Observations from the IMC Research Process - Brick-and-mortar value chains have become cultural and economic winners as consumers - especially Gen Z - elevate ‘smart money shopping’ into a lifestyle.
Insights
Inside Informed Momentum: Momentum, quality, and the most hated rally of all time
Tune in for a Q&A session with IMC’s Head of Distribution Mark Osterkamp and CIO Travis Prentice as they discuss some of the most common questions we’re getting from clients.
Rising Tides: Data is the New Medicine
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Diagnostics are entering a technology-driven acceleration that will reshape healthcare economics.
Rising Tides: Biotech Repriced
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Biotech's risk premium is collapsing — clinical momentum, pricing clarity, resurgent deal flow are driving a sustained rerating across the sector.
The Tide Keeps Rising for European Banks
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Years of balance sheet repair, digital investment, and capital discipline are paying off for European banks.
Rising Tides: Gridlock Ahead – Batteries Take the Wheel in the AI Era
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Global battery capacity is set to jump 67% this year to 617GWh — and grow tenfold by 2035. The driver isn’t EVs anymore — it’s AI’s appetite for power.
A Historic Beta Run Is Powering this Market Rally
Beta’s outperformance run for the last two consecutive quarters has been historic, especially in small cap.
Rising Tides: Total Recall – Memory Becomes the AI Trade
Observations from the IMC Research Process - With cloud giants racing to expand data center footprints to support AI workloads, tight supply is creating the first multi-year upcycle in storage in decades.
Rising Tides: Humanoids – From Iron Man to Every Man
Observations from the IMC Research Process - After transforming the digital world, AI is now stepping into the physical one through humanoid robotics.
Rising Tides: AI’s New Power Brokers – Bitcoin Miners Rewire for the Future
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Yesterday’s crypto miners are tomorrow’s AI landlords. Billions in deals this year are behind crypto facilities pivoting to support power-hungry hyperscalers.
Rising Tides: We’re Gonna Need a Bigger Boat – Cruise demand is cruising at record speed
Observations from the IMC Research Process - 2025 cruise bookings are outpacing pre-pandemic levels, with pricing holding strong even as capacity expands.
Rising Tides: From Obscure to Critical – Rare Earths Enter a Supercycle
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Prices of rare earth elements (REEs) – a group of 17 obscure metals used in everything from EV’s, wind turbines, national defense systems, and consumer electronics - are suddenly acting like oil in the 1970’s. Geopolitically charged, price-spiking, and strategically indispensable.
Rising Tides: The Year’s Unlikeliest Rally
Observations from the IMC Research Process - In a year defined by trillion-dollar AI narratives, it’s a 150-year-old German lender that’s quietly up over 100%. In this Rising Tide, we cover why European banks have gone from serial underperformers to market leaders.
Inside Informed Momentum: Volatility, current market trends, and what lies ahead
Tune in for a Q&A session with IMC’s Head of Distribution Mark Osterkamp and CIO Travis Prentice as they discuss some of the most common questions we’re getting from clients.
Rising Tides: AI’s Cooling Crisis
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Global cooling specialists are stepping up to keep the AI boom from overheating - literally. The next generation of winners may not be chipmakers, but the companies keeping them from melting down.
Rising Tides: Stablecoins Are Eating Finance
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Stablecoins have gone from a niche crypto tool to a $250B market, threatening a revolution in payments and traditional finance infrastructure.
Rising Tides: Kidults
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Adults are the fastest growing demographic for the $100B+ global toy market - fueling the blind-box craze and reshaping the global toy and collectibles market.
Rising Tides: War Time Rally
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Despite an active war and regional instability, Israeli equities are making new all-time highs, Israeli GDP is booming, and investors are piling in.
The Only Factor That Mattered in Q2
In US equities, the outperformance of high beta stocks in Q2 was a historical divergence.
Rising Tides: Repricing the Korean Discount
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Post-election optimism is igniting a broad-based rally in Korean equities, raising hopes of a long-awaited market renaissance.
Rising Tides: Drones Are Taking Off
Observations from the IMC Research Process - The global drone market is set to more than double by 2030, surging from $73B to $163B.
Rising Tides: The AI Trade is Gaining Fresh Momentum
Observations from the IMC Research Process - The AI Trade is Gaining Fresh Momentum
Rising Tides: Greek Banks – From Crisis to Capital Return Machines
Observations from the IMC Research Process - A turnaround for Greek banks
All about beta in the tariff tantrum and subsequent rebound
Other styles and factors, including momentum, have been less important in the vacillation between risk off/risk on in US equity markets.
Rising Tides: Global Pharma Knocking on China’s Door
Observations from the IMC Research Process - The rise of Chinese pharmaceuticals
Rising Tides: Infrastructure, eh? Canada’s quietly building everything.
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Canada's infrastructure pipeline is moving stocks
Rising Tides: America’s Atomic Moment
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Nuclear stocks heating up
Short-Term Volatility, Long-Term Momentum
Tune in for timely insights and a forward-looking perspective.
Hear from CIO Travis Prentice how we’re navigating current market volatility – and where we’re finding momentum opportunities so far in 2025.
Rising Tides: K-Beauty is Back – and it’s Outselling France
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Korean skincare trends hitting the US
Rising Tides: Gen Z is Building Skills to Pay the Bills
Observations from the IMC Research Process - Momentum in 'skilled-collar' career schools
The Market’s Best-Kept Secret
CIO Travis Prentice is featured on the Excess Returns podcast to discuss all things momentum investing.
- Building real-world momentum portfolios
- Concentration and managing risk
- Rebalancing strategies
- Momentum and other factors
Momentum has let off some steam this quarter
Relative to history, the scale of the pullback looks typical, yet happened at a quicker pace than most. However, coming out of these corrections, momentum typically performs well.
Rethinking Emerging Markets
Emerging markets have significantly lagged among global equities in the last several years. However, viewing the asset class through a wider lens, we see a very different picture. In this paper, we shine light on three key reasons to consider an allocation to emerging markets small cap to offset unintended risks and improve outcomes in a global portfolio.
Where do we go from here?
According to Axioma, the momentum factor just posted one of its best quarters on record in Q1 2024 in global equity markets.
The Case for Global Small Cap Equities
In this analysis, we explore the benefits of a dedicated allocation to global small cap equities. We discuss what factors have contributed to active managers’ consistent success over time and conclude with what style exposures have historically worked best in the global small cap universe.