Rethinking long-term investing
Weekly video_20260302
Devan Nathwani
Portfolio Strategist, BlackRock Investment Institute
Opening frame: What’s driving markets? Market take
Camera frame
Markets are being reshaped by multiple, intersecting mega forces. The scale – and direction – of their long-term impact isn’t clear: That’s why it’s crucial to revisit key calls and focus on underlying economic drivers over asset class labels, in our view.
Title slide: Rethinking long-term investing
1: Markets in a cross current of mega forces
Today, we see markets caught in a cross-current of mega forces. AI is front and center, with Nvidia’s quarterly results last week showing the AI buildout spending spree rolling on. At the same time, the software sector selloff marks a new focus on sorting out perceived AI losers. Geopolitical fragmentation also came into the spotlight as the U.S. tariff regime is again in transition.
These forces have the potential to not only change the make-up of economies but even their trajectory. but no one knows the ultimate end state. We see several possible scenarios with very different return outcomes.
For example, AI productivity gains could lead us to an unprecedented break out from a 2% trend rate of growth. This could also fail to materialize, and further geopolitical fragmentation could dampen global growth and drive up risk premia for U.S. assets.
2: Moving beyond static allocation
We’ve evolved our capital market assumptions which are for professional investors only, to address this challenge. First, we revisit the biggest portfolio calls more often as new information arrives.
Second, we focus on the fundamental economic drivers rather than asset class labels. Think of the AI buildout: it cuts across public and private market asset classes with opportunities in listed and private infrastructure as well as real estate and private equity. We need a more granular approach to portfolio construction to reflect where mega forces show up.
Third, we budget risk holistically. We see dispersion rising as mega forces power transformation. That strengthens the case for treating alpha as an explicit allocation decision – not as an add-on.
3: Investment implications
We have evolved our views on strategic horizons of 5 years or more. Today, our starting point scenario sees us favoring inflation-linked bonds as we expect inflation to rise due to the AI buildout – and settle above pre-pandemic levels. We see this buildout increasingly being financed through debt issuance resulting in wider credit spreads. Yet we lean into high yield credit as it has attractive income and is less sensitive to interest rate shifts.
We also favor infrastructure. It lets investors play the AI theme without making a call on the winners of AI adoption.
Outro: Here’s our Market take
We lean into inflation linked bonds and high yield credit on a strategic horizon of 5 years or more. In private markets, we favor infrastructure which stands to benefit from rising AI adoption.
Closing frame: Read details: blackrock.com/weekly-commentary
Static strategic asset allocation no longer suffices in a world shaped by mega forces. It’s crucial to revisit key calls and focus on underlying economic drivers.
Investors went risk-off on AI fears in February. The S&P 500 notched its worst month in nearly a year and yields on 10-year U.S. Treasuries fell below 4%.
We’re watching labor data this week. We expect U.S. February payrolls data to show a resilient labor market, reaffirming the Fed’s new hawkish tone.
Renewed conflict in the Middle East, the software selloff and Nvidia’s earnings show mega forces reshaping markets in real time. These mega forces are well known, yet the scale and even direction of their long-run impact is uncertain. With no one long-term scenario, it’s crucial to assess calls more often and focus on fundamental economic drivers over asset class labels. On a strategic horizon of five years or longer, we go overweight high yield credit and like infrastructure.
Leaning on scenarios
Illustrative distribution of U.S. equity returns
For illustrative purposes only. Source: BlackRock Investment Institute, March 2026. Note: The illustration shows a hypothetical distribution of U.S. equity returns in the different scenarios underlying our capital market assumptions. Read more here; for professional investors only.
The cross-currents of mega forces are shaping markets – now and long term. Geopolitical fragmentation is front and center as conflict escalates in the Middle East. The AI buildout keeps rolling on, as seen in Nvidia’s earnings, and the selloff in software marks a new focus on perceived AI losers. At the same time, fiscal and inflation anchors have weakened. The long-run economy could arrive at structurally different regimes, each with very different return expectations. That makes any set of long-run capital market assumptions conditional: it reflects one assumed path for the economy. This led us to begin tracking multiple scenarios last year. See the chart. Our starting point assumes sticky inflation limits interest rate cuts. AI-related gains could spark a breakout from 2% trend growth. This could also fail to occur, and further geopolitical fragmentation could push up risk premium for U.S. assets.
We have evolved our capital market assumptions (CMAs – for professional investors only) and portfolio construction approach to address this bifurcation. Many of these changes align with the broader industry shift towards total portfolio approach (TPA), though TPA itself is loosely defined and can mean many different things in practice. First, we revisit major portfolio judgements more often and set an explicit Plan B grounded in scenarios, with clarity on the portfolio changes those scenarios require. We review our CMAs quarterly and began incorporating explicit alternate scenarios as of Q2 last year.
Focusing on fundamental economic drivers
Second, we focus on fundamental economic drivers rather than asset class labels. Why? Broad asset class benchmarks are a blunt instrument for expressing views in an era of transformation. Mega forces do not show up uniformly across markets: their effects land in specific sectors, parts of the yield curve and balance sheet structures. Portfolio construction needs more granularity to reflect this. So, we shift the unit of analysis. Instead, we measure exposures at the whole portfolio level based on economic and factor drivers of return and risk. This is key for private assets, where benchmarks are less standardized.
Third, we budget portfolio risk holistically. Economic transformation raises dispersion within asset classes. That strengthens the case for treating alpha as an allocation decision, not an add-on. This includes setting clear rules for sizing alpha versus beta risk, and defining where private markets and hedge funds can fit into the risk budget.
We update our strategic views of five years or longer in our starting point scenario. We think the AI buildout will boost inflation and widen credit spreads. Inflation-linked bonds can offset the former. And high yield bonds – less sensitive to interest rate shifts – can offset the latter, so we go overweight. We see fiscal pressures pushing up yields on developed market bonds, so we go neutral. We’re also neutral developed market equities but stay overweight emerging market stocks. We get selective in private credit as dispersion grows. And we like infrastructure given it benefits from multiple mega forces.
Our bottom line
Static, set-it-and-forget-it strategic asset allocation (SAA) doesn’t work in a world where mega forces make long-term outcomes uncertain. Our SAA approach revisits key decisions, focuses on underlying drivers and sets a risk budget.
Market backdrop
The S&P 500 saw its biggest monthly drop since March 2025. Nvidia’s earnings beat failed to soothe mounting market anxiety about AI disruption and higher-than-expected wholesale inflation data reinforced concerns about sticky inflation. U.S. 10-year Treasury yields fell below 4.00% as fretful investors retreated to defensive assets. Brent crude oil gained nearly 4% last week on concerns about further conflict in the Middle East before the weekend developments.
We’re watching labor market data and flash PMIs around the world. We expect February U.S. payrolls to show ongoing labor market resilience – keeping the Federal Reserve on hold in coming months. The market is still pricing in two quarter-point rate cuts by year end. In the euro area, the February flash inflation data are likely to reinforce expectations that the European Central Bank is also on hold.
Week ahead
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. Indexes are unmanaged and do not account for fees. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Sources: BlackRock Investment Institute, with data from LSEG Datastream as of February 26, 2026. Notes: The two ends of the bars show the lowest and highest returns at any point year to date, and the dots represent current year-to-date returns. Emerging market (EM), high yield and global corporate investment grade (IG) returns are denominated in U.S. dollars, and the rest in local currencies. Indexes or prices used are: spot Brent crude, ICE U.S. Dollar Index (DXY), spot gold, spot bitcoin, MSCI Emerging Markets Index, MSCI Europe Index, LSEG Datastream 10-year benchmark government bond index (U.S., Germany and Italy), Bloomberg Global High Yield Index, J.P. Morgan EMBI Index, Bloomberg Global Corporate Index and MSCI USA Index.
Global flash PMIs
Euro area flash inflation; Japan unemployment
Euro area unemployment
U.S. payrolls; euro area revised
Big calls
Our highest conviction views on six- to 12-month (tactical) and over five-year (strategic) horizons, March 2026
| Reasons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Tactical | ||
| Still favor AI | We see the AI theme supported by strong earnings, resilient profit margins and healthy balance sheets at large listed tech companies. Continued Fed easing into 2026 and reduced policy uncertainty underpin our overweight to U.S. equities. | |
| Select international exposures | We like Japanese equities on strong nominal growth and corporate governance reforms. We stay selective in European equities, favoring financials, utilities and healthcare. In fixed income, we prefer EM due to improved economic resilience and disciplined fiscal and monetary policy. | |
| Evolving diversifiers | We suggest looking for a “plan B” portfolio hedge as long-dated U.S. Treasuries no longer provide portfolio ballast – and to mind potential sentiment shifts. We like gold as a tactical play with idiosyncratic drivers but don’t see it as a long-term portfolio hedge. | |
| Strategic | ||
| Portfolio construction | We favor a scenario-based approach as AI winners and losers emerge. We lean on private markets and hedge funds for idiosyncratic return and to anchor portfolios in mega forces. | |
| Infrastructure equity and private credit | We find infrastructure equity valuations attractive and mega forces underpinning structural demand. We still like private credit but see dispersion ahead – highlighting the importance of manager selection. | |
| Beyond market-cap benchmarks | We get granular in public markets. We favor DM government bonds outside the U.S. Within equities, we favor EM over DM yet get selective in both. In EM, we like India which sits at the intersection of mega forces. In DM, we like Japan as mild inflation and corporate reforms brighten the outlook. | |
Note: Views are from a U.S. dollar perspective, March 2026. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast of future events or a guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon by the reader as research or investment advice regarding any particular funds, strategy or security.
Tactical granular views
Six- to 12-month tactical views on selected assets vs. broad global asset classes by level of conviction, March 2026

The table below reflects our views on a tactical horizon and, importantly, leaves aside the opportunity for alpha, or the potential to generate above-benchmark returns – especially at times of heightened volatility.
| Asset | Tactical view | Commentary | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Equities | ||||||
| United States | We are overweight. Strong corporate earnings, driven in part by the AI theme, are supported by a favorable macro backdrop: continued Federal Reserve easing, broad economic optimism and less policy uncertainty, particularly on the trade front. | |||||
| Europe | We are neutral. We would need to see more business-friendly policy and deeper capital markets for recent outperformance to continue and to justify a broad overweight. We stay selective, favoring financials, utilities and healthcare. | |||||
| UK | We are neutral. Valuations remain attractive relative to the U.S., but we see few near-term catalysts to trigger a shift. | |||||
| Japan | We are overweight. Strong nominal GDP, healthy corporate capex and governance reforms – such as the decline of cross-shareholdings – all support equities. | |||||
| Emerging markets (EM) | We are neutral. Economic resilience has improved, yet selectivity is key. We see opportunities across EM linked to AI and the energy transition and see the rewiring of supply chains benefiting countries like Mexico, Brazil and Vietnam. | |||||
| China | We are neutral. Trade relations with the U.S. have steadied, but property stress and an aging population still constrain the macro outlook. Relatively resilient activity limits near-term policy urgency. We like sectors like AI, automation and power generation. We still favor China tech within our neutral view. | |||||
| Fixed income | ||||||
| Short U.S. Treasuries | We are neutral. We see other assets offering more compelling returns as short-end yields have fallen alongside the U.S. policy rate. | |||||
| Long U.S. Treasuries | We are underweight. We see high debt servicing costs and price-sensitive domestic buyers pushing up on term premium. Yet we see risks to this view: lower inflation and better tax revenues could push down yields near term. | |||||
| Global inflation-linked bonds | We are neutral. We think inflation will settle above pre-pandemic levels, but markets may not price this in the near-term as growth cools. | |||||
| Euro area government bonds | We are neutral. We agree with market forecasts of ECB policy and think current prices largely reflect increased German bond issuance to finance its fiscal stimulus package. We prefer government bonds outside Germany. | |||||
| UK gilts | We are neutral. The recent budget aims to shore up market confidence through fiscal consolidation. But deferred borrowing cuts could bring back gilt market volatility. | |||||
| Japanese government bonds | We are underweight. Rate hikes, higher global term premium and heavy bond issuance will likely drive yields up further. | |||||
| China government bonds | We are neutral. China bonds offer stability and diversification but developed market yields are higher and investor sentiment shifting towards equities limits upside. | |||||
| U.S. agency MBS | We are overweight. Agency MBS offer higher income than Treasuries with similar risk, and may offer more diversification amid fiscal and inflationary pressures. | |||||
| Short-term IG credit | We are neutral. Corporate strength means spreads are low, but they could widen if issuance increases and investors rotate into U.S. Treasuries as the Fed cuts. | |||||
| Long-term IG credit | We are underweight. We prefer short-term bonds less exposed to interest rate risk over long-term bonds. | |||||
| Global high yield | We are neutral. High yield offers more attractive carry in an environment where growth is holding up – but we think dispersion between higher and weaker issuers will increase. | |||||
| Asia credit | We are neutral. Overall yields are attractive and fundamentals are solid, but spreads are tight. | |||||
| Emerging hard currency | We are overweight. A weaker U.S. dollar, lower U.S. rates and effective EM fiscal and monetary policy have improved economic resilience. We prefer high yield bonds. | |||||
| Emerging local currency | We are neutral. A weaker U.S. dollar has boosted local currency EM debt, but it’s unclear if this weakening will persist. | |||||
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results. It is not possible to invest directly in an index. Note: Views are from a U.S. dollar perspective. This material represents an assessment of the market environment at a specific time and is not intended to be a forecast or guarantee of future results. This information should not be relied upon as investment advice regarding any particular fund, strategy or security.



