German insurers are riding to the rescue of private equity fundraisers by doubling their allocation to the asset class, according to a new survey.

A survey of 102 German insurance companies conducted by the University of Applied Sciences in Wiesbaden showed that, on average, they intended to increase their target allocation to private equity from a current 1.2% of their total portfolio investments to 2.2%. The survey follows a recent report by Swiss Reinsurance, which said European insurers were set to increase their allocation to private equity by 10% a year.