The Meb Faber Show

We’re back with the first Q&A episode of 2017. We start by discussing the “Zero Budget Portfolio,” about which Meb wrote a recent blog post. The quick idea is that when considering your portfolio, you should start from scratch, or “zero.” Imagine your perfect portfolio – which markets you’d like to own, which assets, tilts, etc. Now compare that perfect, hypothetical portfolio to your actual portfolio. To the extent that your real, owned assets have a place in your perfect portfolio, you’ll continue owning them. Any assets that don’t fit, you sell immediately. But it’s not long before we dive into listener questions. A few you’ll hear tackled are: -         How do I decide whether I should use a robo-service or manage my portfolio myself? How likely am I to underperform a robo?   -         We know that value can lag market returns, but should lead over time. What is the time horizon by which you determine whether a strategy like value is successful?   -         Are there are country ETFs that you would not tr