Quality hasn’t failed. It’s cyclical. Over the past 40 years, quality investing has delivered strong long‑term outcomes, yet it has underperformed roughly a third of the time. The current episode stands out: nearly two years in length and around 30% of relative underperformance.

History shows quality tends to lag during ‘melt‑ups’, early‑cycle recoveries and strongly risk‑on environments, the very conditions markets have experienced amid AI optimism, capex booms and improving growth indicators. Are we at the end of the underperformance cycle, or is there further to go?

In this month’s podcast, Maroun Younes, Co-Portfolio Manager for the Fidelity Global Future Leaders Fund sits down with Lukasz to explore why quality strategies fall behind at certain points in the cycle, how unusual the current drawdown really is and why periods like this are often the most behaviourally challenging but also the most consequential.

Learn more about how we uncover these insights with our Research Advantage.

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Read our full disclaimer. This episode was recorded 16 April 2026