Value Investor Insight: Balancing Act
In an interview with Value Investor Insight, Allspring portfolio managers Bryant VanCronkhite and Shane Zweck describe why they spend more time on balance sheets than they do income statements and why they believe the market is more mispriced than it's been in a decade.
Key takeaways
- Look beyond earnings: Balance-sheet improvements and capital allocation often create value the market may be missing.
- More market mispricing today: Passive investing and thematic trading are creating opportunities for active stock pickers.
- Housing is a key theme: Several of Allspring's highest-conviction ideas are tied to a recovery in U.S. housing turnover rather than new home construction.
- AI requires selectivity: Focus on businesses positioned to potentially benefit from AI while avoiding those that may have disrupted business models.
- Business transformation matters: Companies improving their quality, growth profile, or recurring revenues may offer underappreciated long-term value.
Related insights
As global investors look to broaden their opportunity set, emerging markets small caps may offer a differentiated path to growth, diversification, and active management alpha.
A risk-on rally fueled by AI and earnings strength set the tone, but elevated expectations and macro uncertainty may shape a more volatile path ahead. Allspring’s Head of Systematic Core Equity, John Campbell, recaps second-quarter market performance and highlights the importance of diversification and risk management.
AI investing is moving beyond the Magnificent 7. As adoption spreads, opportunities are emerging across the broader ecosystem—from infrastructure to real-world applications—making a more diversified, multi-layered approach increasingly important.
Despite heightened geopolitical volatility, emerging markets remain undervalued and under-owned, with long term structural tailwinds creating compelling opportunities for active investors.
John Campbell reviews Q1 volatility, emphasizing risk management and strategic focus amid uncertainty.
Alison Shimada highlights emerging markets' resilience, global importance, and investment opportunities amid geopolitical challenges.
As passive investing dominates market flows, John Campbell, head of Systematic Core Equity at Allspring Global Investments, examines the risks of peak passive concentration and the case for broader diversification.
Emerging markets (EM) have undergone a structural shift, with stronger external balances, rising credit quality, and broadening earnings growth reshaping their risk profile and investment appeal in 2026.
Listen to John Campbell from our Systematic Core Equity team discuss how multiple perspectives reveal the full picture of risk.
John Campbell reviews 2025's market performance, highlights elevated factor risks, and emphasizes a multidimensional approach to risk management and diversification for 2026.
Bryant VanCronkhite highlights the evolving AI landscape, a shift in small-cap market dynamics, and the potential for a massive multi-industry upgrade cycle driving economic and market growth in 2026.
Alison Shimada and Derrick Irwin discuss why now presents a pivotal time for investors looking at the asset class. Discover the shifting global dynamics and themes shaping the future of emerging markets (EMs) from two different perspectives.
The global landscape is shifting, and structural tailwinds are lifting emerging market (EM) equities. Investors capitalizing on these trends could benefit from transformative growth opportunities for years to come.