Within equities, PineBridge has maintained an overweight stance on industrials. Kenneth Ruskin, director of research and head of sustainable investing, attributes this to longer-term drivers such as automation, nearshoring and the adoption of AI. “We think there’s a little bit of a coiled spring dynamic here. The destocking has ended, which is helping industrial production. Now we’re waiting for uncertainty to lift, which will help capex,” he says.
With geopolitical tensions persisting, PineBridge Investments expects volatility to continue shaping the global investment landscape through the second half of 2025. The firm’s latest equity and fixed income midyear outlooks highlight divergent paths for asset classes, with industrials and Asia credit emerging as bright spots, while healthcare and US exceptionalism come under increasing pressure.
Rob Hinchliffe, head of global sector cluster research at PineBridge, calls the first half of the year “a wild and unsettling ride” for equity investors, adding that “all sectors continue to grapple with rapid-fire shifts in trade policy.” He notes that the volatility following US President Donald Trump’s Liberation Day tariffs has reset investor expectations, with markets initially panicking and then rebounding swiftly.
