2026 Investment Outlook

Macro Themes, Portfolio Positioning and Select Opportunities

2 February 2026

As we enter 2026, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year and to share our outlook on the investment landscape, including the key macroeconomic and geopolitical considerations shaping portfolio positioning in the year ahead.

 

As always, our focus remains on constructing diversified portfolios for wholesale investors, targeting attractive risk-adjusted returns that are deliberately less correlated to traditional equity markets.

 

Looking ahead, markets are increasingly pricing in the possibility of further interest rate tightening during 2026, as inflationary pressures remain uneven across regions. In this environment, asset selection and capital structure discipline become increasingly important. While higher interest rates can create challenges for highly leveraged or growth-dependent assets, they can also present opportunities across real assets and income-oriented strategies where pricing power, contractual cash flows, or asset backing provide resilience.

 

Geopolitical developments remain an important consideration. Recent shifts in U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela have influenced global energy markets and regional trade dynamics. Increased volatility in energy pricing can have downstream impacts across transportation, manufacturing, and other input-cost-sensitive sectors. We continue to monitor these developments closely, particularly where they may create second-order effects across real assets, inflation, and credit conditions.

 

Against this backdrop, our portfolio exposure continues to emphasise alternative asset classes with neutral or negative correlation to traditional public markets, with a greater weighting toward the following areas:

 

  • Metro Industrial Property: Demand for well-located metro industrial assets remains structurally supported by e-commerce growth, logistics optimisation, and supply chain re-shoring. These assets typically benefit from shorter lease durations, allowing rents to adjust more rapidly in inflationary environments, while maintaining relatively defensive characteristics during periods of economic uncertainty.

 

  • Evergreen Private Equity: Evergreen private equity structures provide access to long-term value creation with greater flexibility around capital deployment and liquidity management. Our focus remains on managers investing in established businesses with strong cash generation and operational levers, rather than relying solely on multiple expansion.

 

  • First Mortgage Private Credit: Private credit, particularly senior secured first-mortgage lending, continues to play an important role within portfolios. In a rising or elevated rate environment, these strategies can benefit from higher base rates while maintaining a strong focus on capital preservation through conservative loan-to-value ratios and robust security positions.

Highlighted Investment – Redcape Hospitality Fund

During May and June 2025, we introduced select clients to the Redcape Hospitality Fund following a secondary liquidity opportunity that allowed entry at a 5% discount to NAV, with full entitlement to the June 2025 quarterly distribution.


Clients entered at a unit price of AUD $1.4583, targeting a medium-term income and growth outcome. As at today, the fund’s NAV stands at AUD $1.61, with total distributions received of AUD 0.0812 per unit, resulting in a cumulative value of approximately AUD 1.69 per unit. This represents a total return of 16.19% over an eight-month period.


Redcape holds a high-quality hospitality portfolio valued at over AUD 1.1 billion, underpinned by strong asset fundamentals, including 93% freehold ownership and a concentration in Greater Sydney.


While opportunities of this nature are not always available, they demonstrate our ability to access off-market or secondary transactions that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns independent of broader equity markets.


If you would like to discuss how similar opportunities may fit within your portfolio, please feel free to contact me.

We appreciate your continued trust and wish you a successful and prosperous year ahead.

Contact your SMSF Partners Representative Today

We’re here to help you and your clients reach their financial goals.

 

Call us anytime at 0401 977 137 or book a call with us through the button below to speak to someone at a time that works for you.   

Book a Call

2026 Investment Outlook

Macro Themes, Portfolio Positioning and Select Opportunities

2 February 2026

As we enter 2026, I would like to take the opportunity to wish you a Happy New Year and to share our outlook on the investment landscape, including the key macroeconomic and geopolitical considerations shaping portfolio positioning in the year ahead.

 

As always, our focus remains on constructing diversified portfolios for wholesale investors, targeting attractive risk-adjusted returns that are deliberately less correlated to traditional equity markets.

 

Looking ahead, markets are increasingly pricing in the possibility of further interest rate tightening during 2026, as inflationary pressures remain uneven across regions. In this environment, asset selection and capital structure discipline become increasingly important. While higher interest rates can create challenges for highly leveraged or growth-dependent assets, they can also present opportunities across real assets and income-oriented strategies where pricing power, contractual cash flows, or asset backing provide resilience.

 

Geopolitical developments remain an important consideration. Recent shifts in U.S. foreign policy toward Venezuela have influenced global energy markets and regional trade dynamics. Increased volatility in energy pricing can have downstream impacts across transportation, manufacturing, and other input-cost-sensitive sectors. We continue to monitor these developments closely, particularly where they may create second-order effects across real assets, inflation, and credit conditions.

 

Against this backdrop, our portfolio exposure continues to emphasise alternative asset classes with neutral or negative correlation to traditional public markets, with a greater weighting toward the following areas:

 

  • Metro Industrial Property: Demand for well-located metro industrial assets remains structurally supported by e-commerce growth, logistics optimisation, and supply chain re-shoring. These assets typically benefit from shorter lease durations, allowing rents to adjust more rapidly in inflationary environments, while maintaining relatively defensive characteristics during periods of economic uncertainty.

 

  • Evergreen Private Equity: Evergreen private equity structures provide access to long-term value creation with greater flexibility around capital deployment and liquidity management. Our focus remains on managers investing in established businesses with strong cash generation and operational levers, rather than relying solely on multiple expansion.

 

  • First Mortgage Private Credit: Private credit, particularly senior secured first-mortgage lending, continues to play an important role within portfolios. In a rising or elevated rate environment, these strategies can benefit from higher base rates while maintaining a strong focus on capital preservation through conservative loan-to-value ratios and robust security positions.

Highlighted Investment – Redcape Hospitality Fund

During May and June 2025, we introduced select clients to the Redcape Hospitality Fund following a secondary liquidity opportunity that allowed entry at a 5% discount to NAV, with full entitlement to the June 2025 quarterly distribution.

 

Clients entered at a unit price of AUD $1.4583, targeting a medium-term income and growth outcome. As at today, the fund’s NAV stands at AUD $1.61, with total distributions received of AUD 0.0812 per unit, resulting in a cumulative value of approximately AUD 1.69 per unit. This represents a total return of 16.19% over an eight-month period.

 

Redcape holds a high-quality hospitality portfolio valued at over AUD 1.1 billion, underpinned by strong asset fundamentals, including 93% freehold ownership and a concentration in Greater Sydney.

 

While opportunities of this nature are not always available, they demonstrate our ability to access off-market or secondary transactions that can deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns independent of broader equity markets.

If you would like to discuss how similar opportunities may fit within your portfolio, please feel free to contact me.

 

We appreciate your continued trust and wish you a successful and prosperous year ahead.

Contact your SMSF Partners Representative Today

We’re here to help you and your clients reach their financial goals.

 

Call us anytime at 0401 977 137 or book a call with us through the button below to speak to someone at a time that works for you.   

Book a Call