Katherine Lintz, Matter Family Office

Bob.Allen
Feb 15, 2023
2 years ago
Katherine Lintz

Katherine Lintz is the founder and a partner and managing member of Matter Family Office, a $4 billion multifamily office in St. Louis that has clients in 24 states and offices in Dallas and Denver. Lintz began her financial services career in 1980,  working in educational outreach for Chase Manhattan Bank. She then joined Bry & Associates, a sports agency in St. Louis; became a certified financial planner; and worked with professional athletes, including Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice. In 1990, Lintz founded her own advisory firm, KBL & Associates, specializing in financial planning for athletes. KBL morphed into Matter Family Office and for the past 15 years has been strictly a multigenerational multifamily office. 

Katherine Lintz is the founder and a partner and managing member of Matter Family Office, a $4 billion multifamily office in St. Louis that has clients in 24 states and offices in Dallas and Denver. Lintz began her financial services career in 1980,  working in educational outreach for Chase Manhattan Bank. She then joined Bry & Associates, a sports agency in St. Louis; became a certified financial planner; and worked with professional athletes, including Chicago Cubs second baseman Ryne Sandberg and San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jerry Rice. In 1990, Lintz founded her own advisory firm, KBL & Associates, specializing in financial planning for athletes. KBL morphed into Matter Family Office and for the past 15 years has been strictly a multigenerational multifamily office. 

Katherine_LintzWhat's the latest purposeful investment you made, and why did you do it? 

We believe that great investments aspire to great purposes and work to find investments that positively impact all stakeholders — customers, communities and shareholders. As a result, many of the managers with whom we invest integrate a thorough understanding of ESG elements into their fundamental analyses of the companies that make up their investment portfolios. While we have invested with many of these managers for a long time, we have continued to purposefully improve our understanding of their integration of ESG lenses into their process and monitor the evolution of their thinking to ensure proper alignment with our overarching philosophy. 

What's the biggest advantage you have in making investment decisions for the long term? 

First and foremost, we are balance-sheet managers. This affords us the ability to see a client’s entire world and most effectively determine not only the types of investments (and risks) they can make but also the most appropriate locations or entities with which to make them. 

We believe we are not only able to appropriately align investment risks with tolerances and time horizons but more importantly help clients understand why they are taking the risks they are taking and where they are taking them within their total picture. As a result, clients have an increased awareness of risks and are able to see through the short-term noise and focus on the long-term strategic framework that we believe will allow them to achieve their goals. 

What lessons can you share with other family offices about investing strategies, succession issues and philanthropy? 

One of our roles as investment advisers is to build and maintain the bridge that allows our clients to more fully understand their investment portfolios and the different investments they own and the roles they play within a comprehensive strategy. Without a base level of understanding, confusion and discomfort erode the immense trust our clients place in us to be their fiduciaries. Therefore, we place a significant premium in the degree to which investment strategies can be fundamentally understood. 

What wealth strategies and planning tools will help your clients meet their multigenerational goals? 

One of the most important building blocks for a family or individual strategic plan is to identify purpose and timeline. Multigenerational 100-year families have to communicate very well across the entire family unit to clarify what the financial capital can be used for, by whom and when. This understanding provides the foundational bedrock for all other decisions. It is often complicated to discern, as many families look at a bucket of financial capital without guidelines or intention. Not having the clarity can erode trust and create anxiety. Families need to invest in proactive, thoughtful transparency, communication and inclusion. 

What do you know now that you wish you had known 10 years ago? 

I think 10 years ago, I did not fully realize that everyone in a family is always going through transitions … nothing is static. Spending intentional time acknowledging and preparing for these transitions is very important. In addition, thinking more and investing in skills and knowledge across the entire family ecosystem is the very best investment a family can make. 

Interview by Charles Paikert, contributor to Barron’s Advisor and U.S. correspondent for Family Wealth Report. Paikert has written for The New York Times and The Washington Post and is the author of Madness: The Ten Most Memorable NCAA Basketball Finals.