Charles Bobrinskoy, vice chairman at Ariel Investments, said the overall stock market is expensive and fully priced.
This assessment suggests that the current pricing environment may limit the potential for significant gains, particularly for those employing a value-investing strategy. Such a perspective challenges the prevailing market momentum and warns of the risks associated with overvaluation.
Speaking during a May 15, 2026, interview on CNBC’s ‘Squawk on the Street,’ Bobrinskoy addressed the long-term struggle of identifying undervalued assets. He said the last 15 years [1] have been terrible for value investing.
Bobrinskoy said that the difficulty in generating strong returns is tied directly to these high valuations. He said the market has been influenced by a sense of "FOMO" — the fear of missing out — specifically citing the stunning stock surge of Intel as a primary example of this trend [3].
Value investing typically involves purchasing stocks that appear to be trading for less than their intrinsic worth. However, when the broader market is viewed as fully priced, finding these discrepancies becomes increasingly rare. Bobrinskoy said the current environment makes it difficult for value-style investing to produce the results seen in previous eras [2].
The interview took place in New York, where the vice chairman detailed the friction between fundamental value and speculative growth. He said the overall stock market is expensive [2].
“"This has been a terrible 15 years for value."”
The warning from a prominent value investor suggests a growing divergence between stock prices and the actual intrinsic value of companies. If the market remains 'fully priced,' investors may face lower future returns or increased volatility if a correction occurs to align prices with fundamentals.
