Six investors reveal the biggest market risks — and one strategy they agree on
CNBC Real Estate · Chloe Taylor,Lee Ying Shan · 22 August 2026

TL;DR
CNBC surveyed six global investors about the biggest threats to portfolios in 2025–2026 and how they are responding. Despite differing views — ranging from fading US exceptionalism and AI capital expenditure risks to geopolitical tensions in the Middle East and a central bank policy bind — all six broadly agreed on one response: diversify beyond recent winners. Strategies mentioned include rotating out of mega-cap tech into equal-weight US equities, adding exposure to UK stocks, Asian markets, emerging markets, gold, bonds, and alternative assets. Real estate investment trusts (REITs) were specifically flagged as undervalued and increasingly attractive. The consensus warning: concentrated bets on this year's winners carry the highest risk going into the next market phase.
Our take
For South African investors and property market participants, this global diversification conversation has direct local relevance. When international capital rotates away from concentrated US tech positions, emerging markets — including South Africa — tend to attract renewed interest. SA-listed REITs, which mirror the global REIT opportunity flagged in this article, have similarly been out of favour amid high interest rates and load-shedding pressures, but improving grid stability and a softening repo rate cycle could make JSE-listed property counters worth a second look for buy-to-let investors and portfolio holders alike. For landlords and property investors specifically, the broader message is familiar: don't chase last year's winner. Residential property in Cape Town's Atlantic Seaboard dominated returns for years; now secondary cities like Gqeberha, Durban North, and parts of Gauteng's East Rand are showing stronger rental yield fundamentals. Diversifying across property types — residential, commercial, and industrial — and across geographies within SA is the local equivalent of the strategy every investor in this article is recommending. The risk of concentration is real, whether you're holding Magnificent Seven stocks or a single suburb's sectional title units.
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