Nell Schiffer

Advisor & Partner

Nell focuses on advising clients, investment policy, strategic planning, and firm financials. Nell is based out of our office in St. Louis.

Nell graduated from the University of Texas in 2012 with a Bachelor’s of Science with Honors in Petroleum and Geosystems Engineering and grew up attending St. John’s School.

Nell began her career working for Occidental Petroleum in Long Beach, California as a production engineer. Before working at Hill, Nell worked at a successful oil and gas private equity firm in Houston. Her work primarily focused on determining projects for investment.

With her experience in operations and finance and her passion for our work counseling clients, Nell is an integral part of our team and our future success.

Most satisfying part of life at HIG

I have found my tribe: relentless improvers, lifelong learners, caring experts, and coffee people. Check out this journal article about the radical podcast that connected me to Hill Investment Group.

Family matters

My husband Walter and I created our new family at our wedding on November 25, 2017 with all of our friends and family (including HIG!) cheering us on.

From the moment my sister Emily played “Bad Bad Leroy Brown” on the guitar for me when I was 6, and she 20, I knew her to be the coolest person on the planet. She and her husband Alex, are both physicians and live with my nephews in Portland, OR.

My parents ostensibly live in Houston but actually live on I–10 between Houston and our family ranch near Millet, TX.

Travel

Our family hobby is to travel. One of our favorite trips was a hiking trip to Iceland in 2016. We traveled with both sets of Walters and my parents, and with Walter’s brother Parker (sadly, my sister Emily couldn’t make it because she was busy saving lives). With the volcanoes, steam vents, and copious waterfalls, Iceland was like visiting a different planet. It was so special for all of us to explore that strange country together.

Whether we’re visiting my sister in Portland, or using a couple of days off as an excuse to go to Istanbul, we are all over the map.

Early money management

I was hooked when I was 14, and my dad insisted I read Nassim Taleb’s The Black Swan. Personal finance has been a hobby (read: mild obsession) ever since.

Most likely to spend a spare hour

Journaling. My journal is a daily touchstone I use to tame my mind and organize my thoughts. My days don’t feel right without it.

Before I started at HIG, I took a 5–day silent retreat to Marfa, TX, to journal and reflect. As all sane people would do, I drove nearly to Mexico to achieve the desired atmosphere for efficacious reflection in silence (note: no sane person would do this). Marfa is known for its art and other sundry oddities. One of the most famous is Prada Marfa, a permanent art installation in truly the middle of nowhere. I took a photo of my reflection, and the reflection of the desert, in the window of Prada Marfa to commemorate my time there.

Inspired by

My friends. I am so lucky to have “forever” friends from each of my life stages. Each one is unique, but each of them is also authentic, honest, and fiercely loving. They are the compasses that help me find my true North.

First job

Counselor at one of my favorite places in the world, Camp Mystic for Girls in Hunt, TX.

Ideal weekend

In no particular order:
Nightcap: Tito’s martini, extra olives, extra dirty
Dessert: Melted ice cream
Dinner: with friends and family
Happy hour: Beer, preferably IPA
Daytime: read, run, write, repeat
Upon waking: copious volumes of tea and coffee

Engagement story

My husband Walter and I met in pre-school but paid hardly a moment of attention to each other until after college. We have been inseparable since.

Walter took me to the tiny restaurant where we had our first date to exchange Christmas presents. We always laugh because we were both too nervous on our first date to really taste the food, so this would be our time to eat finally. We played rock, paper, scissors to determine when I could open my gift. I won, opened my “gift” (aka my ring) before dinner, and he proposed! We headed back to my parent’s house, where our family and friends were waiting, and completely lost track of dinner. We still need to go back and have a real meal at that restaurant.

What she finds underrated

Sitting in stillness.

Overrated

Financial media.

My favorite quotes

“Weniger aber besser.”
English translation: Less but better.
–Dieter Rams, Braun Industrial Designer

“Ultimately, man should not ask what the meaning of his life is, but rather must recognize that it is he who is asked. In a word, each man is questioned by life; and he can only answer to life by answering for his own life; to life he can only respond by being responsible.”
–Viktor E. Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

“It is our choices, Harry, that show what we truly are, far more than our abilities.”
–J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

“If one does not know to which port one is sailing, no wind is favorable.”
–Lucius Annaeus Seneca

“Luck is a matter of preparation meeting opportunity.”
–Lucius Annaeus Seneca

Favorite books

Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts

A Confederacy Of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

The Harry Potter Series by JK Rowling

Favorite podcasts

The Tim Ferriss Show

10% Happier

Armchair Expert

Radical Personal Finance

Service excellence is never an accident, but a part of our DNA.

Working with Hill, you get the power of an entire team supporting you. We work together to deliver a fluid, high-quality experience. Our strong sense of pride in our work is rooted in everything we do.

Our Team

Matt Hall

Co-Founder & CEO

Nell Schiffer

Advisor & Partner

Matt Zenz

Chief Investment Officer
Rick Hill

Rick Hill

Founder

Buddy Reisinger, Jr.

Advisor
Katie Ackerman

Katie Ackerman

Client Service Administrator

Charles Kafoglis

Associate Advisor

Matt Luzecky

Associate Advisor
Anna Farrell

Anna Farrell

Executive Assistant
Michael Kafoglis

Michael Kafoglis

Service Advisor
Nick Ashby

Nick Ashby

Client Service Associate
Sherrie Dickson

Sherrie Dickson

Executive Assistant
Jack Gardner

Jack Gardner

Client Service Associate

Jonesy Chauvot

Operations Associate
Mordecai Obeng-Appiah

Mordecai Obeng-Appiah

Associate Advisor
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