Key Takeaways
- • J.P. Morgan Asset Management released its eighth annual Global Alternatives Outlook on December 9, 2025, providing a 12-to-18 month investment outlook across private markets including real estate, infrastructure, transportation, timberland, hedge funds, and private credit.
- • Private markets are maturing into a structural component of global finance as leading companies remain private longer, creating expanded opportunities for institutional investors to access growth drivers and portfolio diversifiers.
- • Commercial real estate is entering a recovery phase supported by prospective rate cuts, limited supply, and continued economic expansion, while rising nationalism is accelerating demand for high-powered industrial space with power availability as a critical site selection factor.
- • The outlook identifies a macro shift driven by fading hyper-globalization, accelerating global AI investment, and rising positive correlation between stocks and bonds—conditions where private markets will serve increasingly important roles as portfolio diversifiers through real assets and private equity/credit exposure to structural growth drivers.
- • J.P. Morgan's alternative investments perspective emphasizes higher rates, elevated volatility, and rising equity-bond correlation as defining conditions for 2026 hedge fund positioning and broader alternatives allocation.
Summary
J.P. Morgan Asset Management released its eighth annual Global Alternatives Outlook on December 9, 2025, delivering a comprehensive 12-to-18 month investment thesis across alternative asset classes. The report represents the firm's highest-conviction ideas for navigating a structural shift in global finance where private markets are increasingly cementing their role as essential portfolio components.
Jed Laskowitz, Global Head of Private Markets at J.P. Morgan, emphasized that companies are staying private for longer periods, creating a deep and diverse opportunity set. "The private markets are deep and diverse, and the opportunity for investors is immense," Laskowitz stated, noting the firm's more than 60-year track record investing across nearly every facet of private markets positions it to help investors understand opportunities, manage risks, and build resilient portfolios.
The macro environment framing the 2026 outlook reflects three critical shifts: the fading of hyper-globalization, accelerating global AI investment, and rising positive correlation between stocks and bonds. Anton Pil, Global Head of Alternatives Solutions, highlighted that private markets will play an increasingly important role as portfolio diversifiers through real assets while providing broader access to structural growth drivers via private equity and private credit. This positioning is particularly relevant given elevated volatility and higher rate environments expected throughout the outlook period.
On global real estate specifically, the outlook identifies commercial real estate as entering a new recovery phase supported by prospective interest rate cuts, limited supply constraints, and continued economic expansion. Rising nationalism is identified as a catalyst driving increased demand for high-powered industrial space, with power availability emerging as a central factor in site selection decisions. This reflects the intersection of AI infrastructure buildout and geopolitical considerations shaping real asset valuations.
The outlook spans multiple alternative asset classes—including infrastructure, transportation, timberland, hedge funds, and private credit—reflecting J.P. Morgan's view that alternatives are taking center stage for 2026 portfolio construction, particularly as public and private markets converge and institutional investors seek exposure to both defensive diversifiers and growth-oriented private market structures.
Jed Laskowitz, Global Head of Private Markets at J.P. Morgan, emphasized that companies are staying private for longer periods, creating a deep and diverse opportunity set. "The private markets are deep and diverse, and the opportunity for investors is immense," Laskowitz stated, noting the firm's more than 60-year track record investing across nearly every facet of private markets positions it to help investors understand opportunities, manage risks, and build resilient portfolios.
The macro environment framing the 2026 outlook reflects three critical shifts: the fading of hyper-globalization, accelerating global AI investment, and rising positive correlation between stocks and bonds. Anton Pil, Global Head of Alternatives Solutions, highlighted that private markets will play an increasingly important role as portfolio diversifiers through real assets while providing broader access to structural growth drivers via private equity and private credit. This positioning is particularly relevant given elevated volatility and higher rate environments expected throughout the outlook period.
On global real estate specifically, the outlook identifies commercial real estate as entering a new recovery phase supported by prospective interest rate cuts, limited supply constraints, and continued economic expansion. Rising nationalism is identified as a catalyst driving increased demand for high-powered industrial space, with power availability emerging as a central factor in site selection decisions. This reflects the intersection of AI infrastructure buildout and geopolitical considerations shaping real asset valuations.
The outlook spans multiple alternative asset classes—including infrastructure, transportation, timberland, hedge funds, and private credit—reflecting J.P. Morgan's view that alternatives are taking center stage for 2026 portfolio construction, particularly as public and private markets converge and institutional investors seek exposure to both defensive diversifiers and growth-oriented private market structures.
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