5 shocking predictions for 2026 and beyond

Alphabet, the parent company of Google, appears to be losing the AI war. ChatGPT has captured over 25% of search time, the company has faced public AI embarrassments, and it's spending over $100 billion in capital expenditure – more than 20% of revenue – trying to catch up. 

But Vihari Ross sees Alphabet as the buying opportunity of the decade. 

"Commercial search is what matters,” she says. “When people are searching with an intent to buy, where they're searching, where an ad can actually be served in response to that query," she explains.

So when users engage with AI, they ask follow-up questions, generating three to five times more ad-serving opportunities per session, therefore creating more advertising opportunities, not fewer.

Ross argues that Alphabet’s ecosystem of products - such as YouTube, Gmail and Android - already reaches billions of users monthly. AI integration across these platforms drives engagement and monetisation, and its operating momentum extends to Google Cloud and Waymo.

With a 20% discount to the S&P 500 and faster growth than peers, Alphabet represents what Ross calls “a classic mispriced opportunity” for pragmatic investors seeking growth at a relative discount.

Prediction 2: AI will completely reshape the $6 billion mortgage broking industry

Speaker: Stephen Martin, Challenger IM

For mortgage brokers, business has never been better – three-quarters of Australian mortgages now flow through brokers, up from 50% five years ago, generating $6 billion in annual commissions.

But Stephen Martin paints a very different picture for their future, predicting that AI will fundamentally change the mortgage broking industry. AI’s ability to simplify complex financial information is closing the credibility gap, particularly for younger borrowers more comfortable with technology.

Banks see broker-originated mortgages as 20-30% less valuable than direct originations. CBA has already partnered with OpenAI, initially for internal use, but the external applications targeting brokers seem inevitable. Martin explains: 

 “So maybe rather than having a group of junior brokers or an offshore processing agent, we're going to have “Bob” [the broker] powered by AI - and brokers will be the human face of what is a deeply technological solution.”

So while seasoned brokers will still provide a human touch, AI will reduce costs, intensify competition, and change commission structures.

Ultimately, borrowers could be the biggest winners, benefiting from lower-cost mortgages and faster, more efficient services.

Prediction 3: Listed infrastructure will disappear from the ASX

Speaker: Dania Zinurova, Dexus

Australia's infrastructure sector is vanishing from public markets. The ASX now hosts fewer than 50 infrastructure companies, down dramatically over two decades. Meanwhile, 172 unlisted infrastructure businesses operate privately, with Sydney Airport, AusNet, and Spark all fleeing public market pressures.

Long considered a stable, income-generating asset class, it is becoming increasingly inaccessible to Australian retail investors.  

Dania Zinurova predicts this exodus will reach completion but sees massive opportunity in the disruption. She predicts that, instead, innovative financial solutions will enable retail investors and SMSFs to access this asset class.

“I expect that in 10 years’ time, by looking at our SMSF portfolios, the allocation to infrastructure will increase from 1% to 10%,” she says.

Infrastructure fundamentals are strong, with population growth, digital transformation, and AI adoption all underpinning demand. However, current allocations are tiny: only 1% of SMSF portfolios are invested in global listed infrastructure, with none in unlisted.

With over 630,000 SMSFs managing $1 trillion - that's roughly a third of Australia’s pension market - the demand for stable, income-generating investments is immense. 

Prediction 4: The reindustrialisation of the Western world will drive a resource boom

Speaker: Darko Kuzmanovic, Janus Henderson

Darko Kuzmanovic predicts a multi-year resource rally driven not by China, but by the Western world.

Following decades in which China dominated critical mineral supply chains, Western economies are now reshoring industries, incentivising local mining and processing of metals essential for technology, energy, and defence. 

"Supply chain destruction — what that basically means is that the Western world wants to industrialise and develop some of these key industrial supply chains that are currently driven by China back to the Western world. That's a key positive and it's going to take years to play out," he explains.

Valuations are attractive too: resource stocks trade at low multiples relative to technology and historical norms, while generating strong dividends and free cash flow. 

This combination of structural demand growth, rising commodity prices, and inexpensive stock valuations presents a compelling opportunity for investors. 

National security concerns mean government support will persist regardless of market volatility. Kuzmanovic calls it the best resource setup since the original China boom.

Prediction 5:  Productivity could soar while inflation stays near zero

Speaker: Viktor Shvets, Macquarie Capital

The wildest prediction comes from Viktor Shvets, who envisions a productivity revolution that would throw all conventional investment thinking out the window.

"If I can say, probably the most shocking prediction in the next couple of years could be that we might be reaching 5% productivity with zero inflation. Now, that will be truly shocking. At that juncture, there is no need for gold, there is no need for silver," he states.

It follows the classic tech adoption U-curve. First, productivity falls as society fumbles with new technology – creating "billionaire factories" while everyone else "dies one cut at a time." Then comes massive adjustment. Finally, productivity surges from 1% to 5%.

Shvets argues that most current jobs will disappear and universal basic income will become necessary for the people "to compensate them for their irrelevance." 

While he thinks this is probably more like a decade away, if it does happen sooner, traditional inflation hedges will become obsolete and equity markets will get repriced dramatically higher.

These structural shifts could create serious wealth for investors willing to bet against consensus and a focus on companies best positioned to benefit from extreme automation and societal restructuring. 

Understanding the timing and impact of these productivity gains will be critical in positioning portfolios for a radically altered economic landscape.

There you have it - 5 shocking predictions for 2026 and beyond. Which of these predictions do you think is most likely to come true? (Let us know in the comments)