In Episode 10, we welcome John Davi, the Founder of Astoria Advisors. Astoria Advisors maintains a variety of strategies for investors to utilize. Among these are Core Risk Based ETF Strategies, Thematic ETF & Stock Strategies, and Factor US Stock Strategies. Astoria also manages an Inflation Protected ETF under the ticker PPI. The portfolio aims to invest in “inflation-sensitive” assets that can help investors limit inflation risk and provide lower correlations to traditional assets, especially stocks and bonds. You can find more information about Astoria Advisors and PPI at www.astoriaadvisors.com
Deeper Dive: Insights from the Full Conversation
Beyond the headline strategy, the full conversation between Brad and John Davi covered several additional themes worth highlighting for advisors and investors.
On Process and Philosophy
So spent 20 years doing institutional research, portfolio construction for firms like Maryland, Morgan Stanley, so 10 years of Maryland, 10 years of Morgan Stanley, I started my career actually in quantitative research, so kind of late 90s, I know quantitative analysis, portfolio construction is very much in both, but back then it was all about single stocks and fundamental research and being an institutional I rank, like that was the big thing in research and even at the sell side, but from a stand start, it was always about how do you build portfolios that delivered unique sources of risk and return for institutional investors.
I'm Brad Roth, Chief Investment Officer of Thor Financial Technologies, and portfolio manager of THLV, the Thor Low Volatility ETF. Behind the Ticker, uncovers the inner workings of the ETF industry. We will interview portfolio managers and ETF service providers to dive deep into their work lives and their businesses. We will learn the inner workings of their strategies and what drives them as they continue to grow their company. Many of these individuals are entrepreneurs, and will have unique and compelling insights to share as much goes on behind the Ticker.
Market Context and Positioning
Today we have John Dovey. He is the founder of Astoria Advisors. We talk about their ETF Ticker PPI, which is inflation-sensitive strategy. We talk about John's business. John, like us, runs a model business as well as an ETF, so it was interesting to get his perspective on both. I think you will enjoy hearing about their inflation-sensitive ETF, especially after everything we have gone through in terms of inflation over the last handful of years. Please enjoy this episode with John Dovey.
So John is from Astoria Advisors. He's got an SMA business, kind of an OCIO business, some research in there. I believe I saw the ETF we are going to talk about, PPI, but before we get into that, why don't you tell me a little bit about your background and how you got to start being a story advisers?
Always had a macro kind of lens, so the goal was to join the buy side and to be an entrepreneur and I just thought that it'd be helpful to do both at the same time, so 2017 started a story, and the firm has been growing since 2017, myself and my other kind of partners and colleagues, all have an institutional caliber background, either worked on the sell side, whether they're in sales, trading, we've got a couple of younger analysts and they come at school, but they very much are being kind of engulfed in this institutional caliber research and portfolio construction, so that's a little bit about us.
Key Takeaways
- The portfolio aims to invest in “inflation-sensitive” assets that can help investors limit inflation risk and provide lower correlations to traditional assets, especially stocks and bonds.
- The conversation explores important themes in quantitative investing relevant to today's advisor landscape.
- The conversation explores important themes in market outlook relevant to today's advisor landscape.
What This Means for Advisors
For financial advisors evaluating options for client portfolios, this conversation with John Davi highlights important considerations around fixed income. Understanding the strategy behind each fund—not just the ticker—helps advisors make more informed allocation decisions and better communicate the rationale to clients.
The themes of fixed income and quantitative investing discussed in this episode are particularly relevant in the current market environment, where advisors are increasingly looking for differentiated solutions that go beyond traditional benchmarks.
Listen to the Full Episode
This article is based on an episode of Behind the Ticker, hosted by Brad Roth, Founder and CIO of THOR Financial Technologies. For the full conversation with John Davi, including additional nuances and details, listen on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or watch on YouTube.