Insights you might have missed last week

Critical minerals, Indexing = socialism? And private real estate

Explore this selection of high-quality insights that you may have missed last week, from top global asset managers and institutions.

Which "Trump Trades" Paid Off—And Which Ones Missed the Mark (Morningstar Indexes)

It has now been one year since Donald Trump pulled a Grover Cleveland, winning a second nonconsecutive term in the White House, while the Republicans took both houses of Congress in a “red sweep.”

Eight Reasons to Invest in Critical Minerals (Robeco)

Magnets, minerals, and metals are the silent enablers of the modern world. A global race to secure supplies and counter China’s dominance is disrupting the entire value chain, from mining to manufacturing.

Cathie Wood Calls Indexing "A Form of Socialism." Has She Lost the Plot? (TEBI)

Index funds often hold company boards to account more effectively than the very active managers making these claims — yup, including Cathie Wood.

Mapping the Hidden Wealth of Brazil’s Forests (MSCI)

Forests in Brazil can be significantly more valuable standing than when cleared for timber or agriculture, our modeling suggests.

The Private Real Estate Recovery Is Getting Real (Nuveen)

With public markets on edge, alternative assets such as private commercial real estate may be worth exploring.

A Golden Year: Gold's Price Surge - The Signal in the Noise! (Aswath Damodaran)

Aswath starts by positioning gold in the investment continuum and then examining its price movements, both in 2025 and with a longer-term perspective, to get a handle on the drivers of these movements, before looking at how gold may fit in investment portfolios.

State of the European Private Equity Industry 2025 (Arthur D. Little)

Europe and its private equity industry are in a very different place from where they were 12 months ago — largely thanks to events on the other side of the world.

The Fallacy of Concentration (State Street)

Concentrated market-cap weights don’t increase index risk, as larger stocks are more diversified and their higher weights are balanced by lower volatility.