Marketplace Roundtable #74: A Top Down, All Weather ETF Portfolio - Coronavirus Edition

With markets in sell-off mode the world over and few asset classes spared - Oil is below $35/bbl while the S&P 500 is down more than 6% on the day as I write this on Monday March 9, today's conversation with Macro specialist Eric Basmajian is hugely important. Eric is Head of Macro Research at Pervalle Global, a discretionary hedge fund specializing in global macro driven trades across all major asset classes. He first began contributing to Seeking Alpha in 2017, building up a following of more than 12,000 investors and becoming Seeking Alpha’s top contributor in the Economy vertical through his unparalleled analysis of key macro-economic trends - and his ability to turn this analysis into actionable, top-down portfolio advice.In addition to his role at Pervalle, Eric runs his own Seeking Alpha Marketplace service, EPB Macro Research. In addition to the steady stream of macro analysis subscribers to EPB Macro Research get, they also gain access to EPB’s Model Tactical Asset Allocation and Long-Only Asset Allocation portfolios - 2 low cost, all-ETF portfolios overseen directly by Eric. By combining an asset class mix that includes stocks, bonds, gold and commodities - tilting based on underlying macroeconomic conditions - Eric has created an all-weather portfolio which tamps down risk and volatility while attaining impressive longer term appreciation of capital. And while under normal market conditions that may seem like a less sexy approach, its performance in the current environment makes it all worthwhile. Eric joins the Marketplace Roundtable podcast to talk his book.Show Notes2:30 - How did you get into your "macro" approach?8:15 - The current state of the global economy11:00 - Is the fed funds rate in the right place now?17:45 - Where do you see the consumer in this economy?22:00 - Is the lack of corporate earnings recession a positive?28:00 - Thoughts on tech stocks34:00 - How do you deal a black swan event like the Coronavirus in portfolio management?39:15 - Specific take on the Coronavirus41:15 - How do we deal with underlying economic issues and break the debt cycle?49:15 - Household savings51:00 - Portfolio construction process, baseline allocation58:45 - Are you shifting equity allocations?1:07:45 - Fixed income... only treasuries?1:15:00 - What would it take for you to move to TIPS?1:21:30 - Gold as main commodity exposure1:26:30 - Any attempts to include other asset classes?Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices