We liked our most recent quarterly client letter so much we decided to share it again, and more publicly …

It’s a tradition in medical schools for students to stand together and recite the Hippocratic Oath, a pledge to uphold the responsibilities, ethics and values of their new profession. The medical oath dates back to between fifth and third centuries BC. We are sure you’ve heard of the Hippocratic Oath, and we encourage you to look it up if you’ve never read it.

This commitment to the statement, both in the original version and in modern updates, affects all of us because we rely on the medical community’s expertise and compassion to keep us healthy. This oath is especially relevant to Hill Investment Group because of the language it uses. New doctors must affirm their respect for established science and commit themselves to share their knowledge with the world. They also pledge to always put patients’ needs first and to serve them with compassion, specifically reminding doctors that they’re not treating a medical chart or a disease, but a human being.

Sound familiar? It did to us, which is why we were inspired to adopt a similar pledge. Of course, our fiduciary duty already legally binds us to serve our clients’ interests, but we wanted an even stronger statement that fully encapsulates the Hill Investment Group experience. We call our version the “Hillocratic Oath.”

Our Values

• We are a team who honors the trust people place with us to manage their financial lives.
• We respect peer-reviewed academic research and use it as the basis for our investment philosophy.
• We work solely for our clients, offering steady guidance when investing is easy – and especially when it isn’t.
• We strive to continuously improve our techniques for managing money and human behavior.
• We advocate for the whole client and work to create value in big ways and small.
• With these commitments firmly in our minds, we at Hill Investment Group will continue to enrich the lives of our clients and one another.

Our oath reflects the importance of the service we provide clients. While doctors are literally dealing with matters of life and death, we have our own unique responsibility: acting as trusted, experienced and compassionate advocates for your financial health.

Financial success is critical to achieving your most cherished goals and the lifestyle you desire. For most people, that lifestyle includes more important uses for their time than managing investments – even for those with the skill and expertise to do it themselves. Building true multigenerational wealth comes from a unique collaboration between clients putting their talents to work to generate assets, and a fiduciary partner helping to ensure that any money not needed to cover immediate needs is put to work for the long-term. Our pledge acknowledges that we are not just stewards of your wealth, but important allies who free you to put your time to its highest and best use.

Our oath also acknowledges the commitment we have made to each other as members of the Hill Investment Group team as well as to you, our clients. For 14 years, we’ve been building a modern model for the financial advisory industry. As we continue to grow and evolve, we know that our continued success depends on the expertise, passion and commitment of each person working toward our shared goals.

We are proud to share this statement of our values. Thank you for the trust you place in us and for helping inspire us to put into words the values that guide every Hill Investment Group relationship.

In a recent client newsletter teaser, we were excited to leak the news that Hill Investment Group was a finalist in the St. Louis Business Journal’s 2019 Best Places to Work. Today, we are honored to announce the results. Drumroll, please! 

HIG took second place in the small, 10–49 employee category.

Out of 250 nominations and 85 finalists among all categories, we think that represents admirable odds on our results. (“Odds On” … get it?)

You can read all about it here.

As much as we’re enjoying the recognition, we’re also happy to share what we’ve learned with other business owners interested in building similar corporate cultures in their offices. Since successful employees help generate successful outcomes, we figure everyone comes out ahead.

Want to learn more? Give us a call. In the meantime, here’s one of our favorite tips from our spotlight in the St. Louis Business Journal:

“[HIG’s] leadership believes in helping identify each team member’s unique ability. When you know what you do well and get to spend the majority of your time doing it, then work doesn’t feel like work – it’s fun.”

Team consists of CBRE, Chouteau Building Group, and Amie Corley Interiors

As we mentioned in a prior post, Hill Investment Group (in St. Louis, not Houston) is under construction. In both cities, we have chosen suites in centrally located, older office towers. The St. Louis tower was completed in 1964, so updates require talented people who understand the quirks of an older office space. We snapped the photo above during our weekly meeting so you can see the key members of our construction and design team in action. Well, maybe not in action, as much as in deep conversation about how to ensure our redesigned space is even more welcoming and functional than before.

Our building managers were kind enough to give us a suite in the neighboring building during construction, so we can closely monitor progress until our move-in day, April 13th.

We’re excited, and literally counting down the days with a construction paper “chain,” tearing off a link for every passing day until we return to our updated Suite 350. We’ve already been there for 14 years, and look forward to at least eight more, having renewed our lease through then.