Key topics: 

• Review the factors that shone brightest in 2025 and analyse what drove their outperformance
• Identify the factors we believe may be best positioned to drive performance through the first half of 2026 and beyond, with a special focus on navigating the fast-approaching US midterm elections
• Following a quietly robust year for value, we’ll examine how dividend investing could potentially support portfolio diversification* and help bring valuations down
• Explore where factor strategies are working most effectively outside the US, beyond the simple ‘ex-US’ story, with a specific focus on how factor funds might perform in Europe given the region’s rally in the opening stages of 2026
• Consider how investors can harness the power of rules-based investing to potentially help navigate concerns like market concentration and elevated volatility, while continuing to invest in US Large Cap Growth
• Assess the current landscape for US small and mid caps, and weigh up how factors might help investors keep a cool head during periods of fear or exuberance right across the market cap spectrum