Asset owners are finding more than one way to invest in AI
Many asset owners are investing in AI assets, but a recent conference demonstrated how many are spending money on integrating it into their processes (Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg)
At the 2026 iConnections’ Global Alts New York conference, some attendees might have been forgiven for thinking they were at a conference on artificial intelligence rather than alternative assets.
Across panels and breakout discussions among asset owners, AI was presented as not only an investment theme but as a tool which can reshape how LPs do their jobs.
While some are using the technology to make investment processes faster, others are trying to understand how it might impact investments they already own. As AI advances, some are increasingly doing both.
Take for instance Alps Capital Management, a Hong Kong multi-family office.
Chief investment officer Vincent Au said AI has freed the office’s lean internal team from some of the resource constraints that have traditionally slowed output.
“In the past, we maybe used to cover 50 managers a week…now why not just go all out and look at absolutely everything and anything?” Au said, adding that it might also play a role in portfolio construction as the technology progresses.
As excitement around the investment theme captures client interest, Au says questions around the topic are becoming more niche, with more interest in opportunities outside of the largest and most immediately-accessible plays.
Meanwhile Max Miller, head of growth equity investments at the behemoth Canada Pension Plan Investment Board, revealed that AI has been a focus since its inception. He believes the best opportunities are concentrated in a few “winners”, such as OpenAI, Anthropic and Databricks. “We really think those companies will continue to compound.”
The Canadian pension giant is also analysing “second order” impacts, such as energy, data centres, or companies such as the autonomous vehicle manufacturer Waymo which may benefit as the technology progresses.
CPP Investments is also bullish on AI’s potential for life sciences listing Insitro, a machine-learning drug discovery company, as a company it backs.
For asset owners, the question has evolved from ‘are investors thinking about AI?’ to ‘how are investors thinking incorporating AI into not only the way they invest but the way they operate?’.
Kalina Berova, a managing director focused on private debt fund investments at the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation, said as much: “We do feel that AI can transform things much faster, and businesses which used to be steady, providing essential services, can be disrupted overnight and there is no turning back.”