Key takeaways from our roundtable discussions from our March event:

Political Risk as a Defining Force in Global Bond Markets

Conversation centred on the increasing influence of political dynamics on bond markets, with fiscal divergence, elections, and geopolitical uncertainty driving yields, spreads, and regional dispersion. Participants noted that government bonds remain attractive relative to inflation, enhancing income potential despite volatility. Traditional market relationships are shifting, requiring more selective and tactical positioning, while risks in less liquid areas such as private credit persist. In this environment, income is expected to be the primary driver of returns, with limited scope for capital appreciation.

The AI-Enabled Investment Function: From Hype to Integration

Discussion reinforced the growing adoption of AI across investment functions, with firms moving from experimentation toward early-stage integration focused primarily on efficiency, research, and data processing rather than alpha generation. Participants highlighted data quality, governance, and explainability as key barriers to scaling, while noting that widespread access to similar tools may limit differentiation. Competitive advantage is expected to depend increasingly on proprietary data, human insight, and effective workflow integration. Despite rapid progress, human oversight remains critical, particularly in managing bias, ambiguity, and market uncertainty.