The survey also says that many are looking for ways to take advantage of market opportunities.
According to the survey, the top three concerns of the institutional investors as per their investment portfolios included risk management, volatility and a low return environment.
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Young Chin, chief investment officer, Pyramis Global Advisors commented that the 2007/08 economic crisis clubbed with the Eurozone sovereign debt issue has made institutional investors plan for better strategies for managing volatility.
"While risk management remains a top priority, the low return environment is driving more investors to also look for ways to enhance returns by deploying timelier, more dynamic asset allocation strategies that can exploit market dislocations," adds Chin.
Many institutions in Asia have revealed their investment strategies to manage volatility will include uncorrelated or less volatile asset classes. For Asia (excluding Japan) investors 61% consider diversifying into alternative asset classes and 55% by using currency-hedging techniques.
However, in Japan only 16% Japanese investors say they are likely to use currency-hedging techniques rest of them 61% take increasing fixed-income assets as their favoured approach, followed by adopting a liability-driven investing approach (42%).
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By GlobalDataThe survey also noted that timely decision-making is a challenge faced by the Asian institutional investors with 47% investors (excluding Japan) face challenges executing asset allocation decisions as compared to 35% for Japanese pensions.
To help overcome the challenge 47% investors (excluding Japan) say they are streamlining decision making through pre-approved opportunistic allocation, compared to 71% Japanese investors.
"While there is a clear commitment to making internally focused improvements to help execute more timely asset allocation decisions, there is also recognition amongst Asian institutional investors that external managers, particularly those that manage multi-asset class strategies, may be better positioned to quickly exploit opportunities to help generate returns as well as manage risk," said Chin.
In the 2011 Pyramis Asian Pulse Poll 95 institutional investors from Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and China, participated and the institutions surveyed included pension plans, insurance companies, central banks and sovereign wealth funds.
