Hill Investment Group clients know our mantra Take the long view. It’s short hand for having a well-thought-out plan that’s executed consistently over time, a globally-diversified low-cost portfolio, and a long-term outlook on investment performance.

Jim Parker, Vice President at Dimensional Funds—one of our strategic partners—recently wrote a short and sweet (pun intended) article titled “The Golden Ticket Trap.” What’s that? Many investors behave a bit like the young boy Charlie in a popular children’s story about a chocolate factory, misguidedly pinning the hope for riches on finding one of a handful of golden tickets hidden among millions of candy bars. It’s the same premise behind the ever-present magazine headlines of “The 5 Hottest Stocks” and “What to buy NOW!”

This is where the Hill haystack analogy comes in. Wall Street pontificators and investment magazines try to sell the idea that they know where and how to find the needle in the haystack. Hill clients and followers know that the best path for long term success is to simply buy the entire haystack in a low-cost, tax-efficient manner, rebalance regularly, and get on with your life.

A quick glance at the article will likely reaffirm your belief in Taking the long view and illustrate that you already own the real Golden Ticket. You can view a PDF of the article here.

On a cold winter’s night in St. Louis (February 5), Larry Swedroe and Matt Hall had an enlightening and entertaining conversation about Larry’s latest book (his 14th): Think, Act, and Invest Like Warren Buffett. Nearly 70 guests had the opportunity to learn about why Larry wrote the book, hear some key lessons of investing, and ask questions.

Don’t despair if you weren’t there!  For all of our clients and friends from coast-to-coast and to those who simply couldn’t make it, be on the lookout for a recording of this enlightening dialogue that will provide additional insight into why we believe what we believe about investing and how markets work. We hope you feel like you were there with us! If you don’t have the book already, would like another copy, or would like to send it to a friend, please call or email us, and we’ll get it right out to you.

The event also marked our first foray into the world of social media. You can see a recap with some photos and tweets here.

Barron’s January 4th issue published an unlikely cover story about Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). Unlikely, of course, because the publication has always focused on market timing, weekly trends and anything but the long view. The article’s author takes a refreshingly intelligent look at the difference between DFA’s approach and traditional index funds, among other topics.