AB IQ

Quarterly Newsletter With a Deeper Look at Top-of-Mind Issues for Institutional Investors

Tariff Tempest Carves New Investing Contours

As 2025 got under way, trade conflicts heated up, with the US imposing wide-ranging tariffs on its global trading partners. The ensuing reprisals and turbulence have reshaped the playing field for investors—and complicated the already challenging task of portfolio design.

In this edition of ABIQ, we look at the strategic aspect of building portfolios in a world where mega-forces and questions on US exceptionalism hold sway. We evaluate a possible change of fortune for stocks elsewhere in the world. And we explore a framework for analyzing credit fundamentals as the trade sands shift.

We hope you enjoy the collection of topics in this quarter’s edition and find them useful on your journey through an unsettled year.