Views from the Desk

How Do You Build an Inflation-Resilient Portfolio?

Zayla Saunders
Vice President, Direct Distribution, BMO ETFs
Hilly Cutler
Director, Portfolio Consulting
Brock Smusiak
Director, ETF Consultant
Jun 22, 2026

Inflation remains an important consideration in portfolio construction, particularly as diversification within traditional financial assets can be less reliable across market environments. In this episode, special guest Brock Smusiak joins hosts Zayla Saunders and Hilly Cutler to discuss how ETFs across commodities, gold and inflation-linked bonds can help address portfolio risks within that broader context.

Zayla Saunders is Vice President of ETF Online Distribution at BMO Global Asset Management (BMO GAM) and Hilly Cutler is Director of Portfolio Consulting and Senior Portfolio Consultant at BMO GAM. They are joined by Brock Smusiak, Director, ETF Consultant at BMO GAM. This episode was recorded live on Monday, June 22, 2026.

ETFs mentioned:

Sources:

AUM: Assets Under Management 

CPI: Consumer Price Index 

GFC: Global Financial Crisis

TIPS: Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities

Real Return Bond (RRB): A government bond whose principal and interest payments are adjusted for inflation, so the return you earn is protected against rising prices.

EAFE: Developed markets in Europe, Australasia, and the Far East

Beta: A measure of the volatility, or systematic risk, of a security or a portfolio in comparison to the market as a whole. Usually, the market has a beta of 1.0. Stocks with betas higher than 1.0 are interpreted as more volatile than the market, and stocks with betas lower than 1.0 are interpreted as less volatile than the market.

Correlation: A statistical measure of how two securities move in relation to one another. Positive correlation indicates similar movements, up or down together, while negative correlation indicates opposite movements (when one rises, the other falls).

Liquidity: The degree to which an asset or security can be quickly bought or sold in the market without affecting the asset’s price. Cash is considered to be the most liquid asset, while things like fine art or rare books would be relatively illiquid.

Disclaimers:

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