2025 Investment Forum Recap

Hightower Louisville Investment Forum

The Hightower Investment Solutions team extends a warm thank you to all advisors and guests who joined us in Louisville, Kentucky, for this year’s Hightower Investment Forum. Over three days of engaging discussions and panels, we heard from strategists, economists, and thought leaders across public and private markets. The tone throughout was decidedly optimistic, reflecting confidence in the durability of U.S. growth, the strength of corporate earnings, and the long-term opportunities driven by technological innovation and global transformation.

Economy & Markets

Dan Greenhaus, Chief Strategist at Solus, emphasized that despite a year of rate cut sentiment volatility, the U.S. economy continues to avoid recession, supported by GDP growth tracking above 2% and corporate earnings entering positive revision territory. S&P 500 earnings growth expectations have risen into the mid-to-high single digits for the year, with full-year EPS growth estimates trending around 8%–10%.^[1] Market concentration remains a point of caution, with the top five companies responsible for over 25% of index performance, but Greenhaus stressed that broadening participation is beginning, especially as sectors tied to capital investment and reshoring stabilize. Equity index valuations, while elevated at roughly 22x forward earnings, remain anchored by durable profitability and margin preservation.

Sectors, Earnings & Corporate Outlook

Stephanie Link and Tim McCusker examined corporate fundamentals, highlighting that companies executing productivity initiatives are targeting 50 to 100 basis points of margin expansion over the next 12–18 months.^[2] Industrial sector forecasts reflect mid-single-digit revenue growth, supported by durable demand in energy infrastructure and capital equipment. Consumer spending remains split, with premium brands maintaining mid-to-high single-digit sales growth, while lower-tier discretionary categories show stagnation. Overall, capital expenditure trends are rising as companies reinvest in operational scale and supply chain resilience.

Federal Reserve Policy & International Growth

During the live Market Musings session with Stephanie Link, Mike Shea, and Lee Majkrzak, we focused on a shifting policy environment in which the Federal Reserve is increasingly expected to cut rates rather than maintain restrictive levels. With inflation easing from prior peaks above 6% to closer to 3%^[3], growing confidence that rate reductions would go as the Fed balances towards labor market struggles. While concerns about the Fed’s institutional independence were mentioned, the Fed’s credibility remains intact, pointing to its willingness to tolerate near-term criticism in favor of longer-term price stability. The collective view emphasized that while rate cuts are expected, they will be incremental and framed as normalization, not stimulus, reinforcing a data-dependent and credibility-conscious policy path.

The conversation shifted to a discussion on international growth. While the U.S. continues to outperform, we noted that select Asian economies push toward 4% growth, with China showing strong signs of recovery as supply chains recalibrate.^[4] However, opportunities abroad are not in broad regional exposure, but in targeted companies aligned with manufacturing revival, AI infrastructure, and commodity stabilization. While geopolitical risk remains a structural backdrop, global equities remain an expanding, not contracting, opportunity set, particularly as monetary policy differentials shift in the year ahead.

Market Strategy & Portfolio Positioning

Stephanie Link, along with CNBC colleagues, Adam Parker, Mark Newton, and Shannon Saccoccia met to discuss portfolio construction grounded in earnings strength and capital discipline. They noted that more than 70% of S&P companies have beaten earnings expectations in recent quarters, driven by cost efficiencies and pricing leverage. Free cash flow margins across leading sectors remain above 10%, supporting shareholder returns through buybacks and dividend increases.^[5] They emphasized rotating incrementally toward industrials and healthcare, where earnings visibility appears stronger. They also pointed to cash levels above $7 trillion sitting in money markets^[6], underscoring that latent equity demand should rate clarity improve, reinforcing the case for staying fully invested.

Technology, AI & Cybersecurity

Stephanie Link, Rodney Zemmel, and Stephen West led technology discussions centered on AI as a long-cycle capital transformation. AI-related corporate capital expenditure is expected to grow 15%–20% annually, with semiconductor demand projected to expand beyond $200 billion in AI-specific infrastructure over the coming years. Cybersecurity additionally remains essential, with enterprise security budgets rising an estimated 12%–15% year-over-year due to increased threat vectors.^[7] Data center investment is accelerating in tandem with AI, with hyperscale data facilities reporting double-digit demand increases for power capacity. While valuations in mega-cap technology remain above 25x earnings, panelists asserted that continued revenue and free cash flow growth justify premium pricing.

Private Credit & Alternative Investments

In an exciting new development, Robert Picard provided an update and demo on the Private Market Exchange (PMX). This new platform will serve to centralize and streamline how Hightower advisors access, subscribe to, and manage private market investments and will eliminate many of the pain points advisors face today. While the full platform is set to launch in 2026, an Interim PMX Portal is available for subscriptions to Lead Edge, which launched last week with subscriptions due November 14^th.

A forward-looking discussion between Robert Picard, Darah Samuels, and Kunal Sah explored the rapid growth and evolution of private markets, which are now projected to reach nearly $30 trillion in global market capitalization within the next decade.^[8] This expansion represents a democratization of access, as platforms like Hightower increasingly enable clients and advisors to participate in what was once a highly institutional asset class. Private markets have historically delivered 20–30% higher returns with lower volatility compared to many traditional public strategies, making them an increasingly critical part of long-term portfolio construction. The conversation underscored that advisors who can effectively communicate both the risk and opportunity of these assets are positioned to capture meaningful value for clients in the years ahead.

So Long, Louisville

We thank all our speakers, attendees, and partners for joining us at the 2025 Hightower Louisville Investment Forum. We look forward to continuing the conversation and to another strong year ahead for investors and innovators alike.

Stephanie Link’s TV Schedule:

Sources:

^[1] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[2] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[3] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[4] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[5] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[6] FRED, as of September 2025

^[7] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

^[8] Bloomberg, as of October 2025

Disclosures

Investment Solutions is a group comprised of investment professionals registered with Hightower Advisors, LLC, an SEC registered investment adviser. Some investment professionals may also be registered with Hightower Securities, LLC, member FINRA and SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Hightower Advisors, LLC. Securities are offered through Hightower Securities, LLC. This is not an offer to buy or sell securities. No investment process is free of risk, and there is no guarantee that the investment process or the investment opportunities referenced herein will be profitable. Past performance is neither indicative nor a guarantee of future results. The investment opportunities referenced herein may not be suitable for all investors. All data or other information referenced herein is from sources believed to be reliable. Any opinions, news, research, analyses, prices, or other data or information contained in this presentation is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. Investment Solutions and Hightower Advisors, LLC or any of its affiliates make no representations or warranties express or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of the information or for statements or errors or omissions, or results obtained from the use of this information. Investment Solutions and Hightower Advisors, LLC assume no liability for any action made or taken in reliance on or relating in any way to this information The information is provided as of the date referenced in the document. Such data and other information are subject to change without notice. This document was created for informational purposes only; the opinions expressed herein are solely those of the author(s) and do not represent those of Hightower Advisors, LLC, or any of its affiliates.