Market and Fund Update

Economic growth remained resilient during the third quarter, but investors faced a more challenging market environment marked by rising global bond yields, tighter financial conditions and increasingly concentrated equity-market leadership. In this discussion, Joe Halwax (Senior Managing Director, Institutional Investment Services) and Jon Morris (Senior Analyst, Investment Research) examine two themes that shaped markets during the quarter: the rise in global yields and the evolving artificial intelligence investment cycle. They also review Wespath fund performance and discuss how diversification, manager selection and portfolio construction helped navigate a quarter defined by shifting market leadership and changing investment opportunities.

What You’ll Learn

• What drove the rise in global bond yields and how higher rates affected stocks and bonds during the quarter
• How the AI investment theme evolved as investors focused increasingly on valuations, capital requirements and monetization
• Why market concentration and shifting leadership remain important considerations for institutional investors
• How Wespath’s U.S. Equity, International Equity, Fixed Income and Inflation Protection Funds performed during the quarter
• How diversification and portfolio construction helped navigate a quarter marked by narrow market leadership and significant rotations