The 249th Global Investment Leaders Summit, concluding the investment year of 2025, convened a global assembly of venture capitalists, family offices, and fund managers. In a climate marked by geopolitical upheaval, technological disruption, and capital market bifurcation, the central debate was unambiguous: how does one allocate capital intelligently when traditional predictability has evaporated?
The strategic evolution was revealed: investors are pivoting decisively from speculative hype to pragmatic, resilience-focused investing.
Redefining Strategy: Pragmatism Over Prediction
A key insight was the acceptance of volatility as the new constant. Investors are looking to prioritize due diligence and business model integrity instead of speculative forecasts. Werner Schuenemann, Managing Partner at Xandance & Partners, framed this shift: “The world has changed into something a lot more different with norms pretty much now upside down that make any prediction much more difficult.” This environment rewards businesses built for durability, not just disruption.
Multiple participants echoed the view that capital is increasingly aligned with teams capable of execution under pressure. Founders demonstrating operational discipline, realistic growth assumptions, and the ability to manage capital efficiently were repeatedly cited as outperforming those reliant on momentum-driven narratives. In this sense, resilience was discussed not as a defensive posture, but as an active competitive advantage.
Focal Points for Strategic Capital Allocation in 2026
This framework of pragmatic, team-centric investing focuses capital on specific, high-conviction areas:
In an AI-driven era, unique data is a very competitive barrier. Manuk Hergnyan, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Granada's Ventures, is bullish on “companies that have access to proprietary data coming from the biological and physical world,” highlighting a move toward defensible innovation over easily replicable technology.
Huge, tangible infrastructure needs are drawing significant attention. A Managing Partner at an investment firm, pointed to the “multi-decade multi-trillion dollar infrastructure spend not just into data centers but into the US grid,” a trend that has been catalyzed by AI's energy demands and represents a concrete, long-term investment theme.
Beyond developed markets, investors noted infrastructure opportunities from emerging economies, particularly in energy, digital connectivity, and transportation. These investments were repeatedly described as essential, non-discretionary, and less sensitive to short-term market cycles.
Reflecting the global landscape, more specific sectors such as defense technology have surged in priority. Pasi Pohjala, Founder and CEO at ATG Consulting confirmed that “Defense tech... has been really the hottest vertical segment in Northern Europe this year,” indicating capital following unambiguous, non-cyclical demand driven by geopolitical shifts.
This theme has extended beyond traditional defense applications such as cybersecurity, energy security, infrastructure, as well as dual use technologies. A few investors highlighted that geopolitical risk isn’t a peripheral consideration, but instead a crucial input into capital allocation decisions.
Crucial human needs formed a major investment thesis. Craig Astil, Managing Director & CEO at Caason Group, highlighted expectations for “advancements in the areas of energy... in the nuclear sector and certainly in advanced food manufacturing,” tying into broader health and longevity trends.
With higher capital costs, efficiency is paramount. Geri Kirilova, Partner of Laconia Group, predicted a shift “away from pure software investments,” moving towards “tech-enabled services” and “innovative business models that can balance capital efficiency with stronger defensibility.”
Many speakers emphasized looking beyond traditional hubs. Dirk Kohlen, Co-founder and Managing Director of Sustainable Mining & Infrastructure Group, noted Africa's “really strong” growth fundamentals highlighted a trend toward larger, more complex corridor-based infrastructure projects, Meanwhile, Anneliese Sound, Managing Director of Future Potential Management, stressed the need for the EU to overcome “national interests” and mobilize capital more effectively to compete, noting that the bloc is “too overregulated” and lacks the large private equities and clear political leadership needed to fund essential transitions in energy, logistics, and defense at scale.
Alongside these areas,investors pointed out a sustained demand for oncology, diagnostics, biotech platforms, and healthcare efficiency solutions. Similarly, human capital themes — including workforce skilling and productivity — were identified as structurally underinvested but increasingly critical to economic stability.
Conclusion: Intelligent Capital in an Unpredictable World
The collective insight is that successful investing in 2026 is more about executing a strategy of intelligent de-risking. This means embracing the duality of the current climate, where, as Charles Sidman, Founder and Managing Partner at ECS Capital Partners, LLC, noted, short-term turmoil also presents opportunity. The smart capital revealed at the summit seeks resilience which is found in exceptional teams, defensible business moats such as proprietary data, and clear mandates to solve basic infrastructure as well as security challenges. In today's landscape, a pragmatic and prepared strategy is the closest equivalent to certainty.
