Institutional investors are split, with almost 50% now using an investment consultant or expecting to hire in the near future.

Many firms indicated that no further actions were needed over the next 12 months and were not as concerned about the need to reduce investment risk than they had been in 2012.

Public pension funds increased their equities holdings, especially wth passive domestic equities.

Looking at larger corporate pension funds with over ¥100 billion in assets, over 80% of funds use investment consultants, indicating the importance of consultant coverage by managers.

The combination of continued rapid growth of intra-Asian trade and rock-bottom pricing on trade finance is driving a boom in the use of trade finance among large corporates in Asia.

Real assets are playing an increasingly important role in the investment strategies of U.S. institutions as they look to diversify their portfolios and secure new sources of hard-to-achieve returns.

In this fast-changing environment, Barclays continues to lead the European fixed- income market with a market share of 11.9% of institutional trading volume.

When it comes to large corporate banking and cash management, the new strategies of the biggest global banks can be defined by one word: selectivity.

U.S. companies’ usage of trade finance has increased in every major foreign market, suggesting that big companies here are putting international expansion plans into motion.

“Brokers dominating in emerging markets equities share three characteristics,” says Greenwich Associates consultant John Colon. “They have proven their commitment this business, they have developed specific expertise at the sector...