Details Are Part of Our Difference
Embracing the Evidence at Anheuser-Busch – Mid 1980s
529 Best Practices
David Booth on How to Choose an Advisor
The One Minute Audio Clip You Need to Hear
Category: Philosophy
Cold Calls, Golf Balls and Ongoing Gratitude
Even though Thanksgiving is over (except for a few leftovers) I hope to keep being thankful for life’s many ongoing twists and turns. That’s why I keep a golf ball in my overcoat throughout the year. It may look like just an ordinary object, but it’s special to me, because it reminds me of how grateful I am to be part of Hill Investment Group.
Similar to the experiences Matt Hall shared in Odds On, I too started my financial career in a sales-oriented culture. We’ll call my first gig “Big Broker,” where we were taught how to sell financial wares via cold-calls and door-to-door canvassing. The bulk of our so-called education was on how to overcome any objections, instead of on what it takes to be a worthy advisor.
In other words, just about everything I learned at Big Broker was exactly the opposite of the Hill Investment Group culture, where we strive to center everything we do around our clients’ highest financial interests.
So, what’s that golf ball got to do with it? Back in my Big Broker days, we were shown how to use it to save our knuckles during our sales outings. If you’ve ever knocked on a lot of doors in all kinds of weather, you learn quickly how much that can hurt. On the good days, I’d end up knocking a couple hundred times, delivering my canned speech dozens of times, and generating one or two good leads. On some of my worse days, I was bitten by dogs, pooped on by birds and stung by bees.
Maybe I deserved it for pestering people in their homes, whether or not they wanted an uninvited guest.
As you might imagine, whenever I stopped to think about it (which started happening with increasing frequency!), I thought, “There’s got to be a better way to help people invest their hard-earned assets.”
Thankfully, I discovered that better way when I came across HIG in 2012. Reading through the materials they shared with me, I was immediately hooked … to the point where I was late for a dinner outing because I had to finish reading about this amazing “new” perspective. It was new to me, anyway. Then I was up early the following Saturday to read some more. I call this my “Light Bulb Moment,” which we shared in this 2015 video:
John Reagan: His Light Bulb Moment from Hill Investment Group.
Unfortunately, the Michael Lewis piece I reference in this video is out of print and no longer available. But there are plenty of other great resources published since then to take its place. Let us know if you could use some assistance in generating your own light bulb moment. I’d be happy to help, and grateful to share what else I’ve learned after I got to tuck my cold-call golf ball away for good.
The Top 5 Takeaways from Odds On
Dear friends,
It’s been 18 months since the release of Odds On, and every day since then I’ve been amazed and humbled by the response the book has generated. I could tell you some incredible stories about how Odds On is changing people’s lives by opening up the world of evidence-based investing. But the one thing that seems to resonate most with readers is how engaging and accessible the book is—how we’ve managed to humanize a topic that might otherwise seem technical and boring.
That was my goal from the start, but even after publishing the book I’ve wanted to make the lessons of Odds On even more accessible. To that end, I’ve highlighted the most important messages I hoped readers would discover in the book. Whether you’ve read it already and need a quick refresher or haven’t yet picked up a copy and are wondering what it’s all about, here are the key takeaways.
Takeaway #1. The traditional financial services industry (embodied by the giant Wall Street firms) is not about service. Wall Street is a sales machine, focused primarily on making money for itself by pushing actively-managed financial products with high fees that don’t necessarily serve the client’s best interests—or help them achieve their long-term goals.
Takeaway #2. Fortunately, there is a better way to invest. You can adopt an investment philosophy that’s based on logic, data and evidence to put the odds of success on your side. Thanks to smart academic researchers, we now understand where value comes from in the global financial markets (and where it doesn’t), and can put those findings to work in portfolios that offer exposure to the real drivers of long-term performance. In other words, investors can rely on science, not sales pitches and guesswork.
Even more heartening: Our philosophy is rapidly gaining ground against the old, sales-driven model. Just study the money moving each year into passively managed mutual funds and ETFs, as well as the flight from big brokerage houses to independent advisory firms, where true fiduciaries work in the best interest of their clients.
Takeaway #3. While the science is clear, our emotions are complicated. Human nature abhors change, and there is a lot of inertia behind investing behavior—whether we think we have to invest the way our parents and grandparents did or are still hanging on to old notions that “expert” stock pickers have the secret to long-term success. Some people can’t resist the idea that if they just read more articles about the best stocks or mutual funds or spend more time managing their investments, they’ll somehow beat the market.
But at some point you have to understand that evolving to evidence-based investing is not giving up control over your future—you’re actually taking control by accepting the science and embracing the course it lays out for us.
Takeaway #4. Even with academic evidence on your side, the world is unpredictable. Investment returns will fluctuate over time—sometimes painfully (remember 2008?). But you get rewarded precisely for taking those risks. The key to long-term success is not just embracing an evidence-based investment strategy, but staying disciplined and sticking with your plan in the face of short-term uncertainty. If you can’t do it on your own, you can work with someone who helps you stay disciplined. Remember, we’re playing the long game, and investors who are disciplined in the face of short-term chaos are the ones who are most likely to achieve their long-term goals.
Takeaway #5. Evidence-based investing improves your chances of better investment returns, but the greatest return of all is the freedom you gain. Reducing the time you spend obsessing over your investments or worrying about what’s going to happen to the markets tomorrow means you have more time to focus on what really matters to you—all those important things you’re saving and investing for in the first place. It’s liberating.
I hope these highlights have helped you understand a little more about why I wrote the book and what I believe everyone can gain when they embrace a rational, understandable investment approach. And if you or anyone else you know wants a copy of Odds On, just reach out to us by clicking below and we’ll send you one (hardback, kindle or audio). We want to change as many lives as we can, and Odds On has made that journey simpler and faster.
Thanks for taking the long view,
Matt
*All 2017 proceeds from sales of Odds On go to charity.
Take the Long View®: Education, Entrepreneurship & Experience
Hill Investment Group’s investment philosophy is based on the fundamental belief that, over the long view, global capitalism will succeed. HIG also loves continuing education – for our clients, our future clients, and ourselves. We’ve also got a demonstrated commitment to giving back.
When the Saint Louis Fashion Incubator launched in late 2016, we found another natural place to combine all three of these core beliefs. Through this non-profit incubator initiative, HIG has partnered with others to make a significant financial and mentoring commitment to six talented young designers who have come to St. Louis from across the U.S. Their two-year fellowships here are preparing them for full commercial debuts upon graduation.
Relationships are important too, which is how HIG came to lead a perhaps surprising charge in fashion and design. It came about in part when our Houston team introduced us to the husband/wife fashion aficionados, Sid and Ann Mashburn. We’re excited to co-host the Mashburns when they visit St. Louis in mid-October to share their decades of fashion world experience. From “brick and mortar” stores to an online, Skype-based business offering made-to-measure clothing, Sid and Ann have been there, done that, and will be sharing their leadership experience with our incubator designers … and a few others while they’re here.
Just as we’re proud of our entrepreneurial and philanthropic involvement here at HIG, we enjoy inspiring other business owners and friends to share their time, talent, and treasures to spread their own unique vision and values. Cheers to the Mashburns for joining us!
