Clarke said the new portfolios would also provide more protection against inflation, although the firm was not predicting a significant blow-out in inflation around the world. Mercer generally expects a “slow grinding recovery” to continue over the medium term. Infrastructure and natural resources have been taken out of the alternatives bucket and given their own categories, in recognition of a greater weighting for those investments. Remaining alternatives include things such as insurancelinked securities, mezzanine debt, global tactical asset allocation products and hedge funds.