Fixing Fixed Income

The elusive quest for a real return

If you’re NOT a millennial, you might remember the good old days where you could earn 6-8% with very little risk, simply buying bonds. If you have more grey than Larry does, you’ll remember the bad old days of double digit inflation and 15% bond yields in the 1970s. The great financial crisis ushered in a new era of massive debt and ultra-low rates. Now as far as the eye can see, fixed income is “broken” because, in real terms, rates are somewhere between zero and negative. Should you just forget about this asset class entirely? Is higher risk investing the new normal? Will inflation come back? Will Modern Monetary Theory and popularist politics turn the financial world on its head? Will we all be forced to pay banks to keep our cash safe in the near future? Join Larry for an overview of how to understand fixed income, how it has historically played a role in portfolios, and how/why we’ve arrived at the current paradigm.

It’s not all bears and bond bubbles however. As usual, we’ll be showcasing portfolio techniques for thriving in the times we’re in, and what may be around the next corner. We’ll look at liquid alternatives, convertible bonds, options strategies and currency strategies as a source of yield, high yield without the high risk, and long/short tactics for navigating the forgotten world of fixed income. Larry will bring it all together for you in a portfolio context with ideas on how to use ETFs along with less correlated investment instruments (like gold) to put these ideas into action.