First Eagle Investments examines why small caps may be entering a stronger period after years of underperformance. The article highlights earnings growth, software-enabled efficiencies, AI-driven opportunities, policy tailwinds and a resurgent IPO market as potential supports.
Learn More First Eagle Investments examines why small caps may be entering a stronger period after years of underperformance. The article highlights earnings growth, software-enabled efficiencies, AI-driven opportunities, policy tailwinds and a resurgent IPO market as potential supports.
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While a number of broad equity indexes established new all-time highs early in the new year, rumors of war and the war itself weighed on investor sentiment.
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While not immune to the shift in investor sentiment during the first quarter, small caps appear to be amid a resurgence following a multi-year period of large cap dominance.
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Investors were first drawn to direct lending due to its rare combination of high current income, limited volatility and strong lender protections.
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Deputy Head and Portfolio Manager of Global Value Christian Heck explains his views on how tensions between the US and its traditional Western allies highlight the importance of building resilience through bottom-up selection, diversification and a strategic allocations.
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During the fourth quarter, the municipal bond market continued to rebound from the challenges of the first half of 2025.
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Risk assets in general capped off a strong year with a solid fourth quarter. In contrast with recent trends, non-US equity markets led the way in 2025.
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There’s a fine line between confidence and hubris, and we believe the low risk perception evident in certain markets entering 2026 leaves them particularly vulnerable to the latter.
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As we start off the New Year, we are pleased to share Reflections, First Eagle Investments’ annual publication offering perspectives from our four investment teams. In a market environment defined by full valuations, shifting policy dynamics and persistent macro uncertainty, we believe this collection provides useful context for investors evaluating portfolio positioning and long-term objectives.
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Structured credit, once thought of as a short-term remedy for chronically low interest rates, has become a key strategic allocation for many insurers even as base rates have risen.
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As credit market conditions have continued to buoy asset prices, they also reflect a growing imbalance between investor perception and, in some cases, underlying liquidity and credit fundamentals.
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The technical headwinds that held back municipal bond performance in the second quarter finally began to ease in the third, setting the stage for a September rally.
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Shaking off the second quarter’s volatility, equity markets marched steadily higher throughout the third.
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Asset-based lending (ABL) facilities—corporate loans supported by the borrower’s assets as collateral—have long represented a differentiated, if somewhat niche, source of return for investors.
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Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst Christian Heck explains why the Global Value team believes that expectations for rate cuts suggest more potential downside than upside, and how the team’s bottom-up approach helps identify opportunities in an investment environment characterized by historically high valuations.
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The Russell 2000 Index is up less than 8% in total since my team joined First Eagle in late April of 2021, while the S&P 500 Index is up almost 65% over that same period. Thus, it’s easy to understand why many small cap managers can feel diminished, sharing Fredo’s sentiment in an industry dominated by Michaels.
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First Eagle Investments (“First Eagle”), an independent, privately owned investment management firm, today announced the closing of a majority investment in the company by private equity funds managed by Genstar Capital (“Genstar”), a leading private equity firm focused on targeted segments of the financial services, software, healthcare and industrials sectors. First announced in March, the deal bolsters First Eagle’s ongoing strategy of investing in its core business while also thoughtfully expanding the range of high-quality, differentiated investment solutions available to clients globally.
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While the resumption of mutual fund and exchange-traded fund (ETF) inflows after April’s dislocation helped municipal bonds recover, the asset class generally underperformed Treasuries and most other fixed income sectors for the quarter; longer-duration and lower-quality issues were particularly challenged. Both the S&P Municipal Bond High Yield Index and the S&P Municipal Yield Index, which includes bonds across the quality spectrum, declined 1.0% during the period, while the S&P Short Duration Municipal Yield Index moved 1.0% higher. For context, the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index gained 1.2%.
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The “sell America” stock trade that emerged in mid-February reached a crescendo with Trump’s April 2 announcement of (not actually) “reciprocal” tariffs on trading partners the world over.
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Though the early-April “Liberation Day” tariffs announcement struck a discordant note, a delay in the most punitive levies proved to be sweet music to investors even as trade noise continued to reverberate throughout the quarter.
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While many of the dynamics that battered the healthcare industry in the aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic have eased, new challenges with highly uncertain impacts have emerged. First Eagle Alternative Credit’s (FEAC’s) Garrett Stephen, senior managing director and co-head of origination on the Direct Lending team, and Jeff Kovanda, managing director and sector portfolio manager on the Tradable Credit team, leverage nearly 40 years of combined experience to offer their outlooks for the healthcare sector and where they see opportunities and risks for credit investors in the space.
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Following a long period of US leadership, there are signs that non-US equity markets—and the broad appeal of global diversification—may be mounting a comeback.
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After struggling with both supply and demand challenges amid Federal Reserve rate hikes in 2022–23, the municipal bond market came storming back in 2024.
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Though only introduced a few decades ago, structured credit has evolved into one of the largest segments of the US fixed income market.
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Many of the diversified equity portfolios managed by First Eagle’s Global Value team maintain a strategic allocation to gold and gold-related securities.
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Bitcoin, the first cryptocurrency, was introduced to the world in 2008, just after the collapse of Lehman Brothers and at a time when public confidence in traditional financial institutions was particularly low.
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Uncertainty around tariffs has caused volatility across financial markets, but there’s no “one-size-fits-all” answer to how the tariffs will impact different market segments and sectors. FEAC’s Chief Investment Officer of Direct Lending Michelle Handy explains why the lower middle market tends to be more insulated from the direct impact of tariffs, why deal flow volumes in this space may likely remain intact, and how the team’s all-weather approach to lending to non-cyclical businesses with high free cash flow and lower capex may provide resilience in a recessionary environment.
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The first quarter ushered in a change of US political leadership and with it a change in global equity market dynamics.
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Shifting macroeconomic, geopolitical and regulatory forces have placed insurers at the intersection of risk and opportunity in 2025.
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John Miller, head and chief investment officer of the Municipal Credit team, provides his outlook on municipal credit, where the team is finding opportunities and impact of concerns such as tariffs and inflation.
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Although middle market direct lending volumes have firmed relative to a moribund 2022–23, easier financial conditions have yet to unleash the massive wave of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) activity needed to truly open the floodgates.
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With supply constrained and demand persistent amid high home prices and high mortgage rates, the secular themes supporting the US housing market remain intact.
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First Eagle Investments’ Julien Albertini explains why scarcity is reasserting the strategic value of real assets. The discussion explores the shift in market leadership from capital-light businesses to companies that control scarce tangible assets.
Read More Portfolio Manager and Head of the Global Value team Matt McLennan explains why the conflict in Iran has abruptly reversed the “Goldilocks” scenario that markets had priced in and how gold has been efficiently pricing in the risk of war and renewing its role as a monetary reserve.
Read More Michelle Handy, chief investment officer of direct lending at Napier Park Global Capital, explains why she believes that recent tensions in private credit reflect cyclical stress—not a structural breakdown in the asset class—and why these concerns reinforce the importance of manager selection, underwriting, diversification and understanding how vehicle structures impact liquidity.
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In this quarter's Views from the Global Value team, Portfolio Manager and Senior Research Analyst Adrian Jones explains why he believes investors are embracing opportunities beyond the US as secular forces provide durable support for fundamentals in Europe and Asia, and how the direction of US interest rates and the US dollar may influence returns in 2026.
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Deputy Head and Portfolio Manager of the Global Value team Julien Albertini explains why the team remains focused on risk amid widespread complacency and how a disciplined, bottom-up approach focused on quality businesses helps to manage risk and build resilience.
Read More John Miller, head and chief investment officer of the Municipal Credit team, shares his outlook on Fed policy and inflation heading for 2026, and explains how sound fundamentals and attractive valuation potentially set the stage for a strong muni rebound as technical headwinds begin to ease.
Read More Garrett Stephen, Senior Managing Director, Co-Head of Origination at Napier Park Global Capital talks to CJ Doherty, Director of Market Analysis at LSEG LPC, about private credit in 2025 and what is in store for 2026. "I'd say on the AI side, it's really a big focus at the business level for us on making sure that we're implementing AI more broadly within our work streams to stay ahead of the curve,” Stephen said. "If you have a large workforce and maybe not every individual within that workforce is productive, and you can utilize technology to make your core employees more productive, that potentially could cause some of that workforce to decline in those mature or declining businesses."
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Noelle “Elle” Sisco of First Eagle Napier Park discusses how insurers can approach structured and alternative credit, with insights on collateral quality, active management, liquidity, and navigating late-cycle credit markets.
Read More Deputy Head of the Global Value team and Portfolio Manager Julien Albertini explains how the concurrent rally of gold and equities may signal underlying risks and how the Global Value team employs gold as a potential long duration hedge.
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Matt McLennan joined the NYSE ETF Central Podcast to discuss the Global Value team's philosophy of resilient wealth creation, explore today’s macro backdrop of inflation, debt and geopolitical risk and explain why gold remains a critical hedge.
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Jonathan Dorfman was featured on the podcast "Credit Exchange with Lisa Lee," where he discussed the Trump administration’s shock-and-awe approach to tariff negotiations and why stepping back from its more extreme positions was a prudent move.
Read MoreAll figures related to assets under management (AUM) are preliminary figures based on management’s estimates and as such are subject to change.
As of 31-Mar-2026.
*Total AUM shown is pro forma to include the acquisition of Diamond Hill Capital Management, which closed on April 22, 2026. All figures related to assets under management (AUM) are preliminary figures based on management’s estimates and as such are subject to change. Some offerings may not be available in all jurisdictions. * The total AUM listed above represents the combined AUM and assets under advisement of First Eagle Investment Management, LLC, First Eagle Separate Account Management, LLC, Napier Park Global Capital (Napier Park), Regatta Loan Management (RLM, an advisory affiliate of Napier Park), Napier Park CMV (CMV, an advisory affiliate of Napier Park), First Eagle Alternative Credit (FEAC), and Diamond Hill Capital Management, LLC as of 31-Mar-2026. It includes $3.6 billion in committed/non-fee-paying capital from Napier Park, inclusive of assets managed by RLM and CMV, and $0.9 billion in committed/non-fee-paying capital from FEAC. For CLO warehouses, AUM represents maximum commitment (loan par value). As of 5-Sep-2025, Napier Park and FEAC investment activities are unified under Napier Park’s brand and management. First Eagle Alternative Credit, LLC is a distinct registered investment advisor within the Napier Park platform, acting in sub-advisory capacity to a number of First Eagle’s registered funds.