worry, that worry becomes part of every diligence conversation. Managers should expect the geopolitical question in every first meeting, and should have a direct answer for it: how the portfolio behaves under tariff shocks, regional conflict, and policy divergence, not as a disclaimer slide but as a view. The managers who treat geopolitics as a positioning topic rather than a risk-factor boilerplate will sound different from the ones who do not.

Finding Four: Equity Optimism Raises the Bar for the Alts Pitch

26% of LPs expect the S&P 500 to gain 10% or more this year, up from just 5%.

That fivefold jump changes the alternative pitch, because the benchmark allocators compare against just got more attractive. When an allocator believes beta will deliver double digits, the hurdle for paying 2-and-20 style economics rises with it. The answer is not to argue against equities; it is to be precise about what the fund adds that an index does not: uncorrelated return, downside behavior, access to a market public equities cannot reach. Vague diversification language loses to a specific answer this year.

Finding Five: Two Cities, Two Feds

The sharpest divergence in the dataset is on rates. In February, 67% of the Miami audience expected rate cuts. In June, 17% of the New York audience did.

A fifty-point swing between two allocator audiences four months apart means there is no single macro consensus to pitch into. A manager quoting a rates-driven thesis in June is addressing a room that mostly does not expect cuts, and any return bridge built on easing needs to survive a room that has stopped believing in it. The broader lesson: know which macro framework the person across the table brought with them, because it changed between February and June and it can change again before year-end.

What the Conviction Ranking Says About Where the Meetings Are

The report also scores net LP conviction across 21 alternative strategies. Long/short equity leads at +37, multi-strategy follows at +35, and private equity sits third at +30. At the other end, ILS and catastrophe bonds post -14. And private credit shows the report’s most interesting tension: strong on paper, divided in the room.

For managers, the ranking is a map of where allocator attention is concentrated heading into the second half, and the strategy-level detail in the full report goes further: net interest by strategy, which LP types concentrate meetings where, and the top barrier keeping LPs from committing to a new fund. The companion analysis of private equity appetite at Global Alts New York makes the same point from meeting data: strategy fit, named by 31% of allocators, is the number one barrier to a new allocation, ahead of track record and fees.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Midyear Global Investor Report 2026?

An iConnections research report based on nearly 1,000 allocators convened at Global Alts New York and a survey of almost 120 global LPs, covering allocation intentions, risk concerns, market expectations, and strategy-level conviction at the midpoint of 2026.

Are allocators still increasing alternatives allocations?

Yes. 59% plan to increase their alternatives allocation, and just 2% plan to decrease. At the same time, 11% are now unsure of their plans, up from 1% in 2025.

What is allocators’ biggest risk concern in 2026?

Geopolitical risk, cited by 80% of LPs as a top concern, up from 61%.

Which strategies have the strongest LP conviction at midyear 2026?

Long/short equity leads the net conviction ranking at +37, followed by multi-strategy at +35 and private equity at +30, across 21 alternative strategies scored in the report.

The Bottom Line

The midyear picture is a market that still wants alternatives but is harder to close: appetite intact, conviction more selective, and a risk lens dominated by geopolitics. The funds that raise well in this environment are the ones that stay visible through the indecision and arrive with specific answers. The full report, including the complete strategy conviction table and the private credit breakdown, is free to download.