Amid record-high markets, six Wall Street strategists shared where they would deploy $10,000 right now, identifying areas ranging from artificial intelligence to emerging markets, according to Business Insider.
Experts say there’s still opportunity across various asset classes, including U.S. and global equities, small-cap stocks, and dividend-paying stocks.
JPMorgan Backs International Stocks Over U.S.
J.P. Morgan Asset Management Chief Market Strategist for the Americas Gabriela Santos said that she would allocate $7,000 to developed-market ex-U.S. equities and $3,000 to emerging markets, pointing out that U.S. stocks now trade at roughly a 35% premium to international peers—much higher than their historical 15% premium.
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"After 15 years of disappointment, it's really been all about international equities this year — huge outperformance, and something we see as just the beginning," Santos told Business Insider.
She added that a weaker U.S. dollar and growing investor interest in global markets support this shift. Santos cited the Vanguard FTSE Developed Markets ETF (NYSE:VEA) and iShares MSCI Emerging Markets ETF (NYSE:EEM), which were up 19.7% and 18.6%, respectively, as of last week.
Stifel's Bannister Favors Diversified Equity Exposure
With tech stocks dominating market headlines, Stifel Financial Corp (NYSE:SF, SFB)) Chief Equity Strategist Barry Bannister is steering in a different direction. He recommends spreading a $10,000 investment equally across small-cap, international, and value stocks to offset tech-sector concentration, Business Insider reported.
“Right now, the market’s obsessively focused on tech. But it’s hard to run an economy on seven stocks,” Bannister said.
He highlighted the concentration risk in the tech sector and pointed to the Vanguard Value ETF (NYSE:VTV), iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSE:IWM), and iShares MSCI ACWI ex U.S. ETF (NASDAQ:ACWX) as preferred picks for diversification—and said he's recently adopted the approach himself using fresh capital received in May.
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Equal Weight for Better Balance, Says Haverford Trust
Haverford Trust Chief Investment Office Hank Smith recommended a two-part allocation: 50% to 60% in an equal-weighted S&P 500 ETF such as the Invesco S&P 500 Equal Weight ETF (NYSE:RSP) and 40% to 50% in a cap-weighted index such as the Nasdaq 100.
Smith said equal weighting helps reduce overexposure to the top tech names, while the Nasdaq allocation ensures continued participation in any tech-driven rally.
"Now you get all your top tech holdings that are driving this market," Smith told Business Insider.
He said the approach works best with a minimum investment horizon of five years.
Piper Sandler Emphasizes U.S. Large-Cap Leaders
With elevated interest rates and a split in corporate earnings performance, investors may benefit more from selective stock-picking than from index investing, Piper Sandler (NYSE:PIPR) Chief Investment Officer Michael Kantrowitz told Business Insider.
He said he expects U.S. large-cap leaders to continue outperforming and advised avoiding passive sector ETFs, which can misrepresent actual stock performance due to their weighting structures.
"The earnings backdrop is going to be very bifurcated, and interest rates are going to remain elevated," Kantrowitz told the outlet.
Companies currently screening well in Piper Sandler's models include Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ:MSFT), Alphabet Inc. (NASDAQ:GOOG, GOOGL)), Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Oracle Corp. (NYSE:ORCL), Costco Wholesale Corp. (NASDAQ:COST), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), and Home Depot Inc. (NYSE:HD).
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BlackRock Strategist Looks Beyond Just Tech
Investors shouldn’t abandon Big Tech — but diversification is key, according to BlackRock Inc. (NYSE:BLK) Global Chief Investment Officer of Fundamental Equities Tony DeSpirito, who manages several value-focused funds.
“I’m not negative on the Mag Seven,” he told Business Insider. “Many of them have really good growth and really good free cash flow. That’s an incredibly powerful combination, and so they earn the multiples that they’re trading at.”
DeSpirito recommends splitting a portfolio across large-cap growth, dividend stocks, and value plays to hedge against volatility. He flagged dividend names for their downside resilience and steady income, and called healthcare — especially medical device makers — a ‘quality value' area that's been largely overlooked. The S&P 500 healthcare sector is down about 2% year-to-date.
Still, he warned that some large pharmaceutical companies could be value traps, with earnings too dependent on soon-to-expire patents.
Janus Henderson Sees Growth in Tech, Europe, and Mid-Caps
Janus Henderson Group plc (NYSE:JHG) U.S. Head of Portfolio Construction and Strategy Lara Castleton recommended a diversified portfolio approach for investors with longer time horizons and higher risk tolerance.
"We see strong potential in U.S. mid-caps and international equities," Castleton told Business Insider, recommending a three-part portfolio: 60% in large-cap U.S. equities with a tech tilt — via funds like the Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) or Technology Select Sector SPDR Fund (NYSE:XLK) — along with 20% in ex-U.S. stocks, and 20% in U.S. mid-caps.
She said international names, especially in Europe, are showing improved fundamentals, while U.S. mid-caps are benefiting from reshoring trends and offer greater upside than their larger peers.
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