News & Insights

Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, Bailard's CIO, weighs in on AI debt in this CNBC piece.

Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, Bailard's CIO, weighs in on the software stock selloff in this Reuters piece.

Stocks overall crept higher as 2025 came to a close, with value stocks of all sizes winning in Q4 and small cap and micro cap value beating other equity styles over the past two quarters.

Dave Harrison Smith, CFA, Bailard's CIO, weighs in on the software stock selloff in this Morningstar piece.

U.S. asset leadership continued to slide from its early-2025 peak. Gold briefly hit record highs above $5,400/oz as the Fed held rates steady, foreign currencies rallied, and more than 80% of country equity indexes outperformed the U.S. in January.

Inside, we explore the AI infrastructure cycle, which began with Nvidia’s breakout in early 2023, has mirrored the cloud-computing build-out of the early 2010s; in 2025, the software sector demonstrated resilient but normalizing revenue growth; AI agents; and more.

Non-U.S. stocks an edge over U.S. peers for the quarter and year—resulting in the largest annual gap seen in over 30 years. International stocks have shown remarkable breadth—spanning numerous disparate countries, industries, and stocks—in contrast to a narrow U.S. market. A diversity of thematic tailwinds, ranging from AI infrastructure to security spending and improvements in governance, along with undemanding valuations and pressures on the U.S. dollar, support our belief that the year’s strength is just the beginning of a multi-year period of non-U.S. equity leadership.

Three drivers behind the rally and the case for continued outperformance in 2026

Bailard’s real estate platform begins 2026 following a carefully planned leadership transition. Effective January 1, Tess Gruenstein and James Pinkerton now serve as co-heads of the platform, succeeding Preston Sargent, who retired as President and CEO of the Bailard Real Estate Fund (BREF) at year-end.

International equities staged a major comeback in 2025, with MSCI EAFE outperforming MSCI USA by 13.9%—the widest gap since 1993—while broader MSCI ACWI ex-US outperformed by 15.1% on emerging market strength. Precious metals sparkled even more: gold climbed 65% and silver—up 27% in December alone—soared 148%. [Read more...]

Where might the next AI investment opportunities lie beyond hardware? Bailard's Chief Investment Officer, Dave Harrison Smith, CFA offers his perspective as a seasoned technology investor and portfolio manager.

Landing at No. 1, the result reflects something we've built over decades: a culture where talented people want to stay, grow, and do their best work. Long tenure has helped create continuity that clients and partners often value in enduring relationships.

Named among Pensions & Investments’ Best Places to Work in Money Management for the eighth year running, our people and their commitment allows us to stay independent and serve clients with real care.

Nvidia’s strong earnings reignited enthusiasm across AI-linked names. The euphoria quickly faded, as concerns over high valuations, ballooning AI capex, and potentially circular investments dampened sentiment, bringing MSCI EAFE’s tech sector and other AI-linked industries down with it in November. [Read more...]

Many portfolios today lean heavily toward the same handful of U.S. names. What happens when those leaders start to wobble? In Kiplinger, Bailard’s Daniel McKellar, CFA, explores why international equities deserve a closer look and how investors can think more globally about diversification.

Many portfolios today lean heavily toward the same handful of U.S. names. What happens when those leaders start to wobble? In Kiplinger, Bailard’s Daniel McKellar, CFA, explores why international equities deserve a closer look and how investors can think more globally about diversification.