According to a survey of 250 institutions and over 1,000 financial advisers conducted by Morningstar and Barron’s and released on Monday, alternative investments have a bright future despite recent performance (results available  here on Morningstar’s website).

But your interpretation of the results may depend on whether you see the alternative investment glass as half-full of half-empty.

First the “half full” view.  In a press release issued by Morningstar, past AllAboutAlpha.com contributor Steve Deutsch (see previous post) expressed his surprise that although alternative investments haven’t provided a safe haven in the recent market storm,

“…the majority of both advisors and institutions still reported that they expected to increase usage of alternative investments in the future, and they believed alternative investments will continue to grow in importance versus traditional investments…Recent poor performance of alternatives has not caused advisors or institutions to question their usage.”

Meanwhile, Barron’s seems to see the glass as half empty.  The magazine reports in its November 10th issue that,

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