Meb Faber: The Road Less Traveled (EP.05)

Let’s face it – Meb Faber is everywhere, and he’s built an asset management business from scratch with a very unconventional approach. I wanted to take a look back at that journey to get some perspective on the good, the bad, and the ugly along the way. Meb shared some interesting stories and surprised me with some of the lessons learned. Meb has launched a really thoughtful and unique family of ETFs but I was interested in some of the ideas on Cambria’s shelf. He shared some other concepts that he’s excited about but that the market isn’t ready for yet, including a compelling and more tax efficient alternative to typical income strategies. Most people are aware that Meb takes great pleasure in busting financial myths. We discuss his pet peeve at the moment – market cap weighting – and some research that he’s conducting on why investors should consider strategies that avoid over-allocating to mega-cap companies. It’s amazing how such simple strategies with intuitive explanations can be overlooked by investors for so many years.  My favorite part of the conversation was when Meb described how his thinking had changed over time. Consistent with many of the most thoughtful professionals I’ve chatted with over the years, most of Meb’s lessons relate more to how investors behave in markets rather than the nature of markets themselves. He provides some great illustrations.  I think you’ll enjoy some of our “off-roading” and discussions on topics he isn’t asked about very often.  Any time with Meb is time well spent and this is no exception.