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Matthias Knab, Opalesque for New Managers:

Evanston Capital Management, the Illinois-based hedge fund investor led by founding partner Adam Blitz, believes the remainder of 2026 will be defined by dispersion rather than direction. In a market commentary published in August, co-CIOs Blitz and Kristen VanGelder argue that the calm registered by headline indices conceals an unusual amount of positioning risk - and that this is precisely the environment in which skilled active managers earn their fees.

"July's sharp reversal was a reminder that positioning, not fundamentals, can dominate in the short-term," the two write.

A calm surface over a crowded market

The backdrop Evanston describes is one of violent internal rotation masked by a flat tape. Equities surged in the second quarter on an AI-driven rally in technology and semiconductors. Oil spiked to $118 a barrel before retreating to $73 on a mid-June agreement to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. That deal collapsed in early July, and the strait remains effectively closed to routine shipping. Brent has since traded back around the $90 mark, with the U.S. Energy Information Administration not expecting Middle East production to approach pre-conflict levels until early 2027.

July then delivered what Evanston calls a violent rotation beneath a flat headline tape. Crowded AI and semiconductor winners gave ba......................

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