Investments – The Great Rewiring: 2025’s Structural Shift

Markets are ending the year in a cautious dance—resilient, but rewired.

According to the World Economic Forum, 2025 is marked by seven global inflection points: accelerating AI, labor-market disruption, de-globalization, the energy transition, geopolitical instability, and demographic realignments.

Morgan Stanley names the “rewiring of the global economy” as one of its four defining investment themes for 2025, alongside AI, longevity, and the future of energy.

Data points & implications:

• World Bank projects slower growth in the U.S. and China offset by modest emerging-market strength.
• Pictet Group identifies three durable megatrend drivers—Society, Environment, and Technology—expected to shape global asset performance for the next decade.
• BNY Mellon forecasts an uptick in equity flows as “cash is better put to work,” marking a pivot from defensive cash hoarding to selective risk-taking.

For Alphavest, that confirms our mid-year framework: Resilience, Rotation, Results.

• Resilience: Structured note overlays, alternative assets, and dividend-yielding exposures remain our ballast.
• Rotation: Market leadership continues to broaden—international, dividend-oriented, and value sectors warrant a closer look as we anticipate valuations to normalize. We remain in the AI-tech trade and will anticipate a change in the rate drop cycle to signal a focus on valuation fundamentals (Q3 2026, perhaps).
• Results: The Alphavest Equity Income Portfolio (+17.12% v. +12.80%/DJIA YTD) has outperformed value benchmark Dow Jones Industrials Average by 432 bps/33.75% YTD and is nose to nose with the S&P 500–NOT its benchmark index, up 17.73% YTD—with lower expenses (.03 annual expense), at 2.28% yield, nearly twice the dividend yield and minimal reliance on mega-cap tech.

🧭 Year-End Portfolio Checklist

• Review sector concentration and stress-test for policy or rate surprises.
• Adjust allocations for a “lower dollar” reality.
• Rebalance toward structural trends—Energy transition, supply-chain resilience—without chasing hype.
• Incorporate uncorrelated buffers like alternatives and structured notes.

🔗 Yes! Send me Alphavest’s 2026 Outlook »

“If the 2010s rewarded growth at any price, the late-2020s will reward resilience at a fair price.”

Planning – “It’s Never Too Late”: Year-End Moves & the OBBBA Advantage

It’s November, and yes—it’s still not too late to year-end tax plan. Too many investors assume tax strategy ends with the calendar, but real impact happens before and after the ball drops.

This year’s tax headline: the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) takes effect in 2026, expanding deductions and contribution limits—and has potential fantastic implications for those 65+.

Key Provisions & Timing:

• Permanent Tax Cuts for Individuals: TCJA’s lower income tax rates + increased standard deduction are now “permanent,” bringing long-term clarity for tax planning.
• Temporary SALT Deduction Boost: Raises SALT cap to $40K (2025–2029).
• Big Business Write-Offs Expanded: 100% bonus depreciation made permanent.
• Small Business & Startup Wins: QBI 20% deduction is now permanent.
• Estate & Gift Tax Exemption Hike: Federal exemption raised to $15M per person starting 2026.

Auto wins and losses

While EV tax credits disappeared 9/30/2025,
new provisions exist for certain taxpayers ($100k Single MAGI/$200k MFJ) on new vehicles with “US assembly.”
Does this support the purchase of a new versus used car? Probably not. As with all tax credits, deductions and incentives, the devil is in the details (roll up your sleeves and sit with your advisor).

Last week, in an all-day tax intensive, Ed Slott, CPA, named the “Best source for IRA advice” (another mountain I have yet to climb–game on!) by the Wall Street Journal, couldn’t speak more about the benefits of
lowering your IRA balances as quickly as possible to shift taxation from ordinary income to long term capital gains rates, citing that rates are as low as they’re ever going to be.
What’s the best way to do this? Take a stab and his book is yours.

The fallacy that you should keep IRA balances higher for longer—is right up there with the notion that “my tax bracket will be lower when I retire.” Dust off the cobwebs and freshen up your IRA withdrawal mindset. Want less taxes? It’s time!

Strategic Moves Before Dec 31:

• Harvest losses / lock gains—realize tax losses to offset gains while staying invested.
• Fund HSAs & retirement plans early—capture more compounding under new higher limits.
• Gift or donate appreciated assets—use your IRA for QCD–qualified charitable contributions.
  (here’s a helpful resource)
• Check income brackets—Roth conversions or charitable bunching can lock in 2025 rates before OBBBA’s reset.
• Age-65+ review—talk to your planner about income timing.

Don’t miss an extra deduction because you didn’t plan! And, if you’re an Alphavest client, you can rely on year-end tax loss harvesting to happen AUTOMATICALLY—no call, no meeting—it’s what we do.

🔗 Book Your Year-End Planning Session »

Lifestyle – Purpose Is the New Alpha

For decades, “alpha” meant one thing: outperformance relative to a prescribed “benchmark.” But increasingly, a second definition has emerged—alignment. When your capital and your convictions move in the same direction, performance follows with surprising force.

This has not and will not necessarily always be true. I recall a client some 15 years ago with a strong desire to invest in wind energy—and the returns simply weren’t there to support a meaningful allocation in wind. That has changed. I also have a client that is passionate about a “Fossil-Fuel-Free” portfolio—five years ago, we inched our way there. Today, we’re ~70% allocated this way and outperforming his benchmark returns.

This convergence is no longer philosophical, or even altruistic—it’s measurable and outperforming. A great deal of current market environment core value alignment investments, climate-related decarbonization, and gender-diversity trades are the current Alpha trade.

A recent MSCI ESG study shows sustainability-tilted global equity funds outperforming the MSCI World Index by +1.4 ppts annually over five years with lower volatility. The
Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) and Bain & Co. report private-market impact funds generating median net IRRs of 15–17%—on par with or ahead of traditional private equity.

Why?

Because the impact trade is where innovation now lives.

Energy transition infrastructure, water and waste technologies, affordable housing, and AI-enabled health equity are not “values-based niches” anymore—they’re growth sectors mispriced by traditional models.

Global sustainable assets surpassed $30 trillion in 2025, up 40% since 2023. Institutional allocations are leading the charge, and with them, rigorous performance standards are replacing virtue signaling.

For Alphavest, this shift validates what we’ve believed for years: disciplined, transparent portfolios can serve both performance and purpose. And it challenges every investor to redefine what “return” really means.

✨ Reflection Prompts for the New Year

• What kind of “alpha” are you seeking—market or mission?
• How might your capital join the “impact trade”?
• What purpose feels most aligned with your next chapter?

“The only thing stronger than compound interest is a life—and a portfolio—compounded by intention.”

The next cycle belongs to those who can hold both precision and purpose. For the first time in my career, it’s possible—and profitable—to do both. It’s liberating as an allocator and investment manager to experience (finally!) a depolarization of political and social views in lieu of alpha.
For now, we can all win—grab it while the Alpha’s there!