With the first quarter of 2026 already underway, we’re taking an early look at the themes and trends likely to define this year.

Artificial intelligence is advancing quickly and continues to dominate headlines, but it has not yet taken over the investment universe (or this newsletter!). Buyside firms may be integrating it into workflows, but still heavily rely on human judgment to interpret outputs and translate them into strategy. We see AI currently being deployed primarily to accelerate efficiency, with organizations actively hiring talent that can bridge technology and investment insight rather than replace existing roles.

Meanwhile, investment hiring has started off the year buoyantly. Even after January’s on-cycle sprint to hire investment banking Analysts, a meaningful population of junior banker candidates remains in the market assessing options more selectively.

Markets have also contributed to broader optimism. Many top hedge funds ended 2025 with strong returns, and investor sentiment surveys early in the year show strong bullish positioning and equity allocations near record levels. This environment is helping fuel interest in hedge funds and liquid strategies among buyside investment professionals, which we explore further in this issue.

In parallel, global assets under management at investment firms are projected to rise from roughly $139 trillion in 2024 to about $200 trillion by 2030, driven by expanding wealth channels and continued inflows to alternative products.¹ Industry AUM already reached record levels in recent years, driven largely by market performance and renewed client demand.² The sheer amount of capital under management in the industry is intensifying competition not just for deals, but for the marketing and investor relations professionals who can raise assets, communicate with prospective  investors, and retain LPs.

Against this backdrop, Odyssey’s Q1 newsletter looks at three areas where we see the most commotion: January’s private equity on-cycle recruiting cycle, the growing pull of hedge funds for private equity investors, and why marketing & investor relations skill sets are increasingly central to investment firms in 2026 (and what this all means for talent strategy).

We hope your year has been off to a great start, too (this brutal winter weather aside!).

The Odyssey Search Partners Team