For much of 2026, the expansion of AI infrastructure helped support corporate profitability, economic activity and equity valuations. Now, the possibility that financing constraints could slow that investment is beginning to influence the pricing of assets well beyond the technology sector.

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By concentrating wealth and economic opportunities in a few cities while destroying the low-cost jobs that have historically fueled global development, AI could end up making much of the world poorer and more divided.

The early earnings season confirms that the American economy retains considerable resilience. Yet financial markets are becoming considerably more selective about what constitutes a good result.

The most consequential development in financial markets is becoming the competition for capital. Governments are borrowing heavily, technology companies are raising extraordinary sums. … all while long-term government bond yields are approaching levels not seen in more than two decades.

The most revealing market development this week was the response to better news. The week’s softer inflation and employment figures were useful. The failure of long-term yields to respond durably was more consequential.

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Established in 2002, Strategies Summit is THE portfolio construction strategies conference of the year. Presented each August, the program features 50+ carefully selected leading investment thinkers who will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking by debating contemporary and emerging portfolio construction strategies, for you to consider applying in practice to build better quality portfolios.

Food for thought and CE from Portfolio Construction Forum

The current regime is defined by a wide distribution of macro outcomes - and the risk that the next drawdown impairs government bonds, the asset expected to cushion portfolios. The solution is not to abandon government bonds, it is to broaden sources of defence and return.

These tutorials relate to the IMAC 2026 lectures and are available to CIMA candidates enrolled in the CIMA Certification Asia Pacific Program 2026.

The market has entered an unusual phase. Growth is still relatively strong. Earnings remain supportive. AI investment remains powerful. The hurdle rate for almost every investment is rising. This is not yet a conventional risk-off environment. It is a repricing of what capital is worth.

AI remains one of the strongest investment cycles in the global economy. That strength is precisely why the macro consequences are becoming more important. AI is becoming a macro cycle because it is large enough to influence growth, inflation, labour, energy and the price of capital simultaneously.

Food for thought and CE from Portfolio Construction Forum

The AI revolution may ultimately create abundance. The current investment regime is being defined by the scarcity encountered while building it. The next phase of the cycle will be determined by which assets own productive capacity and which assets can finance it.

The investment regime is becoming less about forecasting one central-bank decision and more about understanding who is competing for capital, what return they are offering and whether the resulting cost is sustainable. That changes portfolio construction.

The purpose of investing is not simply to accumulate wealth. The real "prize" is financial wellbeing. As Yogi Berra famously observed: "If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else." Eyes on the prize! Strategies Summit 2026 (Wed 19 Aug) will challenge and refresh your portfolio construction thinking through robust debate of contemporary and emerging strategies to help you build better quality portfolios.

Portfolio construction must evolve to reflect a structurally different world. Traditional diversification assumptions and portfolio frameworks which may not fully capture the risks to which portfolios are actually exposed - or take advantage of emerging asset class opportunities that the structurally different world is exposing.
How can practitioners construct multi-asset, multi-manager investment (MAMMI) portfolios which are greater than the sum of their parts and improve the financial wellbeing of individuals?

Supported by durable long-term growth trends and a history of low correlation to traditional markets, the full SME opportunity is too compelling for investors to ignore.