In this Australian Investors Podcast episode, Owen Rask sits down with Justin Lin from Global X for the final instalment of the portfolio construction series, this time focusing on the most misunderstood sleeve in many portfolios: alternatives.
Justin explains what actually makes an asset “alternative”, why correlation alone is not enough, and why the best alternative assets have genuinely different performance drivers to shares and bonds. They explore the role of gold, broad commodities and cryptocurrencies, and how these assets can either diversify a portfolio, provide liquidity during market stress, or act more like higher-risk force multipliers depending on what they are and how they are used.
The conversation also unpacks an important distinction many investors miss: not every uncorrelated asset is automatically useful, and not every alternative asset deserves the same job inside a portfolio. Justin explains why gold stands out as a rare all-weather diversifier, why broad commodities can act as an inflation hedge, and why Bitcoin and Ethereum still sit in the more aggressive part of the alternatives bucket even if their long-term roles continue to evolve.
They finish with practical ETF ideas across gold, broad commodities, Bitcoin, Ethereum and tactical leveraged Nasdaq exposure, while also sounding a clear warning about structure, private-market opacity and the need to understand exactly what is driving performance before you allocate capital. If you want a sharper framework for thinking about alternatives, this episode is the right place to end the series.
