Strategic autonomy: Europe’s investment moment
Discover how Europe’s quest for autonomy is creating new long-term opportunities across infrastructure, energy, and technology.
Geopolitical fragmentation, investing in a multipolar world
Geopolitics is now a market force
As the world fragments, Europe is mobilising — channelling substantial investment programmes into AI chips, clean energy, research and defence to reduce dependencies and strengthen competitiveness.
This shift is not short-term. It marks a structural transformation where resilience, independence, and sustainability are becoming the new drivers of growth.
From policy to portfolios
Within this new environment, capital is being redirected toward the infrastructure, energy, defence, and critical materials that underpin economic and political resilience.
Our paper Geopolitical Fragmentation: Investing in a Multipolar World distils what this means for asset allocators:
- which supply chains are being rebuilt,
- where capital expenditure is set to compound,
- and how to position across infrastructure, energy, defence and critical materials.
Key messages
Resilience is the new growth driver
Countries are prioritising resilience in infrastructure, energy, technology and security. Modernised energy grids, digital infrastructure, and robust logistics networks will underpin both economic stability and new investment opportunities.
Reshoring creates an industrial renaissance
Massive public funding in the U.S., EU, and Asia is driving the relocation of critical industries such as semiconductors, pharmaceuticals, and green technologies. This reshoring trend creates opportunities across among others automation, industrial equipment, and regional logistics
Strategic autonomy as a global trend
Europe, the U.S., Japan, and India are rolling out large-scale industrial policies (Horizon Europe, RePowerEU, Chips Acts, Inflation Reduction Act). For investors, this provides a transparent and lasting policy framework that supports key industries and strengthen long-term competitiveness.
Strategic resilience and geopolitics
Efforts to secure energy, materials, and technology supply chains have become central to economic policy, reinforcing the link between resilience and competitiveness in a multipolar world. Especially Europe is becoming increasingly aware of this, witness the massive investment programmes guiding the region to more strategic resilience and autonomy.
;
Ken Van Weyenberg & Johan Van der Biest
Head of Client Portfolio Management Fundamental Equity & Head of Thematic Global Equity
”Resilience is becoming the cornerstone of sustainable growth redefining how investors capture opportunity in a multipolar world
Discover a practical framework to capture long-term opportunities in a multipolar world
A US perspective
Discover an analysis by our colleagues from New York Life Investments, on how investors can adapt to a shifting world order.
(content in English only)
Go further. Explore, invest, connect
Interested in understanding how geopolitical shifts translate into investment opportunities?
Our experts can help you navigate these long-term trends and identify the right thematic solutions for your portfolios.
-
Structural shift towards European autonomy gains momentum
Recent geopolitical tensions in the Middle East have triggered renewed energy and supply shocks in Europe, exposing the continent's reliance on external dependencies. -
Markets under pressure, convictions intact
In a recent Explore webinar, Candriam CIO Nicolas Forest, alongside Chief Economist Florence Pisani, Co-Global Head of Equity Management Johan Van der Biest and Head of Emerging Markets Equities Paulo Salazar, shared their views on the impact of the Strait of Hormuz closure, the general feeling of the markets and explored the trends to be aware of across equities. -
Better momentum as geopolitical tensions ease
European equities have rebounded since our last Equity Committee meeting on 10 March, thanks to a significant easing of geopolitical tensions, driven by a temporary ceasefire between the US and Iran in early April. -
Resilient markets amid geopolitical tensions
European equities have fallen significantly since our last Equity Committee held on 10 February. -
Software: Will AI trigger a SaaSpocalypse?
Artificial Intelligence agents are moving beyond assistance and into execution. The emergence of AI agents such as Claude Cowork has intensified a debate among investors: could parts of the SaaS ecosystem risk structural disintermediation? -
Constructive start to the year
European equities have remained in positive territory since our last Equity Committee, benefiting from diversification outside the US and improved macro signals. GDP growth accelerated in the final quarter of 2025. -
Disruptive technologies
The world of 2030 is already taking shape: AI assistants embedded in daily life, autonomous mobility, software-defined factories, digital twins, and smarter energy systems that optimise demand in real time. -
Europe’s strategic autonomy: emerging reality or political mirage?
Why Europe’s autonomy agenda is becoming a powerful catalyst for new investment cycles and sector-level opportunities.