CWAN Analysis of 400 Insurers Shows Some Insurers Now Allocate 40-50% in ‘Alternatives’
BOISE, Idaho & NEW YORK & CHICAGO & LONDON & HONG KONG, November 12, 2025–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Clearwater Analytics (NYSE: CWAN), the most comprehensive technology platform for investment management, today released industry research revealing that alternative investments have fundamentally transformed from a fringe strategy to a portfolio cornerstone, now comprising nearly one-third of the US insurance industry’s assets – representing approximately $2.7 trillion – as insurers abandon traditional portfolio strategies.
The report, “Are ‘Alternatives’ Still Alternative?”, combines industry-wide NAIC data with analysis of approximately 400 CWAN insurers representing $4.4 trillion in combined assets, providing visibility into alternative investment adoption patterns across the insurance sector.
CWAN’s Key Data Findings Challenge Industry Conventional Wisdom:
-
“Alternatives” Classification Requires Redefinition: What was once considered a fringe strategy now represents approximately $2.7 trillion (or nearly a third) of all insurance industry assets, marking a permanent, structural shift rather than a cyclical trend.
-
Private Credit Dominates Alternative Allocations: The report reveals which specific alternative asset classes have gained the most traction, with private credit assets—including privately placed bonds and mortgage loans—leading the charge.
-
Technology Infrastructure Crisis Emerges: Legacy systems are failing to keep pace with alternative asset growth, with CWAN data showing 3 to 5x longer processing times for alternative asset operations.
-
Platform Data Reveals Allocation Disparities: CWAN’s proprietary database shows significant variation in alternative adoption, with detailed breakdowns available in the full report.
-
Post-Pandemic Structural Changes: The report analyzes which pandemic-era trends became permanent fixtures and identifies emerging patterns that will shape the next decade of insurance investing.
“What this research shows is that alternatives have moved from the periphery to the core of insurance portfolios, they’ve already won,” said Kirat Singh, President, Risk and Alternative Assets, CWAN. “What we’re seeing with our clients is leading insurance companies shifting capital to privates and alts, some at 35% while others going as high as 70-80%. The real challenge now is operational, and having an open, scalable technology infrastructure becomes essential to handle this complexity.”