Aside from the outlook for different asset classes, the firm also emphasised important considerations for portfolio construction, the emergence of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region as an investment location worth greater consideration, and the disruptive power of transformative technologies such as generative artificial intelligence and tokenization.

“The GCC region is undergoing significant transformation driven by its Vision plans, which increases its appeal for both domestic and international investors and is reflected in the performance of the equity and bond markets,” Heinel, said. “From the inclusion of GCC countries in global indices, to the region’s substantial fixed income issuance, the GCC region offers significant growth potential for investors seeking to build a forward-looking portfolio.”

In addition, Heinel believes that investors should look beyond the traditional balanced 60/40 equity/bond portfolio and evaluate alternative exposures from a diversification, risk mitigation and alpha generation perspective: “Allocations to real assets, commodities, infrastructure, digital assets and private assets could potentially offer higher returns, lower volatility and enhanced diversification.”