Mat Bevel Company sponsor and Sonora Investment Management Partner Doug Rogers with his family at Rocky Point, Mexico.

Sonora Investment Management assists people in making better use of their financial assets. To develop customized portfolios to suit each client’s needs, the team conducts quite a bit of research, utilizing calls with management, and reviewing SEC filings, earnings call transcripts, bond indentures and other forms of public information. Sonora Investment takes a bottoms up approach to valuation by assessing each company’s ability to generate free cash flow, balance sheet strength, competitive position and potential for growth. All investment research is done in-house.

Sonora Investment Partner Doug Rogers says, “The black swans and unanticipated events like COVID-19 we can’t know. But we can see that the rate of technological change is accelerating. We are seeing tremendous innovations in humanity’s ability to treat disorders and diseases which have never been treatable before, and vast advances in our ability to improve technologies for already treatable conditions. There’s so much going on, it’s mind blowing. This faster pace of innovation opens up investment opportunities.”

Sonora Investment has a unique specialty in convertible bonds—bonds issued by a corporation that, unlike a regular bond, give the bondholder the option to exchange the bond for common equity shares in the company that issued it. From an investor perspective, a convertible bond has a value-added component built into it because has a stock option hidden inside. Convertible bonds are most often issued by companies with a high growth potential, which often means it’s a great investment.

Doug Rogers with his family in Ireland.

Rogers says, “Our entire team is watching the rapid change in the market for high growth potential. There are some elements of investment that are numerically driven. We look at numbers derived from financial statements. But that doesn’t tell you where things are going. A big part of what we do at Sonora Investment is identify businesses that are likely to thrive and grow. This involves intuitive judgement, based on real world experience.” 

Rogers says that Sonora Investment supported Mat Bevel Company this year because of educational programs like The Universe Within that teach people, especially youth, how to proactively cultivate creative thinking skills, which is where so much of the real stuff happens. He says, “We support MBC’s work because it’s important to teach young people how to be more conceptual and how to generate the big ideas. If you don’t use certain parts of your brain, they will atrophy.” He’s also excited about Mat Bevel Company launching Available Resource Technology (A.R.T.) TV to inspire people to think more creatively through quality online programming.

Doug Rogers in Venice, Italy.

The work of Sonora Investment and Mat Bevel Company requires both organizations to see where the market will be in 2 to 5 years. This requires working with multiple year time horizons and imagining what could happen next.

As far as what Sonora Investment would like to pass on to future generations, Rogers says, “I would tell young people to be self-aware and make every day count. Be mindful of every moment.” He adds, “My optimistic view is that overall things are evolving in a positive way that’s far beyond us individually. Having a sense that you’re part of something bigger, is a beneficial way to view the world. I have personal conviction about this. And, yet, individually, each of us can make a difference.”

Thanks for your support, Doug Rogers and Sonora Investment Management!

Mat Bevel Company sponsor Jack Zittere, field ecologist in the Rocky Mountains.

Jack Zittere has been closely connected to nature since he was a small child. He says, “I’ve always liked being outdoors and exploring the natural world. I like understanding nature, and relaxing in it.”

The son of an engineer and an art historian, he’s always looked at nature with a scientific and artistic eye. He studies how science, art and nature come together. Collecting data on spotted owls and yellow billed cuckoos takes him into the pristine mountain ranges of Southeastern, Arizona. He says, “I feel at peace when I’m in nature. I feel fulfilled.”

Jack cites Ned Schaper’s Surrealistic Pop Science Theater as one of the best examples of how art, science and nature come together. The sculptures, which serve as the set for the theater, hold particular interest for Jack, who always wanted to be a sculptor. He explains, “I would find great junk elements and give them to Ned, then he would turn the parts into a clever and brilliant combination of mechanics and art for the theater. His work deeply inspires me.”

Jack Zittere with Mat Bevel Company President Ned Schaper’s grandson, a burgeoning artist in his own right!

He continues, “Ned’s theater environments are incredible. His theater is a fantastic confluence of music, poetry, sculpture, performance and lighting. It’s a totally new amalgam, a new direction in theater that has to get out to the world. People need to see it to understand it. That’s where the magic is.”

Jack sees  the imagination as the spark of creativity. He became a Mat Bevel Company sponsor during the “Escape Velocity” campaign because he believes, through Bevelvision, Ned is producing a whole new way for people to experience cinematic theater in the future.

He thinks Ned’s involvement with The Universe Within world-building curriculum will help him re-imagine how Bevelvision will unfold. “Having kids involved is great. Students at Patagonia Elementary School are participating in the filming of The Universe Within and Ned and his grandson are working on a kid’s TV show. I’m excited to see what will emerge over the next year or two with Ned and kids exploring art, science and nature in a surreal landscape.”

Jack loves to find treasures among the stuff others throw away. Lucky day—He found some great books in the dumpster!

Jack’s personal mission is to leave the world a better place than he found it. His vocation is a vehicle for him to do that. When he finds a rare plant or animal in an area slated for development, his discoveries have sometimes saved critical habitat. His ecological research has led to a greater understanding of endangered species’ population dynamics and behaviors.

Supporting Mat Bevel Company is another way Jack feels he’s making the world a better place.

He says, “Mat Bevel Company takes on really big and innovative challenges. They are not doing the ordinary. By supporting Mat Bevel Company, I feel I’m helping other people use the imagination to further the appreciation of art, science and nature.”