Through the Economic and Financial Markets Wormhole
We’re now entering our sixth year of the official current recovery cycle – the fourth longest economic expansion in record. However, the current cycle is defined by historic anomalies – what are those and what do they mean as we look ahead? Have the actions of the Fed and global central bankers helped or hurt the cycle? How do they ultimately unwind their balance sheets/policy actions and what will be the unintended consequences?
The most important macro in the current cycle is the unprecedented weight and movement of global capital. It is meaningfully influencing real economies and global financial markets as we have never seen before. The final act of the multi-decade credit cycle has yet to play out – the deleveraging of sovereign/government balance sheets. Will it be orderly or will we experience a new sovereign debt crisis? It’s a global world and we’re never going back. Come learn what Brian has to say about all of these issues and more
Brian has been an investment management professional for over three decades and will speak about the macro economy and why this cycle is different than anything we've seen. He will also talk abou the financial markets and the anomolies we are seeing as well as the local economy of California and the Bay Area.
Prior to joining Capital Planning Advisors as Partner and Chief Investment Officer, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for Mechanics Bank Wealth Management since 1990 where he was instrumental in growing assets under management from $150 million to over $1.4 billion.
Prior to his role as CIO at Mechanics Bank, he was an investment research analyst at value equities investment firm George B. Springman, Inc., serving institutional clients such as the State of Oregon, San Francisco City and County Public Retirees, and the Contra Costa Country Retiree Pension Fund from 1986-1990.
From 1983-1986, Brian was a research analyst in the three person headquarters based Financial Planning and Analysis division of Transamerica Corporation.
Brian was the founder, publisher and editor of ContraryInvestor.com, a subscription based investment research website serving institutional, private and retail investors from 1998-2012, and continues to write for numerous well known investment websites such as ZeroHedge and Financial Sense.
Brian holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Certified Financial Planner (CFP®) designations as well as having earned an MBA in Finance from San Francisco State University, a BS in Economics and BA in Business Administration from the University of San Francisco.
While not living his passion for the financial markets and economy, Brian loves spending time with his wife and son, enjoying travelling, hiking, music and seeking out new adventures.