As tariff policy debates have continued to create market uncertainty, former hedge fund manager and White House adviser Todd Buchholz offered key strategies to help investors respond.
During American Century Investments’ webcast – “Reimagining Tomorrow’s Markets” – Buchholz highlighted the importance of leveraging US companies with strong global operations, rather than investing directly in foreign firms, and acknowledged that recent chaos over tariffs has unsettled investors.
“The uncertainty and the chaos that has been let loose by debates over tariff policy and threats back and forth certainly have given investors pause, but I think it’s given investors four months of pause, and I don’t think that’s going to continue for very long,” Buchholz said.
To navigate this environment, Buchholz advised investors to identify American companies with strong international sales as a more effective approach than direct exposure to foreign markets.
Buchholz added that as tariff debates evolve, investors should remain focused on business fundamentals and use strategic tools to benefit from global economic shifts without taking on excessive risk.
“Perhaps the better way to put money abroad is to look at US companies that do a lot of business abroad, and if the dollar, in fact, is falling, that means that they will be more successful in selling US goods abroad,” he said.
Buchholz encouraged caution when exploring alternative asset classes. While private equity and hedge funds offer potential, he warned of issues around liquidity and long lock-up periods for retail investors.
On cryptocurrency, Buchholz likened its speculative nature to modern art: “I can’t argue that bitcoin has to be worth less than $100,000.
“I might not think it has much value, but if the rest of the world thinks the value is there and [are] willing to support that and bid it up … I suppose it’s worth that,” he said.
Still, he questioned cryptocurrency’s effectiveness as a transactional tool. “Bitcoin has the capacity for only thousands of people to transact business at the same time … It just means that it’s not serving the purpose it was originally intended to,” he said.
When asked whether the “decades-long trend of US exceptionalism” was over, he rejected the idea, despite recent underperformance compared to non-US equities and a decline in the dollar.
Buchholz pointed to the continued dominance of US companies in technology and other critical sectors.
“When you look at Nvidia, and you look at Apple, and I could mention all the usual, Amazon and so on, and then you ask yourself, well, who is the Nvidia [of Europe]? Who’s the Apple of Europe? It’s really hard to come up with that answer,” he said.
“SAP is a terrific software company, but the US has dominated. In fact, technology’s fast growing. Technology as a proportion of the equity market in Europe has shrunk, while in the US it has expanded.
“You can go through various other sectors of the world economy and see that it is US companies that are continuing to lead the way in pharmaceuticals and software, in financial services. So the US, I believe, maintains its exceptionalism.”
