For lack of a better word, alternative investments have been in vogue since the market crash. And while the proliferation of ’40 Act products adhering to alternative strategies has seemingly brought alternatives into the mainstream, a lot of investors remain oblivious to the trend.

According to a recent Invesco survey of 429 investors who work with financial advisors and have at least $250,000 in investable assets, 77% of respondents said they’re not familiar with the term “alternative investment.” And among those investors who know about alternative investments, only 40% currently use them. And of these, alternatives constitute on average 16% of their portfolios.

The alternatives space is a broad category comprising a number of different strategies essentially aimed at providing some degree of non-correlation to traditional stocks and bonds. One product category never confused with alternatives is money market funds. Yet as evidence of the continued lack of knowledge about this space, 5% of investors in the Invesco survey said money market funds were an alternative investment.

That last point highlights the role financial advisors can play in educating their clients about alternatives and their pros and cons. The survey found that 65% of respondents said they rely on their financial advisors as their primary drivers in deciding whether to put money in alternatives.

Seven of 10 investors who use alternatives said they talked to their advisors about them, while 70% of investors who’ve avoided alternatives haven’t spoken to their financial advisors about these types of investments.

The biggest reasons investors are in alternatives are portfolio diversification (50%), inflation protection (26%) and downside protection and return above the benchmark (both 21%).

The survey was conducted by Market Strategies International in conjunction with the Invesco Risk Institute, a service aimed at registered investment advisors.