(15 January 2026 – Liechtenstein) In LGT’s Global Outlook 2026: Equilibrium Shift, the bank described the year as a world in mid-sentence as markets recalibrate in response to higher inflation risk, growing public debt and an elevated cost of capital.
LGT’s Outlook 2026 highlighted three key themes including artificial intelligence (AI), water stress and digital assets.
AI has evolved from a software narrative to an energy, infrastructure and financing challenge. Investment into data centre infrastructure and power value chains will continue to hold say, with longer-term adopters of agentic and physical AI reshaping workflows, factories and cities.
Water stress is a structural challenge with up to 31 percent of global GDP exposed by 2050 if current trends persist. Resource fragility is a growing risk with a need for corporates to geographically diversify across regions at risk. Opportunities are emerging for innovative investment in water efficiency, recycling and desalination, areas with implications for agriculture, energy, semiconductors and mining.
The growing institutional presence of digital assets is a key theme to monitor closely in 2026. LGT treats such assets, like Bitcoin, as possible, but not assumed, diversifiers, emphasising disciplined sizing, governance, and scenario analysis.
“Our job isn’t to script every twist in the plot. It’s to keep clients invested, manage their liquidity needs and ensure they are on course for their long-term goals, even when the world feels stuck mid-sentence” commented LGT Private Banking Global Head Investment Solutions, Mika Kastenholz.
“In 2026, the first cohort with no memory of the global financial crisis comes of age in an as-yet undefined era. With historical markers losing relevance and a market driven by policy and geopolitics, it is smart diversification that must be investors’ core discipline.”