There are a myriad of financial talking heads crowding the airwaves with baseless predictions. How do we find the few worth heeding? We look for intellectual curiosity – a thirst for understanding what is right and true, regardless of where it may lead. Inside of Hill Investment Group, we savor the voices who stand out in this way. We point you, our tribe who are committed to Take the Long View®, to AQR Capital Management’s new podcast channel “The Curious Investor.” We are especially impressed by its third episode, “Active versus Passive,” featuring a conversation between Vanguard founder John “Jack” Bogle and AQR managing and founding principal Cliff Asness. As the father of the world’s first publicly available index fund, Bogle personifies passive investing like nobody else can. In contrast, Asness has structured AQR on the premise that he and his team can add value to investors’ portfolios by identifying opportunities to apply evidence-based methodology. He’s our modern “active” aficionado, as we’ve described in earlier posts. You’d think the podcast would be a vigorous debate between these two legends. Instead, it exemplifies the considerable common ground and respect they share. Bogle explains:

“We do things very differently from an investment standpoint – to which I would say: So what? … [W]hat I’ve always admired about Cliff is his intellectual soundness. … I’ve always admired that in anybody. And it doesn’t matter whether their intellectual ideas align with my own or not.”

See what I mean? Especially when it comes to the science of investing, nobody has everything figured out. Even if we did, markets evolve over time, generating new insights, possibilities and questions – new subjects to debate. That’s one of the reasons I love what we do. PS: Here’s the iTunes Podcast channel link, if you’d like to “App it.”

What do you get when you combine an evidence-based process with visionary team spirit and brilliant leadership? A World Series Commissioner’s Trophy, for starters. The “rags to riches” tale of the Houston Astros 2017 World Series victory is now available for your reading pleasure, thanks to Sports Illustrated senior writer Ben Reiter.

We love the recent approach to managing the Astros because it mirrors our approach to investing in two major ways:

• First, it is backed by data. The Astros management seeks to fully understand the factors that drive wins, quantify them, and weight heavily toward them.
• Second, like with investing, achieving your long-term goals may sometimes require short-term sacrifices. If you have the right philosophy and the right process, you can trust that the odds will work in your favor long-term.

Something of a visionary himself, Reiter actually predicted the team’s 2017 victory on the cover of the magazine’s June 30, 2014 edition. Was that luck or forecasting talent? You be the judge, when you read Reiter’s entertaining account in “Astroball: The New Way to Win It All.”

Reminiscent of Michael Lewis’ Moneyball tale of the Oakland A’s, the Astros applied similar evidence-based strategies to improve their game. They leveraged what the Oakland A’s Billy Beane began and took it a step further, incorporating (with help from the “Nerd Cave”) scores for more unconventional qualities, such as personality and grit. These elements and more are touched on in this review: “[R]oster-creation, all by itself, did not bring home the championship. Building an exceptional team is one thing, but making it work as a team is another.”

We’ve said it before; we’ll say it again: We couldn’t be prouder of our exceptional home-town team. Go Astros!

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Bonus read: For more of baseball’s rich historical lore, I also enjoyed this recent PBS documentary on legendary hitter Ted Williams, in all his quirky glory (narrated by St. Louis’s own Jon Hamm). This related New York Times piece tells the backstory of how some of the film’s best footage was almost lost for good.

Thirteen can be a lucky number after all, as we were lucky to celebrate Hill Investment Group’s 13^th year in business by hosting our largest summer family bash to date. Twenty-nine HIG team and family members attended the event, hosted by Matt and Lisa Hall.

More than an excuse to slurp up some ice cream, our family party is a way for us to reaffirm the meaning we find in our work. Magic happens when we have the opportunity to help families plan for their financial future. A different, but equally potent magic happens when we get together with our own families. It’s not only a privilege to enjoy one another’s “at home” side, it also reminds us that our loved ones are one of the reasons we work so hard. Roll up that deep stuff with some tacos, some kids and a pool – and you have our favorite employee event of the year!

This year a big storm blew in halfway through, but it didn’t dampen our spirits. Even as the rain fell in sheets for about an hour and the house lost power, Matt & Lisa’s daughter Harper entertained all the other kiddos with some expert slime-making … just add water.

Our theme this year was summer fiesta, featuring catered local fave Mission Taco Joint and Clementine’s Naughty & Nice Ice Cream, delivered. Eventually, the weather broke and we all had a blast swimming and cheering on the young contestants in our diving board splash-a-thon. John’s son James was the bomb.

The only real downside to the weather was that we weren’t able to get our usual group photo. We’ll just have to make do by featuring the adorable pic of PJ’s son Henry, above, while re-sharing these group photos from 2016 and 2017. Next summer? Bring it on!