Earlier in the month, I attended “AQR University,” held at the University of Chicago and sponsored by fund manager AQR Capital. Given how many Nobel laureates have come out of there (check out that line-up of them on the wall), we know some of the university’s intellectual capital has rubbed off on us. At least it feels that way, based on the fresh perspectives we heard at the event.

University of Chicago professor and author Nicholas Epley was a keynote speaker. I’d read his groundbreaking book, “Mindwise,” but I’d not had the chance to meet him in person.

In his presentation, Dr. Epley shared some of his research into how often we try to read one another’s minds. By frequently relying on body language or “perspective-taking,” he explained how and why our understanding of others is often off-base. What’s a better way to figure out what someone else is thinking? Dr. Epley suggests we should just ask.

We also heard from AQR co-founders Cliff Asness and Dave Kabiller. In today’s fast-paced environment in practical and academic financial economics, it’s important for us to regularly “just ask” colleagues and thought leaders what’s on their minds. This is another way we ensure our evidence-based investment strategies remain guided by peer-reviewed best practices.

For more on Cliff’s views, read this Wall Street Journal article about factor investing. In it, he expressed similar sentiments to the ones he shared with us in person.

Want to know what else we learned in Chicago? Just ask!

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.