Episode 53: Are you familiar with "The Death of Equities," an infamous financial magazine headline from August 1979?
If not, Weston Wellington, a former vice president at the global investing firm Dimensional Fund Advisors, may want a word.
Wellington, who retired this year, frequently hailed this headline as a perfect example of "The Big Tease"—the financial media's insistence on delivering shameless stories about performance that often steer investors astray from sound investing principles like portfolio diversification.
His goal was to help investors ignore the noise and recognize that people making predictions usually fail.
Equities, needless to say but we'll do it anyway, weren't dead in 1979. From August 1 of that year through June 30, 2026, the annualized return of the S&P 500 Index was +12.4%. (S&P data © 2026 S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC, a division of S&P Global. All rights reserved 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.)
Wellington started working at Dimensional in 1995. Dimensional Co-CEO Dave Butler, who started working for the firm the same year, describes him as a "true trailblazer" and a "naturally gifted communicator."
One of Wellington's favorite pastimes was clipping all the attention-grabbing headlines trumpeting brazen predictions and pointing out how wrong they were for the benefit of Dimensional's clients.
Another of his favorite headlines—"Why iPod Can't Save Apple"—was published in April 2004.
Today, Apple's market value is roughly $4.5 trillion.
Communicating investing fundamentals was always important for Wellington. "Weston was not only a great presenter—he was also a great teacher," Butler says.
He was particularly fond of this lesson when it came to financial advice: People want to believe the future is predictable, but it's not.
In Episode 53 of The Informed Investor podcast, the first of Season 2, Dimensional's Mark Gochnour, Head of Global Client Services, and Scott Bosworth, Head of the Speakers Bureau, engage Wellington on the folly of financial media and what investors can do to tune out the nonsense.
LINKS FROM TODAY'S EPISODE:
Subscribe to the Stay Calm Investing Newsletter https://www.staycalminvesting.com/newsletter?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
The Informed Investor: Feedback Survey https://www.dimensional.com/us-en/informed-investor-survey?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
For US audiences: Select videos are available as part of an opportunity for CFP® and Investments & Wealth Institute® professionals to earn continuing education (CE) credits https://www.dimensional.com/financial-professionals/ce-credit-experience-d360?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
"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/
Weston Wellington on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/weston-wellington-8bb58943/
Scott Bosworth on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/sbosworth/
Learn more https://www.dimensional.com/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=informed_investor
