The Bid

Portfolio construction is being redefined as investors face a fundamentally different market regime. Higher inflation, shifting interest rate dynamics, and accelerating megaforces like AI and geopolitics are challenging long-held assumptions about diversification and asset allocation across capital markets.
In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido sits down with Vivek Paul, Head of Portfolio Research and UK Chief Investment Strategist at the BlackRock Investment Institute. Together, they explore why traditional portfolio construction frameworks may no longer be sufficient and how investors are adapting to a world of greater uncertainty, dispersion, and structural change. Vivek explains how megaforces such as AI investing and geopolitical fragmentation are creating unprecedented outcomes across markets, making static asset allocation less effective. He outlines why portfolio construction must become more dynamic and granular, with a deeper focus on underlying risk exposures rather than broad asset class buckets. The conversation also examines the growing importance of private markets, active strategies, and scenario analysis in navigating today’s environment.
Timestamps
00:00 Introduction
01:56 What’s driving the shift in portfolio construction
03:24 Megaforces: AI and geopolitics
06:15 Rethinking traditional asset allocation
09:27 Diversification in a new regime
12:10 Total Portfolio Approach: Private markets and active strategies
14:28 Scenario analysis and future outcomes
17:48 Risks and maintaining structure
19:00 Key takeaways
Sources: Rethinking portfolio construction during transformation, BII February 2026
portfolio construction, capital markets, AI investing, megaforces, asset allocation, private markets, stock market trends, investing strategy, diversification
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.
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The S&P 493 is gaining attention as investors look beyond the Magnificent Seven and reassess where growth and diversification may come from in today’s equity markets. With market concentration at historic highs, a handful of mega cap companies have driven much of the S&P 500’s returns, raising questions about what lies beneath the surface.
In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido speaks with Ibrahim Kanan, Head of the U.S. Core Equity Team within BlackRock’s Fundamental Equities Group, about the growing relevance of the S&P 493 — the broader set of companies outside the largest names. They explore how market concentration has evolved, why a $200 billion company represents only a small fraction of the index, and what that means for portfolio exposure.
The conversation highlights how earnings growth is beginning to broaden beyond mega cap stocks, supported in part by the expanding impact of AI investment across sectors. From industrials and healthcare to consumer and financials, companies are both benefiting from AI infrastructure spending and adopting AI to improve operations. As dispersion across companies increases, the discussion also examines how active investing, differentiation, and stock selection may play a larger role in navigating today’s equity market.
Key moments in this episode:
00:00 Introduction
01:24 How Unprecedented Is 40% market Concentration of Magnificent Seven?
03:35 What the S&P 493 represents
05:28 Best of the Rest Signals
07:21 Earnings Growth and Convergence Explained
08:04 AI CapEx Spreads Beyond Nvidia
10:31 AI as a Competitive Edge
13:14 Where Opportunities Show Up
14:35 Beyond AI and Idiosyncratic Picks
15:44 Diversification Mirage and Active Risk
18:04 Investor Mindset in Volatile Markets
19:56 Wrap Up

Check out this episode with Carrie King on her stock picks for 2026: https://open.spotify.com/episode/69Ndp7lM8wRRccLh7EfyPg

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S&P 493, Magnificent Seven, US equities, stock market trends, AI investing, capital markets, active investing, portfolio diversification
Sources: BlackRock Fundamental Equities with data from FactSet and Bloomberg as of 12/31/25; Yahoo Finance, Stock Prices for NVDA and HAS, US ISM Manufacturing PMI 2026; “Here's the Average Stock Market Return in the Last 15 Years and What Wall Street Expects in 2025”, Yahoo Finance January 2025; “‘Magnificent-7’ Q4 2024 Earnings Review: Growth Holds, but Rotation Awaits” LSEG March 2025
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures

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AI and bond markets are becoming increasingly interconnected as artificial intelligence reshapes capital demand, market structure, and investing approaches across fixed income. As inflation regimes shift and traditional diversification dynamics evolve, investors are rethinking the role bonds play in portfolios.
In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido speaks with Jeff Rosenberg, Senior Fixed Income Portfolio Manager at BlackRock Systematic, about how AI and bond markets are evolving together. They explore how the rise of artificial intelligence is driving a new wave of capital investment, influencing real interest rates, and increasing debt issuance as companies finance AI infrastructure through bond markets.
The conversation also examines how AI and bond markets intersect at the investment level. Rosenberg explains how advances in machine learning and generative AI are enhancing systematic investing, improving tools like sentiment analysis, and enabling deeper insights across thousands of issuers, central banks, and global markets.
Finally, they discuss how modernization in fixed income — including electronic trading and the growth of bond ETFs — is transforming liquidity and price discovery. Together, these shifts are creating new opportunities and challenges for investors navigating a more complex and data-driven bond market.
Key insights in this episode:
00:00 Introduction to AI and Bonds
02:20 From GFC to Post COVID - How bond markets have changed over time
03:31 Bonds Beyond Ballast
05:20 Inflation, rates, and diversification challenges
06:53 Debt issuance and AI financing trends
08:42 Generative AI Toolkit - using AI in fixed income investing
10:14 ETFs and Price Discovery
12:33 Systematic Investing and Data-Driven Strategies at Scale
14:43 The Future of Bond Markets and AI and Technology
17:04 Wrap Up and Disclosures

Sources: Stock-Bond Diversification Offers Less Protection From Market Selloffs, IMF article, February 2026; “On Secular Stagnation in the Industrialized World”, Paper released by Harvard and Bank of England, 2019; “Financing the AI boom: from cash flows to debt”, BIS Bulletin paper, January 2026; ‘AI is eating software’ and it is redefining supply chain decision-making as a result”, Supply Chain Management Review article, 2026; How AI is transforming Investing”, BlackRock 2026; The economic potential of generative AI: The next productivity frontier”, McKinsey 2026; “40 years of innovation in pursuit of alpha”, BlackRock, 2025; “Key Trends in Credit Markets for 2025” Barclays 2025
AI and bond markets, fixed income investing, AI investing, bond market trends, systematic investing, capital markets, interest rates, bond ETFs
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Private markets are moving from the sidelines of institutional portfolios into the mainstream of wealth management. As companies stay private longer and financing increasingly happens outside public exchanges, investors are beginning to rethink how broad the traditional investment universe really is. The shift is raising a new question for portfolios: should investors be looking beyond public markets to access the full range of opportunities across capital markets?
In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido speaks with Jon Diorio, Head of Product and Alternatives for BlackRock’s U.S. Wealth Business, live from the Future Proof Citywide conference in Miami. Together they explore why interest in private markets has accelerated in recent years, how access for individual investors has expanded, and what’s driving greater adoption among financial advisors.
They also discuss how private markets differ from public markets — including liquidity considerations, longer investment horizons, and the potential role of what’s often called an “illiquidity premium.” The conversation explores how private equity, private credit, infrastructure, and real estate investments may fit within diversified portfolios, why education and due diligence remain essential, and how the industry is evolving to integrate private assets more seamlessly into modern portfolio construction.
Key insights from this episode:
00:00 Introduction
02:11 What are private markets and alternatives and Why Now?
03:09 Why companies are staying private longer
04:54 How access to private markets has expanded
06:46 Are Private Markets for Everyone?
08:33 Liquidity, time horizons, and the illiquidity premium
11:33 How advisors integrate private markets into portfolios
13:58 Challenges and due diligence in private markets
15:21 Next Steps and Wrap Up
16:59 Outro and Disclosures
Sources: Bloomberg as at 12/31/2025, BlackRock US Wealth Survey Internal
private markets investing, private equity, private credit, alternatives investing, portfolio diversification, capital markets, wealth management, investment strategies
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.
See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Alternative investing is moving from a niche allocation to a core portfolio conversation. As volatility returns, interest rates reset higher, AI accelerates capital spending, and fiscal deficits expand, investors are reassessing what diversification really means. In a world where stocks and bonds can move together and macro forces dominate markets, traditional portfolio frameworks are under pressure.
In this episode of The Bid, host Oscar Pulido revisits conversations with investors and strategists across BlackRock to explore why alternative investing is gaining renewed attention. From private equity, private credit, and infrastructure to hedge fund strategies, gold, and digital assets, the episode examines how alternatives are being used to broaden return drivers and navigate today’s regime shift in capital markets.
The discussion highlights how structural megaforces — including AI buildout, geopolitical fragmentation, and fiscal expansion — are reshaping opportunity sets. Private markets offer exposure to long-duration capital themes and potential illiquidity premia, though with liquidity tradeoffs and manager dispersion. Hedge fund strategies aim to capture rising market dispersion through flexible long/short and systematic approaches. Infrastructure sits at the center of AI-driven energy demand and essential services. Meanwhile, gold and digital assets are increasingly viewed as monetary alternatives with distinct risk-return profiles. As portfolio construction evolves beyond the traditional 60/40 model, alternative investing is becoming part of a broader shift toward expanding diversification tools in volatile markets.
Check out the previous episodes featured in this episode in this playlist on Alternative Investments: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4Fe8VwKyG5FPYekFFSksbI
Key insights from this episode:
00:00 Introduction
01:08 Why traditional diversification has become harder in AI-driven markets
03:22 Defining Alternative Investing
04:00 How private markets have grown — and what tradeoffs they introduce
06:04 Infrastructure The AI Buildout: Where infrastructure investing connects to AI and energy demand
08:37 Liquid Alternatives & Hedge Fund Strategies
12:12 Systematic Alpha In Volatility
13:36 How gold and digital assets fit into the evolving diversification toolkit
18:38 Rethinking Portfolio Mix
19:22 Wrap Up And Next Episode
Alternative investing explained, private equity, private credit, hedge fund strategies, infrastructure investing, AI capital spending, portfolio diversification, 60/40 portfolio shift, digital assets, bitcoin investing, gold investing, capital markets outlook, alternative investing
This content is for informational purposes only and is not an offer or a solicitation. Reliance upon information in this material is at the sole discretion of the listener. Reference to any company or investment strategy mentioned is for illustrative purposes only and not investment advice. In the UK and non-European Economic Area countries, this is authorized and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. In the European Economic Area, this is authorized and regulated by the Netherlands Authority for the Financial Markets. For full disclosures, visit blackrock.com/corporate/compliance/bid-disclosures.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.