We were pleased to have Dimensional’s Vice President Apollo Lupescu, PhD at a pair of events we held in Houston and St. Louis. Apollo spoke about the historical context of modern investing, the essence of an evidence-based approach, and the future of our community.

What does history tell us about how the financial future might look? Be on the look-out for a recorded version of Apollo’s St. Louis presentation, which we’ll be sharing soon via our blog/newsletter.

Dimensional Fund Advisors is a hugely important alliance for Hill Investment Group, and yet this is the first event we’ve done with a member of their team conversing directly with HIG’s clients and friends. Despite having a low profile, Dimensional currently manages $518 USD billion across eight countries (as of June 30, 2017). How have they done it? Through sharing ideas that make sense and by creating solutions that reflect their beliefs (and ours).

We also respect Dimensional as a thought leader, regularly publishing content that helps change the way investors think. We like one of their recent pieces, “Lessons for the Next Crisis,” which points out we’re nearing the ten-year anniversary of the beginning of the Great Recession. That’s not exactly an event to celebrate, but it’s important to apply what we learned from it the next time we’re in a bear market, once again feeling like there’s no end in sight. As Dimensional says (and buttresses with evidence-based illustrations):

“Capital markets have rewarded investors over the long term, and having an investment approach you can stick with—especially during tough times—may better prepare you for the next crisis and its aftermath.”

Well said, Dimensional.

Since many of the market’s long-term rewards come from the risks you’re willing to take, making serious money usually hurts — at least when it appears to be out of favor with the “consensus.” Morgan Housel’s recent blog post, “Every Great Investment Hurts,” offers a fresh perspective on the source of that pain.

To trade profitably in highly competitive markets, you not only must make the right calls on future pricing, you’re best off making them when most other investors think you’re wrong. That’s what this simple diagram from Housel’s post suggests.

How do you end up in that profitable sweet spot? You can try guessing correctly almost all the time (super hard). Or you can embrace evidence-based investing, which should guide you toward being correct more often than not … if you stick with your plans. That can still be hard, but at least the odds are stacked in your favor.

Have you ever wondered what Batman & Robin would be like if Batman were the understudy to a more famously popular Robin? It would probably be a lot like the real-life dynamic duo of Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger.

As Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, Buffett is the more familiar figure. He’s been featured in his own HBO special. He’s got his own “Oracle of Omaha” nickname. He’s chairman of Berkshire Hathaway. Munger is vice-chair of the same, and often described as Buffett’s sidekick, even though he’s the elder of the two, is also an astute Omaha native, and was running his own successful holding company while Buffett was still learning the ropes. As Buffett himself describes of Munger:

“[W]e’ve never had an argument. When we differ, Charlie usually ends the conversation by saying: ‘Warren, think it over and you’ll agree with me because you’re smart and I’m right.’”

So who’s the real “Batman”? Let’s turn the spotlight on Munger for a change, showcasing some of his “elementary worldly wisdom” – a phrase Munger uses to describe how he builds models for converting isolated insights into applicable common sense.

Translating the complex into useful ideas. This is something we like to do here at Hill Investment Group as well. To get a sense of how a master like Munger does it, here’s a 15-minute YouTube video with excerpts from a talk on human psychology, which Munger delivered at Harvard in 1995.

Munger uses approachable analogies ranging from Pavlov’s dogs and New Coke, to target shooting and gallbladder surgery to entertain and inform us with “how humans trick themselves into making terrible errors of judgment.”

In our best judgment, Munger is well worth watching and reading, with plenty more elementary worldly wisdom to share. If that’s of interest, let us know and we’ll be glad to tell you more.