Outlook 2026 - Unprecedented Times, Exceptional Portfolios

By Steven Wieting & David Bailin

Markets have proven resilient in 2025, but the restructuring of the global political and economic order necessitates that wealth managers adapt portfolios to address major shifts in how and where business is done. Tariffs have become a primary weapon to restructure trade and secure other goals. The transactional nature of American foreign policy has upended long-standing alliances. The Federal Government has used regulatory and legal threats to directly influence US and global business leaders.

Against this unprecedented backdrop, CIO Group aims to emerge as a valuable and timely expert resource for investors. Our unique platform, combining exceptional investment analysis with the precision of AI-enabled data analytics, allows us to build what we expect to be resilient, forward-looking, portfolios.

Our COLOR technology allows us to make entire client portfolios far more efficient, reducing expenses, lowering tax burdens and increasing cash yields, while increasing the quality and focus of every portfolio asset. CIO Group is built to work in partnership with CIOs, advisors and other asset managers. We do this by sharing information in the service of our clients.

Artificial intelligence is driving profound changes in how businesses operate. Fintech is at the forefront of many of these changes. Entirely new personal investing tools facilitating trading in equities, commodities and crypto have upended traditional formats. For CIO Group, AI and the availability of novel, sophisticated technologies have enabled us to build a state-of-the-art platform from scratch. We aim to create better client experiences and opportunities to drive efficiencies that benefit investors directly.


Perspective

PEACE, PROSPERITY OR CONFLICT. OPPORTUNITY

Descendants of those who fought World War II have lived in an unprecedented time of human development and relative peace. In that context, the threat of change to the world order - with the potential for global chaos and war - is highly unsettling. Will leaders including Trump, Putin, Xi or others fundamentally break the detente of the past 80 years? Will government control overwhelm free enterprise and innovation? Will macroeconomic policy fail to cushion destabilizing technological change?

These are large questions to be answered in coming years. Yet, merely facing such critical questions does not tell us how to invest. This is why we have developed our CIO Group strategic framework for investing.

Source: Haver Analytics CIO Capital Group LLC is an SEC-registered investment adviser. This material is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice or recommendations. All investing involves risk, including potential loss of principal. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For additional information about CIO Capital Group LLC, see our Form ADV Part 2A at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.