AI’s biggest infrastructure builders (Alphabet, Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle) are in the middle of one of the largest borrowing sprees in corporate history. They’re raising enormous sums to fund data centre buildouts, and they’re doing it in the public bond markets.

The obvious question is: can the AI-related borrowing binge actually break the bond market?

So far, the answer looks like “no,” but the early deals are starting to show where the pressure points might be.

For many investors, emerging markets still conjure a reductive caricature: low-income economies, recurring political crises, heavy-handed governments, and returns that haven’t lived up to the hype. While that picture isn’t entirely wrong, it’s materially incomplete. Over the past three decades, the emerging world has shifted from the periphery of the global economy to its fabric: supplying critical components to the AI supply chain, incubating globally competitive consumer platforms, and hosting a growing share of the world’s middle class.

In investing, some ideas age gracefully. The notion that data can be a source of competitive advantage is one of them. But as artificial intelligence (AI) and large language models (LLMs) reshape the landscape, and, in particular, as market sentiment has shifted violently over the past few weeks against asset-light, software-based businesses, it’s worth asking: what does a true “data moat” look like today…and is it still as defensible as it once was?

In this episode, U.S. equity portfolio manager Grayson Witcher explores what it means to invest exclusively in American businesses at a time when the U.S. is becoming more short term, more transactional, and more central to global change. He contrasts a shifting U.S. “extraction” mindset with China’s longer-term industrial strategy and considers how that dynamic is reshaping globalization into a more regional, security-conscious world. 

Emerging markets co-manager, Wen Quan Cheong, explores four key themes: upstream AI enablers that are benefiting from structural bottlenecks in the AI supply chain; companies turning AI into higher ROIC; the “Great Supply Chain Reshuffle”; and lesser-known EM opportunities beyond China and tech.

Equity analyst Alex Romaines unpacks “accounting shenanigans,” from stock-based compensation and stretched depreciation schedules to vendor financing and special purpose vehicles, showing how a forensic lens can reveal the true economics behind reported earnings.

In a world of rising geopolitical risk, inequality, and rapid technological change, what does it mean to be a long term, bottom up investor? Portfolio manager, Paul Moroz, explores how today’s regime differs from the post-crisis “Pax Americana” era, and how investors must adapt.

In this episode, we sit down with equity analyst Joshua Samuel to explore how artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) are fundamentally reshaping the nature of competitive advantages tied to data. Josh presents a comprehensive framework for evaluating data moats in the modern era, breaking down four critical categories that can separate lasting advantages from temporary ones. The conversation examines how companies across sectors—from FinTech to defense—are leveraging data to drive better decision making and outcomes. He also addresses the flip side: where traditional data advantages are being eroded by AI's ability to synthesize information, and why trust and execution remain crucial even amongst data advantages.

In this episode, Investment Counsellor Stu Morrow and Institutional Portfolio Manager Kevin Minas examine the forces reshaping markets in the fourth quarter. From central banks navigating the shift toward policy normalization to equity leadership rotating beyond mega-cap AI stocks, they explore how a resilient but slowing economy is influencing investment decisions. The conversation covers evolving credit conditions, geopolitical developments including recent events in Venezuela, and the portfolio adjustments being made as valuations rise and late-cycle dynamics emerge. 

From lingering “Liberation Day” tariff fears and a shift toward a more pro-growth federal policy stance to changing leadership within key sectors, Canadian equity portfolio manager Mark Rutherford unpacks what moved markets for Canadian equities in 2025. He explains how this backdrop influenced recent positioning in the Canadian equity portfolio, including adjustments within energy, banks, and gold. The conversation then turns to the U.S. intervention in Venezuela and its implications for Canadian oil: how potential increases in Venezuelan heavy crude could affect Western Canadian differentials, why integrated producers may be relatively better positioned, and the role of TMX export capacity in supporting basin pricing. Stepping back, Mark explores the move toward a more transactional, spheres of influence world and how the team is incorporating this evolving U.S.–Canada dynamic into portfolio construction through diversified, incremental shifts rather than binary macro bets. 

As another eventful year draws to a close, we pause to reflect on the stories, surprises, and lessons that shaped the markets in 2025. From pop culture phenomena to policy pivots, from AI’s rapid rise to gold’s enduring allure, our annual holiday poem captures the spirit—and the quirks—of the year gone by. We hope it brings a smile, a moment of perspective, and a reminder that, in investing as in life, a steady approach often wins the day.

Business Development Companies (BDCs) offer a rare public window into the opaque world of private credit, revealing credit risk and valuation trends often hidden in private funds. Recent volatility has exposed a sharp gap between BDC share prices and reported loan values underscoring the value—and the risks—of transparency in private lending, and providing investors with a candid view of where credit risk may be heading next.