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The Resilience of a Learning Family

The Resilience of a Learning Family

If we’ve learned anything over the past several months, it’s to expect the unexpected. The global pandemic has challenged us all to learn new ways of communicating and collaborating effectively, and it has highlighted the need for businesses, organizations, and individuals to lean into their creativity, flexibility, and resilience in the face of change.   The same is true for families. At Matter, we help build “learning families” because we believe they exhibit the behaviors and characteristics that help them remain successful in
In the News

Matter's Kathy Lintz Recognized as Standout Multifamily Office Executive

We are proud to share that Matter is bringing home the Boutique Multifamily Office Executive award from The Family Wealth Alliance Anniversary Awards Gala held on October 17th in Chicago. This award recognizes our Founder, Partner, and Managing Member, Kathy Lintz, as an individual with a distinguished track record of innovation, thought leadership, and management accomplishment. Matter’s talented team and unique service model would not be what it is today without the foundation that Kathy created over decades, and we
Investing

The Many Faces of Risk: Exploring Late-Cycle and Idiosyncratic Factors

A key component of our investment process remains understanding some of the prevailing themes in the markets and what they might mean for relative asset class performances for the following three to five years. One of the themes that we have seen evolve over the last eighteen months is the transition from a synchronized global growth pattern to a more mature stage of the growth cycle, during which we tend to see a divergence in growth trends. Whether we look at the
Investing

Is It More Bark Than Bite? The Rising Tensions in Global Trade

The term “trade war” rarely elicits any favorable feelings from investors. When we consider that trade is the vascular system of the global economy, it is safe to presume that the actions and growing rhetoric around tariffs and trade negotiations are at the very least concerning. Economic theory would argue that any impediments to trade negatively impact many players while benefiting few, a fact that should not be lost on policy makers. To delve further into this issue, our colleagues with Asset
Wealth Planning, Family Culture & Learning

When Parents Are Doing Their Adult Kids' Taxes, What's the Bigger Picture?

In a 2018 article, the Wall Street Journal highlighted an apparently common practice in American families: parents doing their kids’ taxes. Why is this notable? Well, in many cases, the children are adults in their 20s, 30s, 40s, and even 50s. So, why are parents doing their adult children’s taxes? Is it a good thing or a bad thing? In our work with families, we have seen many situations like this. In our experience it’s not necessarily good OR bad.
Investing

Navigating the Reality of Rising Rates

With the close of the Federal Open Market Committee meetings this week, the market’s expectations were confirmed as the Fed chose to increase interest rates by the anticipated 25 basis points. In addition, they set the stage for two to three additional rate hikes later this year. This is both consistent with expectations and in alignment with our thematic view of fixed income headwinds. This research report from our colleagues at Asset Consulting Group provides some data to that effect.
In the News

Matter Family Office Named on Advisory HQ "Top 9 Best Financial Advisors in St. Louis" Ranking

We are proud to announce that we have been named as one of the Top 9 Financial Advisors in the St. Louis Area by Advisory HQ on March 12, 2018. Please visit the Advisory HQ site to learn more about how top advisors are selected: http://www.advisoryhq.com/articles/best-rated-financial-advisors-in-st-louis-mo/ AdvisoryHQ developed a breakthrough “Top-Down Advisor Selection Methodology” that is based on a wide range of filters including fiduciary duty, independence, transparency, level of customized service, history of innovation, fee structure, quality of services provided, team excellence, and wealth
In the News

Matter Family Office Receives "Family Wealth Report" Distinction

Matter Family Office was honored to win the “Multi-family Office ($2.5 billion to $5 billion AuM/AuA)” award at the Family Wealth Report Awards 2018 in New York City on March 9th. We are proud of our work with multigenerational families across the country, and we look forward to remaining a leader in the evolution of the wealth management landscape. According to the Family Wealth Report Awards website, “Winning a Family Wealth Report Award sets organizations and individuals apart from their peers
Investing

A Bit of Context Around Bitcoin

As we consider all the major investment headlines of the year, one that has attracted a great deal of recent public interest is also one that seems to be the least understood. If we were to caricature the evolution of Bitcoin media coverage (or digital currencies in general), we would say that what was on the back page and below the fold less than a year ago is now front and center daily. This rapid movement has not been easy to follow
Investing

Where Do We Go From Here? Balancing Optimism and Caution

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of 2017. Time sure does fly when you’re having fun, and the markets are up! Indeed, investors have cause to celebrate, as global stocks are up over 20% for the year, with emerging market stocks leading the way. This strong performance is admittedly unexpected (and somewhat confusing) as economic indicators are mixed. While GDP growth has improved in the U.S., it is off a weaker base than what we
Investing

Current Thinking on Valuations and the Path Forward

The current bull market is the second longest on record in the post-WWII era, leading many market participants to wonder if there really is too much of a good thing. In the past, we have made mention of the challenges of predicting the future direction of the markets. However, not knowing where things are going doesn’t prevent us from taking stock of where things currently stand. At the surface, when we look at valuation measures and other fundamentals and compare them to historical
Investing

Are Responsible Investing and Smart Investing Really Mutually Exclusive? Maybe Not.

As thought partners to our families, one of our principle goals is to help them gain a fuller understanding of the investments they make. We believe a key component to making decisions that are most suitable and consistent with each family’s objectives and aspirations is answering the questions “What do we own?” and “Why do we own it?” One growing area of focus has been a desire to understand how our investments address and impact Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG)
Investing

2017 in Perspective: The Good, the Bad and the Political

It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through 2017! It doesn’t seem that long ago that we were coming into the year with some tempered optimism for the year ahead.  The first six months of this year have not lacked for action. Stock markets around the world have rallied, led by improving profit trends and higher valuations. Bonds have been surprisingly resilient. The one area of weakness has been commodities, led in particular by oil prices, which