Deutsche Bank Global Prime Finance (DB) recently completed its 17th annual global alternative investment survey. This year, DB analyzed responses from 425 allocators that manage or advise roughly $1.74 trillion of hedge fund assets. This article, the first in a two-part series, details the portions of the DB survey report that cover observed and expected performance and allocation preferences, including with respect to environmental, social and governance products; initial and target allocation sizes; and minimum fund size. The second article will cover additional allocation preferences, including with respect to investment vehicles, region and strategy; the continued decline in hedge fund fees; and early stage investing. For coverage of previous editions of DB’s annual survey, see our two-part coverage of the 2017 survey: Part One (Mar. 30, 2017); and Part Two (Apr. 6, 2017); and our two-part coverage of the 2016 survey: Part One (Mar. 17, 2016); and Part Two (Mar. 24, 2016).