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FlexShares: Expectations For Real Assets
In any market environment, we believe that real assets should be an essential element of every investment portfolio. Growing numbers of institutional investors have steadily increased their real asset allocations over the past few decades. We believe investors are looking for what real assets can offer: the potential for income, gains and capital preservation in an unclear global environment. FlexShares: Expectations For Real Assets
Investors continue to benefit from innovation within a variety of investment vehicles that focus on real assets. Furthermore, strong demand for real assets is being met with an unprecedented supply of opportunities for investment, and we believe trends indicate that it will continue to grow. The Real Assets classification (e.g., timber, water, infrastructure, natural resources, etc.) is continually evolving, influenced not only by new asset types, but also regulatory and issuance changes.
Defining The Asset Class And Its Potential
Real assets—which we define as real estate, infrastructure and natural resources—form the pillars of the global economy. As such, these classifications are inherently tied to global developments, inflation and other macroeconomic trends. Notably, the cash flows that historically have been produced by real assets can be valuable in times of both economic expansion and contraction. Real assets represent physical assets that are often linked to inflation—a favorable characteristic as potential demand rises in periods of economic expansion.
At the same time, increasing demand for the goods and services that real assets provide may be relatively predictable and inelastic (insensitive to changes in price or income), which can be helpful in periods of economic contraction.
While cash-flow stability has historically been characteristic of real asset investments, the fundamentals that drive the cash flows are distinct. As such, real assets can provide an effective way to enhance portfolio diversification beyond traditional stock and bond allocations.
Portfolio Diversification
Real asset returns have historically had low correlations to traditional equity and fixed-income investments. Our findings suggest they can provide an effective way to enhance the diversification of a traditional stock and bond portfolio. Individual real asset categories have also shown low correlations with each other—consequently investors may be able to diversify further by investing in more than one real asset class.
As highlighted in the chart below, the correlations of real estate with infrastructure and natural resources are 0.85 and 0.62, respectively. The return streams of two assets having a correlation of 1.00 would be perfectly correlated. These measures are relatively moderate because the drivers behind the returns of these categories are distinct.
Consider natural resource pricing, which for some assets, like timber, is highly dependent on short-term factors such as climate, temperature and water supply. In contrast, the cash flows from some infrastructure assets, such as toll roads, tend to rise with an expanding economy, while those derived from more essential services, such as utilities, tend to be more highly regulated, and consequently during times of economic weakness tend to have more locked-in levels of usage pricing.
Capital Appreciation Potential
Our research has shown that both income return and capital appreciation represented meaningful amounts of the historical total returns generated by real assets. Historically, many of these hard assets have tended to be long term and increase in value over time as replacement costs rise and operational efficiencies are achieved.
For many investors, this scenario may be visualized within their own daily experience as they observe the leasing of vacant space, the climb of toll road fees, the rising use of energy or increases in lumber prices. We believe that income from real-asset-related investments may help protect value on the downside, while operational efficiencies may enhance value on the upside.
Potentially Higher Risk-Adjusted Returns
Adding real assets may also enhance the risk-adjusted returns* of a mixed-asset portfolio. The chart below shows the various historical Sharpe ratios of the three real asset categories in comparison to stocks and bonds. The Sharpe ratio is a measure of return per unit of risk, which indicates whether an investment’s return sufficiently rewards investors for the level of risk assumed (the higher the Sharpe ratio, the greater the level of risk-adjusted performance).
For example, the 10-year Sharpe ratio for infrastructure as defined in the chart below is 0.214, which means that an investor should have a greater risk-adjusted return in comparison to an investment in real estate and in comparison to a Treasury bond which has a Sharpe ratio of zero. Only when an investor compares one investment’s Sharpe ratio with that of another investment can the investor get a feel for the return versus the relative amount of risk they can expect to take to achieve that return.
While real assets tend to retain value during economic downturns and contribute to value creation during economic upturns, performance generally lacks drastic movements in either direction. This potential performance stability may provide investors with portfolio benefits in a variety of market environments.
Implementing The Real Assets Portion Of A Portfolio
A number of considerations should be taken into account whenbuilding a portfolio of real assets. One approach for the initial structure isto define the investor’s objectives in terms of yield versus growth-orientedstrategy and sensitivity to the impact of inflation.
For the Yield Investor, a real assets strategy may emphasizeincome-oriented but inflation-sensitive investments that generate potentialsteady cash flows.
For the Growth Investor, a real assets strategy mayseek broader exposure to natural resources to help pursue a growth objective.
For the Growth Investor, a real assets strategy mayseek broader exposure to natural resources to help pursue a growth objective.
Building a real asset portfolio is a process that requires multiple considerations in terms of planning, implementation and monitoring. Real assets can play a fundamental role in a portfolio, depending on an investor’s objectives. Given the current low-yield environment, along with the potential diversification that real assets have historically provided, we believe that investors should consider them in order to create a well-diversified portfolio.
*Risk-adjusted return refines an investment’s return by measuring how much risk is involved in producing that return.
This is an excerpt from FlexShares’ research paper on Expectations for Real Assets.
2024 was a landmark year for bitcoin, solidifying its role as a fully institutionalised asset class.
Institutional inflows into physical bitcoin exchange-traded products (ETPs) reached nearly $35 billion globally, signalling a major shift in how traditional investors view crypto. As bitcoin continued to enhance portfolios’ risk-return profiles, more institutional investors followed suit, reshaping the financial landscape.
Looking ahead, 2025 promises to bring exciting developments across the crypto ecosystem. Here are the top five crypto trends to watch.
Fear of being left behind
The era of bitcoin as a niche investment is over. Institutional adoption is creating a ripple effect, forcing hesitant players to reconsider. Portfolios with bitcoin allocations are consistently outperforming those without, highlighting its growing importance.
Figure 1: Bitcoin in a multi-asset portfolio
| 60/40 Global Portfolio | 1% Bitcoin Portfolio | 3% Bitcoin Portfolio | 5% Bitcoin Portfolio | 10% Bitcoin Portfolio | MSCI AC World | Bloomberg Multiverse | Bitcoin | |
| Annualised Return | 5.77% | 6.46% | 7.83% | 9.20% | 12.57% | 9.07% | 0.56% | 56.24% |
| Volatility | 8.79% | 8.86% | 9.14% | 9.62% | 11.42% | 13.94% | 5.05% | 67.28% |
| Sharpe Ratio | 0.48 | 0.55 | 0.68 | 0.79 | 0.96 | 0.54 | -0.20 | 0.81 |
| Information Ratio | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.01 | 1.00 | ||||
| Beta | 70% | 71% | 73% | 75% | 81% | 100% | 24% | 181% |
Source: Bloomberg, WisdomTree. From 31 December 2013 to 30 November 2024. In USD. Based on daily returns. The 60/40 Global Portfolio is composed of 60% MSCI All Country World and 40% Bloomberg Multiverse. You cannot invest directly in an index. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investment may go down in value.
With bitcoin’s ability to noticeably improve portfolios’ risk-return profiles, asset managers face a clear choice: integrate bitcoin into multi-asset portfolios or risk falling behind in a rapidly evolving financial landscape. In 2025, expect the competition to heat up as clients demand exposure to this powerhouse cryptocurrency.
Expanding crypto investment options
In 2024, regulatory breakthroughs opened the doors for physical bitcoin and ether ETPs in key developed markets. This marked a critical step towards making cryptocurrencies mainstream, providing seamless access to institutional and retail investors alike.
Figure 2: Global physical crypto ETP assets under management (AUM) and 2024 net flows
Source: Bloomberg, WisdomTree. 02 January 2025. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investment may go down in value.
In 2025, this momentum is expected to accelerate as the crypto regulatory environment becomes more friendly in the United States and as key developed markets follow Europe’s lead and approve ETPs for altcoins such as Solana and XRP. With their clear utility and growing adoption, these altcoins are strong candidates for institutional investment vehicles.
This next wave of altcoin ETPs will expand the diversity of crypto investment opportunities and further integrate cryptocurrencies into the global financial system.
The maturing of Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem
Ethereum’s role as the backbone of decentralised finance (DeFi), non-fungible tokens (NFTs), and Web3 is unmatched, but its scalability challenges remain a hurdle. Layer-2 solutions—technologies such as Arbitrum and Optimism—are transforming Ethereum’s scalability and usability by enabling faster, cheaper transactions.
In 2025, Ethereum’s recent upgrades, such as Proto-Danksharding (introduced in the ‘Dencun’ upgrade), will drive layer-2 adoption even further. Innovations like Visa’s layer-2 payment platform leveraging Ethereum for instant cross-border transactions will underscore the platform’s evolution.
Expect Ethereum’s layer-2 ecosystem to power real-world use cases ranging from tokenized assets to decentralised gaming, positioning it as the infrastructure of a truly scalable digital economy.
Stablecoins: bridging finance and blockchain
Stablecoins are becoming indispensable to the global financial system, offering the stability of traditional assets with the efficiency of blockchain. Platforms such as Ethereum dominate the stablecoin landscape, hosting stablecoin giants Tether (USDT) and USD Coin (USDC), which facilitate billions in daily transactions.
Figure 3: Key stablecoin chains
Source: Artemis Terminal, WisdomTree. 05 January 2025. Historical performance is not an indication of future performance and any investment may go down in value.
As we move into 2025, stablecoins will increasingly interact with blockchain ecosystems such as Solana and XRP. Solana’s high-speed, low-cost infrastructure makes it ideal for stablecoin payments and remittances, while XRP Ledger’s focus on cross-border efficiency positions it as a leader in global settlements. With institutional adoption rising and DeFi applications booming, stablecoins will serve as the backbone of a seamless, interconnected financial ecosystem.
Tokenization: redefining ownership and revolutionising finance
Tokenization is set to redefine how we think about ownership and value. By converting tangible assets like real estate, commodities, stocks, and art into digital tokens, tokenization breaks down barriers to entry and creates unprecedented liquidity.
In 2025, tokenization will expand dramatically, empowering investors to own fractions of high-value assets. Platforms such as Paxos Gold and AspenCoin are already showcasing how tokenization can revolutionize markets for gold and luxury real estate. The integration of tokenized assets into DeFi will unlock new financial opportunities, such as using tokenized real estate as collateral for loans. As tokenization matures, it will transform industries ranging from private equity to venture capital, creating a more inclusive and efficient financial system.
For the avoidance of any doubt, tokenization complements crypto by expanding the use cases of blockchain to include real-world applications.
Looking ahead
2025 is set to be a defining year for crypto, as innovation, regulation, and adoption converge. Whether it is bitcoin cementing its position as a portfolio staple, Ethereum scaling for mainstream use, or tokenization unlocking liquidity in untapped markets, the crypto ecosystem is poised for explosive growth. For investors and institutions alike, the opportunities have never been clearer or more compelling.
This material is prepared by WisdomTree and its affiliates and is not intended to be relied upon as a forecast, research or investment advice, and is not a recommendation, offer or solicitation to buy or sell any securities or to adopt any investment strategy. The opinions expressed are as of the date of production and may change as subsequent conditions vary. The information and opinions contained in this material are derived from proprietary and non-proprietary sources. As such, no warranty of accuracy or reliability is given and no responsibility arising in any other way for errors and omissions (including responsibility to any person by reason of negligence) is accepted by WisdomTree, nor any affiliate, nor any of their officers, employees or agents. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the reader. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
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