Watson Wyatt conducts this survey annually to rank the largest investment managers in the areas of real estate, fund hedge of funds, private equity fund of funds, infrastructure and commodities. According to the research, alternative assets* managed on behalf of pension funds by the world's largest 99 investment managers grew by 40% in 2007 to US$822bn from US$586bn the year before. It includes 190 investment manager entries comprising: 57 in fund of hedge funds, 52 in real estate, 50 in private equity fund of funds, 14 in commodities and 17 in infrastructure. In the private equity and hedge fund area, this ranking is focused purely on fund of funds which have traditionally been of most interest to pension funds. For real estate, commodities and infrastructure, direct managers are included. Real estate managers lead the ranking, occupying the top nine positions and accounting for 62% of the assets. Infrastructure managers were included in the research for the first time this year and all ten new entrants were ranked in the top 99 and account for 5% of the assets.