In 2026, the equities market began with significant volatility due to the US strike on Iran and market. Meanwhile, stock prices of many technology companies are also under pressure from the so-called “SaaSpocalypse” where advanced AI agents are replacing traditional SaaS tools, triggering fears that products from firms like Salesforce will soon be rendered obsolete. 

But global bond markets delivered a strong year of return in 2025, with the Bloomberg Global Aggregate Index posting a total return of more than 8 per cent on an unhedged USD basis – the highest since 2020. 

The percentage of CIOs has declined slightly compared to last year, to 37 per cent. Broadly, more asset owners are planning to increase equity and fixed income allocations than those decreasing them.

Emerging markets equities is the standout story as a net of 22 per cent asset owners are looking invest more in active strategies in these markets – a reversal of the 2025 sentiment where a net of 14 per cent respondents are looking to trim the allocation. 

“I think really what we see is that, at the moment there is more dispersion in stocks and there are more opportunities for differentiation among stocks. So we think active managers should have an opportunity set to earn returns,” says QIC chief investment officer Allison Hill. 

“That’s in the equity space, but also we're increasing our allocation to hedge funds, which responds to the opportunity to be able to capitalise on some of these stock specific or thematic specific opportunities as opposed to broad market beta.”

In fixed income, active unconstrained and active emerging markets debt received the most interest, but passive fixed income has seen a net 14 per cent of CIOs who are looking to decrease allocation. 

For a more detailed breakdown of alternatives investment, please see the Alternatives section).