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Michael Schoonover, COO & Portfolio Manager

15 posts

Michael Schoonover is Chief Operating Officer of Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC, Catalyst International Advisors LLC and Rational Advisors, Inc. He is an experienced financial professional having worked in various portfolio management, operations management, and trust officer roles. He serves in various executive roles for U.S. registered investment advisers and marketing and consulting companies in the investment management industry. He is President of Mutual Fund Series Trust, President of Mutual Fund & Variable Insurance Trust, and President of Strategy Shares. Mr. Schoonover has a Bachelor of Science degree in biochemistry from the University of Michigan and a Master of Business Administration degree with high distinction from the University of Michigan.

2 min

Structure Your Portfolio to Play Defense in an Effort to Outperform the Market

A good investment strategy is a lot like a championship-winning sports team: you need a great offense and a great defense. With investing, the concept of defense can often be complicated. Just look at the 60/40 portfolio (60% stocks and 40% bonds), which many investors relied upon for decades as an offense/defense strategy. The uncomfortable truth arose last year as investors had to be reminded that there is no inherent relationship that requires bonds to go up when stocks go down. In fact, we are in the type of environment where it is likely that both can go down at the same time.

1 min

Why Allocate at Least 20% to a Strategy Designed to Play Both Offense and Defense

Nobody really knows with certainty where the market will go. Rather than time the market, investors could allocate at least 20% to a strategy that is designed to thrive over the long-term in both bear and bull markets by playing both offense and defense in the same portfolio.

2 min

Four Reasons Why You Should Allocate At Least 20% To A Strategy Designed To Play Both Offense And Defense

If your investment portfolio feels derailed this year, you are not alone. Few investments are holding up well. For 2022 year-to-date, stocks are in bear market territory and bonds are close. Even the historically safer 60/40 stock/bond portfolio is close to bear market territory.

1 min

Why 50/30/20 Makes More Sense Than 60/40 For This Market Environment

In an environment set up to be a lost decade for many traditional asset classes, a potentially compelling option is moving from a 60/40 to a 50/30/20 portfolio allocation model to integrate a fund like the Catalyst/Millburn Hedge Strategy Fund (MBXIX), which has generated positive returns in both bull and bear markets.

10 min

Another Bear Market, Another Positive Return For This Fund

2022 seems to be setting the stage for the 2020’s to be a lost decade–a decade where an asset class generates negative returns–for both stocks and bonds. A lost decade can derail an investor’s long-term financial goals. But today we’ll explain why not all hope should be lost on investors.

1 min

Research

Senior RMBS LTV Example

Legacy or seasoned senior RMBS were issued prior to the U.S. housing market collapse in 2007. Today, these bonds are supported by a resilient housing market, are backed by seasoned mortgages with lower LTVs, possess low interest rate sensitivity, and can benefit from refinancing/prepayment because they tend to trade at a discount.

1 min

The Case for Senior Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

Legacy or seasoned senior RMBS were issued prior to the U.S. housing market collapse in 2007. Today, these bonds are supported by a resilient housing market, are backed by seasoned mortgages with lower LTVs, possess low interest rate sensitivity, and can benefit from refinancing/prepayment because they tend to trade at a discount.

1 min

Diversifying Fixed Income Exposure with Non-Traditional Income

Many bond portfolios consist of investments that replicate the Bloomberg Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index (the “Agg”), which does not include about two-thirds of the investable fixed income space. These bond portfolios leave many investors under-exposed to the broader fixed income universe and with concentrated risk exposure to rising interest rates.

12 min

Featured

Financial Advisor Roundtable Part II: Addressing the Global Pandemic, Market Conditions, and Key Challenges Facing FAs and their Clients in 2020

In this second installment of the quarterly roundtable, Michael Schoonover, Chief Operating Officer of Catalyst Capital Advisors LLC and Rational Advisors, Inc. asked these leading advisors to provide their unique perspective on some of the key issues and challenges facing FAs and their clients in these unprecedented times and financial market environment.

5 min

Explaining to Clients Why Chasing the S&P 500 May Not Work in the 2020’s

This past decade has been a tremendous run for the S&P 500, remarkably like the path of U.S. equities in the 1990’s. When looking at the other major asset classes, however, the 2010’s have not been nearly as exciting.

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