‘My anxiety is high’: Jamie Dimon sounds the alarm on AI stocks. What Canadian investors can do to protect their portfolios

“My own view is people are getting a little comfortable that this is real, — these high asset prices and high volumes — and that we won’t have any problems,” Dimon said at JPMorgan’s annual investor update in February.

The scale of spending behind today’s AI boom is staggering. Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft have already committed nearly US$600 billion (C$815 billion) to building AI data centres — and that’s just the beginning. Industry analysts project total global spending will reach US$1.7 trillion (C$2.3 trillion) by 2030 — more than the Apollo moon program cost, in today’s dollars (2).

What’s raising eyebrows is more than just the size of the investment — it’s who’s investing in whom. OpenAI purchased a major stake in AMD (3). NVIDIA committed US$100 billion (C$136 billion) to OpenAI. Microsoft holds a significant ownership stake in OpenAI while spending heavily in CoreWeave, an AI cloud company backed by NVIDIA. A handful of companies appear to be inflating each other’s valuations in a loop — a pattern that, according to strategists at Goldman Sachs “rhymes with previous bubbles (4).”

Dimon himself says it reminds him of the years before the 2008 financial crisis. “There’s always a surprise in a credit cycle,” he said. This time, he thinks software companies could be most exposed — the way phone and utility companies were in 2008 and 2009 (5).

“There will be a cycle one day, he added. “I don’t know what confluence of events will cause that cycle. My anxiety is high over it.”

Is the AI supercycle real?

AI enthusiasts have argued that today’s investment wave will trigger a sweeping transformation of every industry. But the concentration of that spending raises real questions about how broad the gains actually are.

One ripple effect is already visible: job losses (6). In late February 2026, Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block cut 40% of its workforce — that’s more than 4,000 people — with Dorsey stating that a much smaller team using the company’s own AI tools could do the work more efficiently.

And Block wasn’t alone — Amazon, Salesforce and other large employers have also cited AI as the reason behind recent mass layoffs (7).

Dimon has been blunt about his unease. “When I think about all the factors taking place, I take a deep breath and say watch out,” he said (8).

And he’s not alone in his concern. Adam Slater, lead economist at Oxford Economics has warned that there are “potential symptoms of a bubble” in the current situation (9). It points to rapid growth in tech stock prices, stretched valuations and extreme optimism about a technology that still carries enormous uncertainties. Slater also noted that without tech investment, the U.S. GDP would have barely grown in the first half of 2025 — which means a correction would hurt the broader economy, much less the tech sector (10).

Meanwhile, the so-called Buffett indicator — which measures total U.S. stock market capitalization against GDP — has recently hit around 220%, its highest level on record (11). Every time the indicator has reached such extremes in the past, a significant market correction followed.

What this means for Canadian investors

For Canadian investors, the risk is real even if the bubble is centred in the U.S. Canadian pension funds, index funds and ETFs all carry significant exposure to American equities. CPP Investments Board (CPPIB), which manages retirement savings for more than 22 million Canadians, now has 47% of its portfolio invested in the United States — up from 36% only two years earlier (12). The CPPIB’s own CEO John Graham has said the fund is monitoring concentration risk in U.S. tech stocks closely (13).

A sharp correction in AI-heavy U.S. equities would quickly show up in Canadian portfolios. That’s why many advisors recommend reviewing your asset mix now — before any correction happens — rather than reacting to it after the fact.

If you’re unclear how much U.S. tech exposure you have, a registered financial advisor can help you understand where you’re at. You can find a Certified Financial Planner through FP Canada’s public registry (14).

Diversify with real estate

If you’re looking to move away from tech stocks and broaden your portfolio, there’s one sector that has proven to be relatively stable amidst trends and market shocks.

Real estate has a long track record as both an income generator and portfolio diversifier — it’s an asset class that doesn’t move in tandem with stocks or bonds. Here are the main ways you can add real estate exposure to your portfolio.

Rental properties

Buying a rental property is the most hands-on approach. Done well, it generates monthly cash flow and builds equity over time. The catch is, you’ll need a sizeable down payment — typically 20% for an investment property — and you’ll take on landlord responsibilities such as finding tenants, handling maintenance, collecting rent and navigating provincial tenancy laws.

Mortgage rates for investment properties are also generally higher than for a primary residence. It means going the distance, but comes with a solid track record for investors with patience.

House flipping

House flipping involves buying a property at below-market value, renovating it then selling the residence for a profit — usually within a few months and up to a year. Returns can be strong, but margins have tightened with rising construction costs, higher insurance premiums and increased competition from buyers with high capital. There’s also a tax consideration worth noting: Under Canada’s residential flipping rule, profits on homes sold within 12 months of purchase are treated as fully taxable business income rather than a capital gain (15).

REITs

If you’re an investor who wants real estate exposure without buying a property, Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) are the most accessible option. A REIT is a company that owns and operates income-generating properties — apartment buildings, shopping centres, industrial complexes, health-care facilities and more. They trade on the TSX like regular stocks and are required to distribute a large share of their taxable income to investors, making them a popular source of passive income.

You can buy individual REITs through any online brokerage, or invest in a REIT exchange-traded fund (ETF) — a single fund that holds a basket of REITs across multiple sectors and regions. One tax note about REITs: Any distributions held within a Tax-Free Savings Account (TFSA) or Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) are sheltered from tax. But in a non-registered account, any distributions are taxed as ordinary income, rather than capital gains or eligible dividends.

Real estate crowdfunding

Crowdfunding platforms let you invest in real estate projects alongside other investors, often with a much smaller minimum than a traditional property purchase. Instead of buying the property outright, you own a fraction of a project and earn returns through rental income, property appreciation or both.