Markets Happy Hour Podcast with Aoifinn Devitt

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we ask where is the love? As Valentine's Day approaches, it seems that consumers, and investors themselves are not displaying a whole lot of love for the AI and tech stocks of which they had been quite enamored not long ago. There is, similarly, a bit of a shift away not only from them but also the US as a market, as other markets such as Japan and Europe start to show their relative strengths. In the discussion of inflation we reflect on soaring food prices and how – in the US at least – this has started to affect footfall and spend at restaurants such as McDonalds and Burger King. There has been a shift in the spending from restaurants towards grocery stores. We move from discussing the K shaped economy to a new concept that Alex introduces – the W shaped economy, in which there are two key segments – those that shop at Wholefoods and those who shop at Walmart, each of whom are struggling in their separate ways. This vibe check notes the recession in consumer confidence and the fact that the labor market is no longer putting as much pressure on inflation. Interest rate expectations have moderated again, as markets have digested the announcement of the next Fed Chairman, while fixed income volatility remains very low relative to its history. Moving to equity markets, the calling cries of markets are of a US tech detox and the continuing rotation into European tech, Japanese equities value from growth and sectors such as infrastructure and financials. This is all occurring against a backdrop of “sell now, see later” whereby AI automation threats are cascading through different sectors – first SAAS and now wealth management as new intelligent tools are released at a fast pace.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we digest another busy week of market movements, economic data, momentum shifts and shifting expectations. We start with the surprisingly low (and under control) inflation data from Europe, where Eurozone inflation came in at 1.7%. This has led to the ECB maintaining rates on hold and Christine Lagarde suggesting that the Eurozone is in a “good place” (at least with respect to inflation), and similarly the Bank of England kept its rates on hold at 3.75% although did hint at a further cut later in the year (its inflation had surprised on the upside in December at 3.4%). Turning to the economy vibe checks, it is interesting to see that there remains a divergence between customer's actual experience (trending downwards) and expectations (low and remaining low), as actually expectations have never really been too elevated, despite the foaming at the mouth that has occurred by onlookers of the "red hot" economy. Employment numbers have been weaker than expected, while expectations are weaker still, so there is definitely a cloud hanging over the K shaped economy, especially as the oil price gets higher on geopolitical concerns, which could drive pump prices. All eyes remain on the putative Chair of the Fed, Kevin Warsh, and there has been some vacillation around his expected positioning. It is clear he is in favor of a smaller Fed, with a shrunken balance sheet, but his positioning around inflation is less clear. Is he a hawk and mindful of inflation - or does he not consider it important - as calculated by economists anyway. The answer to this question could dictate his positioning around rate cuts and for now, he is a bit of a challenging study. The initial expectation that he would be hawkish (another Volcker?) sent the dollar higher and other assets into somewhat of a tailspin this week. Gold and silver were particularly hard hit, with both falling precipitously, silver more than gold. This may have been due to technical factors such as silver being essentially thinly traded, but either way it was spectacularly bad timing for an asset class that had been recently driven upward by a large degree of retail buying. Bitcoin had an even worst trajectory - and has now fallen back to its pre-election levels, below $70,000 as we write. There is no particular fundamental reason for this, although it is clearly a risk-off trade, and it could be an indication of the risk aversion coursing through tech exposures currently. Finally turning to tech stocks, the focus on capex after the Alphabet earnings call indicates that investors are increasingly scrutinizing capex to see if the expenditure will be justified. There is more skepticism regarding tech stocks broadly, particularly after the staggering revelations about Moltbook, a social network for AI agents. This perhaps sent a chill - a reminder that the pace of advancement in AI has been rapid, and perhaps that it has got ahead of our ability to control it. More skepticism ensued. The fallout from this skepticism was a rise in rotations - from growth to value (value has outperformed growth for the last three months, from tech stocks into smaller and mid-cap stocks and out of the US into non-US equities. For clients with a broadbased portfolios this will be rewarding.

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we cover the post-Davos week, which, as is now typical has been filled with newsflow, most recently chatter regarding the pending appointment of the next Fed Chair. As we go to print it seems likely to be Kevin Warsh - a current Fed Governor, one of the youngest, and considered to be an "orthodox" pick, given his existing reputation as a Fed Governor and expectation that he will not be necessarily a channel for political preferences. The recent Fed decision to leave rates flat was difficult to parse - as the message was essentially more of the same. There is clearly a mixed message in terms of jobs, the perception of jobs being plentiful and being hard to find are now roughly the same – so clearly no big gap as there was post Covid. The employees in tech industries are flat to trending lower despite revenues and capacities soaring – this points to productivity gains and will continue to matter for jobs. Other equity market sectors have diverged, there are some indications of saturation points being met in certain areas of tech – there is a fall and stabilization of TikTok users, while Apple (which has had a mixed AI launch) has had a set of 8 consecutive weekly declines. Other sectors such as “gridTech” – a new sector coined by Bloomberg – which contains a basket of companies exposed to the pick-up in investment in the electricity grid. It is notable that this, as well as the utilities index more broadly have not generally performed as well as other equity sectors. This latency is interesting – as clearly the one broadly accepted truth is that more electricity will be needed going forward and that this will have to be met from all sources, including solar, which has accounted for 61% of the increase in electricity demand in the US. The performance in precious metals has continued to define the risk off appetite from time to time – with gold moving to a record $5,500 per oz, and US markets considerably weaker compared to the gold. There is some indication that Chinese retail holders of gold have peaked considerably pointing to the potential for some speculative interest there and the potential for more volatility. Silver, similarly, has seen a stark ascent, as well as sharp intra-day volatility just in the past week. The podcast ends with a comment on the use of precious metals in a portfolio and the role that they play.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we conduct a "review" of the drama (and at times melodrama) that has played out at Davos this year, and digest what it has meant for markets. We are joined by CIO and founder of Vistamark and former CIO of the consulting firm Fiducient - Matt Rice, who works with institutional investors and shares his insights on market dynamics and portfolio construction. Starting at our usual starting point of inflation Matt shares his view of the long term deflationary impact that AI is likely to have we touch on the impact of the oil price weakness that will in the more immediate term depress prices. Turning then to the economic "vibe check" we note the sensitivity of equity markets to the prevailing geopolitical drama around both the rhetoric on Greenland as well as the on-again/off-again tariff announcement on European countries. The uncertainty over recent days has been reflected in equity markets, which clearly still show some sensitivity to geopolitical risk, and the ascent of metals continues - clearly reflecting a risk aversion and a concern about currency debasement. Oil, on the other hand, remains flat - reflecting high inventories and only some sensitivity to geopolitical news (in this case the news from Iran). Moving to other sources of risk, even Secretary Bessent has attributed some of this week's weakness in US equity markets to the dramatic movements in the Japanese long dated government bond market over the past week. In what may be Japan's Liz Truss moment (echoing the weakness in UK markets which ultimately led to the downfall of Prime Minster Liz Truss towards the end of 2022). In recent developments the Japanese 40 year bond yield had surpassed 4% for the first time, while the 30 year bond had never suffered such a large drop in a single day. In our discussion Matt suggests that this correction was well overdue and could be the canary in the coal mine for other economies with high levels of government debt. We end our discussion with a reflection on Europe, firmly in the cross-hairs now at Davos, and remind ourselves of the positive impact on European defense stocks that has been a direct response to the challenge from President Trump, as well as on some of the other areas said to be trailing (IT infrastructure) as well as "financial plumbing".

We started the year with some chilly weather, some American football inspired blocking and tackling and a tech challenged yet warmly engaging live podcast in New York. The video and slides will follow next week, but for now please enjoy the audio. In front of a live audience we discussed the inflation picture, the delayed transmission effect of tariffs and the ongoing disconnect with consumer's price experience on the ground. We examined the market reaction to the announcement last week of a criminal investigation into former Chairman Powell. The decisive push back, via video recorded by Chairman Powell, seems to have been viewed as a form of checks and balances working as they should, and, as ever in recent years, bond markets have reacted calmly, being decidedly unbothered. Equity markets have been somewhat lack luster this week, coming off the prevailing uncertainty in geopolitics and domestic checks and balances, but the US market still stands alone in having experienced few "flight" events in recent years - a flight event being defined here as a simultaneous fall in equities, bonds and currency. This underscores the sense of "might is right" that dominates not just in equity markets but also - now - in geopolitics. We discuss some of the tangential effects of the recent rhetoric around Venezuela and the importance of military power. We examine whether this is galvanizing efforts in Europe to join forces, as well as within other trading partners - namely China, which is seeing its largest ever trade surplus.

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast, we are joined by Alan Dunne, founder of Archive Capital, who has written a recent white paper on the regime adaptive portfolio. It is a particularly appropriate topic given the heightened discussion of regime change that we have seen over the past week – both at the level of a specific country, as well as at a broader level as a new form of foreign policy is now emerging, fairly unprecedented its scope. We start our discussion by reflecting on the likely impact on the oil price that the Venezuelan situation may have – so far the impact has been muted, and an increase of supply should – according to traditional metrics, lead to lower prices. The mixed signals that inflation is sending – lower oil prices on the one hand – continuing pressure on services on the other is also being noted by the US Fed, and the latest minutes of their most recent meeting underscore the divide that is in place there. Moving to the outlook for interest rates, Alan underscores the mixed data facing the Fed as well as the rising fiscal burden and concern about central bank independence that defines this regime as different from the last one. Equity markets remain robust, particularly according to market commentators in the US, but we ask whether it is likely to be a 1995 or a 1999 in terms of market outcome, and we then proceed to examine the sectors that are most likely to offer diversification and resilience. Alan then sets forth his thesis on what a regime adaptive portfolio should look like. We discuss the characteristics of the current regime, how different asset classes are behaving and the role that traditional diversification will play.

In this first Markets Happy Hour Podcast of the New Year, we reflect on the dark turn that many of the “Year in Review and Look Ahead” commentaries took over the traditionally slow period between Christmas and New Year. Some of this related to the new financial “nihilism” and not only was there a Wall Street Journal on the topic but an X post describing a degenerate generation attained over 20 million views. This suggestion that Generation Z is increasing opting out when it comes to traditional professional paths and paths of wealth creation and are opting to “bet the house” to aim for large and outsized gains, hence the increase in gambling and betting, such as Kalshi and Polymarket. This suggestion that there is divergence in terms of meaning and wealth creation is also a subcurrent of one of our themes for 2026, which is a theme of “enough”. Equity markets have ended the year on a positive note, although recent sharp sell-offs in silver after the margin requirements were altered by CME have been a reminder of the volatility that has now become a feature instead of a bug in markets, and another reminder of the perils of leverage. We discuss some positive news in real estate which shows how some real estate is becoming affordable due to overbuilding as well as the technical factors that baby boomers will be downsizing at around the same time that many Gen Z buyers are (belatedly) preparing to buy their first home. This may make affordability fall within reach for some, and is a welcome antidote the common doom-laden refrain about housing being out of reach for an entire generation. Financials have had a strong year and the top 6 US “too big to fail” banks now top $2 trillion, with JP Morgan representing one third of that. Similarly green energy has had a surprisingly strong year despite the headwinds presented by the Trump administration, as the demand for energy and electricity has been so high. In a final sweep through other asset classes we note how the Bitcoin Treasury frenzy has died down given the volatility in Bitcoin. As we have done before we compare it to other diversifiers such as metals – and note that the drivers for using these diversifiers is actually quite different. While metal purchasers may be driven by greed, it may also be fear – fear of currency debasement, fear of rising fiscal imprudence, lack of trust in traditional assets. Bitcoin, on the other hand, is driven more by greed than fear, particularly as it is still not a universal store of value.

This week’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast comes to you the day after Christmas and is the last of 2025. We ask whether in what often seems to be a season of plenty – we are about to enter the year of “enough”. Will 2026 be the year when consumers declare that they have had enough of the productivity enhancements that technology – and particularly AI – can bring? Will they have had enough of price rises and vote with their feet accordingly? Will affordability become the new siren call? Will they have had enough tokenization and cut some of their streaming subscriptions – again hearkening back to affordability? Consumer spending data continues to underscore the sharp K shaped divide – with over 50% of consumer spending in the US coming from only 10% of the households. This supports the fact that thus far in this cycle, the struggles of the consumer at the lower end of the spectrum don’t move markets. Markets buy what they know. Most market participants come from the upper earning end of the spectrum. Other trends of note in the markets as we near the end of the year are the strong contribution of cyclicals and the fact that Asian markets have actually outperformed US and European equity markets year to date. Flows into ETFs are at record levels, and now are approaching $60 trillion in traded value with over $1.5 trillion in flows and over 1000 ETFs launched in 2025 alone. While this data does not differentiate between active and passive ETFs the majority of ETFs are passive (90%) which suggests that the flows into passive investing remain extremely robust. Meanwhile Gold is on a trajectory to have its best year since 1979, having hit records on no less than 50 occasions this year alone. The year has been framed as a “defining” one for metals. The dollar, on the other hand, is set for its largest annual drop since 2017.

In today’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast - our last before the Christmas break, we ask ourselves how happy markets are feeling in this market are joy - and the answer is, well, a touch of Bah, Humbug. We first start with the surprise drop in UK inflation which may well serve as a welcome Christmas treat for the UK consumer. With inflation now coming in at 3.2% in the UK (and US inflation expectations of closer to 3.1%) could it be that the UK has slayed the stagflationary beast of Christmas past? The Bank of England is poised to cut rates today to 3.75% (from 4%), just as the US did in early December and current expectations in the US are around one further rate cut in 2026, although it is quite clear that there could well be more if the new Chair decides to start with a splash. Despite this lower inflation and recent rate cut, the consumer remains hyper focused on inflation and affordability, which continues to hurt consumer sentiment and has become elevated to a live and real election issue. Markets have been unsettled recently despite clear signs that commentators and strategists are bullish, and investors too, evidenced by the flows into equity funds and the fact that cash levels have fallen to recent lows. This is somewhat surprising given the still meaningful return on cash and it is in sync with the broad optimism that are seeing in the now ubiquitous 2026 outlooks. The wrinkle in this optimism is the recent skittishness in equity markets just in the last few days, most of it traceable to AI concerns, and we discuss the unease around Meta’s “turbulent” AI trajectory, which has led to it underperforming some of its Magnificent 7 counterparts. In fact, if we look to the breadth of the Magnificent 7 Counterparts and how they have performed year to date it has really been Alphabet and Nvidia that have been outliers, as the chart below shows. Tesla has had the most negative sentiment, probably due to some unique leadership and market factors, but even the other stocks - despite dominating the newsflow - remain bare round trips year to date. We look at some of the change in sentiment around China, which has seen a fascinating U turn of its own - having gone from “uninvestable” in the aftermath of rising trade tensions, concern about regulatory overreach and concern about a precarious retail sector. While fund managers assiduously removed China from EM portfolios - creating EM ex China strategies, behind the scenes something was changing. This came to the fore during Covid, when it was apparent that surveillance and technology in China had reached sophisticated levels, but also the launch of Deepseek sealed the impression that there was a giant emerging in not only AI but also EVs. This has now dawned upon investors and it has been not lost on them that Chinese stock markets have started to really resemble technology sector developments and could be a real play on technology - but maybe a questionable diversifier to the US, which is also, itself, a play on technology. It has also been a time of turbulence in geopolitics with governments in Europe now openly speaking about the threat from Russia, and President Trump imposing a blockade on Venezuelan oil. This has already been reflected in the oil price and is likely to be a fairly contained regional skirmish, but it is nonetheless yet another piece of flooding of the zone, which will make 2026 hard to navigate. Moving to other asset classes we reflect on the fourth annual loss for Bitcoin, although it significantly lower than previous annual losses, but ask what this means for risk sentiment broadly and the likely behaviour of this asset class. We reflect on where portfolios may sit now that we are at the end of 2025. Clearly equity markets have done well and we do now see breadth creeping in, not only to markets themselves but also by investors seeking to diversify into other cap sectors and other asset classes. Bonds remain expensive, so are less interesting as return drivers, and we continue to stress diversified (global) equity exposure as strong growth drivers as well as infrastructure and real assets, which build in both diversification and inflation resilience. Finally, we wish all of our listeners and followers a wonderful holiday season. See you on December 26th for our next episode, and thank you for your support in 2025.

Today’s Markets Happy Hour Podcast is recorded live in St. Louis, just ahead of the holidays, and features a wide-ranging and candid conversation with Stephen Douglass, Chief Economist at NISA. We begin with an economy “vibe check,” exploring the growing disconnect between headline inflation data and lived experience. From partisan consumer sentiment to the K-shaped reality facing households and businesses, we discuss why inflation still feels very real for lower-income consumers even as markets remain buoyant. We then turn to monetary policy, unpacking the high probability of a near-term Fed rate cut, the concept of “risk-management cuts,” and how the Fed is balancing downside labor risks against renewed tariff-driven inflation pressures. We compare the US outlook with other major central banks and ask whether policy rates may now be flatter — and higher — for longer than markets expect. A deeper dive into fixed income follows, focusing on why bonds are behaving unusually. Despite tight credit spreads, all-in yields remain attractive, raising important questions about portfolio construction, liquidity, and the growing fragility of the Treasury market as supply rises and traditional sources of demand wane. From there, we explore the K-shaped economy across multiple dimensions — consumers, corporations, and capital markets — including why large firms continue to add jobs while small businesses shed them, and what that means for the resilience narrative. We spend significant time on private credit, examining where stress is building beneath the surface, the rise of PIK interest and “extend and pretend” dynamics, and why headline default statistics may understate the true level of risk. This leads naturally into a discussion of private equity, venture capital, and whether the current wave of retail democratization is well-timed. Turning to real estate, we assess surprising shifts in vacancy rates across industrial and residential markets, alongside emerging shortages in top-tier office space. We also touch on data centers, infrastructure demand, and the energy and power implications of the AI build-out. Finally, we tackle equities and AI, discussing valuation concentration, bubble dynamics, and why timing matters as much as narrative. We close with a sobering look at US fiscal sustainability, the limited policy levers available, and what all of this means for investors as we look ahead to 2026. As always, the conversation ends with a clear focus on what these macro crosscurrents mean for real-world portfolios.

Today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast is live from Miami, and was kindly accommodated by the ALTSMIA conference in Miami. We start with a discussion of an economy vibe check where one guest describes a basket of identical goods being tracked from Whole Foods, which is up a whopping 30% year on year - significantly higher inflation than is being reported in the data. We turn then to the seemingly high probability of a US rate cut this week, and compare the trajectories of other central banks, which, interestingly have been thought to have reached a bottom in terms of rates again after some stabilization. Moving to equity markets we reflect on what our expectations were at the beginning of 2025, and whether the concept of resilience to threat is going to be "forever" or whether we should still be mindful of cracks that can be seismic to a sector such as banks or private credit. We look in particular at real estate and some of the bright spots (e.g. London office) as well as the warning signs - e.g. vacancy rates ticking up in residential and some areas of industrial. We also examine some stats regarding private equity and venture capital returns and ask whether now is the right time for democratization.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we were delighted to feature David Miller, Director of Investments at Conficap based in Finland. David is a long-term commentator and markets expert, having spent years as a portfolio manager, most recently at Quilter Cheviot in London. He has written a regular market newsletter for many years, and currently it is called "Northern Lights" - always a stimulating and riveting read. We start with our usual analysis of inflation, and David shares his insights from a low-inflation, relatively high tax jurisdiction, and we return to the US analysis of wage inflation which shows that lower end earners have seen their wage inflation trail that of higher earners, which only accentuates the K shaped inequality in US markets. We move then to interest rates, and the consolidating probability around a rate cut trajectory in the US, and compare it to the current viewpoint in the Eurozone, where the risk of overheating is significantly different. We turn then to the somewhat unusual behavior of bond markets, whereby long term government yields remain elevated, even in Japan, which indicates a shift that has not been seen for decades. We reflect on the reasons for this shift - suggesting that it shifts the definition of government bonds as a risk free asset, but by the same token also presents them as reasonable ways to generate a yield, while inflation remains subdued. This may alter the use case for bonds as investors learn how to price in the looming fiscal problems with developed economies. Coming to equity markets, there has been a spot of indigestion in the US in the aftermath of a volatile but ultimately flat November and the declaration of a Code Red by Open AI as it downs tools to focus on its core models, sensing encroachment from Google and others, has only sparked more concerns of cracks in the AI ediface. Earnings present a robust picture with the virtually all sectors displaying a high percentage of components beating expectations, and healthcare at the top of the list. This is positive news and suggests there could be a broadening of market strength beyond the concentration that has been in place year to date. The flipside of this positive story has, of course, been what strong earnings mean for corporate costs, and what this in turn means for labor. Finally after a discussion of the Northern European perspective on the current global economy - compressed into an impossibly short space of time, we move to other asset classes that are of interest - David comments on his positive view on India as well as gold, and we discuss some of the key dynamics that drive that.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are celebrating Thanksgiving Day, and noting the many things that US investors have to be thankful for - a market that pulled itself together sufficiently to end the month broadly flat, a likely incoming Fed chairman who is positively inclined towards rate cuts, and an economy that continues to show its resilience. Plus Thanksgiving staples seem to be down in price - which is good news for lovers of Turkey and cranberry sauce! We were delighted to welcome Lindsey Stewart on to the podcast to discuss Morningstar's Institutional Insights across our usual five topics, and we debate whether inflation is in fact down (outside the Thanksgiving basket) while taking the temperature on the economy, this time focusing on fund managers who are definitely "glass half full" at this time. We look at the ongoing "low hiring/low firing" job market and ask whether it is likely to change, then move to look at the recovery in equity markets, which has brought a relatively volatile November to a close. Interesting dynamics currently in markets include Nvidia driving market volatility, an increasing discernment between stocks (e.g. Google and Nvidia) and a pickiness among stockpickers. Moving on to the UK budget we discuss the highest tax regime in history and the nature of this experiment which seems set to rival the NYC mayoral elections in terms of the concern that it will lead to an exodus of high earners. Markets have received this news relatively well and we will watch to see whether it is in fact a quencher of growth as has been widely surmised. Finally, we examine Bitcoin's torrid performance of late and the fact that so called "DeFi" companies have trailed traditional finance companies recently, suggesting that old stalwarts still have value in today's markets' craving for some certainty.

In this special edition of the Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are joined by Paula Campbell Roberts who is the Chief Investment Strategist for the Global Wealth business and a Managing Director on KKR’s Global Macro & Asset Allocation team As usual we debate the implications of the shifting inflationary, interest rate and equity market environments for our clients and end with a discussion of the asset mix that KKR espouses for wealth clients according to their investment objectives - income generation, capital preservation and return seeking. Starting with inflation we examine the higher "resting heart rate" of inflation and the role that higher electricity prices play in that. Given the demand for data centers and power usage relating to that we draw upon recent charts showing the power demands of data centers and comparing them to the power consumption of entire countries. We move then to some of the indicators around AI and technology stocks, and in particular the massive amounts of capex needed as well as how this will be funded (increasingly by resorting to debt). Finally we move to the trajectory of the USD, which has stabilized and is somewhat stronger now. The topics presented herein are related to financial markets, geopolitics, and world news. This material is provided for educational purposes only and does not constitute any recommendation. Please see the important disclosures within the video contained on the presentation slides.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we feature the legendary Pete Drewienkiewicz of Thoughts from The Loft (TFTL) fame (of Gallagher Benefit Company, formerly Redington in the UK) and a robust discussion ensues. Starting with "Food Glorious Food" and its driver of inflation, we examine whether inflation will rest at the higher 3.6% level in the UK and what trajectory is likely in the US. We move then to the different apparent interest rate plateaus across the US, the UK and Europe, and ask whether the UK should be "resting" at a higher level than the US, given the clear strains on its economic growth. We turn then to discussing what this means for holding cash today. Equity markets again take centre stage, and we reflect on the recent Nvidia earnings release and then turn to a fascinating piece of analysis that Pete has drawn upon in TFTL the strong earnings growth across all markets, not just the US. While US margins still trump those in other countries, other valuation metrics don't necessarily point to stark US exceptionalism. This underscores the challenge of true diversification today. Finally we touch on the recent excellent analysis of Total Portfolio Approach by Toby Nangle in the Financial Times, and ask whether it is all it is cracked up to be. We do note, however, that some asset class "walls" have started to become porous as new asset classes evolve and investors allocate between them. You can write to Pete directly to get on his weekly distribution list for his excellent newsletter.

Full Episode: Too Big to Fail - 2.0 and Beyond https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQeihjN5UO0

In today's live podcast from Dublin we do a comparative vibe check on the Irish economy compared to the US economy. We speak about the pressure of inflation on investor portfolios and ask what investors should do to guard against that. In looking like a now-familiar chart plotting the size of the US stock market v. the rest of the world the question is asked as to whether investors are in fact happy running that level of risk, particularly as it pertains to US stocks and tech stocks in particular. One guest suggested that the best approach was to communicate early and often to investors about the realistic expectations as to risk and return and how to modify their portfolios accordingly. We cycled back to AI, the bubble question and the use case and collected some "anecdata" from the guests in the room as to how they were using AI in their personal and professional lives, citing some of the shortcomings of the dataset so far. In general there was a skepticism around its broader, aspirational use case, and definitely a sensitivity to cost. When discussing AI as a kitchen table issue it was clear that when translated into monthly consumer expenditure the revenue projections seem untenable. This begs the question as to who will pay - inevitably enterprises - and where they will take money from in order to achieve this.

In today's Markets Happy Hour Podcast we are delighted to host Rich Nuzum, Head of OCIO at Franklin Templeton, for our usual canter through the macro drivers of investor portfolios - inflation, interest rates, equity markets, geopolitics and other asset classes. We look at inflation firstly - and ask about expectations, which, remarkably, are diverging along political lines in the US. It seems that inflation is very much in the eye of the beholder - an aspect noted by Rich who suggests that averages "often lie" and are not an accurate depiction of client by client inflation. We move then to central banks and their challenging task of navigating in the fog without even less data than usual, and we move then to geopolitics where Rich discusses the oil price and demand and supply issues as well as the importance that investors think through the ramifications that current geopolitical forces have on their portfolios. We move to US equity markets and the AI underpinning, the effect of the shutdown and why non-US markets seem to be signalling something else today. We end with a detailed discussion of credit markets and Rich gives an alternative take on some of the weakness that seems to have recently been noticed in credit markets.

In this week's Markets Happy Hour Podcast (our second recorded this week - there will be a special episode featuring Paula Campbell Roberts from KKR released shortly), we focus on recent rumbles in markets around the integrity of the AI story, the increased concern about power costs and how our "discovery phase" around Bitcoin is continuing, with more and more clues added weekly. We start with the usual inflation analysis and the strain that power costs are likely to have for the lower income consumer. Fixed income volatility continues to be subdued, even among government bonds which suggests an interesting sense of calm among a cohort (bond investors) which continues even in the government bond arena. Equity markets continue to be rattled by the scope of spending on AI infrastructure as well as some high profile shorting in the space, and it is worth recalling three hallmarks of bubbles - as suggested by a Financial Times journalist - Leverage, Liquidity and Lunacy. We trace each of these with reference to the current market context. Finally we examine recent behavior in Bitcoin and see how it has decoupled from gold and ask what this tells us about its characteristics as an asset class.

In today's live recording of the Markets Happy Hour Podcast we gathered a group of allocators, hedge fund, private credit and real asset specialists to debate the changing shape of inflation and whether certain assets continued to represent paths to inflation resilience. We also dug deeper into the private credit landscape and asked whether the recent poor performance in diversified financials firms was merited, and what might be behind it? Stay tuned for some exceptional detailed insight into the trajectory of direct lending and its fee structure. We finish with an analysis of the AI segment, examine how hedge funds are exploiting or taking advantage of bubble talk and stretched valuations. This moves then to a discussion on market concentration and whether all of these changing factors will affect fundamental tenets of asset allocation.