Hilda Applbaum, a founding member of the portfolio management team behind Capital Group Global Balanced FundTM (Canada), has been named to Barron’s 2026 list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance.
Applbaum’s recognition by the respected investment magazine reflects both her investment results and her long-standing influence after having worked in the industry for 42 years,
31 of them at Capital Group. Before joining Capital, she was a principal investment officer and director of research for the California Public Employees Retirement System, and a research analyst and economist at Federal Farm Credit Banks Funding Corporation in New York.
The announcement comes as Global Balanced continues to grow in scale and profile. Launched in August 2015, the 5-star Morningstar rated fund* (Series F as of February 28, 2026) has surpassed $2 billion in assets under management. The fund seeks a balanced achievement of three long-term objectives: capital growth, conservation of principal, and current income through investments in global stocks and bonds.
Five managers, five complementary views
Applbaum is one of five portfolio managers on the fund, with four of them investing in both stocks and bonds, while the fifth invests in bonds only. Each of the portfolio managers takes a slightly different approach to investing, in keeping with The Capital SystemTM. Within The Capital SystemTM, a portfolio is powered by a team of managers, each bringing their unique insights and strongest investment ideas. They share thoughts with one another but ultimately make their own investment choices. This teamwork creates a rich mix of top ideas, rather than just relying on one standout manager. Because the portfolio reflects diverse viewpoints, they have the potential to deliver more consistent results across market cycles.
As an income-oriented investor, Applbaum’s approach to investing emphasizes dividends not simply as a source of income, but as a signal of corporate health, capital discipline and management accountability. She looks for companies that can sustain and grow dividends across economic cycles, prioritizing durable business models, resilient cash flows and thoughtful capital allocation — rather than chasing high headline yields.
Investing early in the story
In the Barron’s article that accompanied her recognition, Applbaum says she attempts to invest in the prologue of a company’s story, describing how successful holdings often begin as early chapters rather than fully realized narratives. She points to long-term investments in select semiconductor companies, which were purchased when dividend yields were higher and valuation multiples were significantly lower than they are today.
While these investments later benefited from powerful secular trends, including the expansion of artificial intelligence and data infrastructure, Applbaum emphasizes that the original thesis was rooted in durable fundamentals rather than short-term forecasting.
“We tend to invest early and allow the story to unfold over the next five to ten years,” she notes in the article, “while getting paid through a high dividend yield along the way.”
Risk awareness and red flags
A key element of her philosophy is risk awareness. Applbaum watches for red flags in management behaviour, including excessive leverage or short-term decision-making that could jeopardize future payouts.
“A personal pet peeve is when I meet with a company’s management and the executives comment on our shareholdings — whether that they keep meeting with us and we still don’t own the stock, or that we sold down the stock, or even that we have been adding to it. They need to manage their business, and I need to manage my portfolio. That is a waving red flag because they are managing the wrong thing,” she says in Barron’s.
“As an income investor,” she continues, “one of my red flags tends to be overuse of leverage, or levering the balance sheet not because the business suggests it’s the right thing to do. When companies use leverage to make earnings look better, it is worrisome.”
And finally, “I also want management to be opportunistic in the use of capital. So many management teams buy back stock at the top of the market and are paralyzed at the bottom. When management is a thermometer reflecting market sentiment, instead of a barometer reflecting what they see in the business, I get worried. I would rather see steady buybacks and potential tweaks as stock prices fall if companies think the best investment is their own stock. When I see a stock hitting all-time highs and management announcing buybacks, that is worrying.”
Balancing risk through fixed income
Within Global Balanced, the equity income discipline is paired with high-quality bonds, including investment-grade corporates. Applbaum expects investment-grade bonds to behave differently depending on the macroeconomic backdrop, but sees them as an essential stabilizer during periods of market stress and as a source of consistent cash flow.
In recent periods, tight credit spreads led the portfolio to emphasize other higher-quality fixed income assets, including U.S. Treasuries, agency-backed securities and mortgages. As spreads have widened, the team continues to reassess opportunities, maintaining flexibility across credit markets while prioritizing risk-adjusted returns.
The result is a diversified, globally oriented portfolio designed to deliver income with resilience, while still participating in long-term growth — an expression of Applbaum’s belief that successful investing requires patience, balance and adaptability through market cycles.
Barron’s seventh annual list of the 100 Most Influential Women in U.S. Finance is selected by the publication’s writers and editors and includes leaders from asset management, corporate finance, public policy and financial analysis who are helping shape the direction of the industry.
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