Matisse, an investment adviser formed and SEC-registered in 2010, is primarily owned by Bryn Torkelson
(see bio in brochure supplement). Matisse provides investment advice, financial planning and retirement
plan management (including employee education) to clients on both a discretionary and non-discretionary
basis.
Services
Investment advisory services consist of advice on asset allocation, strategic portfolio structuring, the
selection and monitoring of mutual funds (both closed-end and open-end) and the selection and monitoring
of partnerships managed by third-party investment advisors. Financial planning services are offered on both
a limited scope and a comprehensive basis.
We foster client relationships that are driven by the client’s preferences in both the degree of their
involvement in their portfolio decisions, and the products in their portfolios. In limited cases, clients may
impose restrictions in their accounts on investing in certain securities or types of securities.
As of 12/31/2023, Matisse advises a total of $1,356,007,202 across 750 client accounts. We advise
$697,751,606 across 51 client accounts on a non-discretionary basis and $658,255,596 across 699 client
accounts on a discretionary basis.
Mutual fund management
Matisse serves as the investment adviser for two open-end funds, the Matisse Discounted Closed-End
Fund Strategy (“MDCEX”) and the Matisse Discounted Bond CEF Strategy (“MDFIX”) (together the
“Funds”). MDCEX primarily invests in both equity and fixed income closed-end funds. MDFIX primarily
invests in fixed income closed-end funds. Matisse manages the assets of MDCEX and MDFIX on a
discretionary
basis.
A strategy in which Matisse specializes is our discounted closed-end fund (CEF) strategy, which entails
constructing a portfolio of discounted CEFs using proprietary research. We select and trade discounted
CEFs to create globally balanced and diversified portfolios. Our goal is to create positive alpha by taking
advantage of favorable discount movements---purchasing a CEF at a certain discount to its NAV and
subsequently selling it at a narrower discount to NAV. Of course, we do not, and cannot, achieve this goal in
every case, nor is capturing favorable discount movement always associated with positive alpha---or even
positive returns. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. Certain risks associated with our
strategy are discussed more fully in Item 8, and include risk of loss, tax inefficiency, and high turnover.
We currently employ this strategy within two mutual funds (MDCEX and MDFIX) and for a large institutional
separate account. We have in the past and may in the future also employ the strategy as a subadvisor or
within separately managed accounts where the end client is an advisory client of Matisse or an unrelated
institution. Managing different types of accounts will result in fee differences, performance dispersion and
potential conflicts of interest in the allocation of the investment opportunities among different account types.
Private fund management
Matisse serves as the investment manager for the Matisse Absolute Return Fund, LLC (“MAR” or a “Hedge
Fund”). MAR is in the process of liquidation. It is expected that MAR will be closed once all holdings are
completely liquidated.