Pictet Asset Management’s Hong Kong-managed Pictet Strategic Income Fund, a diversified vehicle with about $3.5 billion in assets under management, reallocated roughly 30 percent of its cash-like holdings into artificial intelligence–related equities over a matter of weeks, focusing mainly on Asian and US-listed companies, according to Bloomberg.
Timing and strategy
Following early-April US–Iran ceasefire talks, the fund increased its equity weighting to about 65 percent. The investment team targeted primarily undervalued companies and firms tied to AI infrastructure.
Performance and holdings
The shift paid off in the short term: the fund outperformed roughly 90 percent of its peers over the past month and posted an annual return of about 43 percent. Among its largest positions are South Korea’s SK Hynix, whose share price has risen 194 percent so far in 2026, and Samsung Electronics, up more than 138 percent. These two chipmakers accounted for nearly two-thirds of the Kospi index’s gains this year. The portfolio also includes shares of Alphabet, Apple and Nvidia.
Why the move toward tech?
Pictet’s more risk-on stance reflects a broader change in market sentiment: expectations of de-escalation in the Middle East have encouraged investors to reduce defensive positions, redirecting capital toward AI infrastructure-related equities. Supply-chain bottlenecks have also supported investment in companies positioned to benefit from increased demand.
Manager commentary
Andy Wong, lead portfolio manager of the fund, said the team uses a comprehensive “full-stack” approach to map opportunities, including monitoring bottlenecks in the supply chain. He noted that alongside computing capacity, new opportunities are emerging at the level of operating systems and applications, and cited rapid revenue growth at Anthropic as an example.
Interest has grown not only in market-leading technology firms but also in lesser-known AI suppliers, as evidenced by recent record highs in shares of Samsung Electro-Mechanics, a multilayer ceramic capacitor maker, and Ibiden, a producer of carrier boards.
Reduction of safe-haven assets
Alongside the tilt toward technology names, Pictet reduced the weight of traditional safe-haven assets in the portfolio. Although the fund had built defensive positions in March amid market turmoil related to the Iran conflict, it relied on index hedges rather than gold. Lorraine Kuo, co-portfolio manager, explained that the team did not buy gold this year because they had already observed last year’s sharp price rise and detected speculative behavior at some Chinese gold dealers. They believe gold’s diversification role has diminished.
Legal note
This article does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation.
Tags: investment fund, Iran, artificial intelligence, equity markets, Samsung, risk appetite, United States, supply chain, chipmaker, tech stocks
