The S&P 500 was nearly flat in September. The typical stock inside it fell almost 6 per cent. The gap is the story.

The 2026 crisis produced one of the widest divergences in global market returns in recent memory. The lesson is not that an investor should have picked the winning market. It is that no investor can — which is precisely why genuine diversification matters.

On 28 February 2026, the United States and Israel launched coordinated airstrikes on Iran. Within hours, the Strait of Hormuz was effectively closed. What followed was not a geopolitical surprise — it was a portfolio test.