The second quarter of 2026 delivered two headlines at once: the S&P 500 posted its best quarter in six years, per Bloomberg, and inflation climbed back to a three-year high, per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Both are true, and understanding how they fit together is the starting point for how we think about the second half of the year.
In this mid-year outlook, Jon Adams, CFA®, our Chief Investment Officer, walks through four forces shaping markets right now: the return of geopolitical risk to energy and inflation, a growth picture that looks strong on the surface but is becoming more selective underneath, a structural shift in global trade, and a wider range of plausible outcomes than we've seen in most recent cycles.
In our view, this doesn't point to a single directional bet. We believe it points toward building portfolios that can hold up across a range of scenarios, with quality, income, and diversification as the foundation. Read the full outlook to see how we're positioning client portfolios for the second half of 2026.
