HUB Retirement & Private Wealth recently hosted its 2026 Investment Roundtable, a gathering of senior investment professionals from American Century Investments, Apollo Global Management, and DWS Investment Management. During the Roundtable, the panelists discussed a range of topics including their views on the U.S. and global economy, asset allocation positioning, the outlook for domestic and foreign investment markets, and a few of the risks that investors should consider as they look ahead in 2026.  The distinguished panelists were: 

• Richard Weiss, CIO, Multi-Asset Strategies, American Century Investments (ACI) 

• Alexander Wright, Global Wealth Strategies, Apollo Global Management (Apollo) 

• Evan Rudy, CFA, Head of Investment Strategy for Liquid Real Assets, DWS Investment Management (DWS)  

• Brian Collins, CFA, Chief Investment Officer, HUB Retirement & Private Wealth (moderator)  

Here is a summary of their comments. 

Outlook for 2026 

As the year begins, the outlook for the U.S. economy and for investment markets is favorable, though potential risks could arise and darken the currently clear skies. While economic growth may have softened in Q4 2025 after two solid quarters post Liberation Day, the economic conditions should support strong growth in the first half of the year. Looking forward, our panelists believe the U.S. economy is on better footing than at the start of 2025 and will benefit from different forms of stimulus that will continue to support the economy.   

• Wright (Apollo) kicked off the discussion with an assessment of the current state of the U.S. economy, noting that GDP growth may moderate towards 2%, inflation is expected to remain closer to 3%, and the labor market may have peaked as immigration levels are impacting the base numbers.    

• Rudy (DWS) agreed with the assessment but noted that he expected growth may reaccelerate, supported by the strong consumer. He also sees inflation staying above target but components such as energy and housing may ease while labor costs stay higher.   

• Weiss (ACI) had similar views regarding the good state of the economy at the start of the year, highlighting that fiscal policy will start to have stimulative effects and monetary policy should be expected to be looser under a new Fed Chair. He voiced concerns about potential speed bumps that may arise later in the year that will need to be monitored.  

AI Investment and Consumer Spending  

For much of the last 12-18 months, AI-related capex has been the primary driver of economic growth and the stock market.  The amount of committed and actual AI-related capex has dwarfed all other industrial capex. This has propelled many stocks to record levels while raising doubts about whether it will all come to fruition and whether the debt financing the capex can be supported.   

• Wright (Apollo) addressed the AI investment topic by looking at the expected return on investment (ROI) from the massive amount of capital committed to AI projects. The focus is on evaluating ROIs over the relative time frame in comparison to other available opportunities for that capital. Valuations in the sector have been stretched, raising concerns about future return potential.  

At the same time that companies and investors have been pouring money into AI investments, the consumer, primarily at upper income levels, has continued to spend and grow the economy. The panelists spoke to how to evaluate consumer spending in this current economy.  

• Weiss (ACI) first commented that the disconnect between the level of consumer spending and consumer sentiment surveys highlights the issues with surveys that tend to look backward rather than forward. In his analysis, he focuses on actual data rather than what surveys point to.   

• Wright (Apollo) also put little weight on the consumer sentiment data.  He sees the upper income tier spending in the K-shaped economy as the result of a strong wealth effect while the lower tier of the K-shaped economy hurting more from the compounding effects of inflation.  

Fed Policy, Interest Rates and the US Dollar 

With an expected change in the Fed Chair approaching, the discussion focused on how U.S. monetary policy may change and what impact it may have on interest rates and the role of the U.S. dollar. The panelists noted that weakness in the U.S. dollar in 2025 contributed to strong performance of non-U.S. assets and precious metals, which raised questions about US dollar reserve currency status.    

• Rudy (DWS) drew a differentiation between the outperformance of MSCI EAFE relative to the S&P 500 in 2025 and the relative strength of the US economy compared to other developed economies. The investment performance differential was driven by many factors that may not persist while the strong US economy reflects continued US exceptionalism that should endure given its better fundamentals and growth potential.   

• Wright (Apollo) acknowledged that the U.S. economy is stronger than most developed economies but noted that many attractive investment opportunities exist in those economies and should not be overlooked due to a U.S. bias.   

• Weiss (ACI) spoke about the potential for a meaningful change in U.S. monetary policy under a new leadership selected by the current administration. Not only could the new Fed Chair push to lower rates at the short end but more aggressive actions could be taken to push longer-term rates lower as well. This could help housing and spur economic growth but raises the risk of higher inflation.     

Asset Allocation 

Further into the Roundtable, the panelists shared their views on strategic asset allocation and how to think beyond the traditional 60/40 portfolio to incorporate real assets and private market investments.   

• Weiss (ACI) began by noting that the 60/40 portfolio does not receive as much respect as it should, given that over extended time periods it has been a tough benchmark to beat for many asset allocators. He sees the 60/40 as a good starting point for investors to then build around, incorporating in different asset classes that may help diversify the sources of return or reduce volatility.   

• Wright (Apollo) built on his comments about the opportunities offered outside of the U.S. and added that introducing private market investments can help investors add alpha, manage volatility and add diversification to their portfolios. He noted that private market investments such as private credit can enhance the return potential of a traditional fixed income portfolio that has lower yields and tighter spreads. 

• Rudy (DWS) provided his views on how to shift allocations from traditional equities and fixed income into real assets and other private markets. He noted that many real asset investments such as real estate and infrastructure holdings share characteristics with equities and fixed income so drawing down exposures from both to fund these allocations is appropriate.   

U.S. Equity Market Outlook 

The Roundtable discussion shifted to the relative attractiveness of the U.S. equity market, particularly after three consecutive performance years of 18 – 25% returns. The panelists discussed valuations and forward-looking expectations.  

• Wright (Apollo) began by noting that valuations may appear to be stretched but there are many exceptional companies pushing the markets higher. He questioned whether the current risk premium is sufficient to justify taking on more equity risk or whether it makes sense to explore other opportunities that may offer a different return profile with less volatility.       

• Weiss (ACI) pointed to many tailwinds that support the U.S. equity market but commented that most of the good news is already priced in. His concerns were the many potential negatives that could upend the positive momentum including geopolitical risks and other unknown unknowns.   

Risks to Consider  

In each of our Roundtables, the participants are asked to highlight risks that they believe are overlooked in the current environment. 

• Rudy (DWS) spoke about market conditions across equities and fixed income. He is concerned that the potential negative impact on overall equity returns could be significant should the mega-cap index leading companies fail to deliver on the AI-related expectations.  Within fixed income, if the economy heats up further, spurred by lower short-term interest rates, it could present real challenges for the new Fed Chair.   

• Wright (Apollo) cautioned against chasing strategies that worked in the past and at the expense of forward-looking opportunities.  He also emphasized reviewing current investment allocations relative to target weightings and considering rebalancing to avoid unintended risk exposure.   

• Weiss (ACI) concurred with the panelists and stressed the importance of diversification.  In a first for the Roundtable, he quoted the Old Testament (Ecclesiastes 11:2) and the wisdom of Solomon “invest in seven ventures, yes, in eight; you do not know what disaster may come upon the land”.  This advice from thousands of years ago holds true today.     

Select Quotes from the Panelists 

Throughout the discussion, the panelists shared many helpful insights and at times summarized their views in a succinct comment: 

• Wright (Apollo) “Fundamentally, we are playing in the U.S. Open right now, meaning really tight fairways. Staying in the middle of the fairway is probably the best course of action in the near to intermediate term.”   

• Rudy (DWS) “The U.S. still looks like one of the better markets in terms of pure economic growth and getting inflation under control. There is nothing that stands out that is significantly better than the U.S. now.”   

• Weiss (ACI) “AI is not just another wave of innovation. The time value of innovation is collapsing causing productivity to increase exponentially.”   

Summary of Roundtable Panelist Views 

Over the course of the discussion, our panelists’ comments focused on the following themes:  

• The U.S. economy begins 2026 in relatively strong shape with expectations for good GDP growth in the first half and some moderation in the second half as select stimulus effects wear off.   

• Interest rates are likely to come down modestly due to limited expected rate cuts.  Inflation will remain a focus and will likely hold above the Fed’s target of 2.0%. Employment will be a potential source of concern due to elevated wage growth and a compressed labor force.   

• Equity markets present attractive investment opportunities, particularly as market breadth expands beyond the mega cap tech and AI related stocks.   

• Real assets and private market investment opportunities may be attractive allocations for investors to use to diversify their portfolios while adding less correlated sources of incremental return. Diversification will continue to be a critical component of successful portfolios.   

A sincere thanks to the panelists and their firms for their contributions to the HUB Retirement & Private Wealth 2026 Investment Roundtable. Their participation is greatly appreciated.    

The views expressed are those of the presenters as of January 8, 2026, and are subject to change at any time. 

HUB Retirement and Private Wealth, American Century Investments, Apollo Global Management, and DWS Investment Management, or any of their affiliates or subsidiaries are not affiliated with or in any way related to each other. This material is prepared by HUB Retirement and Private Wealth and represents the views of three different individuals and firms, meaning not all the views & opinions shared are the views & opinions of all the firms and/or all the speakers. 

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