Four objectives.
One standard of management.
A brief overview of WEM portfolios’ 2026 performance
WEM portfolios, the framework they are built upon, the specific cases they are built to address — and the proof of how it works: their performance.
The Wealth Effect Management approach
Since 2007, we have provided discreet, long-term guidance for HNWI individuals and families. To maintain the perspective of “Stewardship across generations”, we draw from a rich array of tools: products, services, infrastructure. And intention, foresight, and clarity that govern it.
Portfolios sit at the core of that work — the visible and, admittedly, scrutinized element.
Yet they are one part of a wider architecture, much of which isn’t necessarily obvious, but is nonetheless central to our work: questions of goals, constraints, structure, jurisdiction, succession and governance.
The answers to those shape which portfolios are appropriate in the first place. Which is why we never start the discussion with the portfolios. Portfolios, no matter how attractive, are tools. They are not a goal, and they are not the goal — they are a means to an end.
Hence:
Clarity first: What are the objectives and the constraints?
Portfolios second.
Please see below both the approach and strategy behind the distinct classes of our portfolios, the individual portfolios within the classes — and the results of selected portfolios for the first 8 months of 2026.
For readers who want the detail, Appendix at the end of this article sets out the full commentary.
Portfolio classes:
Defined by objective.
Four objectives, four classes:
Dynamic:
Growth-focused
Portfolios built for long-term capital growth. Typically with higher equity exposure and a correspondingly higher tolerance for volatility.
Balanced:
Diversified growth
Equities and bonds held together, so that growth and stability come from different sources.
Conservative:
Defensive
Preservation of capital and predictable income take precedence over appreciation.
Thematic:
Opportunistic
Targeted, time-sensitive, and limited exposure to a specific structural development. For more on WEM Opportunities, please see the separate article here.
Each class
does a different job.
Growth, diversification, preservation, opportunity.
But our personal approach means actually being personal: there is no “one size fits all” solution.
What does remain the same and applies to all our portfolios, however, is the standard of management:
Key decisions about every portfolio originate in our Investment Committee, which is composed of the firm’s most senior members. Every portfolio is kept under ongoing oversight and regular review.
Portfolio construction:
Clarity comes first
Each portfolio is defined by the succession of three steps:
- Context: The conditions in a market, an economy, or an asset class to which the portfolio responds. In other words: What is happening that we can build upon.
- Opportunity: Where, within these particular conditions, there’s a possibility for appreciation.
- Strategy: How our particular portfolio pursues this opportunity — what it holds, how holdings are selected, and how it is managed and measured. I.e., how we make use of the opportunity.
Establishing these foundations enables three things:
1. Correctly match clients’ needs to a particular solution(s), and
2. Examine each portfolio on its own terms, and compare it meaningfully with other similar portfolios, and
3. Evaluate the portfolio performance
Performance evaluation:
Reading the results
Performance needs to be viewed with context: objectives, risk and time horizon. The figures presented below are a snapshot in time, covering the period from December 31, 2025 to August 31, 2026. They are expressed in Eur, before fees and taxes, and each is shown beside the portfolio’s benchmark where it has one.
A period of this length is a small part of a market cycle, and a small part of the long-term perspective with which the portfolios are selected and invested in for a particular client.
Nonetheless, performance numbers are a valid and much-asked-for indicator.
For long-term performance, please refer to individual factsheets here.
For your questions, please reach out to us here.
Dynamic portfolios:
Long-term growth potential
What are they built for:
Dynamic portfolios are built for capital that will not be needed for at least five years, held by clients who can tolerate the movement that equity exposure brings.
What you accept:
What they accept in return is stated plainly: a higher expected return, in exchange for larger and longer drawdowns. In down years, these portfolios fall further than the Balanced and Conservative portfolios. The long-term perspective and sufficient risk tolerance are key here.
INDIVIDUAL DYNAMIC PORTFOLIOS:
WEM Equity US
CONTEXT:
Spojené štáty zostávajú najhlbším akciovým trhom sveta. Tento trh je zároveň čoraz koncentrovanejší: podstatnú časť výnosu indexu dnes tvorí malý počet veľkých spoločností.
OPPORTUNITY:
Expozíciu možno vytvárať podľa kvalít jednotlivých spoločností, a nie podľa ich váhy v indexe — pri oceneniach, ktoré ešte plne neodrážajú ich budúcu ziskovosť.
STRATEGY:
The strategy invests in large US companies selected for the quality of their businesses and their capacity for long-term growth: strong competitive positions, and earnings able to grow beyond what the market currently expects. Selection is made security by security through fundamental analysis, and holdings are distributed across sectors.
The portfolio is actively managed and is not constructed to index weights. Positions are reviewed and adjusted as market conditions and expectations change.
It is measured against the S&P 500, which it aims to exceed over a full market cycle. Value is driven by capital appreciation, dividend income and EUR/USD movements.
WHAT SHAPED THE RESULT:
Valuations are stretched, and interest rates no longer support them. This year, the average company in the broad US index has at some point fallen around 21% from its high.
(Please note — a detailed commentary regarding each portfolio is in Appendix.)
WEM Equity Global
CONTEXT:
Industry leadership is distributed across markets, and it changes over time. The companies that set the standard in a sector are listed in North America, Europe and Asia.
OPPORTUNITY:
A global mandate expands the investment options, adds global diversification and appropriate exposure towards other regions and allows each company to be considered on its own merits, independently of the market in which it is listed.
STRATEGY:
The strategy invests in large companies listed worldwide, selected for their competitive position and their capacity for long-term growth. Selection is made security by security through fundamental analysis, and holdings are distributed across
sectors and regions.
The portfolio is actively managed and is not constructed to index weights. Positions are reviewed and adjusted as market conditions and expectations change.
It is measured against the Bloomberg World Large & Mid Cap Index, which it aims to exceed over a full market cycle. Value is driven by capital appreciation, dividend income and currency movements.
WHAT SHAPED THE RESULT:
Much of the portfolio is invested in the build-out of AI infrastructure, so its result follows that investment cycle, in both directions.
WEM Dynamic ETF
CONTEXT:
Leadership among asset classes changes over time. Equities, bonds and commodities each lead in different conditions,
and those conditions are seldom identified in advance.
OPPORTUNITY:
Holding several asset classes together allows the allocation
to be adjusted as conditions develop, rather than committing
the portfolio to a single view of what follows.
STRATEGY:
The strategy holds ETFs across equities, bonds and commodities, selected for the sectors and factors expected to lead. Using funds rather than individual securities keeps each position broad, liquid and inexpensive to adjust.
The allocation is actively managed and adjusted as market conditions and economic trends change, with weights moving between asset classes rather than being held fixed.
Value is derived from capital appreciation across the holdings and from the income generated by the bond and dividend-paying positions.
WHAT SHAPED THE RESULT:
Gains came from several sources at once. Energy led after the supply disruption in the Middle East, and emerging markets came second; smaller companies and grid infrastructure also added. Utilities and bonds were the weakest, with the bonds returning close to nothing.
Balanced portfolios:
Growth with less movement
What are they built for:
Balanced portfolios are built for sober capital appreciation and are best suited for investors for whom a deep drawdown could trigger the tendency to force decisions that might not be optimal long-term.
What you accept:
Smaller expected return, in exchange for less movement and volatility — and more balance and peace of mind along the way.
WEM Balanced
CONTEXT:
Equities and bonds generate their returns through different mechanisms and provide investors an opportunity for better
risk-adjusted return.
OPPORTUNITY:
Holding both together moderates the movement of the portfolio, which makes a long-term position easier to maintain through
periods when asset classes move in opposite directions.
STRATEGY:
The strategy combines high-quality global equities with highly rated US dollar investment-grade bonds. The equities provide
the portfolio’s growth; the bonds provide income and moderate its movement.
The balance between the two is actively managed and adjusted as market conditions and expectations change. It is measured against a 50/50 blend of the S&P 500 and the Bloomberg Euro Treasury index. Value is driven by capital appreciation, dividend and coupon income, and currency movements.
WHAT SHAPED THE RESULT:
The equities carried the result, led by semiconductor and chipmaking-equipment holdings, with energy adding gains after the supply disruption in the Middle East. The bonds, about a third of the portfolio, were close to flat as long-dated yields rose.
WEM Balanced ETF
CONTEXT:
ETFs have made entire markets accessible through a single instrument. A balanced portfolio can now be constructed from broad exposures and make use of the fact that different asset classes generate returns through different mechanisms.
This gives investors an opportunity for better risk-adjusted return.
A balance between equities and bonds moderates the movement of the portfolio, which makes a long-term position easier to maintain through periods when asset classes move in opposite directions.
STRATEGY:
The strategy holds a combination of equity and bond ETFs.
The equity funds provide broad exposure to large listed companies; the bond funds hold government, corporate
and securitised debt. Holding funds rather than individual securities keeps the portfolio broad at every level.
The mix is actively managed, with the balance between equities and bonds reviewed and adjusted as market conditions and expectations change.
Value is driven by capital appreciation, dividend and coupon income, and currency movements.
WHAT SHAPED THE RESULT:
All of the gain came from the equity half, led by large technology companies. The bond half lost money, as long-dated yields rose to their highest level in nearly two decades and hedging the dollar back to the euro added a cost.
WEM flagship portfolios
Source: WEM, Bloomberg Professional Terminal; 31.12.2025 — 31.08.2026. Total return in EUR (gross). WEM Opportunities: Software begins 16.02.2026 and was closed on 12.08.2026; WEM Opportunities: Al Energy Infrastructure begins 01.06.2026.
How to choose your portfolio:
We start from your objectives and constraints:
- Your time horizon and liquidity needs
- Risk tolerance and drawdown sensitivity
- Concentration risk: business, real estate, or single-asset exposure
- Currency, jurisdictional, and tax considerations
- Legacy and governance priorities
The choice of particular portfolio(s) follows from the answers, and so does the balance between portfolios when more than one is held.
The full range, including our Conservative portfolios, is available on the Portfolios page.
Your wealth deserves a strategy — not a product.
A portfolio is only one part of the wealth architecture — we help you design the whole system.
Let’s start with a confidential conversation about your goals, constraints, and structure.
→ Arrange your private conversation HERE.
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Appendix:
Portfolio commentary
This appendix sets out the market conditions of 2026 and, portfolio by portfolio, the positions and sectors behind the results in this article. This appendix reflects our views as at August 31, 2026, which may change, and it is not a recommendation to buy or sell any security.
The year so far
Three conditions shaped markets from January to August 2026:
1. Interest rates stayed high:
US core inflation stood at 3.30% against a 2% target, and the Federal Reserve held its policy rate at 3.50 — 3.75%. Markets moved from pricing cuts to pricing increases. The ten-year Treasury yield stood near 4.73%, and in August the 30-year yield reached a 19-year high. There was no rally in bond prices to capture, and higher long-dated yields weighed on the valuation of companies whose earnings lie further in the future.
2. An energy shock:
A supply disruption in the Middle East lifted energy companies. It also raised fuel costs, both for consumers and for the companies that depend on fuel.
3. The AI investment cycle:
Spending on computing capacity and on the power behind it continued to grow. At the largest platforms, capital spending is on track to exceed roughly three-quarters of a trillion dollars in a single year. Semiconductor, chipmaking equipment and large technology companies were among the main contributors in our two Balanced portfolios. In August, markets began to question how long that spending would last. The companies building their power infrastructure fell sharply, even as their order books reached new records.
WEM Equity US
WEM Equity US is a concentrated portfolio of US equities, built around the quality of companies’ cash flows rather than the market’s narrative. It operates at a point in the cycle where valuations are stretched and interest rates no longer support them. The average constituent of the broad US index has had a drawdown of roughly 21% this year.
The portfolio owns companies that enable, or benefit from, the build-out of computing and electrical infrastructure, along the whole value chain. They are high-quality businesses with pricing power and durable competitive advantages, balanced by a defensive core that generates cash. Their returns rest on revenue that is contracted, physically constrained or paid by volume, rather than promised. The order books show the scale:
- Contracted future revenue at the three leading cloud operators stands at $678bn, $514bn and $496bn
- Orders for power-generation equipment have risen 88% organically, with a backlog of $176bn and 116 gigawatts of turbines
- Revenue from critical-facility construction is up 192%, with 92% of signed backlog in data-centre, semiconductor and advanced-manufacturing sites
The portfolio holds the same development at several points: equipment, custom and merchant chips, and cloud platforms. It adds the power and grid layer, historically under-appreciated, and software and security businesses that need little capital and earn margins above 40%. It has 22 positions, at an average weight of 4.55%. The case is a coherent theme, held through US-listed companies at the point where order backlogs, electricity supply, and unit volumes determine how long cash flows last.
WEM Equity Global
WEM Equity Global invests in one of the largest investment cycles of the decade: the build-out of computing capacity and of the power grid behind it. It does so through high-quality companies with real pricing power, balanced by a defensive core that generates cash.
The platform operators are guiding to capital spending of hundreds of billions of dollars a year, and the figure is still rising. Total infrastructure investment is expected to exceed a trillion dollars next year, and a growing share of it is committed under multi-year contracts.
The portfolio holds the build-out at several points: equipment makers, chip designers and cloud platforms. It adds the power and grid companies, which in our view the market still underrates, and software and security businesses that need little capital and earn margins above 40%. A small number of company-specific growth holdings, and a defensive group of insurers, banks and telecoms companies, complete the portfolio. Its breadth, across regions and along the value chain, means that it does not depend on one country or on one layer of the technology.
The risk is the same as the opportunity. This is a portfolio tied to an investment cycle, and its returns rise and fall with that cycle.
WEM Dynamic ETF
WEM Dynamic ETF je multi-asset stratégia, ktorej alokácia sa prispôsobuje vývoju WEM Dynamic ETF is a multi-asset strategy whose allocation moves as conditions change. It is positioned for a market in which leadership is broadening, the long cycle of dollar strength shows signs of maturing, and electrification is moving from forecasts to spending.
The portfolio returned 12.10% to the end of August and, unusually, gained 3.28% in the final month. Breadth explains both:
- Energy was the strongest performer over the period, a direct consequence of the supply disruption in the Middle East
- Emerging markets delivered the second-strongest return. They also led in August, as capital moved away from the crowded US technology trade
- Smaller companies and grid infrastructure both contributed meaningfully
The two weakest parts of the portfolio were utilities and fixed income. Utilities fell in August on the same regulatory and interest-rate concerns that weighed on the wider power sector. In fixed income, euro corporate bonds, US dollar high yield and hedged US aggregate bonds together returned close to nothing. Among our portfolios, it was the one in which diversification was rewarded in August rather than penalised.
Structurally, the developed-market equity core is hedged back to the euro, so the investor receives the underlying equity return without a directional bet on the dollar. Emerging-market equities and smaller developed-market companies are deliberately left unhedged. They trade at a valuation discount, even though their earnings are expected to grow at roughly twice the pace of developed markets.
Electrification is held through European makers of electrical equipment and regulated utilities. Global electricity consumption is projected to grow around 50% faster this decade than in the last. A balanced set of sector positions and a euro-hedged fixed-income allocation complete the portfolio. The aim is to take part in a broadening market without a large bet on any one currency.
WEM Balanced
WEM Balanced pairs a concentrated, research-led position in one of the largest private investment cycles of the decade with a high-quality income core.
The portfolio returned 6.59% to the end of August, with its two halves pulling in opposite directions. Semiconductor and lithography holdings produced the strongest returns, and energy added a second source of gains after the supply disruption in the Middle East.
Fixed income, roughly a third of assets, was close to flat. With the Federal Reserve on hold all year and the 30-year Treasury yield at a 19-year high in August, there was no rally in bond prices to capture. Short- and intermediate-dated corporate bonds earned their carry; long-dated corporate bonds did not.
August left the portfolio essentially unchanged. Gains in software and semiconductors were offset by a sharp sell-off in AI-related power companies, and by consumer-facing holdings that weakened as fuel costs rose.
The case for the portfolio is the pairing itself. It is built on five themes:
- The tools and materials that the industry cannot replace
- A selective group of platform operators
- The physical foundations of power, buildings and hardware
- Roughly a third of the portfolio in investment-grade corporate bonds across maturities
- Companies that generate cash in most conditions, in payments, energy, healthcare, telecoms and value retail
Through them, the portfolio reaches the investment cycle one or two steps upstream of the best-known technology companies. Corporate bonds again yield above 5%, close to a 15-year high, which means the income allocation is paid to wait.
WEM Balanced ETF
WEM Balanced ETF runs on two engines of equal size: the equity of large, cash-generative companies, and a broad basket of investment-grade bonds hedged back to the euro.
The portfolio returned 7.42% to the end of August, and the entire contribution came from the equity half. Exposure to large technology companies was the main driver. It was supported through August as capital moved back towards the largest AI companies and away from the smaller, more indebted parts of the theme.
The bond half lost money over the period, as long-dated yields reached their highest level in nearly two decades. The currency hedge on the dollar exposure added a further cost, as the euro weakened only modestly. Half of the assets therefore produced a negative return, in a year that has otherwise favoured risk assets.
Our central view is that earnings, rather than sentiment, are carrying this market. Corporate profits have grown faster than share prices over the past year. As a result, both the broad market and its technology segment have become modestly cheaper on trailing earnings, even as index levels reached new highs. At the largest platforms, cloud revenue is growing at rates from the high 20s to above .
The distinguishing feature is the structure, hedged to the euro and built on two engines. It takes part in a market led by profits, while its bonds, for the first time in over a decade, are paid to wait. Their underlying yield to maturity is above 5%.
→ If you have additional questions,
please reach out to us HERE.
