While nostalgia can be an effective way to market beer, in my opinion, it’s no way to manage a brewery’s 401(k) plan. At least not if it hearkens back to a time when it was routine for plan sponsors to load up a 401(k) plan with high-cost investment selections and expect participants to sort it out for themselves.

This is what I fear has happened when InBev Anheuser-Busch (A-B) proudly announced nine additions to its 401(k) plan investment current lineup of low-cost, passively managed index funds. Much to my disappointment, the additions represent a confusing mix of mostly active funds.

When I was assistant treasurer at A-B in the mid-80s, I was proud to help the company become one of the first in the nation to replace all active funds with index funds in both its 401(k) plan lineup and pension plan investments. Our early leadership has since become common practice, buttressed by the empirical evidence on how to advance retirement plan participants’ successful outcomes.

There is a glimmer of hope in the mix. Dimensional Fund Advisors appears to be among the firms A-B announced in its new “active management” lineup. While Dimensional offers a different strategy from traditional indexing – something we refer to as “evidence-based investing” – it’s not traditionally active either. Dimensional is itself a leading advocate of avoiding largely fruitless attempts to beat the market through stock-picking or market-timing.

Even with this positive exception, I feel the new lineup still represents an unfortunate shift, sacrificing better choices on the altar of more choices.

Maybe I’m being nostalgic, but the A-B I knew, knew better.

There’s so much good news to share about the continued ripple effect that “Odds On” is making around the globe, it’s hard to know where to begin. Here are a few highlights.

Now Hear This: “Odds On” Audiobook, Narrated by Matt Hall

If you’re looking for a way to thank friends, family and colleagues this holiday season, think about stuffing their sock with the audio version of “Odds On.” Two reasons why:

1. Initially, we hired a professional voice artist to narrate the book. That just didn’t feel right, so we replaced pseudo-Matt with the real deal, personally telling his tale.
2. As we post this blog, the audio version is priced at $3.49, so you can splurge on one for yourself while you’re at it. Enjoy!

“Odds On,” a Dutch Treat

Partnering with several like-minded colleagues in the Netherlands, “Odds On” is now available in Dutch! Bringing the world closer together through technology and evidence-based investing, Matt was honored to participate in a well-attended intercontinental web conference in the Benelux region (Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg). In particular, we’d like to thank Robert Van Beek of About Life & Finance B.V., who translated the book and facilitated the conference; and Jeffrey de Haan and David Swanwick of Dimensional Fund Advisors’ Benelux and U.K. offices, respectively.

Hands Down, Thumbs Up, Near and Far

Speaking of global outreach, we’ve received so many heartwarming endorsements from groups and individuals whose lives have been touched by Matt’s book. Every one of them is special to us, but to name a couple of recent highlights:

1. The respected INSEAD Business School for the World® has featured “Odds On” on the bestseller page in their library, currently at #7 as we write this post.
2. We also were touched to see financial tech-head Greg Elliott mention “Odds On” in an Orion software newsletter interview (page 8).

To the general public, that second one may not seem like such a big deal. But among us financial types, Orion is a very familiar name as one of our most important software service providers. It’s fun to see our message spread in ways we could not have imagined when we began the journey.

While we don’t think of ourselves as the passive types, it’s interesting to see The Wall Street Journal shine its bright spotlight on passive investing and related evidence-based investing in its new series, “The Passivists.”

You can browse the entire series, or here are a couple of our favorite installments:

The Dying Business of Picking Stocks,  Anne Tergesen and Jason Zweig

News flash! “Investors are giving up on stock picking.” Our take on the matter: It’s about time.

Making Billions With One Belief: The Markets Can’t Be Beat, Jason Zweig

Featuring Dimensional Fund Advisors, with founder, chairman and co-CEO David Booth reflecting that “A little bit of judgment can make a difference.”

As the media turns its attention to the types of investment strategies we’ve been employing at Hill Investment Group since our founding, we wonder whether this will be a passing fad, a lasting improvement for investors or (as is so often the case in life), a little of both. Whatever. We’ll enjoy the wider coverage while it lasts, and still be encouraging you to Take the Long View with your investments, long after the spotlight has moved on.