Global Investment Outlook Mid-year 2026: at the event horizon

The global economy is being recalibrated. What does this mean for investors? Some of the main insights from our Global Investment Outlook include:

New market regime: Approaches based on automatic mean reversion are becoming less reliable. Investors are realising that predictable business cycles, where periods of growth are followed by periods of recession, no longer apply.
Global equity landscape: Our expectations for 2026 remain positive overall, despite increasingly divergent regional market dynamics.
Thematic investing: We see longevity as the main investment theme to watch out for in the second half of 2026.

To find out more about what we expect of equities, private markets, currencies, fixed income and gold, access our Global Investment Outlook now.

What should investors prepare for?

Macroeconomic outlook In a nutshell

For the second half of 2026, we anticipate a variety of risk factors and structural changes, mainly around geopolitical uncertainty and higher energy prices. However, underlying growth trends remain supported by solid labour markets, an ongoing investment recovery, and the cyclical uptick seen at the start of the year.

Our main macroeconomic insights include:

We expect slower and more uneven growth and inflation, somewhat more persistent than central banks had hoped, particularly in regions dependent on energy import.

Monetary policy is carefully navigating between anchoring inflation expectations and preventing overly restrictive financial conditions.

Earnings expectations for 2026 remain positive overall, but global equity markets continue to be driven by divergent regional and sector dynamics. Selectivity across regions and sectors is becoming increasingly important.

You can find out more about investing in equities, currencies, gold and other asset classes in our Mid-year Global Investment Outlook.

Access our Global Investment Outlook

Insights from our CIO How to invest without familiar frameworks

An accelerated technological evolution, monetary and fiscal gravity and the end of the post-Cold War world order: In this interview, Mika Kastenholz, LGT Global Head Investment Solutions, shares his insights on what investors should look out for in the second half of 2026.