Signal vs. Noise: Stock Market Concentration Concerns
The Player or the House?
We’re in the Hospitality Business
Client-Exclusive Webinar with David Booth, Co-Founder and Chairman of Dimensional
A Good Estate Plan Should Make Life Easier
Category: A piece we love
Escaping the Drag: How Nimble Strategies Create an Edge for Investors
Matt Zenz appeared on the October 4 podcast episode of Excess Returns to discuss the case for evidence-based investing and the challenges that can accompany scale among the industry’s largest investment firms. He shared how research-driven firms, such as Longview Research Partners apply more nimble strategies to maintain efficiency and align with evidence-based principles.
“HTC” WARNING: Be forewarned, this is Highly Technical Content, best consumed by the heavy-duty fact finders in our audience.
Be sure to listen at the 44:30 mark, where Matt explores the benefits of agility in investing and how smaller, research-focused funds can often make decisions and implement changes more efficiently than larger counterparts.
Hill Investment Group and Longview Research Partners did not compensate the podcast or its hosts for this appearance.
Hill Investment Group (“HIG”) d/b/a Longview Research Partners is an SEC-registered investment adviser. Registration does not imply a certain level of skill or training. The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are for informational purposes only. This material should not be considered investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For additional information about Hill Investment Group, including its services and fees, please review its Form ADV, which is available at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov.
Weathering Uncertainty: Why Staying Invested Still Wins
In this short video, Matt Zenz discusses how to navigate today’s market highs along with the current geopolitical tensions that have some investors worried. Drawing a parallel to the market events from 2019 through 2025, he reminds viewers that—even amid global crises such as pandemics, wars, inflation, and policy shifts—the U.S. stock market (as measured by the S&P 500 Index) has more than doubled.
In other words, by enduring the roller coaster ride, staying invested, and taking the long view, Hill clients aim to capture the market’s inherent growth over time.
Source: S&P 500 Total Return Index (Bloomberg), data from 9/30/2019–9/30/2025.
TRANSCIPT
Matt here, the Chief Investment Officer at Hill Investment Group. We’ve heard from a lot of clients that you love videos, so we answered the call. Here’s another one. Today we’re going to be talking about market risk and current heightened geopolitical tensions.
Right now, the markets are at all time heights and it feels too good to be true. It feels like the shoe has to drop and markets are going to dip. And so we’ve had a few client conversations where our clients were concerned about that and they wanted to know what we should do. So to help answer this question, let’s go back in time a little bit.
Let’s go back to 2019 and imagine we were having a similar conversation. But rather than there being uncertainty I gave you, I said, in the next five years, there’s going to be a global pandemic where entire supply chains are going to be shut down. There’s going to be uncertainty around political elections. Russia is going to invade Ukraine and it’s going to create a potential European conflict. We’re gonna have unprecedented inflation, higher than we’ve ever seen since the 1970s. We’re also gonna have an economic policy in the US where we do global tariffs, completely reordering the global supply chains, not just against their enemies, but also our allies.
If I told you all of these things were going to happen over the next five, six years, would you wanna be invested in the stock market?
You probably would say, no way, get me out. Well, when we look at what happened, the market’s actually doubled since 2019. And if you had gotten out even with perfect foresight of what was going to happen, you would have half the money you’d have today. Now, there is uncertainty in the future as well, but here’s what we do know.
What we do know is that markets are always priced to give investors a positive return. If investors thought the market was going to go down, no one would buy it at that price and the price would correct. And so what we do know is the best way to manage this uncertainty is to stay invested, to capture the returns that the market gives you with the ups and downs. And by taking the long view, you will end up in the best financial situation.
We Work for You
This is an ad we’d be proud to run in the Wall Street Journal, or anywhere, for that matter, because it’s the truth.
However, we’re only seeking to help a handful of new, special families each year…not tens of thousands. So, rather than charge higher fees to our clients to pay for expensive ads, we’ve been blessed with your help in achieving over 20 years of highly successful, selective growth through your heartfelt and warm introductions to family, friends, and those you care about who’ve become part of the Hill Family. Thank you!
As you celebrate along with us, if there’s someone special you’d like to help and think might be a good fit, please reach out to me.
Not ready for that? We’d be happy to send them a copy of Odds On so they can learn more about our “Take the Long View” philosophy, evidence-based investing, and values.
Hill Investment Group is an SEC-registered investment adviser. This material is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed as investment advice or a solicitation to engage our services. Past growth or success should not be interpreted as a guarantee of future results. References to client introductions, relationships, or experiences are not intended to imply that any client or prospective client will achieve similar outcomes. All investing involves risk, including the potential loss of principal. For additional information, please refer to our Form ADV, available upon request.
