State Street’s Yie-Hsin Hung advises against interest rate hikes, backs gold and private markets

When someone managing north of $5 trillion in assets tells the Federal Reserve to keep its hands off the rate lever, it tends to carry a certain weight. Yie-Hsin Hung, President and CEO of State Street Investment Management, did exactly that, arguing the US economy is in solid shape and that the central bank should not raise interest rates for the remainder of the year. Her prescription for navigating the current environment: gold and private markets as portfolio anchors. The case for holding steady Back in November 2025, she publicly supported a 25 basis point rate cut by the Fed in December 2025, citing rising economic risks that warranted a measured easing rather than aggressive action in either direction. State Street Investment Management operates across more than 60 countries, giving Hung’s team a global vantage point that few asset managers can match. Gold and private markets as the new portfolio bedrock Perhaps more interesting than Hung’s rate commentary is where she’s telling investors to park their money. Gold and private markets, she argued, are anchoring many institutional and wealth portfolios right now. Private markets represent a longer-term structural bet. Hung has...