A wealth management firm overseeing $48 billion in assets believes that the S&P 500 will end the year at a much higher level.
In a new CNBC interview, the Indianapolis-based Sanctuary Wealth says conditions are conspiring to push risk assets such as the stock market to new record-high levels by the end of the year.
-->Mary Ann Bartels, the firm’s chief investment strategist, says investors are not prepared for a huge upside burst for the S&P 500.
“We need growth and AI (artificial intelligence), and I think it’s coming. I think it’s going to significantly impact corporate earnings, productivity, and it’s going to show up in the equity markets.
It’s not just a bull market here. It’s a bull market globally. You’re seeing European markets break out. I think you’re going to get the Japanese market to break out. It’s a global secular bull market driven by all this new innovation from AI, to blockchain, to crypto, to Web3.
And I don’t think all of this is yet priced in to the market, and you can see, we’re already in a summer melt-up. The market is not positioned for this yet.”
Bartels says she agrees with the sentiment that technological advancements in AI and Web3 will usher in a disinflationary trend, forcing the Federal Reserve to ease monetary policy.
“I do think rates are trending down, and can go much lower than people expect. Right now, we’re in heightened fear that tariffs are going to bring inflation, and I think over time, especially trending into next year, we can get rates down.
And that’s going to be another stimulus for risk assets, for the equity market, for the crypto market.”
As for her price targets for the S&P 500, Bartels says,
“I’m comfortable getting to year-end at 7,000, and I think in the first quarter of next year, we might even be at 7,200.”
Sanctuary Wealth is an independent wealth management platform that works with 495 licensed professionals and 120 partner firms across 30 states.
As of Friday’s close, the S&P 500 is trading at 6,296 points.
