Despite legislative extensions, new investment in Opportunity Zones is effectively on hold. The initial designated areas are largely picked over, and the industry is now waiting for new maps to be released. This is not expected to happen until the end of 2026, creating a multi-year hiatus.
Crescent Asset Management's core investment philosophy is to use public markets for cheap, passive beta exposure. They concentrate their active management efforts on private markets, where they believe an informational and access-based edge can be used to generate true alpha.
The performance premium for founder-led companies evaporates when the founder steps down. Data shows that the annualized return of a stock is two to three times higher when the founder is at the helm versus a successor, making the transition a critical exit indicator for investors.
Crescent AM's CIO expects a "double barrel" policy stimulus in 2026: fiscal stimulus from tax refunds and a more dovish Fed. This combination will likely trigger a significant rally in the riskiest, lowest-quality small-cap stocks, often referred to as "zombie stocks."
Crescent Asset Management rejects traditional stock/bond allocations. Instead, they structure portfolios into four time-based buckets (e.g., 0-3 years, 3-7 years) to meet specific lifestyle cash flow needs, thereby insulating clients from market volatility.
While many focus on Japanese equities, CIO Jack Abel highlights the currency as the most compelling opportunity. On a purchasing power parity basis (like the Big Mac Index), the yen is so undervalued that a dollar buys 3-4 times more in Japan, signaling a significant potential for reversion.
Public companies run by their founders are not just a qualitative theme but a quantifiable factor, like 'value' or 'quality'. Crescent AM's research shows isolating this factor and tilting a passive portfolio towards it adds one to two percentage points of alpha per year, even in small caps.