Faced with volatility, greater risks and still-low yields, institutional investors are raising their exposure to higher-risk assets in pursuit of better returns, according to an international survey of institutional investors published today by Natixis Global Asset Management. At the same time, they are doubling down on risk management to better balance long-term growth objectives and liquidity needs, but say they need better ways of identifying risk across their portfolios. Sixty-two percent of institutional managers feel they can handle near-term market risk despite greater volatility, which they say poses the biggest risk to their performance. Their top organizational concern, however, is low yield. Given the prospect for greater volatility and persistence of low interest rates, few institutions are relying on traditional portfolio strategies to meet their performance goals. Instead they are increasing their exposure to equities and alternatives and turning to illiquid assets and the private markets for risk-managed return generation and yield replacement.