Dambisa Moyo THE LONG VIEW
Dambisa Moyo THE LONG VIEW
the prospect of renewed quantitative easing, driving more inflation.
This also means that companies with strong pricing power— the ability to raise prices without losing sales— should win out. In fact, across the $ 150 trillion global bond market, investors are coming to the conclusion that some companies are safer bets than even the most powerful governments. A preference for corporate balance
sheets that are in better shape than some sovereigns could put pressure on public debt, particularly debt backed by fiat money and the risk of inflation.
Market Makers And Takers
There are also structural changes in global stock markets, with the decline in publicly traded equities among the most notable trends. The number of companies in the FT Wilshire 5000 Total Market Index, for example, has fallen from a peak of 7,562 in July 1998 to just 3,326 as of December 2024. Although the U. S. experienced a relative resurgence in initial public offerings last year, European IPO activity in 2025 was at its lowest point since the global financial crisis. Only 47 IPOs were completed in the first nine months— 70 % below the 20-year average.
Owing to the integration of AI, quantum computing, and advanced data analytics, high-frequency trading is expected to grow by 7 % per year between 2025 and 2030, and this will deepen its influence on market dynamics, leading to higher trading volumes and greater liquidity.
These trends imply that more companies are staying private for longer, with some, like the payment processor Stripe, simply self-financing.
Moreover, there is increasing concentration of ownership and of returns. The“ Big Three” asset managers— BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street— are the top shareholders in nearly 84 % of S & P 500 companies. With significant voting power through diversified passive index funds that hold permanent stakes in thousands of firms, they are fundamentally reshaping corporate governance.
With respect to returns, the“ Magnificent Seven” tech firms( Alphabet, Ama- zon, Apple, Meta, Microsoft, Nvidia and Tesla) have maintained their dominance of the S & P 500. As of December 2025, these companies represented roughly 34 % to 37 % of the S & P 500’ s total market capitalization. In 2023, the Mag 7 contributed more than 62 % of the overall gain in the Russell 1000 Index and collectively returned 75.71 %— more than triple the return( 24.23 %) of the broader S & P 500 Index.
While public markets have been shrinking, private markets have been growing and seeking high-quality assets, some of them privately owned, and some of them publicly listed but with the potential to be taken private. Notably, sovereign wealth funds, whose assets under management surpassed $ 15 trillion in 2025, continue to expand their holdings. In an especially high-profile recent deal, Saudi Arabia’ s Public Investment Fund led a $ 55 billion take-private acquisition of the video-game developer Electronic Arts.
Globally, U. S. equities remain best positioned to lead and capitalize on the AI and energy-transition supercycles, both of which are still in their early stages. At the same time, the massive financing needs of the largest AI companies should continue to benefit private equity and private credit. If so, IPOs may well rebound as these companies realize that they need public markets to finance their growth ambitions. The relative losers, in this context, will include everyone else: all the companies that are not viewed as“ AI winners,” or whose business models could be disrupted by AI. Thus, the opportunity to take perceived AI losers private, or to pursue major investments in AI adoption privately, will continue to drive private-equity activity.
Risky Business
Finally, significant shifts are underway in terms of global risk. The increase in private assets means that a growing share of investments are less regulated, shielded from scrutiny by public markets and regulators. According to Ocorian’ s Global Asset Monitor, total assets hit a record $ 246.8 trillion in 2024, up 11.5 % year on year. The growth of private markets has been a ma-
22 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | MAY / JUNE 2026 WWW. FA-MAG. COM