More than three in four (76%) of the largest institutional investors surveyed by Morningstar Indexes globally view increasing trade disputes as material to their investments. This far outweighs the 44% and 30%, respectively, who cited armed conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East as material concerns. Asset owners went on to list the current US administration (73%) and currency volatility (62%) as major concerns.
These insights come from the recent fourth annual Morningstar Voice of the Asset Owner Survey, brought to market and conducted by Morningstar Indexes and Morningstar Sustainalytics. The quantitative survey gathered the responses of more than 500 asset owners representing combined assets under management of $19.1 trillion.

Robert Edwards, Managing Director EMEA, Morningstar Indexes, said:
“Our global quantitative survey of asset owners this year tested whether the concerns we heard during our one-on-one interviews with asset owners were just temporary or part of a longer lasting trend. Asset owner responses showed that, when it comes to materiality and investment policy, matters of commerce and a changing global trade picture are increasingly on the minds of the largest and most influential institutional investors.”
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