Key insights from our specialist asset consultants · September 2026
Behind every EWK portfolio sit our specialist asset consultants.
What They Are Seeing
- Markets paused for breath. After a strong run, shares eased in September as interest rates rose and news from the Middle East worsened, and some investors took profits.
- Why interest rates are rising. Heavy investment in artificial intelligence, large government budget deficits and geopolitical risk mean there are more projects seeking money than there are savings to fund them. Interest rates — the price of money — are rising to bring the two back into balance.
- Property and infrastructure: short-term pain, longer-term logic. Higher rates have weighed on both. Our consultants look past this: higher borrowing costs slow new building, which can support rents over time, and regulated utilities can often pass higher costs on to customers. They continue to be comfortable with these “real assets” for long-term investors.
Around the world. Commodity-rich markets such as Brazil have held up better than China and India. Chinese consumers remain cautious years after their property market collapsed, although recent business surveys show tentative improvement. In the US, a strong run gave way to a weaker month amid uncertainty ahead of the mid-term elections and questions about AI profitability.
At home. Spending on everyday family treats suggests households are still spending, though one key spending indicator has eased. Some technology companies have been unsettled by new AI tools, while Australian bank shares are currently expensive given the risk of rising mortgage arrears and slower lending.
The big question: AI. The main concern is that share prices are high for the reward investors receive for taking risk, and major indices are increasingly concentrated in a handful of technology companies. Meanwhile, the revenue AI must eventually earn to justify today’s spending looks very ambitious — one estimate suggests spending on AI would need to exceed spending on food by 2030.
Why a Mix of Assets Still Makes Sense
If AI delivers on its promise and economic growth surges, interest rates are likely to rise further and bonds may struggle — but shares should do well. If AI disappoints, interest rates are likely to hold or fall, so bonds should do well while shares struggle.
Either way, a portfolio holding both growth and defensive assets is positioned to cope. Recent weakness makes bonds more, not less, likely to cushion a downturn if things go wrong.
As always, the portfolios remain well diversified.
What this means for our clients: our consultants are watchful rather than alarmed. They are not trying to predict the next headline. They recommend portfolios that can cope with more than one future, which is exactly the steadiness we look for on our clients’ behalf.
Summary prepared by EWK Private Wealth from Aequitas Investment Partners’ Investment Review and Outlook (30 September 2026), with their permission; views are those of Aequitas as at early October 2026. General information only — not personal advice or a recommendation. Past performance is not a reliable indicator of future performance.
