The Spectrum IFA Group annual conference

1. Artificial intelligence: real change, not just hype

Artificial intelligence was easily the dominant topic of the conference — but not in the “buzzword of the month” sense. The most interesting discussions weren’t about which stock has run the hardest, but about where AI is genuinely changing productivity, margins, and long-term business models.

The key message from managers like Rathbones and Evelyn Partners was that we’re moving into a second phase of the AI story. The early gains were very concentrated — a small group of large US technology companies driving market returns. That phase isn’t necessarily over, but it is evolving.

What’s happening now is a broadening out. AI is starting to affect industrial businesses, healthcare, logistics, energy management, data infrastructure, and even areas like waste management and defence. In other words, it’s moving from “who builds the chips” to “who uses the technology well”.

That distinction matters. History shows that transformative technologies don’t just reward the obvious early winners — they reward companies that apply them intelligently, efficiently, and profitably. For investors, this reinforces the importance of looking beyond the headlines and staying diversified, rather than assuming yesterday’s winners will automatically dominate tomorrow as well.

2. A return to fundamentals and sensible diversification

Another strong theme that came through very clearly was a return to fundamentals.

Markets over the last couple of years have often felt narrow and momentum-driven, with a small number of stocks (mainly AI/Tech) doing most of the work. Several managers made the point that this sort of environment can feel exciting — but it also increases risk if portfolios become too concentrated – at one point just 7 companies made up nearly 35% of the size of the US stock market (S&P 500)!

Rather than trying to predict short-term market moves, the emphasis is now firmly back on:

• cash flow and balance sheet strength

• sensible valuations

• real earnings growth

• businesses with pricing power and durable demand

For clients, this translates into something reassuringly familiar: diversification still matters. Not just across regions, but across styles, sectors, and asset classes. It’s rarely the most exciting message — but it’s consistently one of the most effective.

3. Looking beyond markets: private assets and the real economy

Several presentations also focused on areas outside traditional listed markets.

There was strong interest in private assets and real assets — things like infrastructure, property, and long-term income-producing investments. These aren’t about quick wins; they’re about accessing different return drivers and reducing reliance on public market volatility alone.

For many expatriate investors, this can be particularly valuable. Income that’s less sensitive to daily market swings, assets linked to real economic activity, and structures designed with long-term planning in mind can all play a role alongside more traditional portfolios.

As always, these areas need careful selection and suitability — but the message was clear: a well-built portfolio doesn’t rely on a single engine to get where it’s going.

4. Scale, governance, and why “size matters”

Another interesting thread was the importance of scale and governance, particularly in uncertain markets.

From an investment perspective, larger, well-capitalised businesses tend to have more resilience: better access to finance, more flexibility in downturns, and greater ability to invest through cycles rather than cut back at the wrong time.

That same principle applies at an advisory level too. Spectrum’s size, international reach, and shared ownership model allow us to invest in systems, compliance, and expertise in a way that simply isn’t possible for smaller, standalone firms.

It’s not about being big for the sake of it — it’s about stability, continuity, and quality of advice over decades, not just years.

5. Who we choose to work with — and why it matters

Another reassuring takeaway from conference was spending time with the firms we work with on clients’ behalf — not just listening to presentations, but understanding how they think, how they’re governed, and how decisions actually get made.

One of the advantages of being part of a group like Spectrum is that we’re able to be selective. We don’t work with managers because they’re fashionable or because they shout the loudest — we work with them because they have depth, longevity, and a track record of navigating change.

• A few examples give a flavour of this:
  LGT Wealth Management is owned by the Princely House of Liechtenstein and has been for several generations. That sort of long-term, family ownership creates a very different mindset — one focused on wealth preservation, discipline, and thinking in decades rather than quarters.
• Prudential International is part of a wider group that manages around £350 billion of assets. That scale brings financial strength, deep governance, and the ability to invest heavily in systems, risk management, and long-term product development.
• Rathbones, one of the UK’s largest private asset managers, looks after approximately £115 billion of assets and has been in existence for over 250 years. Very few firms survive that long without adapting repeatedly to political change, market cycles, and economic upheaval.

None of this guarantees outcomes — nothing ever does — but it does give us confidence. These are organisations built to endure, with governance structures and cultures that align closely with how we think about long-term planning for clients.

For me, this is a crucial but often invisible part of the job: doing the work behind the scenes so that clients don’t need to worry about whether the foundations are solid. The conference reinforced that the partners we choose, and the effort that goes into maintaining those relationships, genuinely matters.

6. What this all means in practice

Stepping back, the conference reinforced something I see year after year: successful long-term investing is rarely about prediction.

It’s about:

• understanding structural change (like AI) without overreacting to hype
• staying diversified when markets feel narrow
• focusing on quality and fundamentals
• using scale, governance, and expertise to manage risk properly
• ignoring the inevitable noise of geopolitics and political posturing, it rarely has long term impact.
• and keeping plans aligned with real lives, not just market cycles

That’s particularly important for expatriates, where cross-border rules, currencies, tax systems, and future uncertainty add extra layers to every decision.

If you’d like to talk through how these themes relate to your own situation — or simply want a sense-check that your plans still reflect what matters most to you — that’s exactly what I’m here for.

If you want to dive a little deeper into any of this detail, there are some great articles at these links.

Evelyn Partners Turning data into dollars in 2026

Rathbones Video Market broadening and Geopolitical noise

If you feel this would be helpful to friends, family or colleagues, please do feel free to forward this on to them.

As always, I’ll keep translating what we hear from conferences like this into practical, real-world advice that fits your life, not just the markets.

With thanks

Finally, I’d like to say a genuine thank you to the firms who took the time to join us in Monaco, share their thinking so openly, and engage in thoughtful, sometimes challenging discussion.

In particular, my thanks go to the teams from Rathbones Asset Management, Evelyn Partners, LGT Wealth Management, Alquity VAM Investment Management, New Horizon Asset Management and Prudential International, and the other investment, pension, and tax specialists who contributed to the conference.

These events only work because people are willing to go beyond polished presentations and talk honestly about risks, opportunities, and uncertainties. That openness is exactly what helps us refine our thinking and, ultimately, improve the advice we give to clients.

It was a privilege to spend time with such high-quality partners — and it left me confident not only in the ideas discussed, but in the people and organisations helping us put those ideas into practice.