Institutional investors who use Towers Watson made $11 billion in new smart beta investments across over 180 portfolios in 2013, compared to $5 billion across 130 portfolios in 2012.
Towers Watson global head of research Craig Baker said it was "no surprise" smart beta strategies are being invested at such a rapid rate.
"It has taken some time to get to this point given that we started developing the concept in 2000 as part of our work on structured alpha, and then in more detail in 2002 as beta prime," he said.
"While it is satisfying that our clients have been able to benefit first from a range of smart beta strategies, we are somewhat concerned about the proliferation of products now on the market that claim to be smart beta, particularly in the equity area," said Mr Baker.
Towers Watson's clients also carried out investments in alternative assets worth more than four times (over $12.5 billion) than they did five years ago.
"Throughout the past five years the alternative fund managers that we have put into client portfolios have shown their ability to adapt to the changing environment to generate good net-of-fees performance," said Mr Baker.
"Larger institutional funds are likely to continue to invest in funds directly for most alternative asset classes rather than via funds of funds as investors continue to focus on better fee structures, greater transparency and smart beta options. Indeed, there were only three [fund of hedge fund] mandate selections in 2013, which is a demonstration of this point,” he said.
