Three Takeaways From Our Interview With Wes Gray

Rusty Vanneman

28 Sep 2025 — 2 min read

Along with co-host Robyn Murray, I recently had the pleasure of speaking with Wes Gray, founder of Alpha Architect (and ETF Architect), on the Invest Well, Be Well podcast. Wes is one of the most disciplined and transparent investors I know, and our conversation was packed with insights that apply not only to investing, but to stronger living as well. Here are my three key takeaways.

1. Discipline Is a Muscle

Wes believes discipline isn’t just a trait, it’s something you train. Whether it’s staying in shape, sticking to an investment process, or even managing day-to-day decisions, discipline grows stronger the more you exercise it. He treats discipline like going to the gym: if you work it, it builds resilience; if you ignore it, it weakens. For investors, this means consistently following a strategy, especially when it feels hardest to do so. For individuals, it’s about creating habits that keep you grounded when life throws its inevitable curveballs.

2. Transparency Builds Resilience

A hallmark of Alpha Architect is its commitment to radical transparency. Wes emphasized that transparency isn’t just about openness for its own sake, but it’s about behavioral success. When investors truly understand how a strategy works, they’re more likely to stick with it through periods when it’s out of favor. This matters because even the best strategies experience tough seasons. Transparency equips investors with confidence and context, helping them stay invested and avoid costly behavioral mistakes. That resiliency is a competitive edge.

3. Building Portfolios for All Seasons

Resilience is also at the heart of how Wes thinks about portfolio construction. Markets move in cycles, and different economic factors come in and out of favor. His approach is to build portfolios that can withstand chaos—strategies that are robust enough to handle the changing seasons of markets over decades. A big part of this mission is delivering what he calls “affordable alpha.” Alpha Architect is trying to provide sophisticated strategies at a fair cost—essentially building the kinds of strategies Vanguard won’t do, but with a boutique firm’s creativity and rigor.

Final Thoughts

Wes Gray’s philosophy blends the discipline of a soldier (he’s a Marine Corps veteran) with the precision of an academic (he holds a PhD in finance from the University of Chicago). The result is a mindset that values process over prediction, resilience over reaction, and discipline over distraction.

We also touched on some lighter topics, including cattle ranching, “exercise snacks,” and even a Marine Corps fact I hadn’t known before.

For me, the conversation reinforced that wiser investing and stronger living are both built on the same foundation: discipline, transparency, and resilience.

Stay invested, stay diversified, and stay disciplined.

—Rusty

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