The U.S. consumer holds the key to the outlook—but confidence trends are at record lows, affordability pressures remain acute, and job growth has weakened. While consumption has ticked up recently, it’s difficult to envision the consumer driving durable growth without meaningful improvement in labor conditions.

Nevertheless, investors shouldn’t underestimate the influence of policy. A more dovish Federal Reserve and fiscal tailwinds could provide support for risk assets in 2026.

In this environment, another year of broad, passive, double-digit equity returns looks unlikely. We believe investors should stay invested, but with greater selectivity—diversifying beyond the AI momentum trade, rotating into overlooked opportunities, and actively managing risk through disciplined portfolio construction, hedging, and liquidity.

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Meanwhile, on the economic front, domestic consumption in Q1 was lackluster, the threat of inflationary pressures persists, and cracks are emerging in both the U.S. Treasury market and the labor market. In short, we have effectively returned to the stretched equity valuations we had at the beginning of the year, only with a much less stable economic foundation.

We are not yet in a recession. However, a weakening job market, fiscal and trade uncertainties, persistent inflationary pressures, extremely stretched equity valuations, and increased volatility in financial markets are inconsistent with a thriving economy. Whether or not we end up meeting the technical definition of a recession is largely irrelevant—if current trends continue, we could find ourselves in an environment that feels a lot like one. Investors should govern themselves accordingly.

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