With Rick Hill officially retiring this year, we’re thrilled to continue celebrating his incredible legacy with the Rick Hill Award. As you may recall from a post Buddy shared in early 2024, we announced this special recognition at our 2023 holiday party to honor Rick’s values and actions, which have been at the heart of our firm’s success (and our friendship) since day one.

This annual award, paired with financial recognition, will be presented to the team member who best exemplifies living our firm’s values throughout the prior year. We’ve been paying close attention to those moments in 2024 when teammates have gone above and beyond, and we’re excited to share the winner with our team at our company celebration on February 8th. We’ll tell you about the winner our February email.

There’s still time to nominate someone you believe deserves this honor! If you’ve had a meaningful interaction with a team member that reflects Rick’s and our firm’s values, please email me directly at matt@hillinvestmentgroup.com. The nomination window closes on January 31st, so don’t wait!

We value your insight and are grateful for your help in recognizing the teammates who make our firm extraordinary.

This year’s Hill Investment Group summer bash celebrated our 19th birthday! In typical fashion, a casual outdoor soirée was hosted by Matt Hall and his wife Lisa at their home in Clayton.  

While we enjoyed a delicious and unique meal provided by Kirk’s Traveling Kitchen, The Gaslight Squares provided an upbeat musical atmosphere. To close out their set, our Sherrie Dickson serenaded the team with her beautiful rendition of Moon River!

This year, we also had a few new faces at the party and a very special guest – Miss Saronda Summerland, our beloved mail carrier and friend (pictured above, along with Anna Farrell, Matt Hall, and me). Saronda has always gone the extra mile for Hill Investment Group, and we will miss seeing her every day now that the St. Louis office has moved into our new space. Yes, we tried to get her to switch her route, but she sadly declined. 

Thankfully – we’ve already planned several ways to keep in touch because her sense of humor, candid communication, and comedic genius put a smile on our faces whenever she’s around.  

Making friends is still, and always will be our business.

Hill Investment Group prides itself on always having a team member, not a machine, answer our phones within two rings. We’ll never have an auto attendant answering system (during office hours) – but this means you will have to be placed on hold occasionally. Most hold music ranges from loud and irritating to the nonexistent ‘Is anyone still on the other end?’. 

You’ve likely been placed on hold at Hill Investment Group, and we try to make that experience as pleasant as possible. Whether it’s an interview clip with one of our team members or jazzy holiday tunes – we aim to entertain or educate you while we connect you. 

We’re excited to share our latest and coolest hold music, this time from one of our clients, Mr. Clint Willis. If, in 2016, you happened to be at the St. Louis launch party for Matt’s book Odds On:The Making of an Evidence-Based Investor, you might recall Clint’s soulful performance that served as a fantastic introduction (see photo). 

During a recent interaction, and because Clint is such a creative person – I couldn’t help but wonder if he could create a mellow tune for our friends to enjoy while they’re on hold – and boy did he deliver! We hope you’ll enjoy our latest hold tune the next time you call or by clicking play above!