Global equities could experience another year of broad-based gains in 2026 as investors continue to diversify away from the United States, according to Canaccord Genuity co-chief investment officer Tony Brennan. Brennan said equity markets delivered strong and increasingly widespread returns in 2025 despite heightened volatility and geopolitical uncertainty. International markets outperformed the US as investors reassessed concentration risk. Canaccord Genuity is a global financial services firm providing wealth management and investment banking services. They focus on delivering growth companies and investment opportunities to their clients.
Brennan noted that the US market still delivered a high-teens return of approximately 18 per cent in 2025, even with volatility surrounding ‘liberation day’ in April. Companies adapted to higher tariffs, and investment in artificial intelligence supported growth. “More surprising was the strength elsewhere, with international equities returning around 33 per cent in US dollar terms,” Brennan said. Non-US markets benefited from investor diversification away from US assets, a weaker US dollar, and more moderate valuations in Europe and Asia, which allowed scope for re-rating.
Looking ahead to 2026, Brennan anticipates that the trend of broader equity performance could persist, even as risks remain. US valuations are elevated, and policy uncertainty continues under the Trump administration, but headwinds to growth may ease. “Investment in AI looks set to continue, fiscal policy should be marginally more stimulatory following last year’s budget, and further Federal Reserve rate cuts are anticipated,” he said.
Valuations outside the US remain more attractive, with Europe and Asia supported by fiscal stimulus in Germany, Japan, and China. Emerging markets could benefit from higher commodity prices. “With the US administration again generating elevated uncertainty early in the year, investors may continue to rebalance risk toward other regions,” Brennan said. “That could support non-US equity markets and currencies, even as returns in the US remain positive.”
