Matthew Adams, CFP®
My Mission Statement
My Story and Services
Matt Adams is a seasoned Financial Advisor with Morgan Stanley, where he has dedicated the past 17 years to helping individuals and families navigate their financial futures. As a testament to his expertise and commitment, he has earned the title of First Vice President. Throughout his career, Matt has specialized in providing tailored financial guidance, investment solutions, and comprehensive wealth management services.
In 2011, Matt achieved the prestigious Certificated Financial Planner ™ (CFP ®) designation, further enhancing his ability to educate clients on the importance of strategic financial planning. He is a proud graduate of Mississippi State University, where he was an active member of the Financial Management Association. Holding dual degrees in Banking & Finance and Marketing, he brings a well-rounded perspective to his practice.
Matt resides in Ventura with his wife, Hayley, and their two sons, Wesley (7) and Dylan (4). Outside of work, he enjoys spending quality time with his family and playing soccer.
NMLS#: 1290546
CA Insurance License #: 0G08491
The CFP® Professional
Individuals certified by the CFP® Certification have demonstrated their commitment to professionalism and excellence by voluntarily completing a rigorous certification process. This process includes:
- Comprehensive Education: Mastering key financial planning concepts, including investments, retirement, tax strategies, and estate planning.
- Challenging Examination: Successfully passing a comprehensive exam that tests real-life financial planning scenarios.
- Extensive Experience: Gaining hands-on experience to ensure the ability to apply financial knowledge effectively.
- Strict Ethical Guidelines: Upholding a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of clients.
CFP® professionals complete 2 to 3 years of rigorous coursework at an accredited institution, developing both theoretical and practical financial planning expertise. Earning the CFP® designation is just the beginning—ongoing education is required to maintain certification and stay ahead in a constantly evolving industry.
To obtain CFP® certification, professionals must pass a 7-hour comprehensive exam that assesses their ability to apply financial planning knowledge to real-world scenarios. Topics include tax planning, estate planning, investments, insurance, employee benefits, and retirement planning.
CFP® professionals must complete several years of hands-on financial planning experience before earning the right to use the CFP® designation, ensuring they are well-equipped to guide clients through complex financial decisions.
Upholding the highest ethical standards, CFP® professionals follow the CFP® Board's Code of Ethics, committing to integrity, objectivity, competence, fairness, confidentiality, professionalism, and diligence. Most importantly, they are required to always act in the best interest of their clients.
At Morgan Stanley Wealth Management, we combine exclusive access to global resources with personalized strategies to support your financial goals at every stage of life. Our unwavering commitment to building, preserving, and managing wealth is the foundation of everything we do.
We offer holistic investment solutions for clients who seek strong financial returns while making a positive social and environmental impact. Align your investments with your values without compromising performance.
Smart tax strategies can help you maximize savings and enhance long-term returns. Our advisors work with you to implement tax-efficient investment solutions tailored to your financial plan.
Building Wealth for Future Generations
Preparing the next generation for financial success starts today. I provide guidance on wealth transfer, financial education, and strategic planning to help families create lasting legacies. Whether you're looking to teach financial responsiblity, structure inheritance wisely, or build a roadmap for future prosperity, our expertise ensures that your wealth continues to grow across generations.
Building wealth isn't just about the present - it's about securing financial stability for the future. Without proper planning, wealth can be lost within a generation. I help families implement smart strategies to sustain thier financial success for years to come.
Financial literacy is the foundation of long-term success. I offer resources to help children, teenagers, and young adults learn the fundamentals of money management from budgeting and savings to investing and credit.
A well-structured investment plan ensures that wealth not only endures but thrives for generations. I help families implement investment strategies that align with their values and long-term financial goals.
Many families wish to instill charitable giving as part of their legacy. We assist in setting up philanthropic strategies that align with your values and financial goals.
Comprehensive Financial Planning
Regardless of what stage your life is in - moving ahead in your career, enjoying retirement, or somewhere in between - as your Financial Advisors, we can help you achieve your financial goals.
Using a suite of tools that includes goal-specific analysis, we can work with you to create a realistic, holistic strategy that integrates the various aspects of your financial life, including your investments and cash management needs.
We can create your personal roadmap to help achieve and protect your goals — a framework that makes the connection between your life goals and your financial resources, and provides a baseline for future discussions.
This helpful resource outlines the 2024 tax rate schedule, education and health savings account limits, retirement contribution and deduction limits, among other information. With tax season seemingly always right around the corner, it's best to be as informed as possible.
We thoroughly review your mortgage, car loans, credit cards, and any other debts that you may have in order to help determine where you can save on interest and create a timeline for your debt payments by prioritizing which ones should be paid off first.
We take an extremely close look at your financial profile to decipher what type(s) of insurance most fit your needs, and determine if your current insurance policies are best suited for you and your goals.
Leading up to and through retirement, Cornerstone Capital helps you identify the most appropriate ways to obtain the income you need and help ensure that you are on track to achieve for financial goals.
Regardless of your current financial circumstances, it is crucial to have a backup plan for your money. We regularly review your finances with you and coordinate with your estate attorney to help ensure that your wishes are met in the most efficient and cost-effective way possible.
We take care of your retirement accounts and other investments based on your comfort level with risk and your current tax circumstances, tailoring your financial strategy to your unique situation, needs, and goals.
Modern Wealth Management Tools
Morgan Stanley's comprehensive suite of digital resources has carefully been designed to help enhance each aspect of your financial portfolio. Take some time to learn about some of the many Modern Wealth Management resources that we offer to our clients.
Your investments and everyday finances are always just a few clicks away with Morgan Stanley Online (MSO) and the Morgan Stanley mobile app! Access your finances and invest in an instant with the help of this handy resource that is available 24/7.
Complete your financial profile with Total Wealth View. By linking your external account information, you will benefit from more educated and holistic wealth planning, and convenient connectivity.
The Digital Vault on Morgan Stanley Online and the Mobile App allows for easy sharing and convenient access to life's most important documents from wills and deeds to financial statements and tax fillings. Easily manage your encrypted financial records all in one place.
Track spending habits, categorize expenses and create budgets across your Morgan Stanley and external financial accounts with our Spending and Budgeting Tool. We make it easy for you and your financial advisor to oversee trends in your financial life.
Location
Portfolio Insights
1Morgan Stanley offers a wide array of brokerage and advisory services to its clients, each of which may create a different type of relationship with different obligations to you. Please consult with your Financial Advisor to understand these differences or review our Understanding Your Brokerage and Investment Advisory Relationships brochure available at www.morganstanley.com/wealth-relationshipwithms/pdfs/understandingyourrelationship.pdf.
For more information, please see the Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC Client Relationship Summary.
2Morgan Stanley Wealth Management is the trade name of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, a registered broker-dealer in the United States.
3When Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors (collectively, “Morgan Stanley”) provide “investment advice” regarding a retirement or welfare benefit plan account, an individual retirement account or a Coverdell education savings account (“Retirement Account”), Morgan Stanley is a “fiduciary” as those terms are defined under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended (“ERISA”), and/or the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 (the “Code”), as applicable. When Morgan Stanley provides investment education, takes orders on an unsolicited basis or otherwise does not provide “investment advice”, Morgan Stanley will not be considered a “fiduciary” under ERISA and/or the Code. For more information regarding Morgan Stanley’s role with respect to a Retirement Account, please visit www.morganstanley.com/disclosures/dol. Tax laws are complex and subject to change. Morgan Stanley does not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals are encouraged to consult their tax and legal advisors (a) before establishing a Retirement Account, and (b) regarding any potential tax, ERISA and related consequences of any investments or other transactions made with respect to a Retirement Account. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for matters involving trust and estate planning, charitable giving, philanthropic planning and other legal matters.
4Fixed Income investing entails credit risks and interest rate risks. When interest rates rise, bond prices generally fall.
5Municipal bonds may not be appropriate for all investors. Income generated from an investment in a municipal bond is generally exempt from federal income taxes. Some income may be subject to state and local taxes and to the federal alternative minimum tax. Capital gains, if any, are subject to tax.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) and its Financial Advisors and Private Wealth Advisors do not provide any tax/legal advice. Consult your own tax/legal advisor before making any tax or legal-related investment decisions.
Check the background of our Firm and Investment Professionals on FINRA's BrokerCheck*.
The information, products and services described here are intended only for individuals residing in states where this Financial Advisor is properly registered as described in this site.
Morgan Stanley reserves the right, to the extent permitted under applicable law, to retain and monitor all electronic communications. Morgan Stanley will not accept purchase or sale orders via any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. Morgan Stanley does not endorse and is not responsible and assumes no liability for content, products or services posted by third-parties on any Internet site, social media site and/or its messaging systems. All electronic communications are subject to terms available at the following link:
https://www.morganstanley.com/disclaimers/mswm-email.html. Any profiles and associated content are for U.S. residents only.
The securities/instruments, services, investments and investment strategies discussed in this material may not be appropriate for all investors. The appropriateness of a particular investment, investment strategy or service will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives. Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC recommends that investors independently evaluate particular investments, strategies and services, and encourages investors to seek the advice of a Financial Advisor or Private Wealth Advisor. This material does not provide individually tailored investment advice. It has been prepared without regard to the individual financial circumstances and objectives of persons who receive it.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”), its affiliates and Morgan Stanley Financial Advisors or Private Wealth Advisors do not provide tax or legal advice. Individuals should consult their tax advisor for matters involving taxation and tax planning and their attorney for legal matters.
Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC (“Morgan Stanley”) is not implying an affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement with/of the third party or that any monitoring is being done by Morgan Stanley of any information contained within the website. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information contained on the third-party website or the use of or inability to use such site. Nor do we guarantee their accuracy or completeness.
The views, opinions or advice contained within third party websites or materials are solely those of the author, who is not a Morgan Stanley employee, and do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC, or its affiliates. The strategies and/or investments referenced may not be appropriate for all investors as the appropriateness of a particular investment or strategy will depend on an investor's individual circumstances and objectives.
*References to length of service at Morgan Stanley include years at Morgan Stanley and predecessor firms.
Certified Financial Planner Board of Standards Inc. owns the certification marks CFP®, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ and federally registered CFP (with flame design) in the U.S, which it awards to individuals who successfully complete CFP Board’s initial and ongoing certification requirements.
The use of the CDFA designation does not permit the rendering of legal advice by Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors which may only be done by a licensed attorney. The CDFA designation is not intended to imply that either Morgan Stanley or its Financial Advisors are acting as experts in this field.
Awards Disclosures
