We've always been proud to tell the story of Matt and Rick meeting back in 1999 and the origins of Hill Investment Group, but these days we are even more excited to speak of the recent accomplishments of our growing team. Hill Investment Group celebrates its fifth anniversary as an independent firm this year, and, in conjunction with this milestone, we are proud to announce some very special news: Buddy Reisinger and Jeff Snodgrass are now partners in Hill Investment Group. We believe we can serve clients best when we are spending the majority of time focused on our own unique ability, and Buddy and Jeff's individual strengths are the perfect complement to Matt, Rick and our team as a whole!
One of the most important lessons investors can learn about equity investing is it always entails a high degree of risk, and frequent crises — whether political, economic or caused by Mother Nature — are the norm, not the exception. Since 1973, we have experienced at least 15 crises, or about one every 2.5 years. Despite that track record, the S&P 500 Index and the MSCI EAFE Index have both provided returns of more than 8 percent per year. In fact, it is because stocks are perceived as very risky that they have produced such large returns: Investors demand a large risk premium to accept the risks of equities.
Those who know their financial history understand that frequently occurring crises are the norm. What we don’t know is when the next one will be, how long it will last and how deep it will be. Unfortunately, as much as we would like to think otherwise, there is no one who can protect us from crises because they are unpredictable.
Radio personality, McGraw Millhaven, recently invited our own Matt Hall and Buckingham CEO - elect, Adam Birenbaum, to describe common sense investing to his listeners. Click here for the audio.
While CNBC is an unlikely place to find Eugene Fama, the legendary professor has a lively discussion on the future of capitalism, Efficient Markets Hypothesis, financial reform, and the "too big to fail" concept. Click here for the eight minute video.
Often, the Wall Street Journal contributes to the "noise" we encourage you to ignore, but this time they get it right. Click here for "Try as Investors Might, So Much Depends on Chance."
What's going around our office is the latest gem from Michael Lewis, The Big Short.
Watch the mail for a special invite to an event we're doing in St. Louis.
“Successful investing is about controlling the controllable. You can’t control what the market does, but you can control what you do in response. In the long run, your returns depend less on whether you pick good investments than on whether you are a good investor.” Jason Zweig
