Survey: 80% of Institutional Investors See Digital Assets Appealing

Digital assets have something appealing and are already acquiring more space in the investment portfolio of various institutional investors, according to a recent survey by
The Boston-based asset manager says it surveyed 800 institutional investors across the US and Europe, among which 36 percent of respondents have already included digital assets in their investment portfolio. Among these investors are financial advisors, family offices, pensions, hedge funds, as well as high net worth investors, and endowments and foundations.

The survey, which was conducted between November 2019 to early March 2020, also finds that Bitcoin continues to be the No.1 choice with over a quarter of respondents holding bitcoin, and 11% have exposure to Ethereum.
According to the other highlights, almost two thirds of the respondents (60%) are open to add virtual assets to their future investments. However, they have different views on the ways in which they would hold these assets.
As blockchain and crypto become a more visible part of the financial landscape, over a fifth of US crypto investors have exposure via futures, which is a substantial increase relative to less than 10 percent in 2019.
Looking out five years, the percentage of crypto fans among big guns jumps as 91% of surveyed investors were open to gain at least 0.5 percent exposure to digital assets in their portfolio. Also, among these institutional investors, crypto hedge and venture funds are the most enthusiastic category in viewing digital assets in a favourable light.
Speaking about these results, the president of Fidelity Digital Assets, Tom Jessop, said: “These results confirm a trend we are seeing in the market towards greater interest in and acceptance of digital assets as a new investable asset class. This is evident in the evolving composition of our client pipeline, which spans from crypto native funds to pensions.”
Fidelity Investments, which manages $7.2 trillion worth of mutual fund assets, has been a leader in helping clients navigate crypto markets, and was among the first Wall Street firms to allow  to view their crypto holdings right on its platform.
Fidelity Digital Assets, the cryptocurrency arm of Boston-based , already features institutional-grade, crypto linked services, including custody offerings to safeguard holdings and execution services 24 hours a day, seven days a week.