Amid turbulent economy and AI rally, BMO’s Schleif advises a balanced risk exposure

Marcus Baram
Author Marcus Baram
Marcus Baram is a contributing editor at Crain Currency, where he covers the intersection of finance and politics. Prior to joining Crain Currency, Baram was a staff writer at Fast Company and an editor at Huff Post. He has also written for outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Vice. Baram is an expert on economic policy and has a deep understanding of the ways in which politics shapes the global financial system. In his role at Crain Currency, he brings a unique perspective to the complex and ever-evolving world of finance. With his keen analysis and clear writing, Baram helps readers make sense of the important issues impacting the economy today.
Aug 23, 2023
1 month ago
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Amid the boom in artificial intelligence and continuing market turbulence, be sure to keep a balanced risk exposure, says Carol Schleif, chief investment officer at BMO Family Office, who discussed her outlook and investment strategies with Bloomberg on Wednesday morning.

“Where you see big rallies in certain industries or in certain asset classes, it makes some sense to pull them back from where they often get to the top ends of the ranges,” Schleif said. Cash such as short- and intermediate-term treasuries has been a good place to be in the past few quarters, she said, “especially as we’ve seen returns on it for the first time in a very long time.”

Schleif also cautioned investors to be careful during the AI boom, which has seen Nvidia Corp. and other tech stocks skyrocket. It makes sense, she said, to be “willing to step back on some exposure” and to look at underlying fundamentals, such as making sure that earnings rise concurrently with stocks.

“It’s important to realize that to deploy AI takes an awful amount of capital, it takes significant resources in terms of processing it, you need to know how people will adapt to it,” Schleif said.

She likened the AI hype to investor overconfidence during the first tech rally from 1995 to 2000, “when everyone wanted to buy dot-com stocks.” With new AI startups, you want to find those companies that can “lean into it and are participating in it,” Schleif said. 

Marcus Baram
Author Marcus Baram
Marcus Baram is a contributing editor at Crain Currency, where he covers the intersection of finance and politics. Prior to joining Crain Currency, Baram was a staff writer at Fast Company and an editor at Huff Post. He has also written for outlets such as The New York Times, The Atlantic, and Vice. Baram is an expert on economic policy and has a deep understanding of the ways in which politics shapes the global financial system. In his role at Crain Currency, he brings a unique perspective to the complex and ever-evolving world of finance. With his keen analysis and clear writing, Baram helps readers make sense of the important issues impacting the economy today.