Adding a new asset class with growing yields and low risk exposure can benefit many portfolios. Infrastructure investment gives investors the opportunity to participate in high quality issuance of public sector debt financing backed by the full faith and credit of government organisations.

As a client of HSBC Global Asset management, we can advise you in relation to the services of HSBC Infrastructure Company Limited (HICL) - a long-term investor in infrastructure projects, such as power plants and transportation, which are predominantly in their operational phase and yielding steady returns.

Identifying a 'covariance asset' or an investment class that is not highly correlated with the returns of the underlying holdings of an investment portfolio is a critical step in maintaining a balanced position. Hedge funds are one such asset and can be employed to lower overall volatility and reduce implied risk.

At HSBC Global Asset Management, we can advise your business on either individual hedge fund strategies or pooled structures that give exposure to multiple strategies. At Halbis and Sinopia, our specialist investment businesses, we can deliver the best risk-adjusted returns with minimal exposure to the overall price movements of asset classes. The range of hedge fund disciplines is aligned with the global footprint of the HSBC business. Some of the more specialist hedge strategies – including the GEM Opportunities Fund and the innovative Indian Equity Long/Short Fund – are reflective of HSBC's pre-eminent position in the emerging markets arena.

Fund-of-hedge funds appeal to a broad range of institutional investors. The concept seeks to create a diversified portfolio of hedge disciplines which will deliver similar risk and return characteristics, but with a lower level of volatility. This umbrella structure also provides a number of other tangible benefits, not least the ability for an investor to tap into a pool of top international investment managers via one simple transaction. Through HSBC Alternative Investments (HAIL), we can provide bespoke fund-of-hedge fund solutions to match a huge range of risk/return profiles.

Commercial property has emerged as a mainstream asset class. The expansion of securitisation permits investors to invest in real estate without holding physical property assets. Initially a phenomenon in developed countries, investing in commercial mortgage-backed securities and real estate investment trusts has taken hold in emerging markets as well.

HSBC provides investors with the skill and expertise necessary to generate sound returns and guard against risk. A disciplined assessment of the current and future condition of the economy and its potential impact on property prices, occupancy rates and rental income is essential. Clients can focus on one market, such as industrial parks in China, or multiple opportunities across countries and property types. HSBC Global Asset Management offers a range of fund-of-property fund products. These portfolios are constructed to harness the return potential of some of the more exciting options in the market and blend these with other uncorrelated property themes in order to reduce the overall risk.

The potential return and diversification benefits associated with private equity are attractive to an increasing number of investors. While we consider it to be a valuable asset class, we acknowledge that because private equity encompasses companies at many stages of their life cycles (venture capital startups, buy-outs, buy-ins, etc) that returns can be difficult to predict. The proliferation of new managers running private equity funds translates into a wide range of investment performance outcomes.

We recommend that clients proceed with a prudent and holistic approach to private equity. At HSBC Global Asset Management, we are clearly focused on gaining exposure to top-quartile funds for our range of private equity solutions.

Currency and foreign exchange management may be important additions to an investment portfolio.

Through Sinopia, HSBC offers a Currency Overlay strategy, consisting of taking long positions on certain currencies and short positions on other currencies against the reference currency. Currency weakness is often associated with interest rate cuts which are being implemented as a potential catalyst for growth in both the domestic economy and associated capital markets. Consequently, an overlay strategy is a dynamic way to optimise investment performance and prevent the returns on the underlying securities from being diluted by the weakness of the local currency on the FX markets.