Who will you be rooting for in Super Bowl LIII on February 3^rd – the Patriots or the Rams? Either way, you’ll be among millions of fans tuning in for the big game.

That means the pressure is on, for both teams. You’d think this would encourage players and coaches to give it everything they’ve got. By some measures, I’m sure they do. But I also believe there’s a secret weapon neither team will be taking advantage of: Forgoing the option to punt.

What if more coaches were willing to let convention-challenging research be their guide? They might end up featured in an HBO “Real Sports” segment. That’s what happened to Pulaski Academy Head Coach Kevin Kelley from Little Rock, Arkansas. He earned a reputation for being “the coach who never punts,” after he decided to heed the data, and employ an atypical tactic of almost always going for the fourth down instead of punting. Check out the trailer here:

Of course, we feel the same sort of data-driven strategy and disciplined perspective should be applied to your evidence-based investing. So do others, which is why our friends at AQR featured a conversation between AQR Principal Toby Moskowitz and the same Coach Kelley in one of their podcasts, “Hot Hands and Cold Feet.” (Fast-forward to minute 10:00 to hear the specific conversation.)

While we call Kelley evidence-based, others have called him “crazy,” “insane” or “mad scientist.” If he is, his results don’t show it. In his conversation with Moskowitz, Kelley notes his record at Pulaski Academy is 179 wins/25 losses, with seven state titles in the past 15 years.

Consider these insights as you enjoy Super Bowl LIII. Consider it, too, as you stick with your best-laid investment plans in our competitive markets. I say, go ahead and let others call you crazy, if that’s what it takes to achieve your personal financial goals.

We’re not the only ones encouraging investors around the globe to Take the Long View® with their investment strategy. AQR Capital Management’s like-minded perspective is one of the reasons we’ve been known to turn to some of their fund solutions, when appropriate for a client’s goals.

We also appreciate how their podcast series, hosted by Gabe Feghali and Dan Villalon, takes otherwise complex academic insights and translates them into what you need to know to build those insights into your own investing.

We’re particularly fond of their September podcast, “Taking Stock of Stock Myths.”

In this podcast, AQR’s team takes on three types of equity risks – home bias, market-timing and inflation – and busts some of the stock market myths that cause investors to succumb to them.

First, what is “risk” to begin with? We like their working definition, which describes risk as “how likely it is that you end up with a bad outcome over whatever investment horizon you care about.”

See what I mean about keeping it simple but substantive? Here are links to listen to the rest:

• “Taking Stock of Stock Myths” (web browser)
• “Taking Stock of Stock Myths” (iTunes)

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.”