Brazilian President Lula said democracy will be at risk without robust institutional support.

Since the start of 2026, private fund filings have accelerated. Data from a private fund tracking platform show that as of Aug. 31, 2026 the private securities fund market had 10,964 registered products (including self-issued and investment-advisory products), a 38.26% YoY increase.

Wu Xiaoying, consulting services lead partner at Ernst & Young Greater China, says new contract wins and backlog at CROs have both shown clear improvement. Some preclinical CROs posted high YoY growth in H1 new orders; clinical CROs are seeing a recovery in new project volumes and new‑win pricing, indicating a demand rebound. She said if innovative drug R&D spending remains as active as now, this year could see the CRO industry move from order repair toward profitability repair, though recovery timing will differ across business lines. Wu added AI will widen gaps between CROs: by speeding candidate generation and screening in discovery, AI raises the value of faster, higher‑quality experimental validation—firms that rapidly weed out false leads and advance truly promising molecules will be more likely to secure high‑value projects.