June looked flat but wasn’t. A selloff in the heavyweight AI-chip and mega-cap names dragged the World index down even as half of all sectors rose. Europe rallied — Spain and Switzerland led — as a US–Iran ceasefire sent oil tumbling, while a hawkish Fed pushed the dollar back above 100.

June was a tale of two sleeves. Firm equities and a stronger dollar carried the metals-free S sleeves ahead of benchmark, while a sharp silver and gold sell-off pulled every SE sleeve down — yet all 18 strategies stayed positive year-to-date.

From rate hikes by the ECB and Bank of Japan and a hawkish pivot at the Fed to SpaceX's trillion-dollar debut and a private-credit liquidity scare, June 2026 tested investors on every front. A fragile US–Iran ceasefire, record central-bank gold buying and UK political change rounded out a pivotal month.

Conflict in the Middle East has become the dominant force shaping the global economy — lifting energy prices, squeezing real incomes, and driving growth forecasts down and inflation up.

May 2026 was a risk-on month and all 18 LCI strategies posted positive absolute returns. The semi-passive sleeves tracked their benchmarks closely, while the active-enhanced sleeves gave up some relative upside — exactly as the gold and hedging overlay is designed to in a sharp equity rally.

May extended April's rally on an even narrower base — South Korea surged again and global IT stood alone at the top, while energy and defensives fell with the oil price. A cooler Middle East met a hotter US inflation print. Here's what shaped the month.

Bond yields spiked sharply mid-May then retreated as Iran tensions eased — a volatile month that ended where it started. Add Nvidia's record results and the largest IPO wave in history, and May 2026 was anything but quiet.

April 2026 saw one of the strongest global equity rallies of the cycle, driven by AI-related investment enthusiasm, robust corporate earnings and expectations of future Fed easing. While US technology and South Korean equities surged, regional and sector dispersion remained extreme, with Energy, Latin America and defensive markets lagging despite rising geopolitical tensions and oil-price volatility.

April 2026 brought a striking divergence between markets and geopolitics. Despite the ongoing Iran conflict and a sobering IMF outlook downgrade, equities rallied on strong Q1 earnings and a renewed AI investment trade. Jerome Powell's farewell Fed meeting kept rates at 3.5–3.75% amid energy-driven inflation risks. Hungary closed the Orbán era in a landslide, while Washington–Tehran talks stalled. Investors compartmentalised geopolitical risk, prioritising fundamentals even as inflation and elevated energy costs continued to weigh on households worldwide.

LCI’s April 2026 strategy review highlights a difficult month for active-enhanced (SE) portfolios, mainly due to gold weakness and a newly added European defence ETF position. Despite short-term underperformance versus benchmarks, all strategies remain ahead year-to-date, supported by strong contributions from Korean equities and resilient portfolio positioning.

Hungary's landmark election swept Viktor Orban from power after 16 years as Peter Magyar's Tisza party secured a historic two-thirds majority. The result reshapes EU dynamics and may unlock frozen aid — with real implications for investors in Central Europe.

Global markets staged a historic relief rally after the US-Iran ceasefire, but inflation expectations have risen sharply and the Fed is on hold all year. The question is not whether to join the rally — it's how to position for the structurally more expensive world that follows.

A dramatic last-minute reversal by President Trump transformed a potential military catastrophe into an uneasy ceasefire. Iran emerges with its leverage largely intact and a possible new revenue stream from the world's most critical oil chokepoint.

Global markets experienced a turbulent month in March 2026, as geopolitical tensions, rising energy prices, and shifting interest rate expectations triggered broad market dislocations. Equities declined across most regions, while bond yields rose and traditional diversification offered limited protection. The escalation of the Iran conflict, combined with persistent inflation pressures, increased stagflation risks, leaving investors navigating an unusually complex and uncertain macroeconomic environment.

The OECD’s March 2026 interim outlook highlights a global economy under pressure from Middle East tensions. While resilient growth is supported by strong technology investment and easing tariffs, rising energy prices and supply disruptions—particularly through the Strait of Hormuz—are driving inflation and uncertainty. Global GDP is expected to remain stable near 2.9% in 2026, but risks are tilted to the downside, with prolonged energy shocks potentially weakening growth and extending inflationary pressures worldwide.

Artificial intelligence is disrupting the software industry, compressing margins and challenging traditional business models. At the same time, geopolitical tensions, currency shifts, trade disputes, and energy market shocks are reshaping the global economic landscape. Markets are navigating structural change across technology, geopolitics, trade policy, and global power balances.

Rising geopolitical tensions, trade realignments and institutional pressures marked the start of 2026. From U.S. intervention in Venezuela and renewed power politics to central bank independence concerns, landmark trade agreements and shifting investor sentiment, global politics and economics are increasingly shaped by coercion, strategic rivalry and fragile alliances.

The 12 months to 31 December 2025 were an equity-driven year for La Côte Invest’s strategies. Global equity carried every sleeve, the active-enhanced sleeves earned a second leg of return from gold, and currency was the dominant relative swing factor — a USD-weakness drag on CHF and EUR sleeves and a tailwind for USD-referenced ones.

2025 was shaped by rising trade tensions, shifting geopolitics, AI adoption and resilient financial markets. Higher U.S. tariffs, China’s export dominance, changing security priorities, and the normalization of Japanese monetary policy all defined a complex global backdrop, while equity markets delivered strong but currency-dependent returns.

The OECD Economic Outlook highlights resilient global growth supported by improving financial conditions and AI investment, but warns of rising fragilities. Slowing labour markets, trade tensions, financial risks and weak productivity underline the need for structural reforms to secure sustainable growth and bring inflation back to target.