We present our thoughts on the recent Berkshire Hathaway conclave. Mr. Buffett and Mr. Munger discussed their firm’s ups and downs and weighed in on such topics as their latest investment activity, inflation, cryptocurrency, and what makes their company unique. And we feature the views of Head of U.S. Equity Strategies Michael Corty and Senior Portfolio Manager John Owens, who bring years of experience to the table when giving their points of view on what Buffett and Munger had to say.

We’ve got the same thing on our mind as the rest of the market—uncertainty. What’s going to happen? Why? When? And what should we do about it? Well, in this episode, taken from a recently recorded webinar, we do our best to address those concerns. We also hope to allay some of the associated fears. To do so, we’ll hear from Tyler Dann, our Head of Research in the Americas; Ricky Williamson, a Portfolio Manager and our Head of U.S. Outcome-Based Strategies; and Paul Arnold, Co-Head of Asset Allocation Strategies.

Terry Hawkins, sales manager at Morningstar Investment Management and Paul Kaplan, research director for Morningstar Canada, discuss dollar-cost averaging, or the practice of investing slowly over time instead of in one lump sum. Research by Kaplan and others show that dollar-cost averaging might be expected to underperform a lump-sum approach. But what if it's what gets an investor into the markets?

In this episode, John Owens and Ryan Murphy talk about why price-weighted indexes like the Dow Jones Industrial Average can be distracting to investors.

John, who's a senior equity portfolio manager at Morningstar Investment Management, explains why investors should disregard single-day Dow point drops, and also any short-term performance.

Ryan, who's head of decision science at Morningstar Investment Management, shares some recent research that shows someone's risk perspective can be affected by what they pay attention to.

Together, our guests discuss how discipline and nudges can help investors ignore the noise and stay focused on their financial goals.

Direct indexing. No longer an exclusive tool of the big-account investor, it’s rapidly working its way down the food chain. Now those with more modest sums to invest are able to employ it, too. But just because you can, does that mean you should? And if you’re an advisor, should you offer it and recommend it to your clients? Our panel covers topics such as the ways that personalization at scale can help advisors grow their business, how direct indexing can help with optimizing after-tax returns, and how advisors can use personalization to help match client ESG preferences with investments, creating stickier relationships along the way.

In this rebroadcast of an episode from 2021, Paul Arnold and Dan Kemp discuss how advisors can better understand why ESG is important to a client—whether it’s the expression of one’s values or something else. We also look at how advisors might think about matching each client with a portfolio that addresses their unique ESG preferences and needs.

“The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear,” author H.P. Lovecraft once wrote. “And the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.”

Fear of the unknown is no stranger to the investment world these days. We’re living in scary times. And the investors who aren’t feeling jumpy right now tend to fall into one of two categories: those who have a plan—and those who haven’t a clue.

Let's talk about how to manage your fear of the unknown when it comes to inflation and rising rates—and why doing so can help you avoid making the wrong moves at the wrong time.

In this rebroadcast of an episode from 2020, we explore why advisors might change the focus of annual meetings to progress updates with Ryan Murphy, head of decision sciences at Morningstar Investment Management. And Daniel Needham, president, shares his thoughts on how to keep investors focused on the long term.

Short-term worries versus long-term goals—which are guiding your investment decisions? If you’ve done your homework and you’ve given careful consideration to achieving the financial results you want, that question is easier to answer—even if it remains nerve-wracking to stay the course. Here in early 2022, we’re awash in short-term concerns once again. Between inflation, rising interest rates, and more, it’s easy to question the faith you had when the outlook was brighter. So, with that in mind for this episode, we’re focusing on how to keep your worries at bay and your eye on the ball.

"[W]e can’t avoid the reality that we’re experiencing and probably will continue to experience stress, uncertainty, and change. But the question is, how do we cope?" — Sarah Newcomb

Given recent market volatility, we thought it might be helpful to revisit this episode from July 13, 2020, which features two experts on investor behavior and decision-making. Sarah Newcomb, director of behavioral science at Morningstar, Inc., discusses emotions brought on by market loss, talks about how they can affect decisions, and offers some ways to cope. Ryan Murphy, head of decision sciences at Morningstar Investment Management, discusses cognitive biases to watch out for and ways investors can make better decisions.