The stock market has been a battle of nerves in 2026. And the recent chilling warning from the Bank of England hasn’t exactly helped in calming things down.
Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden has sounded the alarm on multiple fronts. The US-Iran war has created what she called “the worst energy shock in my living memory.” Government debt is ballooning. Private credit is showing cracks. And equity valuations, she warns, are “stretched” in ways that “rhyme with the vulnerabilities” that preceded the 2008 financial crisis.
If she’s right, it sounds like a total market meltdown could be right around the corner. So, should investors be hitting the sell button?
Don’t try to time the market
While Breeden’s comments are concerning, it’s important to remember that no one truly knows when or even if a market crash is coming.
Even in the last few years, there have been plenty of financial experts proclaiming that catastrophe is just around the corner. Yet so far, none of these predictions has come true. And the investors who listened to the warnings and sold have subsequently missed out on some of the best performances from UK shares seen in over a decade.
While there are some genuine and justified concerns, staying invested in high-quality businesses today is likely still the smarter play.
One stock built for this environment
In all this uncertainty, there are a few stocks that institutional investors are quietly backing. And among these stands RELX (LSE:REL) where the thesis is pretty compelling.
RELX is one of the world’s leading providers of professional information, analytics, and decision tools. Through flagship brands like LexisNexis and Elsevier, it serves the legal, scientific, medical, and financial communities with data products they simply cannot function without.
Even during a recession, courts still need case law, hospitals still need medical research, and banks still need credit risk analytics, making demand structurally non-negotiable.
Its 2025 results perfectly highlighted this structural necessity. Revenue and underlying earnings climbed to record highs, while dividends received a 7% bump alongside the launch of a new £2.25bn share buyback programme.
Pair all that with management raising its guidance for 2026, and it’s no wonder 16 out of 17 analysts currently rate the stock as a Buy or Outperform with an average 12-month share price target of 3,385p – 26.7% higher than where RELX shares trade today.
So, is this a no-brainer?
What could go wrong?
Despite the robust financials, RELX shares were sold off drastically earlier this year on fears of incoming AI disruption.
With cheap-and-cheerful AI models proving increasingly effective at drafting legal documents, summarising medical information, and analysing financial data, will there even be a need for LexisNexis or Elsevier in the future?
It’s a fair question. But so far, the evidence points to the answer being yes.
RELX has already been busy actively embedding AI into its own analytics tools, using the technology to deepen switching costs rather than erode them. And with proprietary datasets spanning decades, its competitive moats are far more considerable than what many bearish investors might think.
That’s why, for investors rattled by the Bank of England’s warnings, RELX could be worth a deeper dive as storm clouds gather. I know I’m certainly taking a closer look.
