We can’t — and won’t try to — tell you what 2017 has in store for investors. But we can tell you that our approach to managing whatever does unfold remains the same. Here are a couple of inspirational quotes from other respected voices who share our perspective about the road ahead.

From Financial Author & Coach Nick Murray …

“The nature of successful investing, as we see it, is the practice of rationality under uncertainty. We’ll never have all the information we want, in terms of what’s about to happen, because we invest in and for an essentially unknowable future. Therefore we are dedicated to the principles of long-term investing that have most reliably yielded favorable long-term results over time: planning; a rational optimism based on experience; patience and discipline. These will continue to be the fundamental building blocks of our investment advice in 2017 and beyond.”

From Dimensional Fund Advisors’ paper, “Prediction Season” …

“In the end, the only certain prediction about markets is that the future will remain full of uncertainty. History has shown us, however, that through this uncertainty, markets have rewarded long-term investors who are able to stay the course.”

This may not be the fanciest slide you’ve ever seen, but in presenting the “why” behind our evidence-based investment style, we think it’s a timeless classic. Enjoy.

Having embraced evidence-based investing as one way we help our clients enjoy simplicity and transparency in their financial lives, we are careful to the point of obsession when  considering fund manager alliances. We want to collaborate with firms who share our “client-first” business strategy, and are as thoughtful as we are about investing.

That’s why I recently attended a two-day AQR Capital Management Investment Symposium in San Francisco. I wanted to hear more about the traditional and alternative strategies AQR is working on to help investors capture market returns, manage market risks and minimize the costs involved. Insightful commentary about the way they think (like this piece here) is just one of the reasons the firm has experienced explosive growth over the last eight years.

Here are some of the event’s key takeaways that appealed to me:

• The firm takes a systematic approach to its investment strategies, to avoid the emotional bias that creeps in when “human interaction” is involved.
• They’re big on peer-reviewed research – others and their own.
• They look at lots of new strategies or how to improve on existing ones, but they only bring a handful of what they consider to be their best ideas to market.
• While many of AQR’s strategies are hedged, they are a rare breed as low-fee champions, decrying the traditional (excessive) “2 and 20” hedge fund fee structure. “We won’t do anything that will not provide – or leave – the investor with a reasonable return,” said managing and founding principal Cliff Asness. (That sounds smart to me.)
• They’re also big on diversification as an important way to improve on investor outcomes. “We look at everything,” said Asness. “If it’s uncorrelated, it’s additive.”
• Like us, they emphasize financial literacy and investor education as key. As AQR’s managing director Pete Hecht said, “We all should hold our managers accountable for what they claim to offer. … It’s our job to be helpful and to educate.”

Well said, and I’m glad I invested the two days. While AQR’s solutions may not fit well with every investor’s portfolio, personal circumstances and long-range plans, it was refreshing to hear what they had to say.