Emirates NBD announces global investment outlook for 2026

DUBAI, 2nd February, 2026 (WAM) — Emirates NBD announced the global investment outlook for 2026 themed ‘Eyes Wide Open’.

Maurice Gravier, Group Chief Investment Officer, Wealth Management at Emirates NBD presented the outlook at a media roundtable that was hosted at Emirates NBD’s offices in Dubai CommerCity with media representatives and senior officials from Emirates NBD in attendance.

Starting with a lookback at 2025, Gravier and his team highlighted excellent returns supported by a clear investment roadmap that had been established by the previous theme, the 2025 ‘Winds of Change’. This yielded US$ returns between 13% and 20%. “Our strategies outperformed global peers by our widest margin ever,” Gravier said.

Opening the discussion for 2026, he commented that the new year would be defined by deep tech-driven transformation and a shifting global balance of power, resulting in clear opportunities especially for the long term, but also risks. Gravier added, “Everywhere we look, we see limits being tested by the combination of AI expansion with geopolitical antagonism. Fiscal and social limits immediately come to mind. Geopolitical red lines will be probed, while alliances and rivalries alike are reshaped. Financial limits, from equity valuations to government and projects funding, will also be tested, as will investors’ nerves.”

While iterating the macro themes of gold, AI and emerging markets, Gravier also highlighted the need for vigilance and selectivity. He said, “First, portfolio construction and risk management are paramount. We have reshuffled our strategic asset allocation to ensure portfolios always point to the long-term destination quintessential to wealth management. It is built to protect capital over defined horizons (3, 5 and 7 years) and is diversified enough to provide options to act upon adverse events.”

While expecting positive returns overall and probably in the first months of the year, he expressed the importance of finding the right opportunities below the headline asset allocation with granular analysis.