Growth is becoming patchier, technology is changing who benefits and investors are being asked to be more selective. Here is what stood out from the companies we met in London.

The 42nd Annual Strategic Decisions Conference struck a more measured note than its New York gathering in late May. The tone was not downbeat, but it was certainly nowhere near as positive as the mood we took away from New York. There was plenty of enthusiasm about individual companies, but very little of it was unconditional. The message we took away was that this is less about choosing between growth and value and more about finding businesses with something genuinely hard to copy, such as pricing power, recurring revenues and scarce assets. Six takeaways follow.

1. The consumer is splitting in two
The “K-shaped” economy is becoming an investable reality. Wealthier and older consumers continue to spend on premium travel, luxury hotels and live events, while lower-income households remain price-sensitive and are trading down. Airlines are upgrading premium cabins even as economy becomes more basic, and discount retailers such as Action, owned by 3i, show how value-focused operators can win share when household budgets are under strain. This is not a sign that every consumer is doing well. It is spending concentrated among households with accumulated wealth and resilient incomes.

2. AI is an enabler, not a single investment category
We often hear the AI story told through software and chip designers. In London, much of the conversation came back to the physical infrastructure needed to make it all work, from the equipment behind advanced semiconductors, where ASML is central, to factory automation and electrification, where Siemens is active. The opportunity also reaches into areas such as legal research, fraud prevention and compliance, although AI brings higher energy demand, capital intensity and fraud risks of its own.

3. Scarcity still commands a premium
Constrained airline capacity, leading-edge semiconductor tools, trusted data sets and hard-to-replicate brands can support attractive economics even in a slower world. Ryanair is a good example, with European aviation still short of spare capacity and the lowest-cost operator usually better placed than its peers when conditions become more difficult. There are concerns around fuel costs, capital spending and whether European passenger growth is beginning to mature, so scarcity helps but does not remove risk.

4. Operational speed matters more than sheer size
Companies that shorten product cycles, localise decisions and use data well may outperform established “mega-brands” whose scale has become cumbersome. Inditex, the owner of Zara, was a useful reminder that being quick can matter more than being enormous, while Compass showed the appeal of a steady compounder built on long contracts and strong client retention.

5. Europe has more high-quality compounders than its growth rate suggests
Several of the strongest cases discussed were European businesses with global revenues and structural growth drivers. GSK’s presentation, for example, suggested a pharmaceutical company moving with greater urgency, improving R&D productivity and putting more funding behind new launches. Its shares have lagged in recent years and execution will matter, but we came away encouraged.

6. Geopolitics is changing the case for defence
The defence discussion was the most sobering part of the conference. Ukraine has become a testing ground for drone-heavy warfare, and long-range drones, shortages of air defence and electronic warfare are challenging long-held assumptions about tanks, aircraft and large warships. With Europe likely to carry more of its own security burden as the United States reassesses its priorities, that points to structurally higher defence and infrastructure spending.

In Summary

Our main takeaway from London was that the market’s next winners may not be defined by a particular country or sector, but by how well they adapt. The businesses we met are very different, yet what they share is something competitors cannot easily reproduce. In a world of uneven growth, rapid technological change and political uncertainty, that scarcity, alongside an attractive entry price, may matter more than trying to get every economic forecast exactly right.

If you would like to discuss how these themes might apply to your own situation, please get in touch with the team at Cantor Fitzgerald Ireland.

Written by Pramit Ghose, Global Strategist