The investment outlook for the fourth quarter suggests that as structural forces reshape the global bond market, the benefits of artificial intelligence are spreading to more industries.
Kansas City, Missouri, September 28, 2026 / PRNewswire / -- The fourth-quarter 2026 investment outlook released by American Century Investments states that despite ongoing inflation, high energy costs, and geopolitical uncertainties, global growth remains resilient, and investment opportunities in the stock and fixed-income markets are expanding.
This global asset management company is entrusted to manage assets worth over $350 billion*. The chief investment officers of the company stated that the investment momentum driven by artificial intelligence continues, which not only creates opportunities outside of the technology sector but also brings opportunities to global stock markets. At the same time, it is reshaping the trends in capital markets and bond issuance.
American Century Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer Victor Zhang stated in the foreword: "Despite ongoing inflation and high interest rates, today's market is offering an increasingly wide range of opportunities."
Artificial intelligence investment expands opportunities beyond a few tech stocks
American Century, Co-Chief Investment Officer of Global Equities, stated that given the corporate performance and profit trends exceeding expectations, the global market has demonstrated resilience. Patricia Ribeiro
Ribeiro indicates that 'artificial intelligence investment remains an important driving force for capital expenditure and profit growth in the global stock market. Other industries are also benefiting from growth drivers beyond artificial intelligence.' She pointed out that there are opportunities in finance, industry, energy, and emerging markets.
American Century, the Chief Investment Officer for Fixed Income, emphasized that corporate investment and capital needs continue to persist. Charles Tan also pointed out that these trends are ongoing.
Tan indicates: "We believe that the large-scale debt issuance by major cloud service providers, as well as capital expenditures related to artificial intelligence, are reshaping the global investment environment. Expenditures on data centers, power infrastructure, and artificial intelligence capabilities are driving a strong demand for and competition for long-term capital. This dynamic is further putting pressure on the longer end of the U.S. Treasury yield curve."
The rise in global yields reflects structural changes in the capital market.
Tan indicates that although the rise in U.S. Treasury yields has sparked concerns about federal debt and borrowing costs, investors may be overlooking the global nature of this trend. He points out that the increase in yields is not unique to the United States but reflects broader forces that are reshaping global capital markets.
Tan It should be noted that the United States is not the only country facing higher yields. In developed markets, similar factors—including high inflation, as well as rapidly expanding government deficits and debt—are driving up global bond yields. The simultaneous rise in yields indicates that markets are demanding higher term premiums, but at present, there is no clear reflection of concerns regarding the U.S. fiscal situation.
Diversified investment is still important.
American Century indicates that when investors are facing an uncertain environment, maintaining a diversified portfolio, adhering to a long-term perspective, and persistently executing a well-developed investment plan may be one of the most important measures to take.
Ribeiro indicates: "In our view, when investors are balancing between persistent growth opportunities and higher macroeconomic and geopolitical risks, disciplined stock selection and diversification remain of paramount importance."
American Century The complete investment outlook also includes perspectives on the global macroeconomy, U.S. and global stocks, fixed income, multi-asset strategies, as well as trends in sustainable investing.
About American Century Investments
American Century Investments is a leading global asset management company dedicated to providing investment results for clients, building long-term client relationships, and supporting groundbreaking medical research. Founded in 1958, the company employs approximately 1,400 people and has offices in Kansas City, Missouri; New York; Los Angeles; Santa Clara, California; Portland, Oregon; London; Frankfurt, Germany; Hong Kong; and Sydney. It serves financial professionals, institutions, corporations, and individual investors.
Jonathan S serves as the Chairman, Chief Executive Officer, and President, while Victor Zhang holds the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer. By creating investment outcomes for clients, American Century Investments is able to distribute 40% of its dividends to the Stowers Institute for Medical Research ( Stowers Institute for Medical Research ). This institute is a non-profit biomedical research organization with 500 employees that focuses on fundamental research. It is the largest shareholder of American Century Investments and has received more than $2 billion in dividend payments since 2000. For more information, please visit: www.americancentury.com.
As of September 15, 2026, the scale of assets under entrusted management.
©2026 American Century Proprietary Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.
The above views represent the opinions of American Century Investments (or Portfolio Manager), and do not guarantee the future performance of any American Century Investments portfolio. This material is for educational purposes only and is not intended to provide, nor should it be relied upon as, investment, accounting, legal, or tax advice.
The returns on securities investments and the principal value can fluctuate. The value at redemption may be higher or lower than the original cost. Past performance does not guarantee future results.
Diversified investment does not guarantee profits, nor can it prevent the loss of principal.
International investments involve special risks, such as political instability and exchange rate fluctuations. Investing in emerging markets may magnify these risks.
Normally, as interest rates rise, the value of bonds held by funds decreases; conversely, when interest rates fall, the situation is reversed.
Term Definition
Duration ( Duration )
Duration is an important indicator in fixed-income investing that measures potential price fluctuations and interest rate risk. It indicates the sensitivity of the price of fixed-income investments to changes in interest rates. The longer the duration, the greater typically the fluctuation in the price of a fixed-income investment in response to interest rate changes. Duration also reflects the impact of receiving fixed-income cash flows earlier rather than later. Assuming similar maturities, fixed-income investments that may pay investors more cash flows earlier in their structure (such as high-yield bonds, mortgage-backed securities, and callable securities) generally have a shorter duration than those that repay most of the principal at maturity (such as zero-coupon bonds or low-yield, non-callable U.S. Treasuries).
Ultra-large-scale cloud service provider ( Hyperscaler )
Examples of ultra-large-scale cloud service providers include large technology companies that operate vast global data center networks.
Inflation ( Inflation )
Inflation is sometimes also referred to as overall inflation, which reflects the rise in prices of consumer goods and services, or equivalently, a decline in the value of money. Core inflation does not include food and energy prices, as these prices tend to fluctuate more significantly. The opposite of inflation is deflation.
U.S. Treasury yield ( Treasury yield )
Refers to the yield of U.S. Treasury securities (the term 'yield' is defined below), which usually refers to U.S. Treasuries issued by the U.S. government.
Yield ( Yield )
For bonds and other fixed-income securities, the yield is the rate of return on these securities. There are various methods for calculating yield. "Yield to Maturity" is a common method used for calculating fixed-income securities, which takes into account the total annual interest payments, the purchase price, the redemption value, and the remaining time until maturity.
Yield Curve ( Yield curve )
The yield curve is a type of line graph that displays the yields of a certain category of fixed-income securities (such as government bonds or municipal bonds) at the same point in time, for different maturities (usually ranging from 3 months to 30 years). The horizontal axis on the graph represents the maturity, while the vertical axis represents the yield. The curve thus formed is an important benchmark in the bond market and also serves as a leading economic indicator.
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