Global Equities Edit: Who's afraid of an AI bubble?

A new era for stock investors dawns

Equity markets had a wild ride in 2025. Will 2026 bring more of the same volatility – or will a semblance of tranquility prevail? The thought leadership below includes names such as Polen Capital, Marquette Associates, and S&P Dow Jones Indices, each offering fresh insight and actionable takeaways regarding the equity markets environment in 2026.

When Quality Isn’t Enough: Multi-Dimensional Lens for Small Cap (Polen Capital)

Applying large cap frameworks can lead to disappointing results when looking at the small cap universe. Here is why.

Navigating U.S. Equities: Research-Backed Strategies (Fidelity International)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

Earnings growth has largely been concentrated among the hyperscalers - the large-scale multinational companies providing cloud computing services.

U.S. Mid-Cap Resilience: Beyond the Headlines (Mawer IM)

Companies with strong competitive advantages continue to demonstrate pricing power and healthy margins, despite inflation and shifting cost pressures.

UK Equities: Time to Get Excited (Franklin Templeton)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the EMEA region

UK stocks are well positioned to benefit from key tailwinds in the months ahead. Read more to discover why UK equities are attractive.

Is It a Bubble? (Oaktree)

One of the most interesting aspects of bubbles is their regularity, not in terms of timing, but rather the progression they follow.

Europe: Leader or Laggard? (Meketa)

While many models are not forecasting a recession in Europe, growth is likely to remain sluggish and uneven across economies.

Australian Equities: A Tale of Two Markets (Firstlinks)

Industries directly subject to competition from China have seen profits and return on capital erode materially over many years.

Stock Valuation and Investor Expectations (Saint Joseph's University)

The idea that a stock price is the present value of all future dividends can be traced back to the work of John Burr Williams in 1938.

Redburn Review Dec 2025 (Rothschild & Co)

Consensus expects the revenues of the largest quantum stocks to double in the next twelve months – and even that is partly juiced by acquisitions.

Unprofitables Lead, Active Managers Lag, But Can it Last? (Marquette Associates)

Despite positive equity returns, there remain several unknowns in markets, with one of the most topical discussions related to the threat of an AI bubble.

No, Stocks Aren't in a Valuation Bubble - Not Even Close (Hudson Bay Capital)

Equity valuation will always be a function of human judgement, and that judgement should be informed and nuanced by thoughtful historic regime analysis.

Special Report

Beyond Benchmarks: Maximizing Index Provider Value (S&P Dow Jones Indices)

It’s easy to think of index providers as performing one job (however well) – that of providing a ticker and stepping aside. But things are changing quickly. Explore this Special Report to learn more.