The Matson Method: How Matson Money’s Investment Methodology Can Help Investors Stay Prudent And Disciplined Over A Lifetime

In the current bear market, investors may be wondering how to protect their financial future. According to a recent J.D Power survey, two-thirds of US adults were worried that COVID-19 would hurt their financial situation.1 Among the top three concerns was the declining value of stock portfolios.1 The current market may allow emotions to overtake reason with investors potentially selling off their investments when the market dips, then hoping to get back in right before share prices rise again. If the future was able to be predicted, this type of strategy could make sense. With no one knowing for certain when the market will hit the top or hit the bottom, this is potentially a risky investment strategy. Investors may also consider placing their money in fad investment vehicles like crypto or other risky assets, which can be pure speculation and gambling of the investor’s financial future.

Early in his career, Mark Matson, Founder and CEO of Matson Money, recognized the inherent dangers of stock picking, market-timing, and other investment behaviors that can introduce risky investment strategies. Mark attended a debate between renowned portfolio manager Donald Yacktman and little-known economist Rex Sinquefield, who, when discussing the merits of active versus passive management, asserted that active management does not make sense theoretically and isn’t justified empirically. Sinquefield’s thesis was so persuasive that Mark implemented significant changes in his investment strategy, most notably by creating the Matson Method – integrating leading research in behavioral economics, finance, neuropsychology, and the field of human performance studies into an innovative and powerful investing science.

The Matson Method, our comprehensive investing methodology that combines two critical aspects of investing principles, is outlined below.

Application of Investing Science

This is the application of proprietary algorithms that leverage Nobel Prize-winning academic economic science. So, what does that mean for investors? Using advanced knowledge of the academic principles that help to explain asset and portfolio performance, such as Modern Portfolio Theory, Efficient Market Hypothesis, and Factor-Based Investing, we provide portfolios designed and engineered to capture market returns. If the goal is long-term wealth creation and asset allocation, having a highly-disciplined approach integrating powerful academic investing principles should be a top consideration.

Coaching for Human Performance

Implementing cutting-edge coaching technology, based on the study of human behavior and performance, can cause breakthroughs – specifically when making decisions during significant moments – and can have an impact on outcomes for the investor. While there is no fast and easy solution when it comes to investing, coaching can be an indispensable tool that can help investors to be disciplined and prudent when creating a long-term investing strategy.

Matson Money portfolios are globally diversified with holdings in 21,741 companies in over 81 countries. We strive to help to eliminate the myths of stock-picking, market-timing, and track record investing from investing. By utilizing the Matson Method, we work to optimize the investing experience for investors and to transform their relationship to money. “At Matson Money, we know that transforming the investing experience (and the industry) begins by investors discovering their true purpose for money and for their life,” Matson states.

Regardless of whether times are good or bad, the market is steady or volatile, Matson Money was founded on the principles of putting the interests, dreams, and life’s purpose of investors at the front and center of all that we do. Investing takes heart and we want to help equip families with the coaching and education to empower them with confidence in their long-term investing strategy and financial future.

For more info about the Matson Method and the American Dream Experience, read our recent blog. If you’re interested in learning more about Matson Money, contact us.   

Disclaimers:

This content is based on the views of Matson Money, Inc.  This content is not to be considered investment advice and is not to be relied upon as the basis for entering into any transaction or advisory relationship or making any investment decision. 

This content includes the opinions, beliefs, or viewpoints of Matson Money and its Co-Advisors.  All of Matson Money’s advisory services are marketed almost exclusively by either Solicitors or Co-Advisors.  Both Co-Advisors and Solicitors are independent contractors, not employees or agents of Matson. 

Other financial organizations may analyze investments and take a different approach to investing than that of Matson Money. All investing involves risks and costs. No investment strategy (including asset allocation and diversification strategies) can ensure peace of mind, guarantee profit, or protect against loss.    PAST PERFORMANCE IS NO GUARANTEE OF FUTURE RESULTS

Matson Money believes that the stock market is efficient and that free markets work.  Based on this belief, Matson focuses on attempting to capture market returns utilizing asset class or structured funds, seeks to utilize broad diversification, and attempts to eliminate stock picking, track record investing, and market timing from the investment process.

Matson Money manages client investments utilizing a fund-of-funds strategy.  Client accounts are invested in a mix of a proprietary series of mutual funds advised by Matson, which allocate investments across three broad asset classes:  domestic equity, international equity, and fixed income.  Matson-advised funds seek to allocate across these broad asset classes by investing in various mutual funds or ETFs. The specific target allocation of each client’s Matson-advised strategy depends on the individual investor’s risk tolerance and investment horizon, and is selected by the client at account opening.  More information on mutual funds, ETFs, and associated fees, is available in fund prospectus documents, available online at: http://funddocs.filepoint.com/matsonmoney/.

Fund of Funds Risk:  The investment performance of client portfolios is affected by the investment performance of the underlying funds in which the portfolio is invested. The ability of the total client portfolio to achieve its investment objective depends on the ability of the underlying Matson-advised mutual funds to meet their investment objectives, on Matson’s decisions regarding the allocation of the portfolio’s assets among the underlying Matson-advised mutual funds, and on Matson’s decisions regarding investments made by the underlying Matson-advised mutual funds. The portfolio may allocate assets to an underlying fund or asset class that underperforms other funds or asset classes. There is no assurance that the investment objective of the portfolio or any underlying fund will be achieved. When the portfolio invests in underlying funds, investors are exposed to a proportionate share of the expenses of those underlying funds in addition to the expenses of the portfolio. Matson may receive fees both directly on your account as well as on the money your account invests in the underlying funds, and the underlying funds themselves may bear expenses of the mutual funds or ETFs in which they invest. Through its investments in the underlying funds, the portfolio is subject to the risks of the underlying funds’ investments, with certain underlying fund risks described later in this content. More information on mutual funds, ETFs, and associated fees, is available in fund prospectus documents, available online at: http://funddocs.filepoint.com/matsonmoney/.

Due to Matson’s investment philosophy and methodology, any references by Matson or by unaffiliated third parties to specific holdings, number of holdings, or specific countries or asset classes are references to the underlying funds in which the Matson-advised mutual funds invest.  Mutual funds currently use SEC Forms N-PORT and N-CSR to disclose their quarterly holdings at the end of each fiscal quarter (Form N-PORT replaced Form N-Q),therefore any specific holdings cited are accurate as of that date or is data provided directly by the underlying fund company itself, and do not in any way represent portfolio management research or trading decisions made by Matson Money, other than to the extent Matson Money has allocated Matson-advised mutual fund investments to such underlying funds. Form N-PORT can be found online at https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/.

Three Factor Model

Fama, Eugene F. and Kenneth R. French. “The Cross-Section of Expected Stock Returns,” Journal of Finance, 47, June 1992.

Efficient Market Hypothesis

Eugene F. Fama, “Random Walks in Stock Market Prices,” Financial Analysts Journal, September/October 1965.

Modern Portfolio Theory

Markowitz, Harry. Portfolio Selection: Efficient Diversification of Investments. New York. Wiley. 1959. Print.

The Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, commonly referred to as the Nobel Prize in Economics, is an award for outstanding contributions to the field of economics, and generally regarded as the most prestigious award for that field.

Markowitz, Harry.  “Portfolio Selection.”  Journal of Finance.  1952.

Harry Max Markowitz is an American economist, and a recipient of the 1989 John von Neumann Theory Prize and the 1990 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. Markowitz is a professor of finance at the Rady School of Management at the University of California, San Diego.

Efficient Market Hypothesis, first explained by Dr. Eugene Fama in his 1965 doctoral thesis.

Eugene F. Fama, “Random Walks in Stock Market Prices,” Financial Analysts Journal, September/October 1965.

Eugene F. Fama, 2013 Nobel laureate in Economic Sciences; is widely recognized as the “father of modern finance.” His research is well known in both the academic and investment communities. He is strongly identified with research on markets, particularly the Efficient Market Hypothesis.

1. Worried About Your Investments During Covid-19? Here’s What History Teaches Us. Fulton Bank. Retrieved 14 July 2022 from https://www.fultonbank.com/Education-Center/Investing/Learning-from-stock-market-history