Franklin Templeton’s Wang shares three investment lessons from a rollercoaster ride

April 8, 2026

Franklin Templeton’s Lisa Wang suggests practical, level-headed ways that advisers and investors can frame the massive market uncertainty caused by the Gulf conflict to more positive long term effects.

Investors are routinely urged to meet uncertainty with calm. There’s a lot to be said for such a reaction, particularly when the geopolitical and geoeconomic landscape seems to shift two or three times a day.

Yet remaining composed doesn’t necessarily mean doing nothing at all. While it’s often helpful to rise above the noise, staying focused on the long term can be tricky if you simply bury your head in the sand.

What most investors really need is a considered combination of patience and action. They need to acknowledge the benefits of prudence while also recognising volatility may go hand in hand with opportunity.

The crisis in the Middle East has demonstrated the value of striking such a balance. It has underlined the supreme importance of reducing risk, but it has also highlighted the merits of flexibility and diversification.

Maybe above all, it has emphasised the advantages of a solutions-based approach. In the face of an increasingly challenging environment, an effective blend of assets and strategies can be a difference-maker.

Taking all the above into account, here are three key investment lessons from a period in which markets’ direction of travel has changed with remarkable frequency. They apply to investors, advisers and product providers alike.

Risk reduction is the top priority in the absence of clarity

Trying to “time” markets is notoriously tough in any circumstances. In the current climate, when a single Truth Social post has the power to trigger dramatic rises or falls, luck would very likely outweigh whatever passes for judgement in such endeavours.

This is where the standard calls for calm enter the reckoning. However chaotic the backdrop might be, panic and guesswork are to be avoided at all costs. But what does “calm” actually mean in this context?

Contrary to widespread assumptions, it doesn’t have to mean flat-out inertia. Instead, all else being equal, it means responding in a suitably informed and measured way.

We believe the most responsible course of action in a fluid and fast-moving situation is to curtail the tracking error in portfolios and mitigate active risk while awaiting greater clarity. In essence, risk becomes more expensive during periods of heightened uncertainty.

Multi-asset solutions offer options and agility in the face of turbulence

Confronted by the chatter of 24-hour news and doom-and-gloom narratives that accentuate turmoil, investors could be forgiven for thinking the picture is uniformly bleak. Yet the reality, especially for those who favour a longer-term view, is that there are almost always opportunities to be found.

Of course, the chances of discovering them may be notably enhanced if you’re able to survey the investment universe in its entirety rather than scrabbling around in just one or two well-trodden corners. There’s usually a bull market somewhere, even if it’s off the beaten track.

This is why it can pay to diversify across multiple dimensions. These might include geographies, sectors, industries, market capitalisations, themes and – crucially – asset classes. Multi-asset solutions can facilitate this ideal.

Our own recent portfolio adjustments have centred on a rotation towards US large-cap core, Japanese equities and various emerging markets (EMs). We also like UK gilts and EM debt.

Uncertainty demands continued innovation from providers

There’s another, arguably more far-reaching aspect to the potential perils of doing nothing in the midst of market disruption. It undoubtedly impacts investors and advisers, but it most directly pertains to asset allocators and other product providers.

At least for those that want to stay at the cutting edge, uncertainty serves as a stark reminder that our industry can’t rest on its laurels. The kind of rollercoaster ride we’ve all experienced of late invariably compels stakeholders to demand more from the sphere of asset management.

To take just one example: we’ve observed of late a significant appetite for core equity strategies that offer scope for outperformance while still controlling risk. Enthusiasm for funds of this sort encompasses investors whose approaches are predominantly passive, investors who are staunch proponents of active management and investors who are essentially agnostic in the “passive versus active” debate.

Perhaps the most obvious inference here is that a “one size fits all” mindset could be less fit for purpose than ever. In our view, tailored solutions mark the way ahead for a growing number of investors. Particularly in the multi-asset space, this means we need to keep innovating, exploring novel concepts and creating new products that are better equipped to help meet each client’s unique goals in an age when volatility appears to be a new normal.