Artificial Intelligence, Real Returns
AI-led innovation and strategic investment should anchor the 2027 opportunity set, while high-for-longer rates raise the premium on quality and persistent volatility reinforce the need for selectivity.
We are accessing AI’s expanding investment cycle—from semiconductors, cloud and data centres to companies using AI to improve productivity, develop new products and drive breakthroughs in healthcare, advanced manufacturing and life sciences. Alongside it, spending on defence, energy and resource security, re-industrialisation and resilient supply chains provides complementary structural support.
Higher funding costs make balance-sheet strength, earnings resilience and sustainable cash flows more important. We favour quality medium-maturity credit for income, while remaining risk-on over the next six to 12 months through global equities, led by the US and selected Asian markets, Japan, South Korea, and Hong Kong.
With volatility and dispersion creating winners and losers across markets, diversification can reduce single-factor concentration. We diversify across asset classes and markets, combining equities and fixed income with infrastructure, private markets, hedge funds and real assets for complementary return drivers.
The Outlook brings together our high-conviction themes and four priorities to show how growth, income and multi-asset diversification can be combined across public and private markets.