We continue our series profiling different financial advisors at Carnegie Investment Counsel with our wealth advisor, Ian Matheson at our Carnegie Investment Counsel office in Ft. Myers, Florida.

Pass Go and collect $200: Ian Matheson helps make it that easy to feel good about your investment strategy, with a little extra knowledge and dedication.

Ian Matheson grew up playing Monopoly, but he learned to work with real money at a young age. In fact, when he was in the eighth grade, he started competing with his father, Robert Matheson, to pick stocks and mutual funds. It’s almost natural that he has been a wealth advisor for over 20 years now.

On a monitor across from my desk, two screens share constantly updating market news from earnings reports to headlines. On my phone, Twitter flashes the latest evaluations and thoughts from, well, thought-leaders. Bloomberg provides analytics, data and even more financial news. The flow of information is good and valuable. Everyone can access this information. It’s a far cry from years ago, when we had to wait to receive faxes of earnings reports. Now financial information is certainly becoming more “democratized”. But these volumes of information are a challenge for individuals to process, even if those individuals are professionals.

At Carnegie, the word “counsel” in our name speaks to the expertise we bring to investment management. But how does the Carnegie approach work in practice? How do we synthesize information together as a team to help portfolio managers digest it and make decisions for our clients’ portfolios?

Suddenly find yourself winning the lottery or with an unexpected inheritance? Or maybe you sold your company for a surprising amount. Managing sudden wealth includes both mental and financial considerations. So while it may seem like a dream come true for some, it can be detrimental to those who don’t know how to manage the sudden event.. Here are 12 steps to help you survive and thrive:

We learned a lot about ourselves in 2020. Below are some "Do's and Don'ts" we should keep in mind for the coming year:

One of the terms most often heard in the world of finance is “risk” as in "investment risk." Often, people think of risk as something dangerous and to be avoided. There are many circumstances that determine how people view investment risk.

Below are some interesting ways to think about investment risk. 

As many of you know, I am fascinated as to why people make the choices and decisions they make. Many people who work in our industry are focused on valuation ratios, dividends, profitability ratios, balance sheets and charts. With data becoming so easily and readily available these days, I think the extra “edge” these data points produce is becoming smaller and smaller. I believe one area of investing that remains important and useful is sentiment. Digging a little deeper, one can find some interesting cross-currents between expected returns and investor sentiment.

What exactly is investor sentiment? In the most basic sense, investor sentiment is how investors feel about the overall direction of the markets or a particular stock.

One way in which investor sentiment is measured is through the AAII Sentiment Survey. This is a widely cited survey and AAII stands for the American Association of Individual Investors. This association is made up of roughly 150,000 investors, with the average member being in their mid-60s with a median portfolio over $1M. Every week, the AAII surveys about 300 members asking them if they feel bullish, neutral or bearish about the direction of the stock market for the next 6 months.

When we think about investing in equities here at Carnegie, we think of the companies we invest in as businesses. If I polled 5 random people off the street and asked them to list 5 good companies, depending upon their age, sex and race, I would probably hear names like Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla and Netflix. While these companies have performed admirably in the last few years, we never lose sight of our pursuit in finding great businesses with sustainable business models or what Warren Buffet likes to call a “moat”. What if I told you that one of the best sectors to invest in over time is a collection of boring, slow growing businesses? 

As a firm with roots in Cleveland, the city is abuzz with excitement surrounding the Cleveland Cavaliers run to the NBA Finals. It is great to experience the excitement that cities like Cincinnati and Philadelphia have  enjoyed in the past and our hope is that this team will end Cleveland’s 51 year title drought. The Cavs will need to play great team basketball to beat the Golden State Warriors but when it comes to investing; sometimes it’s best to separate certain parts of the “team” or businesses. This is often referred to as spin-offs on Wall Street.

Growing up on the bond side of the business wasn’t always easy. There was never any snappy cocktail party conversation about what’s going on in the bond market like I often overheard on stocks…go figure.

With the high level of the stock market and an aging population demographic, my how times have changed. The bond market looks mighty interesting to a lot of folks. As a $38 trillion global bond market (vs. the S & P market cap at $18 trillion), I’m glad to see it’s not being totally ignored, but I am concerned as well. A lot of people these days view bond funds as a placeholder to park cash, like a money market vehicle with return, unaware of the downside risks. Bond funds are especially susceptible to volatility and erosion when rates rise (and, oh by the way, rates will rise at some point).