Travis Prentice

Appreciate the opportunity to join Charles Payne on Fox Business Network “Making Money” to discuss some of the emerging themes developing across the AI ecosystem. As AI capex cascades downstream, we’re seeing new bottlenecks and beneficiaries emerge - from specialty chemicals and materials enabling advanced semiconductor and memory packaging, to edge compute and security companies benefiting from rising AI agent traffic. At the same time, the growth of agentic and voice AI is increasing the importance of communications and API providers embedded in customer interaction workflows. One of the most important aspects of this market environment is tying leadership back to improving fundamentals and understanding the rationale behind what’s working.

We look at what’s happening in the market and then seek to understand why. That ordering matters. Many investors begin with the explanation and then look for prices to confirm it. Informed Momentum starts with market behavior and then tries to understand the message. Thank you to @practicalquant for doing an excellent job capturing the philosophy behind our process and why adaptability is so crucial in today’s markets. Click below for a great recap of our conversation on the Excess Returns podcast. excessreturnspod.substack.com/p/price-is-tru…

Call a customer service line today, and it’s increasingly unclear whether you’re speaking to a human or AI. Behind every AI-driven conversation sits infrastructure that is difficult to replicate. AI can generate the agent, but not the telecom networks, carrier relationships, phone-number inventory, compliance, or deliverability required to reach customers reliably. That's where communication platforms sit. And the companies that own the flow of AI communication are seeing real momentum. More here 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-w…

Turnover is often thought of as something to minimize in the name of discipline or efficiency. But what if that framing is wrong? In markets that evolve as quickly as today’s, low turnover can just as easily signal rigidity as it does conviction. Turnover isn’t simply a cost to control - it’s how portfolios adapt. How weakening trends are exited. How capital is reallocated toward emerging leaders. In other words, it’s how investors stay aligned with what’s working now, not what worked before. A portfolio that rarely changes assumes a level of permanence that markets rarely grant. One that evolves acknowledges reality. In environments defined by change, the ability to respond deliberately and systematically is essential. More on this here 👉informedmomentum.com/turnover-isnt-…

Momentum is not anchored in what SHOULD be working - it's flexible to follow strength to what is ACTUALLY working. For this reason, momentum is a key ingredient in a balanced portfolio. Putting together factor exposures that have shown to outperform at different times in the cycle - like momentum, value and quality - increases the likelihood of success over the long-term. In this conversation on the Excess Returns podcast, we explore this idea in depth - as well as discuss the structural shifts happening in equity markets today and the implications those have for investors. Full episode here 📺 youtube.com/watch?v=NPrwWs…

Lithium’s next leg isn’t about EVs. Grid storage is emerging as the marginal buyer, driving a tightening market and creating clear winners among producers. See who’s best positioned to capture the upside 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-w…

Absolute pleasure to join @CNBC's The Exchange to discuss what’s behind the extreme divergences in today’s equity markets. Two structural shifts appear to be underway: - AI moving from narrative to real-world disruption - A shift away from globalization toward trade rebalancing and US reshoring From our perspective, these forces aren’t operating in isolation – they are reinforcing one another, with meaningful implications for market leadership. We’re seeing a broadening beyond technology into industrials, energy, utilities, financials, and materials, alongside significant dispersion between winners and losers. Notably, these trends have largely remained intact despite March volatility. From a momentum perspective, success depends on identifying these shifts early—and adapting as they evolve. If you missed it, here’s the full segment → cnbc.com/video/2026/04/…

How important is price level in momentum investing? Our latest factor research paper explores a simple but powerful idea: where a stock trades relative to its 52-week high. Across global equity markets, we evaluated different measures of a stock’s proximity to its 52-week high to test whether this measure: - Stands on its own as a predictor of returns - Captures a substantial portion of the momentum effect - Enhances outcomes when combined with traditional price momentum The results suggest price level matters more than many assume. Full paper available here👉informedmomentum.com/buy-high-sell-…

Don't miss this live Schwab Network segment yesterday where I discuss the recent divergences in the market. A key theme: the growing split within technology where the AI industrial complex continues to lead while software remains under pressure. I also call out resilient energy stocks, sticky oil prices, and momentum in optical, memory, and data‑center‑related names. Beneath the surface, leadership is shifting fast, and selectivity matters more than ever. Full discussion here 📺schwabnetwork.com/video/travis-p…

It is considered 'safe' to have low tracking error. But hugging an index that is increasingly concentrated, expensive, and detached from underlying fundamentals comes with its own risks. The dominance of passive investing has resulted in flows being directed toward the same crowded positions, for the same reasons, at the same time. The result is greater co-movement across stocks, diminished diversification, and increased sensitivity to liquidity shocks and volatility. More on how passive investing is reshaping market risk here 👉informedmomentum.com/risks-hiding-i…

The space ecosystem is flipping from buildout to tangible industrial growth. The anticipated SpaceX IPO looms as a valuation catalyst—potentially setting a premium benchmark for space as strategic infrastructure and drawing institutional capital across the broader group. But the move hasn’t been purely narrative-driven. Many of these names are up 2–5x over the past 12 months, materially outperforming the broader market, as utilization improves, demand signals firm, and early earnings power begins to emerge. See which stocks are benefitting 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-o…

CDNs sit at the intersection of software and infrastructure - yet in the current environment, they are trading with the latter as AI-driven traffic accelerates. See which stocks are leading the charge 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-c…

How much diversification is actually doing work in your portfolio - and when does it stop? In our latest research, we extend our analysis in The Power of Many beyond Momentum to test how portfolio breadth shapes outcomes across Value, Growth, and Quality strategies. Three things stand out: • The relationship between breadth and performance is not uniform—while Growth and Quality benefit consistently, Value behaves far less predictably. • Most diversification benefits are front-loaded, with risk reduction improving quickly before plateauing. • Increasing breadth meaningfully reduces outcome dispersion, tightening the range of realized results. Read the full paper 👉informedmomentum.com/the-power-of-m…

Quality's underperformance - explained. AI-driven disruption is shifting what markets reward, favoring inflections in profitability over established profitability. We've seen this before. Periods of major technological change (internet in the 1990's) have historically created headwinds for quality that can persist longer than expected. In our latest Inside Informed Momentum segment (full episode here 📺 youtu.be/4gCfPZM_x7c), we explore why this may be unfolding today - and why the response should be balance, not abandonment. Blending complementary factors like value and momentum alongside quality may offer greater resilience as market leadership continues to evolve.

The ghost fleet is getting squeezed just as routes get longer and oil flows remain firm. Less available tonnage means stronger rates — and a window for disciplined operators to lock in attractive economics and prioritize cash returns. See who is positioned to benefit 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-g…

Is quality broken? This has been a recurring question in our recent conversations with investors as quality has meaningfully underperformed over the past several quarters. The debate is unfolding against the backdrop of broad AI-driven disruption. Historically, periods like this (rise of the internet in the mid-to-late 90’s) rewarded inflections in future profitability, rather than established profitability - testing standard definitions of quality. In these environments, backward-looking measures can lag as investors pay for perceived future dominance, rotating away from businesses viewed as more exposed to disruption - software arguably being central to this shift today. This doesn’t mean quality is broken. It may simply be behaving in line with past cycles tied to major technological shifts. More on this here 👉informedmomentum.com/is-quality-bro… In our view, the appropriate response is balance, not abandonment. Maintaining exposure to complementary factors – a blend of quality, value, momentum – supports more durable outcomes over time.

Will emerging markets build on the performance of 2025? So far this year, the answer has been yes. The MSCI EM Index is up 12.8% YTD through Feb 23rd, compared with 2.1% for the MSCI World Index (developed markets). Beyond cyclical tailwinds — including easing rates and a softer U.S. dollar — EM provides structural diversification, with growth drivers and sector exposures that extend beyond the Mag-7 that have dominated developed market returns. As concentration risks have intensified across global equities, implementation has become just as critical as the allocation itself. Learn more about IMC’s emerging markets offerings for institutional investors here:informedmomentum.com/strategies/

Feeling disrupted? Let’s look at the forces reordering market leadership. Excited to introduce ‘From the Galley’ – a periodic note on what we're seeing as the structural forces shaping markets. Our first edition discusses how AI deployment and reshoring are reinforcing a capital-intensive shift — and what that could mean for concentration and market leadership. Full letter here👉informedmomentum.com/looking-out-at…

The most defensive sector is starting to look like a growth engine. Utilities are shifting from maintenance capex to expansion capex as power demand inflects. Hyperscale data centers and AI-driven infrastructure are concentrated, 24/7 industrial loads - forcing utilities to revise long-term growth assumptions higher across key electrification and reshoring corridors. This isn’t just incremental demand. It’s visible, contracted, capital-intensive demand that requires buildout. As in any capital cycle, second-order beneficiaries are emerging alongside the asset owners. Our latest Rising Tide highlights where the momentum is building 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-u…

South Korea has more industrial robots per worker than any country in the world. Long-standing strengths in automotive and electronics manufacturing created the foundation, but deployment is expanding beyond factory floors. Robotics are increasingly embedded across logistics networks, warehouses, and intelligent mobility systems - anchored by firms like Hyundai. The company recently unveiled its Atlas humanoid to be deployed in 2028 - built to push the limits of mobility, balance, and dynamic control - laying the groundwork for robot commercialization. Our latest Rising Tide explores Korea’s robot renaissance and the companies shaping it 👉informedmomentum.com/rising-tides-k…