About Us

A Letter from the Founder

Greetings,



I've committed myself to a life of service and finding ways to markedly help people.



I know what it means to serve. With more than 23 years of service in the United States Marine Corps, starting as a Parris Island recruit and retiring as a Lieutenant Colonel, I am now looking beyond my time in uniform for new ways to serve. I have an amazing wife and an amazing son who are beautiful, smart, and supportive.



Because of them I think about legacy and impact.



Immediately after college my wife and I got married. I was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Marine Corps and sent off to aviation training in Pensacola, FL ("The Cradle of Naval Aviation"). We served on active duty for nearly ten years, and I flew in the EA-6B as an electromagnetic spectrum expert all over the world - and in numerous combat zones. Our son was born while I was overhead Sicily inbound to north Africa, and we think that's pretty darn cool.



As a graduate of the Johns Hopkins University’s Master of Science in Geospatial Information Systems (GIS) program and Wittenberg University’s Bachelor of Arts in Business Management program, I am uniquely positioned to understand and capitalize on both complex technical opportunities and the key fundamentals of businesses, the market, risk, and the economy at large. In an increasingly tech-driven world, the combination of identifying future trends and understanding business fundamentals helps separate me from the pack -- serving me well when analyzing finances, investments, and investor goals.



I wanted to share that investing ability with others, so I built the investment advisory that I couldn’t find elsewhere…



Built on Trust
                  

                 Analysis
                        

                        and Technology.



Most advisors promise you “relationships” but in fact it feels like pressure tactics and/or schmoozing. And you’re paying for their fancy office and time-consuming meetings. My philosophy is…



You Don’t Need a Mahogany Office and a Lecture;
                    

                     You Need Wise Advice and a Coffee.



Naturally, there are times when you may want to chat, but I’m just as happy to send you a video that answers your questions too. A lot of people prefer this, and technology enables it. Let’s leverage technology together to keep you well informed about your financial well-being.



I also know how to be a teammate. Before the Marine Corps, I went to Hawken Upper School, a college prep school on the east side of Cleveland, Ohio, did well in school and played football, wrestling, and baseball with great coaches and great teammates – we are still friends to this day. This is where teammates gave me the nickname "OB." I then played four years of varsity NCAA baseball, and enlisted in the Marine Corps. The nickname "OB" followed me to college. Somehow, when it came time to be assigned a callsign in my USMC squadron I got... "OB". It seems to be a naturally occurring event.



Being a good teammate has been the honor of my life.



After active duty I moved home to Ohio and started my first successful business -- real estate investing. Since I missed flying, I returned to it in 2017 as an airline pilot, and it was great. It's a fun job, which also allows me to have a lot of time off for investing and family. I now fly part-time and am a full-time CEO of Arena Investor, a Registered Investment Advisor. Flying and advising have really complimented each other well -- after a lot of deep market analysis, it's great to go watch a sunrise or sunset from a corner office in the sky. It creates great balance in my life.
I know I'll fly less and less as my advisory grows, and that's ok -- it's my honor to once again serve and help people.


Along the aforementioned journey I have been investing in the market and honing the skill -- for more than 25 years now. I am a perpetual student in all regards, whether it’s finances, the stock market, real estate, business fundamentals, identifying great leadership, or understanding blockchain/crypto, the space economy, AI/ML and other emerging technologies. I love both fundamentals and exploring what's possible.
The future is bright, and I'm optimistic.


I’ve been in countless arenas, countless times – when people trusted me to do my job at a high level. Again, I put myself back in the arena to serve others; this time as the founder of Arena Investor.



You’re in the arena too. And I know how much time and energy that takes. I also know that you know you should be treating your money better, but you can’t quite make it fit your week as well as you'd like. So I designed an advisory specifically for you.



Modern Planning and Investing Built for The One in the Arena.




Truly,

Matthew "OB" Oberdorfer