The Informed Investor

Dimensional Fund Advisors
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Dimensional thought leaders break down the financial headlines to help you separate the news from the noise. Dimensional is an asset management firm with deep connections to leading academics and Nobel laureates in economics that has been applying financial science to real-world investing since 1981. - None of the content on this site is directed at any particular jurisdiction or investor located outside of the United States. All videos and other content on the site are protected by US and worldwide copyright and trademark laws and treaty provisions. © 2025 Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

  1. 4D AGO · VIDEO

    Do You Know These 12 Investing Acronyms? | The Informed Investor 32

    Episode 32: Can you define BRICS or BATMMAAN? If not, maybe you've got FOMO? OK, we're talking investing acronyms. For the record: BRICS is a term coined in 2001 to represent investment opportunities in Brazil, Russia, India, and China. (South Africa was added in 2011.) BATMMAAN stands for the following tech companies: Broadcom, Apple, Tesla, Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Alphabet, and NVIDIA. FOMO (fear of missing out) is what you get when you're worried (unnecessarily?) that other people know, have, or do something you don't. In the investment world, people throw around acronyms regularly. From ETFs (exchange-traded funds) and NFTs (non-fungible tokens) to ESG (environmental, social, governance) and SPACs (special purpose acquisition companies), there seems to be a trendy acronym for everything. You might feel smart if you know the lingo or feel the opposite if you don't. Either way, what really matters if whether acronyms can help you invest, and on that score, the evidence isn't all that convincing. Looking at the BRICS from 2001 to 2025, only India outperformed a broad emerging markets index, and Russia literally became uninvestable. (MSCI data © MSCI 2026, all rights reserved.) Tech stock jargon—think FAANG and BATMMAAN—has proven more rewarding due to the tendency for strong market performance to be concentrated in a subset of companies. But that's also a cautionary tale. Big firms with winning stocks don't necessarily keep winning. https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/insights/large-and-in-charge-why-to-think-twice-before-chasing-only-big-stocks. Investors with concentrated portfolios may actually miss out on the very stocks that deliver the best of what the market has to offer. FWIW, YOLO (you only live once) is a fun acronym used as a justification for doing something less than cautious (because of expense, danger, risk of seeming foolish, etc.), but it's not a sound investment philosophy. In Episode 32 of "The Informed Investor," Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, explain investing acronyms that investors may want to know—and several they might consider ignoring.   LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE:  The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    15 min

  2. FEB 9 · VIDEO

    Can Emerging Markets Keep Rallying in 2026? | The Informed Investor 31

    Episode 31: You need to invest in emerging markets if you want a globally diversified portfolio, right? That may seem like an obvious choice considering emerging markets account for roughly 12% of the world's equity market capitalization. But it's easy to understand why many investors might say no to emerging markets. Uneven returns tell the story. From 2015 through 2024, the broad US stock market gained an annualized +12.6% while international developed markets added +7.7%. Emerging markets? A measly +3.6%. Then came 2025. As concerns mounted about the seemingly high relative prices of US stocks and the decline of the US dollar against other currencies, emerging markets returned +31.4%, almost doubling the return of the US market. Any investor who had shunned emerging markets probably regretted their lack of wanderlust. This evidence suggests that a longer-term lens is critical when evaluating opportunities in emerging markets. A broad view is helpful, too. Emerging markets comprise more than 20 countries, including large economies like Brazil, China, and South Korea as well as tiny ones like Colombia and Indonesia. But predicting which ones will deliver outsize (or undersize) returns is impossible. In 2025, Colombia was the top gainer at +112% while Indonesia, at –2.8%, brought up the rear. In 2024, it was Taiwan (+34.4%) and Egypt (–31.2%). And the leaders and laggards were also different in 2023, 2022, and 2021. Based on the difference between the highest and lowest average returns in emerging markets from 2005 through 2025, it's fair to say they are more volatile than developed markets. Which may scare some investors. But ignoring emerging markets means avoiding opportunities to offset weak performance in one market with stronger returns elsewhere. In Episode 31 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Rob Harvey, Co-Head of Product Specialists, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, survey the emerging markets landscape and lay out what investors should look for through their viewfinders. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment; therefore, their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Risks include loss of principal and fluctuating value. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of market loss. Sources: Frank Russell Company is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes; MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&si=0mJiRGEkZqYosieU The Informed Investor, Episode 2, "Should You Invest Outside the US" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiL0GM01bg&list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&index=30&pp=iAQB Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Rob Harvey on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/robkharvey/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    22 min

  3. JAN 30 · VIDEO

    The Death of the 60/40 Portfolio? | The Informed Investor 30

    Episode 30: If a traditional investment portfolio with 60% stocks and 40% bonds has a down year, should you abandon this approach? Plenty of investors were probably asking that question in 2022, when the Russell 3000 Index plunged 19.2% and the Bloomberg US Aggregate Bond Index tumbled 13.0%. (Frank Russell Company is the source and owner of the trademarks, service marks, and copyrights related to the Russell Indexes; Bloomberg data from Bloomberg.) Relying on a balanced portfolio for reasonable returns and reduced risk didn't work. But 2022 was the quintessential outlier—a data point that lies outside the mainstream in a particular dataset. History shows that 2022 was the only year from 1979 through 2025 that both US stocks and US bonds posted negative returns. All told, US bonds suffered five down years and US stocks eight in that 47-year period. The rest of the time they delivered gains. The blend of stocks and bonds that's right for you—60/40, 80/20, 30/70, etc.—will depend on your goals and your time horizon, and it might change over time. However, we believe critics of the traditional 60/40 mix are arguably misguided if they think it's no longer relevant, particularly as a tool for mitigating risk. To wit: From 1986 through 2025, the amount of volatility reduction investors gained from adding 40% bonds to their portfolio was stable through time even though the correlation between stocks and bonds varied widely. In Episode 30 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, consider the arguments for and against the 60/40 portfolio and explain why popular alternatives may not get investors where they want to go. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment; therefore, their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio. Risks include loss of principal and fluctuating value. Diversification does not eliminate the risk of market loss. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor, Episode 26, "Will You Be OK If Stocks Stumble?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5E6POt0MQgM&list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&index=4&pp=iAQB The Informed Investor, Episode 9, "How Do You Protect Against Market Drops?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7A3f2LE1DQg&list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&index=22&pp=iAQB The Informed Investor on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    15 min

  4. JAN 23 · VIDEO

    Are You Your Own Worst Enemy? | The Informed Investor 29

    Episode 29: What really drives the outcome of your investment portfolio—market performance or your own behavior? Investors often view returns as a purely quantitative result of markets, risk, timing, or expertise. Yet psychology tells a different story. Emotions and behavioral biases quietly shape decisions, frequently pushing investors away from their long-term goals. Any number of common biases can show up again and again in real life. For example, hindsight bias makes unpredictable events feel obvious after the fact, while the illusion of control leads investors to overestimate their ability to influence outcomes. Pattern-seeking behavior can cause people to see meaning in random data, and beliefs about reversion to the mean may encourage premature or poorly timed decisions. Others include confirmation bias and attribution bias (crediting skill for success but blaming markets for failure). The discussion goes further, examining deeper categories of bias. Encapsulated biases are emotionally driven and resistant to logic, while attentional biases cause investors to overlook critical information. Then there is the GI Joe fallacy—the false belief that simply knowing about biases is enough to overcome them. In Episode 29 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Scott Bosworth, Head of the Speakers Bureau, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, dive into behavioral finance—the study of how psychology impacts investor behavior—to explore how our emotions influence portfolio outcomes. Through academic research and real-world examples, they compare the narratives of disciplined investors and short-term speculators, offering a framework for bridging human behavior with market efficiency. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE:  The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey "The Informed Investor" on YouTube [update with live link] Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-d-4105b98/ Scott Bosworth on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbosworth/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    27 min

  5. JAN 16 · VIDEO

    What's in Store for Markets in 2026? | The Informed Investor 28

    Episode 28: Many stock market pundits are forecasting rewarding returns in 2026. Should you act on their predictions? On the other hand, should you get out of the market based on doom-and-gloom warnings about the US economy? It's tempting to think someone out there has a crystal ball. But it may be more worthwhile to consider the point of predictions. Forecasts for the stock market and the economy get people talking. Headline writers in the media are looking to stir up interest. They often exaggerate the apparent likelihood of a greed- or fear-inducing outcome. Accordingly, you can find a prediction for almost any outcome, good or bad. Some headlines claim the US stock market will keep rallying after three straight years of double-digit gains. Others argue a bear market is just around the corner. Bitcoin will hit $250,000 this year, screams a recent headline. But then there's one insisting the most popular cryptocurrency will collapse to $10,000. Still another headline claims the job market will suffer from "uncomfortably slow growth" in the first half before rebounding later in the year. Talk about hedging bets. The point is that predictions for 2026 (and every year) are all over the map. That doesn't mean they'll be wrong, but there simply is no way to know which ones will be right. In Episode 28 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, dig into the headlines predicting how the market and economy will perform this year and try to suss out what, if anything, investors can learn from the prognosticators. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor, Episode 11, "Do Private Markets Deliver an Edge?" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TUGb1LLeB1A&list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90&index=18&pp=iAQB The Informed Investor on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-dekinder-cfa-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    21 min

  6. JAN 9 · VIDEO

    Can Investors Bank On the January Effect? | The Informed Investor 27

    Episode 27: Do small capitalization stocks typically outperform in January? If so, can investors capitalize on that pattern? This trend is known as the January Effect. It's a popular idea because historical data show a sizable small cap premium versus large caps in January. Still, that's not a reason to avoid small cap stocks in other months, assuming you want to own them. Why not? Two reasons: (1) Nobody really knows why this "January Effect" exists—or whether it will continue, and (2) small caps, in general, have higher expected returns. Welcome to the wild world of odd stock market indicators, few of which seem to offer sensible investing signals. Another popular one is the Super Bowl Indicator: The winner of the Super Bowl supposedly determines how the stock market will perform that year. Silly idea, obviously, because this widely followed signal suggests that the market will deliver a positive return only in years when the NFC champion wins. There isn't any academic or logical explanation for this indicator. But since the correlation between the Super Bowl winner/loser and market returns appeared to be perfectly accurate when the indicator was first identified in the late 1970s, people started believing it. They probably should stop believing. In the 21st century, the indicator's success rate is 38%. Technical analysts also look for signals in data like moving averages, often referencing something called a "Golden Cross" or a "Death Cross" in a stock index. The former is when the 50-day moving average crosses above the 200-day moving average; the latter is the opposite. (A moving average is a constantly updated average price or level.) The S&P 500 experienced both a golden cross and a death cross in 2025. Which signal, if any, was right? The same question applies to all of these strange indicators … and others like men's underwear purchases, hemline lengths, and even sunspots.  In Episode 27 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, scrutinize the data and try to determine whether investors can benefit from any of these so-called signals. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey The Informed Investor, Episode 3 "Debts, Deficits, and Investing" https://youtu.be/AK66PrRFBTU?si=W5gJ-thCErETX7kV The Informed Investor on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-dekinder-cfa-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    23 min

  7. JAN 2 · VIDEO

    Will You Be OK If Stocks Stumble? | The Informed Investor 26

    Episode 26: Can anyone accurately predict when the stock market will hit a rough patch? Not likely. Although the market's long-term annualized return sits just above 10% and good years are more common than bad years, unexpected outcomes are not unusual. Which means holding a portfolio suitable for all market environments probably makes sense for most investors—as does conducting an investing "fire drill" to determine whether your portfolio is prepared for the unexpected. The 2000–2009 period, often termed the "lost decade," offers a helpful reminder. The annualized return for the S&P 500 was –0.9%. But in 2000 did anyone expect they would lose money over the next 10 years, especially after the index gained an annualized +18.2% in the previous 10 years? Again, not likely. Non-US stocks see similarly unexpected outcomes. During that lost decade in the US, the MSCI All-Country World ex USA index, a widely followed international stock index, gained an annualized +2.7%. Then there's Japan, where the stock market peaked in 1989 and proceeded to go nowhere for the next 28+ years. More recent evidence confirms that investors should expect the unexpected. In 2021, 2023, and 2024, the S&P 500 Index  gained more than +25% each year. Through late December of 2025, its year-to-date return was north of +18%. But in 2022 the index lost –18.1%. Note that none of those returns is close to the long-term average. The fact is that stocks often deliver surprising results. Bonds do too. Another example: From 2000 to 2020, the annualized return for the S&P 500 was +6.6%, far below its long-term average. Meanwhile,  the Bloomberg U.S. Government Bond Index Long gained +7.8%, higher than its long-term average. In Episode 26 of The Informed Investor, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, examine the high volume of surprises that come with investing and explain why investors should set their expectations accordingly.   LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey "The Informed Investor" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-dekinder-cfa-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/ Sources: S&P data © 2025 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved; MSCI data © MSCI 2025, all rights reserved; Bloomberg data from Bloomberg. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. Indices are not available for direct investment; therefore, their performance does not reflect the expenses associated with the management of an actual portfolio.

    17 min

  8. 12/19/2025 · VIDEO

    A Look Back at 2025's Stock Market Predictions | The Informed Investor 25

    Episode 25: At the end of every calendar year, stock market pundits publish predictions for the coming 12 months. Should you pay attention to these forecasts? A look back at predictions for 2025 may help you decide. Some market pros argued that international stocks would struggle due to tensions around global trade and tariff policies. But that's not what happened. From January through the end of November, non-US stocks were performing far better than US stocks based on index returns. Similarly, many countries pegged as potential victims in a trade war—like Canada and Mexico—were outgaining the US market through the end of November. What about specific predictions for the US market—did they prove prescient in 2025? Not exactly. Ditto for the four years leading up to 2025. Many predictions weren't close, as realized gains mostly ran far ahead of the forecasts. At least one category did see accurate predictions: gold. Soothsayers in late 2024 went all in on a gold rally—and the coveted metal soared past $4,000 through November after starting the year just above $2,600. But similar predictions for a bitcoin boom didn't work out; the widely followed cryptocurrency was hit with big losses late in the year. In Episode 25 of the "The Informed Investor" podcast, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, Wes Crill, PhD, Senior Client Solutions Director, and Jake DeKinder, Head of Client Communications, conduct an investment autopsy on 2025 predictions and offer some insights on why accurate forecasts were hard to come by. LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE: "The Informed Investor" on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLCyJr6FFig-h1mA7rVP7Mbk0irFw2wA90 Dimensional Fund Advisors Shorts on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/@dimensionalfundadvisors/shorts Mark Gochnour on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-gochnour-9a23598a/ Wes Crill on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/wes-crill-77a49417/ Jake DeKinder on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/jake-dekinder-cfa-4105b98/ Learn more at https://www.dimensional.com/

    20 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
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2 Ratings

About

Dimensional thought leaders break down the financial headlines to help you separate the news from the noise. Dimensional is an asset management firm with deep connections to leading academics and Nobel laureates in economics that has been applying financial science to real-world investing since 1981. - None of the content on this site is directed at any particular jurisdiction or investor located outside of the United States. All videos and other content on the site are protected by US and worldwide copyright and trademark laws and treaty provisions. © 2025 Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Information

  • Creator
    Dimensional Fund Advisors
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    32
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2025
  • Show Website
    The Informed Investor

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