While running a half-marathon pales in comparison to some of life’s other challenges, I still found it wasn’t a cakewalk to participate in my first race a few weeks ago – the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona run. As a cancer survivor and a person who doesn’t necessarily love running, this task was all I could handle. As you can tell from this picture, I grinned to tell about it. Bottom line, it’s fun to blow through old boundaries. I root for you as you push past yours in 2017!

2016 Nobel laureate Bob Dylan once sang, “he not busy being born is busy dying.” Before him, Charles Darwin expressed similar sentiments. Thankfully, Hill Investment Group remains busy “being born,” and doing so harmoniously — not in spite of but because of our emphasis on putting clients’ interests ahead of our own. The strategy recently ranked us among the highest levels of client service and attention in Charles Schwab’s annual national benchmarking study (as measured by advisor-to-client ratios). 

The way we figure it, if we stay busy like that, the growth part will follow, with our clients, strategic partners, and friends leading the charge on our behalf.  Why? They know us better than anyone. They’ve experienced working with us, getting to know what we can do and what our core values mean … not just in words but in actions. Better to hear it from them than from us. 

Most importantly, the more introductions others make for us to their friends, family and loved ones, the more time we can spend on activities aimed at making our current clients’ lives better. Retaining our small and intimate feel even as we grow? That may seem counterintuitive, but that’s how personal referrals have helped our first decade play out nicely. 

The launch of Odds On has made it even easier to introduce HIG to those you care about. If you have a family member, friend, or friend-of-a-friend who may benefit from getting to know us, we believe you will be doing them and us a huge favor by bringing us together. To send someone a complimentary copy of Odds On (book, Kindle or audio), just let us know. We’ll send it out promptly, so you can then busy yourself with other things! 

I’m big into gratitude — especially when it comes to the entire Hill Investment Group team. Our collective hard work and thoughtful collaboration have been the essential ingredients in any and all professional successes we’ve enjoyed here at HIG.

To celebrate our time together, we’ve established two annual traditions. Each summer, we hold a mid-year family style BBQ (where we’ve been known to engage in lively debates on St. Louis pork steaks versus Texan brisket). Come Christmas, we don our formal attire for a more splashy gathering. Katie and I enjoy planning our Christmas celebration, so the rest of the team can relax and have a good time.

From our family to yours, we wish you a wonderful new year. To extend our gratitude onward, don’t forget to check out our book gift to you.