News & Insights

Four of Bailard's equity strategies—International, Micro Cap Value, Technology, and Technology and Science—were recognized in Zephyr’s quarterly PSN rankings for Q2 2025. The list showcases strategies that delivered notable performance amid rapidly changing market conditions.

President Trump met President Putin in Alaska to discuss the Russia-Ukraine war, then later met in DC with Ukrainian President Zelenskyy and the leaders of several major European countries. Nothing definitive has emerged yet, with the attacks unrelenting.

This summer brought two honors that speak to who we are at Bailard. The Bailard Foundation was recognized with Best Philanthropic Initiative (Americas) at the global 2025 WealthBriefing Wealth for Good Awards, highlighting our community impact in the Bay Area. And once again, Bailard was named to Financial Advisor Magazine’s Top RIA Ranking, marking our fifth straight year in the Top 100.

As international equities begin to show signs of leadership again, investor sentiment and capital flows can accelerate these trends.

Artificial intelligence is no longer theoretical in the world of advertising—it’s driving measurable performance improvements across leading platforms. Programmatic ad delivery powered by AI is enabling more precise targeting, better budget allocation, and higher return on ad spend for brands. This piece explores how programmatic advertising works, where AI is already showing real traction, and why this convergence may represent one of the first scaled, commercial applications of AI with long-term investment implications.

Bailard is honored to be named one of the Top 100 Bay Area Corporate Philanthropists by the San Francisco Business Times—marking the firm’s fifth consecutive year on the list. Bailard climbed to #65 for 2025, continuing its upward trajectory from #89 in its first appearance in 2021 and joining a distinguished group of honorees including Salesforce, Google, the San Francisco 49ers, and Levi Strauss.

The U.S. scaled back its hardline tariff stance, finalizing trade agreements with the EU, Japan, and South Korea at 15% baseline rates—down from initial threats of 25-30%—while securing investment commitments to bolster U.S. industries. It also eased export restrictions AI chips, allowing Nvidia and AMD to resume sales in China.

Non-U.S. equities built on a strong first quarter with continued gains in the second, albeit with significant short-term swings along the way. Trade and political uncertainties continued to weigh on the U.S. dollar, providing a boost for firms’ revenues and profits outside American borders. Similar concerns are likely to weigh on economic growth, causing convergence in GDP expectations for 2025 between the U.S. and other developed markets. By contrast, several themes have seen expectations increase year-to-date, including defense, financials, and infrastructure. These and other diverse potential catalysts support our belief that the events and strong performance of the year-to-date can be the start of a favorable long-run cycle.

The Bailard Technology Strategy posted a 2Q25 total return of 22.98% net of fee—slightly below the category benchmark, the S&P North American Technology Index, which returned 23.38%—but ahead of competitor benchmarks, i.e. the Morningstar U.S. Open End Technology Category, which returned 22.66% and the Lipper Science and Technology Fund Index, which returned 22.48%. Year to date, the Strategy led the NA Tech Index, Morningstar US OE Tech Category, and the Lipper Sci & Tech Index by 2.21%, 1.07%, and 2.33%, respectively. As of June 30, 2025, the Strategy’s net returns over the 3-, 5-, and 10-year periods exceeded the returns of the competitor peer benchmarks.

Investors shrugged off initial trade war panic, and risk-on sentiment dominated thereafter. Both growth stocks and low-quality “junk” stocks benefited. Barring a recession, small cap stocks are positioned to relatively benefit from tariff policy, deregulation, and interest rate cuts. Valuation differences between small caps and large caps make the relative benefits even more compelling.

In his first 9:05 piece as CIO, Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, reflects on Bailard’s enduring philosophy and what lies ahead.

Bailard is pleased to announce that, as of today, Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, has been promoted to Chief Investment Officer. He succeeds Eric Leve, CFA, who held the role for more than a decade and will continue with the firm as a portfolio manager, fully focused on international markets.

Tariff negotiations intensified as the July 9th reciprocal tariff deadline nears, though the Trump administration signaled flexibility on the cutoff for countries negotiating in “good faith.” The U.S. and China secured a high-level framework that included a key rare earths deal and a tariff truce extension to August 11th. Meanwhile, the UK finalized a 10% tariff rate after a threatened 27.5%; talks are swiftly progressing with the EU.

After founding and leading Bersot Capital Management for nearly two decades, Mary Bersot, CFA, joined Bailard this spring with her long-standing clients and colleague Nicholas Risser. In this Q&A with Bailard CEO Sonya Mughal, CFA, Mary reflects on the decision, the values she’s carried throughout her career, and what this next chapter means for her and those she serves.

The UK and EU reached a new agreement to ease trade restrictions and boost cooperation on security and energy, marking a significant step towards improved relations since Brexit. [See more...]

Bailard, an independent wealth and asset management firm, has once again been recognized as one of the San Francisco Chronicle’s Top Workplaces in the Greater Bay Area. Ranked first in the small company category (35-149 employees), this marks Bailard’s second consecutive year on the list—based entirely on employee feedback.