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2025 was a wild ride for the London
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market, but if you're looking to balance
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your portfolio for 2026, the team at
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Cityam has five top picks you need to
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watch. Quick disclaimer first, we are
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journalists, not analysts, so take what
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we say with a pinch of salt. This is not
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investment advice. First up is Diagio.
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It's had a bit of an anis horis down
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over 50% last year, but they've just
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appointed someone called drastic Dave to
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lead them. He's the man who famously
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turned around Tesco with rumors of Gen Z
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sobriety looking like total hogwash.
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This is a classic recovery play for a
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more cautious 2026. Number two is M&S.
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Before a major cyber attack last year,
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they were the comeback story of the
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decade. They've recovered 100 million
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pounds from insurance from their cyber
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attack and the underlying business is
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still in rude health. It's a great time
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to bet on them and continuing that
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upward path. Then at number three,
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there's Unilever. If the thought of an
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AI crash is keeping you up at night,
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this is your steady eddy. Analysts love
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consumer staples right now because
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demand for things like Dove soap and
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Helman's mayonnaise doesn't change when
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the economy gets rocky. It's a reliable
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dividend play. At number four, we have
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Lloyds. They were a jumbo jet last year,
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rising 70%, but you haven't missed the
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boarding time. They are tipped for a
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shareholder return bonanza with Jeffre
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predicting they'll hand over 17 billion
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pounds to investors by 2027. And
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finally, at number five, we have Sage.
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While the world chases AI hype
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merchants, this Newcastle giant has
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quietly shifted to the cloud. They are
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focused on practical automation and are
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currently buying back300 million pounds
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of their own shares. It's a cash machine
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for the patient investor. For the full
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analysis of all five, head over to
