IO asset manager survey: structural risks are rising, but risk appetite holds up
For the second time, the editorial team of Investment Officer conducted a year-end survey among large asset managers operating in Europe. The aim was to assess their outlooks for 2026 based on a standardized set of proprietary questions. The common thread is that risks have become structural, without leading to a flight from risk assets.
Halfway to the tipping point
The Cambrian explosion of AI-driven life forms has begun. Under the collective label of artificial intelligence, an ecosystem is emerging that is evolving faster than many people realize. Its impact is still often underestimated, both in scale and in speed, but it will permanently shape the second half of the twenty twenties as a structural force.
Enforcement and transparency weigh on Europe’s AML scores
De Europese antiwitwaskaders behoren formeel tot de meest uitgebreide ter wereld, maar in de uitvoering blijven er kwetsbaarheden bestaan, zo blijkt uit de Basel AML Index 2025.
Private market firms sallivate over Americans’ retirement cash
The private markets model is edging into the US retail retirement system, where policymakers are moving to allow 401(k) investors to gain exposure to private assets, potentially opening up a trillion dollar market to alternative managers as early as February.
Democrats are set to win but the timing is awful
The Democrats are on track to win the U.S. House of Representatives in 2026. For investors, that is usually just noise. Now, however, even the most committed progressive has to admit the timing is terrible. Things were going so well.
Chart of the week: few US jobs, how so?
There was eager anticipation for a new US labor market report. And not only because the flow of macro data from the United States is still lagging as a result of the shutdown. The US labor market is what can still obscure the real reason why rates were cut by another quarter point. But that argument does not hold either.
Morningstar: Comgest vs JPMorgan in Japan largecap growth equity
Morningstar has refined its Japanese equity framework as persistent style dispersion forces investors to reassess growth-focused fund selection in Japan.
Fed and politics
In financial markets, 2026 will not only be a year of economic normalization, but also a test of the institutional fabric of US monetary policy. Renewed political polarization and the approaching expiration of central banker Jerome Powell’s term are creating a rare convergence of uncertainty for the period ahead.
Robeco: “AI is improving at lightning speed, but it is still in its early stages.”
Artificial intelligence has rapidly climbed to become a leading force in financial markets. Yet according to Mike Chen, Head of Next-Gen Quant Research at Robeco, this is only the beginning. “From a microscopic insect to the intelligence level of a cat in six years. That is how fast AI is evolving. The pace will only accelerate, with far-reaching consequences for markets and for the investment industry itself.”
Geopolitics emerges as a structural market risk in 2026
Geopolitical risk once entered markets through sudden shocks. Going into 2026, leading investment managers and economists see a more persistent source of pressure: structural forces reshaping a world that is fracturing.