Investors should consider diversifying their portfolio beyond stocks and bonds in 2026, including moving into gold and private credit, according to BlackRock. The asset manager anticipates another good year for risk assets, although selectivity will be key due to rich valuations, labor market weakness and uncertainty about the path of interest rates, said Gargi Chaudhuri, chief investment and portfolio strategist for the Americas and co-author of BlackRock's 2026 investment directions outlook . At the same time, bonds returned to their traditional role as a portfolio ballast, with the belly of the curve in particular showing more of a negative correlation to stocks, she told CNBC. That is a shift from the last couple of years when stocks and bonds began having a positive correlation, moving largely in the same direction. But today's negative correlation is less stable than it was before Covid, she noted. "You can have that ballast, but you also need some other sources of diversification in a portfolio," Chaudhuri said. Consider non-traditional assets Investors, depending on their risk tolerance, could consider more non-traditional assets, such as private credit, she suggested. "Given the number of companies that are staying private for longer, is that a source of risk that is appropriate?" Chaudhuri said. A small allocation to gold can also be a hedge on geopolitical risks and concerns about the U.S. dollar, she added. The yellow metal also has a very low correlation to tech stocks, she noted. The price of the precious metal soared more than 60% in 2025. Some $48 billion flowed into gold exchange-traded funds last year, up from $29 billion in 2020, according to State Street Investment Management. IAU 1Y mountain iShares Gold Trust ETF's one-year performance Chaudhuri believes gold demand will continue, although prices may not go up in a straight line, as central banks use it as a reserve store of value. "Gold did show a lot of volatility in price action," she said of 2025. "But historically, if you don't look at 2025 but more broadly, adding that gold to your portfolio is actually a volatility reducer in your portfolio —which, if you look at a longer period of time, can be the case," she said. In addition, some exposure to Bitcoin can also be a diversifier, Chaudhuri said. While crypto prices were volatile last year, bitcoin's long-term drivers remain, including institutional adoption and regulatory clarity. Investors should also be diversified within their bond portfolio , she said. That includes intermediate-duration Treasurys, corporate credit and emerging market debt. "We expect a weaker U.S. dollar, lower developed-market rates, easier global financial conditions, improving sovereign balance sheets and prudent fiscal policies to support hard and local currency [emerging market] debt," Chaudhuri wrote in the report. Expanding beyond AI stocks In equities, artificial intelligence still rules the day, with the data-center buildout in the early stages, BlackRock said. Yet this year, there are more opportunities to expand beyond the largest technology companies, Chaudhuri noted. The second half of 2025 saw evidence of broadening market participation, and earnings growth is strengthening outside of AI, she said. In fact, the gap between earnings growth expectations in growth and value stocks is closing, she said. IVE 1Y mountain iShares S & P 500 Value ETF's one-year performance In 2024, the S & P 500 Growth Index saw 29% earnings-per-share growth year over year, compared to 2% for the S & P 500 Value Index. Expectations for 2025 are that the year ended with 20% annual EPS growth for growth stocks and 8% for value stocks. In 2026, however, that gap narrows, with EPS growth of 19% year over year for growth stocks and 12% for value, per BlackRock. What's key isn't the absolute level of growth, "even though the number is good, but it's really that difference. The difference between the growth and value earnings is shrinking compared to both 2024 and 2025," she said. Investors can get tech exposure via an S & P 500 ETF and perhaps add some value ETFs for diversification, Chaudhuri said.
