Against the backdrop of intertwined interest rate paths, geopolitical risks, and industrial upgrading, long-term capital is shifting from a singular risk appetite to a dual-track allocation strategy of "safety margin + structural growth."
As global capital markets enter a new cycle of volatility, asset pricing logic is undergoing profound changes. In recent years, global markets have experienced rapid rotations around loose liquidity, technological growth, and risk appetite; however, entering 2026, interest rate paths, geopolitical conflicts, energy security, investment in artificial intelligence infrastructure, and the restructuring of global industrial chains are collectively driving capital markets into a more complex and structured repricing phase.
The SHINDEV Research Team believes that the core change in the current market is not the rise and fall of a single asset class, but rather that global funds are seeking new allocation anchors. Safe-haven assets, technology assets, and new infrastructure assets are absorbing the allocation needs of long-term capital from different dimensions. Global equity funds have recently seen significant inflows. LSEG Lipper data shows that in the week ending April 22, 2026, global equity funds experienced net inflows of approximately $48.72 billion, marking the largest single-week inflow since November 2024. Demand for artificial intelligence and the performance of major companies were key driving factors.
Against this backdrop, SHINDEV believes that the allocation logic of long-term capital is shifting from simply pursuing high growth to a more comprehensive assessment that emphasizes "safety margin, industry certainty, cash flow quality, and cross-cycle capabilities." Technology, gold, and new infrastructure are becoming three core variables in the global asset repricing cycle.
The global capital market in 2026 is facing a more complex pricing environment than ever before. On the one hand, uncertainty remains regarding interest rate policies in major economies, and inflation trends, energy prices, and fiscal pressures continue to influence market expectations. On the other hand, structural investment opportunities arising from artificial intelligence, digital infrastructure, and energy transition continue to attract global capital.
This means the current market is no longer simply experiencing a rise in risky assets or a strengthening of safe-haven assets, but rather entering a repricing cycle driven by multiple factors. The valuation logic among different assets is being rearranged: traditional financial assets focus on interest rate and profit recovery; precious metals such as gold focus on their safe-haven and reserve value; technology assets focus on computing power, applications, and profit realization; and new infrastructure assets focus on long-term demand and cash flow stability.
The International Monetary Fund's World Economic Outlook, released in April 2026, also warns that the global economy still faces uncertainties from commodity prices, energy disruptions, and external shocks, with emerging markets potentially experiencing more pronounced shocks in some scenarios. This also indicates that global capital is shifting from a singular growth narrative to an allocation approach that places greater emphasis on asset resilience and portfolio balance.
Xin Ding Sheng believes that in the near future, the market's real focus will not be on short-term price fluctuations, but on who can provide greater certainty in an uncertain environment. For long-term funds, the core of asset allocation is no longer simply "buying growth," but rather establishing a new balance between growth, risk, cash flow, and industry trends.
Amidst escalating global volatility, precious metals such as gold and silver have regained market attention. Unlike their past role as mere short-term safe-haven assets, precious metals are increasingly being incorporated into longer-term asset allocation frameworks.
Data from the World Gold Council shows that global gold demand, including over-the-counter transactions, surpassed 5,000 tons for the first time in 2025. With gold prices continuing to reach new highs, the total value of gold demand reached approximately US$555 billion, a year-on-year increase of 45%. Simultaneously, investment demand for gold has significantly strengthened, with strong performance in ETFs, gold bars, and gold coins, reflecting global investors' need to rebalance monetary credit, interest rate changes, and geopolitical risks.
From the perspective of central bank reserves, gold's strategic attributes are also increasing. World Gold Council data shows that global central banks made net purchases of approximately 27 tons of gold in February 2026, with significant purchases by central banks in Poland, Uzbekistan, and Kazakhstan. This indicates that against the backdrop of changes in the global reserve asset structure, gold is once again becoming an important tool for some countries and institutions to hedge against external uncertainties. SHINDEV believes that gold's value lies not only in its price appreciation but also in its role as a stabilizer in asset portfolios. When global interest rates, exchange rates, energy, and geopolitics simultaneously enter a period of high volatility, the allocation significance of gold-like assets will shift from "short-term hedging" to "long-term asset protection."
Meanwhile, assets like silver, which possess both precious metal and industrial attributes, are also worth noting. Silver is influenced by hedging demand and is also related to industrial scenarios such as photovoltaics, new energy, and electronic manufacturing. Against the backdrop of the continued development of new energy and intelligent manufacturing, silver possesses a certain degree of cyclical elasticity and industrial support. For long-term capital, the investment value of the precious metals sector is extending from a single financial attribute to a dual logic of "financial hedging + industrial demand."
If the keywords for AI investment in the past two years were "model breakthroughs" and "hardware scarcity," then after 2026, the AI industry is entering a more realistic stage of engineering competition. The market is no longer solely focused on model parameters, chip supply, and hype; it's increasingly concentrating on computing power deployment, energy supply, data center efficiency, commercial application, and ultimate profitability.
Data from the International Energy Agency shows that global data center electricity demand is projected to grow from approximately 485 terawatt-hours (TWh) in 2025 to approximately 950 TWh in 2030, accounting for about 3% of global electricity demand. The growth rate of electricity consumption for AI-related data centers will significantly outpace overall data center demand. This means that AI competition is no longer just about algorithms and chips, but a comprehensive competition encompassing computing infrastructure, power supply, energy management, and capital expenditure efficiency.
Recent market fund flows also confirm this trend. Global equity funds are seeing significant inflows into sectors such as technology, industrials, and metals mining, with AI chips, semiconductors, and related supply chain companies continuing to be the market focus. Meanwhile, large technology companies are still increasing capital expenditures on AI infrastructure, with data centers, power, networks, and cloud computing capabilities becoming the underlying assets in this new round of digital economy competition.
SHINDEV believes that AI computing power investment is shifting from "hardware scarcity premium" to "system capability premium." In the future, companies with true long-term value will not only possess single devices or technologies, but will be able to form a complete closed loop across chips, servers, data centers, power resources, cloud platforms, industry applications, and operational efficiency.
This also means that digital infrastructure is no longer just the traditional internet infrastructure, but is becoming a means of production in the new economic era. Computing power will become the core foundation for improving enterprise efficiency, industrial digitalization, and the diffusion of artificial intelligence applications. In the long run, digital infrastructure assets with stable demand, economies of scale, and technological iteration capabilities will have the opportunity to become an important allocation direction for the capital market.
Against the backdrop of global energy structure adjustment, the new energy industry is also gradually transitioning from a policy-driven stage to an efficiency competition stage. In the past, the market focused more on installed capacity, policy subsidies, and the speed of industrial expansion; now, capital is beginning to pay more attention to cost control, technological efficiency, supply chain stability, and commercial returns.
According to data from the International Renewable Energy Agency (IRENA), in 2024, approximately 91% of new utility-scale renewable energy projects globally had lower generation costs than the cheapest alternatives to new fossil fuel power generation; the cost advantages of solar photovoltaic and onshore wind power were further demonstrated. This indicates that new energy is not only a policy direction but also gradually possessing an economic foundation.
Meanwhile, the global power system is facing new demand pressures. On the one hand, electrification in transportation, industry, and buildings continues to advance; on the other hand, the expansion of AI data centers and digital infrastructure has significantly increased electricity demand. The IENA points out that by 2030, global electricity supply demand to support data centers will increase substantially, with renewable energy playing a significant role in this increased demand, while natural gas, coal, and nuclear energy will also participate in the supply structure.
SHINDEV believes that this change will drive new industrial synergies among new energy, new energy storage, smart grids, power semiconductors, energy management systems, and high-end manufacturing. Future investment in new energy should not only focus on single power generation assets but also on systemic opportunities between energy production, energy storage, energy dispatch, and energy consumption scenarios.
Smart manufacturing is also entering a new stage of competition. With the restructuring of global industrial chains and the increasing trend of regionalized production, the value of high-end manufacturing enterprises is no longer solely reflected in capacity expansion, but also in automation levels, supply chain security, technological barriers, customer structure, and delivery stability. For long-term capital, manufacturing enterprises that can form technological barriers and cash flow capabilities during industrial upgrading will possess stronger resilience through economic cycles.
Faced with a complex global market environment, SHINDEV believes that investment institutions need to move beyond short-term market sentiment and assess asset value from a longer-term perspective. At the current stage, what truly deserves attention is not a single hot topic, but assets that can form long-term competitiveness in the global industrial restructuring.
SHINDEV will focus on three key areas:
First, asset allocation assets with asset protection attributes. Precious metal assets such as gold and silver still possess significant portfolio value against the backdrop of escalating global interest rate, currency credit, and geopolitical risk volatility. For long-term funds, the significance of such assets lies in reducing portfolio volatility and improving the stability of asset allocation.
Second, technology assets with structural growth potential. AI computing power, semiconductors, cloud computing, data centers, digital infrastructure, and intelligent industry applications will continue to be core investment themes for the next few years. However, SHINDEV focuses more on companies with established business models, customer orders, cost control, and profitable growth paths, rather than projects whose valuations are simply driven by concepts.
Thirdly, there are new infrastructure assets with certainty of industrial upgrading. New energy, new energy storage, intelligent manufacturing, low-carbon transportation, and high-end equipment manufacturing will continue to benefit from global energy transition and industrial chain restructuring. In the future, the market will place greater emphasis on companies' efficiency, cost, technology, and delivery capabilities. Only companies that can truly solve industry pain points will have long-term investment value.
SHINDEV believes that future investment competition will not be about simply chasing hot sectors, but about testing capital's comprehensive judgment of industry cycles, technological paths, and business models. Capital needs a deeper understanding of industries, and industries need longer-term, more professional capital support.
The global asset repricing cycle has begun. Interest rate changes, geopolitical risks, energy structure adjustments, and the artificial intelligence revolution are collectively reshaping the underlying logic of the capital market. For long-term investors, the core opportunity lies not in short-term fluctuations, but in identifying assets that can truly weather economic cycles.
SHINDEV believes that technology, gold, and new infrastructure represent three key demands in current global capital allocation: technology represents growth, gold represents security, and new infrastructure represents future productivity. These three are not mutually exclusive but rather collectively form the framework for long-term capital allocation in the new economic cycle.
Standing at this new market stage, SHINDEV will continue to adhere to a long-term perspective and an industrial investment focus, seeking companies and projects with genuine value creation capabilities in key areas such as technological innovation, low-carbon energy, digital infrastructure, and high-end manufacturing. In an uncertain world, what is truly certain is the long-term opportunity brought about by technological progress, industrial upgrading, and improved capital efficiency.
Going forward, SHINDEV will continue to uphold the philosophy of "driving technology with capital and creating value with technology," continuously exploring the balance between long-term value, steady growth, and cross-cycle returns amidst global industrial transformation and capital market restructuring.
