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Meb Faber

Meb Faber is a co-founder of the quantitative asset manager Cambria Investment Management, where he manages the firm’s ETFs; he also hosts the investment podcast The Meb Faber Show and has written several investing books.

Contents13 sections
Key facts

Early Life and Education

Meb Faber, whose full name is Mebane T. Faber, was born in 1977. On his personal website he explains that Mebane is a Southern name that rhymes with “web-in.”⁠[1][2]

He grew up in Colorado and North Carolina and did his undergraduate studies at the University of Virginia, with a summer semester in Boulder, graduating with a double major in Engineering Science and Biology.⁠[2]

Early Career: Analyst Roles

After college Faber worked in Washington, D.C., as a biotech equity analyst and in San Francisco and Lake Tahoe as a quant analyst before moving to Manhattan Beach, California.⁠[2]

Co-founding Cambria Investment Management

In 2006 Faber co-founded Cambria Investment Management and became its chief investment officer. Cambria is an independent, privately owned investment adviser registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, focused on quantitative asset management and alternative investments and based in the Los Angeles area of California.⁠[1][3][4]

He manages Cambria’s ETFs, separately managed accounts and private investment funds for accredited investors.⁠[1]

Launching the Shareholder Yield ETFs

In 2013 Faber became vice president of Cambria ETF Trust, a post he held until 2018. On May 13, 2013, the Cambria Shareholder Yield ETF (SYLD) was launched, followed on December 2, 2013, by the Cambria Foreign Shareholder Yield ETF (FYLD).⁠[1][5]

Expanding the ETF Lineup

Cambria went on to launch the Cambria Global Value ETF (March 11, 2014), Cambria Global Momentum ETF (November 3, 2014), Cambria Global Asset Allocation ETF (December 9, 2014), Cambria Value and Momentum ETF (September 8, 2015), Cambria Emerging Shareholder Yield ETF (July 13, 2016) and Cambria Tail Risk ETF (April 5, 2017). The Global Asset Allocation ETF and Global Momentum ETF are actively managed funds of ETFs.⁠[5]

Chief Executive and Chair of the Trust

In 2018 Faber became chief executive officer of Cambria Investment Management and chairperson of the board, trustee and president of Cambria ETF Trust. On September 10, 2018, the Cambria Trinity ETF was launched.⁠[1][5]

New ETFs

The Cambria Global Real Estate ETF was launched on September 23, 2020; the Cambria Micro and SmallCap Shareholder Yield ETF and the Cambria Tactical Yield ETF on January 3, 2024; the Cambria LargeCap Shareholder Yield ETF on July 11, 2024; and the Cambria Fixed Income Trend ETF on March 27, 2025.⁠[5]

Registering Three New ETFs

On August 28, 2026, Cambria ETF Trust filed a registration amendment with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with a prospectus dated September 1, 2026, for three new funds: the Cambria Superinvestors ETF (DSCD), Cambria Buyout ETF (PLAD) and Cambria Venture ETF (CNVA); as of the prospectus date no shares of the funds were available for purchase. Faber and Cambria Chief Operating Officer Jonathan Keetz were named as portfolio managers, with Tidal Investments as sub-adviser.⁠[1]

Under the prospectus, the Superinvestors ETF invests at least 80% of its total assets, under normal market conditions, in U.S.-listed equities favored by prominent “Superinvestors,” institutional investors with publicly available track records of at least ten years, using their Form 13F holdings.⁠[1]

Books and Research

Faber is the author of Shareholder Yield and co-author of The Ivy Portfolio: How to Invest Like the Top Endowments and Avoid Bear Markets, and he writes the Mebane Faber Research blog.⁠[1]

His other books include Invest With The House, Global Asset Allocation and Global Value, and he compiled The Best Investment Writing – Volume 1, a collection of 32 articles. Global Asset Allocation tracks 13 assets and their returns since 1973; Global Value applies the cyclically adjusted price-to-earnings (CAPE) ratio to more than 40 foreign markets. Four of the books are available as free downloads on his website.⁠[6]

He publishes much of his research as white papers, on topics including the tax cost of dividend investing, investing for both income and growth, and a strategy with the potential to profit in a bear market.⁠[7]

The Podcast and The Idea Farm

Faber hosts the investment podcast The Meb Faber Show.⁠[2]

He also started The Idea Farm, which gives individual investors free access to the kind of market research usually available to professional investors. He said that, as Cambria’s chief investment officer, he subscribes to many professional investment publications and believes retail investors can benefit from the same research.⁠[8]

Section 351 ETF Exchanges

Cambria offers Section 351 exchanges for new ETFs: investors may contribute their securities to a newly formed ETF in exchange for ETF shares before the fund launches.⁠[9]

Related Organizations, Websites, and Public Accounts

Cambria Investment Management: Official website: https://www.cambriafunds.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[3]

The Idea Farm: Official website: https://theideafarm.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

The Meb Faber Show: Official website: https://www.themebfabershow.com/ (opens in a new window).⁠[8]

Sources

  1. Cambria ETF Trust: Form N-1A Post-Effective Amendment No. 255 (Cambria Superinvestors ETF, Cambria Buyout ETF, Cambria Venture ETF) (opens in a new window)
  2. About (opens in a new window)
  3. About | Cambria Funds (opens in a new window)
  4. Home | Cambria Funds (opens in a new window)
  5. Cambria ETF Trust: Form N-CSR Annual Report for the Fiscal Year Ended April 30, 2026 (opens in a new window)
  6. Books By Meb Faber (opens in a new window)
  7. White Papers (opens in a new window)
  8. About Us | Idea Farm (opens in a new window)
  9. 351 | Cambria Funds (opens in a new window)