NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Against the backdrop of the 2016 elections and a transition of the U.S. government, Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) today released the 2017 Outlook report ‘Seeing Things Differently,’ which addresses five factors that will influence the investing landscape for next year and beyond.

“This year was filled with many surprises and uncertainty in the global markets, including geopolitical factors such as the Chinese economy, the U.K.’s Brexit vote, and most recently the outcome of the U.S. elections. But, if investors were looking solely at these events, they wouldn’t have seen what was quietly happening in the background – nearly all asset classes were moving higher,” said Darrell Cronk, President of Wells Fargo Investment Institute. “A year like 2016 reminds us that seeing beyond the day-to-day market volatility matters when it comes to investment performance.”

Download the 2017 Outlook, ‘Seeing Things Differently’ for an in-depth analysis of the outlook targets and themes. Join Darrell Cronk and strategists for a special conference call at 855-723-6393 on December 8, 2016 at 4:15 pm ET.

Wells Fargo Investment Institute sees five shifts that investors should watch closely next year:

• Improving U.S. consumer strength,
• Stabilizing commodity prices,
• Inflation trending back toward historical averages,
• Rising interest rates, and
• Increasing potential for geopolitical volatility.

The report provides the latest market and economic forecasts for 2017 and highlights four long-term themes likely to impact the global financial markets.

• The divided recovery looks at the impact on who has and hasn’t benefited from the economic recovery, the surge in protectionism, and what the future may hold for labor markets.
• Policies of change examines trade policy, global trends from central banks, and the regulatory environment.
• The agile investor shows how to navigate investment decisions in an ever-changing world.
• Investing across generations looks at how to prepare for changing consumption patterns, retirement issues, and the transfer of wealth from the boomers to millennials.

About Wells Fargo Investment Institute

Wells Fargo Investment Institute (WFII) is a registered investment adviser and wholly-owned subsidiary of Wells Fargo & Company, providing investment research, strategy, manager research and thought leadership within the Wealth and Investment Management (WIM) division, with the goal of supplying world class advice to the company’s financial and wealth advisers. WFII provides investment advice to Wells Fargo Bank, N.A., Wells Fargo Advisors and other Wells Fargo affiliates.

WIM is one of the largest wealth managers in the U.S., with $1.7 trillion in client assets. WIM includes Wells Fargo Private Bank, serving high-net-worth individuals and families; Wells Fargo Advisors, the third-largest brokerage firm in the U.S.; Wells Fargo Retirement, which manages $330 billion in employer-sponsored retirement plan assets for 3.9 million Americans; and Abbot Downing, serving ultra-high-net-worth individuals and families. Wells Fargo Advisors is the trade name used by two separate registered broker-dealers: Wells Fargo Advisors, LLC, and Wells Fargo Advisors Financial Network, LLC, Members SIPC, non-bank affiliates of Wells Fargo & Company.

About Wells Fargo & Company (Twitter @WellsFargo)

Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC) is a diversified, community-based financial services company with $1.9 trillion in assets. Founded in 1852 and headquartered in San Francisco, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial finance through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, the internet (wellsfargo.com) and mobile banking, and has offices in 42 countries and territories to support customers who conduct business in the global economy. With approximately 269,000 team members, Wells Fargo serves one in three households in the United States. Wells Fargo & Company was ranked No. 27 on Fortune’s 2016 rankings of America’s largest corporations. Wells Fargo’s vision is to satisfy our customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially. News, insights and perspectives from Wells Fargo are also available at Wells Fargo Stories.