Reported by Mari Pinardo
Swisscanto, the Swiss asset manager with over 150 years of history that entered the Spanish market just over a year ago, presented its outlook and positioning for the remainder of 2026 on Wednesday.
Noting, like many other asset managers, that the geopolitical crisis triggered by the US-Iran conflict has not affected the market as much as expected, Gonzalo Ramón-Borja Álvarez de Toledo, managing director for Spain, pointed out that “geopolitical crises tend to cause only temporary disruptions” and that, furthermore, they often present good opportunities to enter the market.
With the focus on three key themes –emerging markets, inflation and technology– Swisscanto remains committed to achieving real returns through multi-asset strategies. In line with this, it has reduced its liquidity by almost 4 per cent and cut its exposure to fixed income by 1 per cent, whilst focusing its strategy on equities, specifically in Europe and emerging markets.
With regard to emerging markets, Álvarez de Toledo pointed out that 60 per cent of adjusted global GDP comes from emerging markets; yet their representation in portfolios remains very low, although it is showing an upward trend: in global indices, the weighting of emerging markets has risen from ~5 per cent 10 years ago to ~16 per cent, although that 16 per cent is mainly China; furthermore, he pointed out, real returns are very attractive: 5–9 per cent in emerging markets compared with 0.3–0.6 per cent in Europe and negative returns in Japan.
For his part, Antonio Feito, sales director at Swisscanto Spain, explained the company’s equity strategy, which focuses on the electrification of the economy and technology, with a quality-driven approach.
Within the electrification sector, they are focused on the entire value chain, not just renewable energy; their outlook extends further, to the upstream sector (generation), midstream (electricity grids, storage, energy efficiency) and downstream (consumption and end use). Feito noted that they have been “investing in electrification for over 15 years, with B returns above the market average over the last 10 years B ”.
On the subject of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Feito noted that it is no longer merely a trend; it has now entered the monetisation phase, contributing 2.2 per cent to US GDP and dominating market capitalisation and index returns. As part of this trend, they are committed to keeping a close eye on the second-round impact that AI will bring, making room for sector-specific investments that will also benefit from this technology.
