Fritz Folts of 3EDGE Asset Management - What Happened to the Markets in 2023 and What’s Ahead for 2024

Feb 27, 2024

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In this episode, Rusty Vanneman and Robyn Murray are joined by Fritz Folts from 3EDGE Asset Management. Fritz has over 20 years of experience at the investment committee level in the investment management industry. He was one of the co-founders of 3EDGE Asset Management, where he serves as the Chief Investment Strategist and Member of the Investment Committee.

Prior to 3EDGE, Fritz was one of the first team members at Windward Investment Management, a pioneer in constructing globally diversified portfolios utilizing index Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs). After the acquisition of Windward by Charles Schwab in 2010, the name of the firm was changed to Windhaven Investment Management. Fritz became responsible for distribution of Windhaven's investment solutions throughout the entire Charles Schwab nationwide retail branch network. He and his team raised over $15 billion in new assets under management. Later, Fritz was named Chief Investment Strategist at Windhaven. He began his career at The Boston Company, where he ultimately served as Vice President, and Director of Global Funding for the then-newly-formed Boston Safe Deposit & Trust Co. (U.K.) Ltd., in London, England.

Fritz received his B.A. with a major in Political Science from Connecticut College and his MBA from IESE (Instituto Estudios Superiores de la Empresa), a bilingual Spanish - English MBA program in Barcelona, Spain. He is the former Chair of the Board of Trustees at Connecticut College and now serves as an Emeritus Trustee. In addition, Fritz currently serves on the Investment Committee for the Connecticut College endowment fund and the Investment Committee for the Umbrella Center for the Arts in Concord, MA.

Fritz and his wife Cathy live in Concord, Massachusetts.

Key Takeaways

[03:06] - Fritz’s professional background and what drove him to 3EDGE.
[04:25] - The 3EDGE model is “human plus machine,” which powers their investment research process. How did they decide on this model and what really sets them apart as a firm?
[08:30] - For advisors and clients looking at their year end reports, how should investors consider their portfolio performance considering the state of the 2023 market?
[09:31] - What is 3EDGE’s baseline scenario, bull case and bear case for 2024?
[15:05] - Is it reasonable for investors to focus so much on The Federal Reserve and how much does 3EDGE factor this into their decision making process?
[17:30] - How should investors be thinking about the upcoming presidential election and how can they prepare for it, if at all?
[21:05] - What might it take for international stocks to outperform and how should investors be allocating to non-US equities?
[27:25] - Tips on how to size the positions of diversifying asset classes, such as alts and real assets.
[31:26] - What is currently Fritz’s favorite investment idea for 2024?

Quotes

[07:45] - "I do think that investors were probably disappointed in the performance of their portfolios, because we had a market that was driven by…these Magnificent 7 mega cap technology funds, and you are not going to keep up with that when that is driving the entire market. If I look at investors, I would say…‘it’s okay, that’s not normal…you just have to realize, it wouldn’t be realistic to keep up with an index where 7 stocks are driving the majority of the performance.’” ~ Fritz Folts

[21:56] - "I think the best chance for the non-US equities to take a leadership position, for an extended period of time, will only be after there is a material correction in the US market.” ~ Fritz Folts

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Disclosure(s) ~ Orion Portfolio Solutions, LLC, an Orion Company, is a registered investment advisor.