At Hill Investment Group, we are always looking to add quality individuals to the team. We get extra enjoyment when we are able to “rescue” them from what we refer to as the dark side of the financial industry … as Matt Hall describes here.

In that context, please join me in welcoming Abby Crimmins as our new client service associate. Abby comes to us from a wirehouse. In her own words, “After an unsettling start to my career, I was eager to find a financial firm that emphasized exemplary client service and aligned with my core values.”

Fortunately, a family friend introduced Abby to HIG, and to Matt’s book, Odds On.  After reading the book, she knew where she was meant to be. As good timing would have it, we too were seeking an individual with Abby’s talents to build on our client service team.

Augmenting her wirehouse experience (where she was selected to participate in an executive leadership development program), Abby is a University of Missouri-Columbia “Mizzou” graduate, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, finance and real estate. Her attention to detail, process-oriented mind, and can-do enthusiasm will also be valuable assets to us and our clients, as she covers tasks that are perhaps best described as “a little bit of everything.”

During her Mizzou days, Abby traveled to New Zealand and Australia as part of an international business program. She also used the opportunity to try sky diving! When she’s not jumping out of airplanes (just the once … so far), she enjoys spending time with family and friends, trying new restaurants, attending concerts and working up a good sweat at the fitness center.

Abby also loves meeting new people and can’t wait to be helpful to you.

For years, we’ve been sharing the results of Dimensional Fund Advisors’ annually updated “Mutual Fund Landscape” analysis.  As we first expressed back in 2013, “This analysis of the US mutual fund industry performance casts doubt on the ability of investors to form a winning long-term strategy by picking outperforming funds based on past returns. It also raises questions about the effectiveness of investment strategies that attempt to add value by identifying mispriced securities.”

This is one message that bears repeating. Especially since, this year, somebody got creative over at Dimensional and produced an engaging video version. Check it out!

What’s 100 years old, a member of the Hill Investment Group family, and the first and largest of its kind?

If you’re a St. Louisan, you may already know the answer is The St. Louis Municipal Opera Theatre – or, The Muny, to its many friends. Founded in 1918, the Muny is the oldest and largest outdoor musical theatre in the nation. The HIG connection comes from the fact that its long-tenured President and CEO Dennis Reagan is our own John Reagan’s dad. (Reagan Senior has been a fixture at the theatre since he joined their ranks more than 50 years ago!)

To commemorate its centennial, we hosted a birthday bash for this beloved venue on August 12, including a pre-show dinner and backstage theatre tour, followed by the season’s closing production of (what else?) “Meet Me in St. Louis.”

We were pleased to put on the event, enjoyed by a good number of our local friends. What a night it was. Because pictures will capture the event far better than words can, we invite you to stroll over to HIG’s Instagram page, where we’ve posted several other photos of the fun.

Here’s to the Muny’s next season … 101 and counting!