Irvine, CA, Sept. 03, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Apriem Advisors, an independent fiduciary wealth management firm serving Orange County families for over 28 years, today released its market outlook for the remainder of 2026, citing continued economic resilience alongside rising caution as markets head into the fourth quarter. 
A Resilient Economy, Powered by AI 
Apriem remains optimistic on current economic conditions. The American consumer has held up well, the job market has remained healthy, and consumers have shown tolerance for higher oil prices and inflation. The firm points to continued spending on AI infrastructure as a significant contributor to the current economic expansion; spending that has supported growth across sectors well beyond technology. 

The firm has concerns regarding the elevated government spending and its potential effect on the intermediate and long end of the Treasury yield curve. Apriem continues to position fixed income portfolios defensively, keeping duration well under benchmark and shifting away from U.S. Treasuries toward investment grade asset backed securities.

Positioning: Overweight Equities, Cyclical Tilt 
Across most strategies, Apriem remains overweight equities, with  tilt toward cyclicaly oriented areas including technology, industrials, and emerging markets. 

The Risk Most Investors Are Overlooking 
Asked what risk investors may be underappreciating heading into year end, Apriem pointed to a potential slowdown in revenue growth from some of the major large language models (LLMs) amid rising competition from a growing field of other LLMs. While the firm expects AI usage to keep expanding, it views the sector’s leading LLMs  as newly vulnerable to shifts in consumer preference, compute costs, and corporate spending. A pullback in AI infrastructure spending, the firm noted, could trigger a reversal of the flywheel effect that has powered a significant portion of this year’s growth. 

Guidance to Clients: Diversify Sources of Return 
Apriem’s core guidance to high-net-worth clients heading into year-end is to avoid correlation of alpha and diversify sources of return. The firm points to investors who concentrated in the memory chip trade earlier this year, which experienced significant outperformance before that momentum reversed. Apriem is encouraging clients to look toward areas of the market that have been outperforming for different, uncorrelated reasons, an environment made easier this year by periods of broad outperformance in small cap, international, and emerging market equities relative to the S&P 500. 

A Word of Caution 
Benjamin Lau, CFA®, Chief Investment Officer & Partner at Apriem Advisors, offered a more pointed view heading into the final months of the year: 

“We’re coming out of a quiet summer, and the market has been unusually calm. As we head into the midterm elections with  a new, less communicative Federal Reserve Chair, we’d urge caution on equities. Investors have historically grown skittish ahead of election cycles, and we believe this year could follow a similar pattern. Combined with a Fed that may offer less forward guidance than markets are used to, we think conditions are in place for a pickup in volatility.” 

The Bottom Line 
Hold onto your hat. Conditions could grow more unpredictable as markets head into the fourth quarter.  

About Apriem Advisors 
Apriem Advisors is an independent, fee only fiduciary wealth management firm based in Irvine, California, serving more than 1,000 households with more than 28 years in business. The firm has been recognized among the CNBC Financial Advisor 100 and maintains a client retention rate above 99%*. 

Disclosure: *Retention rate as of 7/14/26. 

Advisory services are offered through Apriem Advisors, a registered investment adviser with the SEC. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training, and Apriem may only provide advice in jurisdictions where properly registered or exempt.  

The views expressed are those of Apriem Advisors as of the date of publication and are subject to change without notice. This material is provided for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as individualized investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security or investment strategy. Forward-looking statements, including expectations regarding markets, economic conditions, interest rates, volatility, artificial intelligence and other market developments, are based on current expectations and assumptions, and actual results may differ materially. Investing involves risk, including the possible loss of principal. 

The 2025 CNBC FA 100 List recognizes the top registered investment advisory (RIA) firms across the United States. The ranking is based on proprietary methodology developed by CNBC in partnership with AccuPoint Data Solutions. The annual list evaluates RIAs on a variety of factors, including years in business, compliance record, number of investment advisors with the firm, and assets under management, among other quantitative measures from 2024. Apriem did not pay a fee in exchange for inclusion. However, Apriempurchased a license for usage of the CNBC logo only after learning that we were selected to be a part of the list, to market the recognition across the Apriem Advisor platforms and promotional materials. https://www.cnbc.com/2025/10/01/best-financial-advisors.html 

For more info/disclosure: https://www.apriem.com/disclosures/ 

Contact Info

Apriem Advisors
bri@apriem.com
+1 949-253-8888


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