Institutional investors are finding appeal in digital assets and many are looking to invest more in digital assets over the next five years, according to new research from Fidelity Investments.

 

According to the survey, about 22% of institutional investors already have some exposure to digital assets, with most investments having been made within the past three years.

 

Four in ten respondents say they are open to future investments in digital assets over the next five years. These findings are part of a Fidelity Investments research study to better understand how institutions, advisors, and investors think about digital assets both overall, and as part of an investment portfolio.

 

More than 400 U.S. institutional investors were surveyed, including pensions, family offices, crypto and traditional hedge funds, financial advisors and endowment and foundations.

 

Almost half of the institutional investors surveyed (47%) view digital assets as having a place in their investment portfolios, but opinions vary on how these investors would prefer to hold digital assets in the future.

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• 72% prefer to buy investment products that hold digital assets

• 57% prefer to buy crypto assets directly

• 57% prefer to buy an investment product that holds digital asset companies 

 

“We’ve seen a maturation of interest in digital assets from early adopters, like crypto hedge funds, to traditional institutional investors like family offices and endowments,” said Tom Jessop, president of Fidelity Digital Assetss, a provider of custody and trade execution services for digital assets to institutional investors. 

 

More institutional investors are engaging with digital assets, either directly or through service providers, as the potential impact of blockchain technology on financial markets - new and old - becomes more readily apparent.”

 

Finding Appeal Institutions are overwhelmingly favorable about the appealing characteristics of digital assets. Nearly seven in ten respondents cited certain characteristics of digital assets as appealing.

 

• Nearly half of respondents (47%) appreciate that digital assets are an innovative technology play

• 46% find digital assets’ low correlation to other assets among the most appealing characteristic

• Financial advisors (74%) and family offices (80%) view the characteristics of digital assets most favorably

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