
MyMap Quarterly Update
FOR RETAIL CLIENTS
Marketing Material
Capital at risk. The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
Hello and welcome to our latest portfolio update. It has been an interesting start to the year to say the least, with politics very much at play in markets once again. But, in spite of all the noise, our portfolios have proven remarkably resilient. The question now is, where do we go from here, and how are we currently positioned?
Looking forward, there are three key themes that we expect markets to focus on over the next 6 – 12 months. It is around these three trends that we are currently positioning portfolios1.
The first theme continues to be ‘navigating some risks’. Going into 2026 we trimmed our stock market holdings, having identified a more uncertain geopolitical environment. This proved to be the right decision, and helped portfolios remain resilient during the volatility we have seen in recent months. However, from here there is much to be optimistic about, our macro indicators signal that the global economy is strong, particularly in the US. Companies profits remain strong, and government spending is supportive2. That said, it’s not all good news, geopolitical risk remains elevated, and the likelihood of an uptick in inflation has clearly increased.
Bringing this all together, on balance we believe that the risk environment has improved, and have taken the recent choppiness as an opportunity to add back to our stock market exposure. However, we have also opened some positions to steady portfolios against the aforementioned inflation and geopolitical risks. Most notably we have added to inflation linked bonds and we continue to hold gold given its ability to support portfolios during periods of uncertainty.
The second theme is: searching for value. The stock market has been on a strong run over the past few years, however most of the returns have actually been concentrated in a handful of companies. Going forward, we expect the rest of the market to begin catching up. In our view, this is the right time to tilt the portfolio into those cheaper companies within the stock market.
To this end, we have introduced a US Value exposure and added a holding in Infrastructure. Both provide assets to relatively undervalued areas of the market, and are well positioned to benefit from the ongoing expansion in real economic activity in the US. Furthermore, they have historically performed particularly well in the sort of market choppiness that we are currently seeing. We also retain our tilt towards emerging markets, which look cheap, and where profits remain robust.
The third theme is: mind the debt iceberg. Public finances are deteriorating as debt levels rise. We expect this trend to continue as governments spend to stimulate their economies, defence budgets are increased, and interest rates remain elevated.
In light of this, we are becoming increasingly selective with who we lend to, and for how long. We remain focused on shorter dated developed market government bonds, with a preference for US and UK over Europe. By contrast, we like emerging market government bonds, which pay an attractive level of income, despite the fact that public sector spending is contained. Finally, we reduced our exposure to the US dollar.
If you’d like more detail on our outlook, portfolio changes, or performance, check out the latest Quarterly Update. Thanks for watching!
Disclaimers
Capital at risk.
The value of investments and the income from them can fall as well as rise and are not guaranteed. Investors may not get back the amount originally invested.
Past performance is not a reliable indicator of current or future results and should not be the sole factor of consideration when selecting a product or strategy.
This document is marketing material and will expire 12 months after issue. In the UK and Non-European Economic Area (EEA) countries: this is isued by BlackRock Investment Management (UK) Limited, authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. Registered office: 12 Throgmorton Avenue, London, EC2N 2DL. Tel: + 44 (0)20 7743 3000. Registered in England and Wales No. 02020394. For your protection telephone calls are usually recorded. Please refer to the Financial Conduct Authority website for a list of authorised activities conducted by BlackRock.
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1There can be no guarantee that the investment strategy can be successful and the value of investments may go down as well as up.
2Source: Bloomberg, 31/01/2026
MyMap Quarterly Update Series
Q2 2026
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