Investment Forum 2026

The Franklin Templeton Investment Forum 2026 provided attendees a rare opportunity to hear from leading portfolio managers across equities, infrastructure, systematic strategies and fixed income.  Topics discussed focused on opportunities and portfolio construction in an increasingly complex world.

Event highlights:

• Jeffrey Schulze, Head of Economic and Market Strategy at ClearBridge Investments, opened the forum with a US‑led economic and market outlook. This macro scene‑setting framed the key themes influencing global markets and provided the foundation for the panel discussions that followed. 
• In the first panel session, Identifying growth opportunities in today’s market, portfolio managers Reece Birtles, Shane Hurst, and Subash Pillai explored how structural themes such as artificial intelligence (AI), energy security and geopolitics are influencing long‑term return potential across equities, infrastructure and systematic strategies.
• As markets become more fragmented, managing risk and preserving capital remains a key portfolio construction challenge. The second panel session, Defensive strategies for portfolio resilience, explored how an active approach to fixed income can help balance portfolios across different market scenarios. Anthony Kirkham and Chris Siniakov outlined how they are positioning across credit, duration and currency to support resilience and income generation.

The sessions made clear that identifying opportunities and building resilient portfolios relies on shared ideas, adaptability, and staying connected as the landscape changes.