September brought the relationship between geopolitics, energy and interest rates into much sharper focus. The conflict involving the US, Israel and Iran has now persisted for seven months and, with meaningful disruption to energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz still unresolved, the market is having to consider the possibility that expensive energy is becoming more than a temporary shock.

This week’s AdmansPraxis Reads focuses on the constraints, assumptions and operating structures that can materially shape portfolio outcomes. The selected research looks at concentration limits in active funds, manager-level due diligence across European fund groups, contrasting interpretations of the sovereign-bond sell-off, the investment industry’s evolving AI operating model, and the trade-offs embedded in downside-protection strategies.

This week’s AdmansPraxis Research Reads focuses on how investment outcomes can be shaped by the processes and assumptions sitting behind the headline proposition. The selected research covers AI bias in investment workflows, benchmark-free portfolio construction, multi-asset allocation, structured-credit opportunities linked to AI infrastructure, and the limits of universal manager-selection signals, all with direct relevance for professional fund selectors and allocators.

August’s market backdrop was shaped by the interaction between inflation uncertainty, energy prices and monetary-policy expectations.

This week’s AdmansPraxis Research Reads focuses on the forces shaping portfolio outcomes beyond headline market moves. The selected research examines the sources of inflation, the changing economics of AI exposure, conflicts and governance in private-market continuation vehicles, operational preparedness for T+1 settlement, and the wider cross-market backdrop for allocators.

This week’s Infundly Research Reads focuses on how investment outcomes are shaped not just by asset allocation, but by the structures, assumptions and decision frameworks behind it. The selected research covers active versus passive success rates, target-date glidepaths, AI-enabled investment processes, capital-market assumptions, fund flows and tactical asset allocation, all with direct relevance for professional fund selectors and allocators.

The selected papers and reports examine liquidity governance, active fund selection, performance measurement, systematic factor implementation, macro conditions and the evolving Japanese equity opportunity set. Together, they reinforce the need to test whether reported outcomes, stated investment edges and portfolio characteristics remain credible once differences in methodology, vehicle structure, implementation and market regime are taken into account.

The challenge with absolute return and liquid alternatives is establishing whether a particular strategy can deliver a distinct and dependable portfolio role. Very different risk engines sit beneath the same broad label, often with materially different return drivers, stress behaviour and governance demands.