The Sun Don’t Always Shine on the Same Dog’s Tail
On these cold January days, I try to find every excuse to daydream about the golf course. Sure enough, after writing a draft of this Up Early it dawned on me that I found the perfect title. Back in 1954 a guy named Ben Hogan was dominating professional golf. You could say he was the Tiger Woods of the 50s. Another golfer with a syrupy smooth swing by the name of Sam Snead found a way to beat Hogan at the 1954 Masters. After the win, a result that was certainly a surprise, Snead was heard to utter the words set forth in the title above in reminding folks about how good fortune gets spread around.
As we close the books on 2025 investments, the spreading around of good fortune showed up in the financial world as well. You might be surprised to learn the information below about where big returns really came from.
No doubt individual tech stocks seemed to power the stock market higher in 2025. The total return for Nvidia, the glamour child of AI, was 39.46%. Even better was Google (now known as Alphabet) with a 2025 return of about 66%. Heading up the rear was Apple at 13.1% and then Amazon at 6.6%.
It was a good year for U.S. tech stocks, but let me expose you to a few other interesting returns for 2025 that were found in other parts of the world:
- DFA’s International Value Portfolio I (DFIVX) is a mutual fund made up of “value” stocks from outside the United States. Its 2025 return was 45.21%.
- DFA’s International Small Company Portfolio I (DFISX) is made up of companies of smaller size outside the United States. Its return for 2025 was 36.33%.
- DFA’s International Small Company Value Portfolio I (DISVX) invests in small companies outside the United States that are somewhat underpriced. The return on that fund for 2025 was 52.07%.
My intent is to remind you of the importance of diversification. All the news from 2025 seemed to focus on the Magnificent Seven, AI and the outsized returns of those behemoths. Turns out only one of them (Google) could outpace carefully selected international mutual funds. If you are an investment hobbyist or you fancy yourself as a stock picker (good luck with that) then a focus on one country and even one industry is commonplace.
However, for the rest of us who strive to have a fundamentally sound investment portfolio that outpaces inflation, diversification is key. As you can see from 2025, sometimes the areas of investing that do the heavy lifting will surprise you, notwithstanding who makes the biggest noise in the press.
As “Slammin’ Sammy Snead” would surely remind you if he could, “The sun don’t always shine on the same dog’s tail”. Even Ben Hogan would have to agree.
Fun fact: For you golf lovers who want to daydream about warmer weather like me, you should know that in April the very prestigious Masters Tournament kicks off the first of the “majors” and the ticket is almost impossible to get. Notwithstanding that fact, the food at The Masters is unbelievably affordable. I’m told a pimento cheese sandwich costs just $1.50 and a club sandwich costs just $3.00. In fact, according to USA Today, if you bought every item on the menu at last year’s Masters, including the alcohol, your total bill would be $77.00.
