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The World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting will be held in Davos, Switzerland on January 20, 2025, with the theme of “Cooperation in the Smart Era”.
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US President Trump has only been in office for a few days, but his impact on the market has already been huge.
this S&P 500 Index Another gap is carved Thursday closed at record highafter White House leaders called for lower interest rates and cheaper oil prices Speech at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.
Investors are also betting on possible tax cuts and deregulation under the new president, pushing stocks higher.
However, not everyone is optimistic about the future, with some including JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon suggesting The market may be overpriced.
After a week of interviews with business leaders, lawmakers and investors in Swiss ski resorts, top industry figures revealed the following to CNBC:
Nicolai Tangen, CEO, Norges Bank Investment Management
“I don’t think you should give any advice to the United States, but if you look at the risks to financial markets, I think inflation is certainly one of them, all of which are driven by tariffs,” Tangen said on Tuesday. “Geopolitical tensions often have a negative impact on financial markets and financial returns.”
Tangen added that Trump’s arrival would be “very positive” for many U.S. companies “from a purely financial perspective.”
Khaldoon al-Mubarak, CEO of Mubadala
“Continuing the trend that we’re seeing, 2024 is a positive year in most markets… I think that trend will continue into 2025 and I see the core markets, the U.S., Asia, particularly the growth-driven markets There will continue to be a strong push in Asia,” Mubarak told CNBC’s Dan Murphy on Monday.
“I see continued good momentum in technology, health care, financial services, life sciences,” he added. “So I would say, probably pretty much the same word I used last year: cautiously optimistic. As I look ahead It’s going to be an exciting year in 2025.”
Larry Fink, CEO and Chairman of BlackRock
“I’m cautiously optimistic — that being said, I have the potential to be really bad,” Fink told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“I believe that if we unleash all this private capital, we’re going to have tremendous growth, but at the same time, some of it is going to release new inflationary pressures,” he explained. “I do believe the market is not factoring in that risk. “
Christian Sinding, CEO of EQT
Sinding, CEO of Swedish private equity firm EQT, told CNBC’s Karen Tso and Steve Sedgwick that the market for M&A and large corporate deals “continues to improve.”
“2024 is a record year with over $20 billion in investment,” he said. “We’ve done over $10 billion in exits, and that’s going to continue through 2025, and I think a lot of market players are ready to do deals now, whether it’s private equity, family offices or strategic buyers. And, of course, “If you look at global capital markets, the IPO market is open and the credit market is strong, so we are quite optimistic about next year.”
Ted Peake, CEO of Morgan Stanley
Peake said he believed corporate earnings could drive growth over the next 12 to 24 months as the market “continues to be strong.”
“Here’s an indicator… how many companies are really talking about recession right now, how many companies are talking about inflation? I think earnings look pretty positive,” he said.
“More importantly, I know we like to look at the index, but the index is dominated by six technology companies — all of which are doing very well, by the way — but if you look at the potential for deregulation in the energy sector , financial services, where P/E ratios are still not high,” Peake added.
“If you’re an investor and you’re thinking about allocating over the next 12 to 18 months, there’s definitely going to be a drawdown at the index level, but do you really want to think about what sectors do I have exposure to?”
Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase
Dimon said he believes current levels of U.S. asset prices are “a little too high.”
“They’re in the top 10% or 15% by any measure,” Dimon told Andrew Ross Sorkin on Wednesday about U.S. stocks. “They come at a high price and you need pretty good results to justify those prices.
He added: “We all hope so and having strategies to promote growth can help achieve that, but there are some negatives and they can often surprise you.”
David Solomon, CEO of Goldman Sachs
Solomon said the market is in risk-on mode, with optimism in stocks due to the new U.S. administration and technological advancements.
Solomon also Tell Andrew Ross Sorkin He noted growth in the U.S. and in his conversations with European clients in Davos.
“I think there is optimism that this is not going to be a smooth, perfect path, but there is optimism that we will implement a more pro-growth agenda. We will unlock some investment, we will open up the private sector a little bit, but more, It has to be constructive,” he said.
“There’s no denying that stocks are trading at high P/E ratios… I think stock markets are showing optimism right now, but they’re also showing optimism about growth and technology, especially the AI wave. Of course it’s not going to be a straight line, but we The opportunity to see some of these technologies meaningfully improve productivity is extraordinary.”
Christine Lagarde, President of the European Central Bank
Lagarde Tell Cao Kailun Monetary policies diverge between the eurozone and the United States due to “different economic environments.”
She also said she was not “overly concerned” about the risk of foreign inflation being imported into Europe, adding that she expected the ECB to continue gradually lowering interest rates as price growth approaches its target.
“We are certainly interested in seeing growth in the United States because growth in the United States has been a tailwind for the rest of the world,” Lagarde said.
Ray Dalio, founder of Bridgewater Associates
Bridgewater founder Ray Dalio told CNBC that the U.S. market’s price-to-earnings ratio is high, but AI beneficiaries may have room to climb further.
“We’ve come a long way…I think it’s been led by great industries, disruptors, artificial intelligence and so on.”
“I don’t think it affects the application of artificial intelligence, the use of artificial intelligence… I don’t think the application of artificial intelligence is fully discounted.”
Brian Moynihan, CEO, Bank of America
Moynihan Tell Andrew Ross Sorkin On Tuesday, he believed that the U.S. market still has room to rise in 2025, and that the main concern for the business and financial services industry will be regulatory policies, not inflation.
“Our research team believes there is room for upside this year and they predict the market will rise. Not as much as last year, which is unusual in that there have been very strong growth in consecutive years, but that growth is disappearing in the past few years These are very unusual times,” he said.
Moynihan added: “I believe if you look at the key issue for business in general, including financial services and banking, it’s the regulatory issue.”
Sergio Ermotti, CEO of UBS
Bank president says tariffs proposed by U.S. President Donald Trump could prevent deflation and keep interest rates higher Tell Andrew Ross Sorkin Tuesday.
“Inflation is a lot trickier than what we’re letting on,” Ermotti said.
“Tariffs probably won’t really help inflation come down. So I don’t think (interest rates) are going to come down as fast as people think,” he said.
CS Venkatakrishnan, CEO of Barclays Bank
Venkatakrishnan, whose British bank gets about 40% of its revenue from the United States, said he was “optimistic” about U.S. deal activity this year.
“I think there are two things driving this trend. One is that interest rates have reached a relatively stable level. Our own economists are calling for a possible rate cut in the United States next year,” he Tell Andrew Ross Sorkin.
“They’re still high, but they’re stable, so you can at least plan better because you don’t have interest rate fluctuations. The second is that with the change in the (U.S.) administration, consolidation should happen more easily.”
Venkatakrishnan added that he expected President Trump to loosen regulations, which would be “generally good for business confidence and business opportunities.”
Rachel Reeves, UK Finance Minister
Reeves: Britain needs to attract more overseas investment to boost economic growth told CNBC.
“My message to American investors and global investors is: Britain is open for business and we want your investment.”
She also discussed Trump’s global tariff threats.
Reeves said: “I do understand that President Trump is concerned about countries that have large and persistent surpluses in their trade balances with the United States, but that is not the case in the UK.”
“We are not part of the problem here. So we in the UK increased trade with President Trump when he was last in power.”
