About me

I grew up on a hobby farm in Southern Ontario. In many ways, a typical Canadian kid. With my brothers and friends, if a day involved running, jumping and whacking something with a stick, it was a fine day indeed. I loved school even though I was a world class day dreamer.

High school was more of the same combined with the sophistication that teenagers are gifted with.

University was different. While still mostly enjoyable, bills had to be paid, random roommate survival adventures, and the sense you were on your own.

Got my degree and took a job in Toronto as a market research analyst at a real estate consulting firm. Hilariously, I remember driving away after accepting their offer and not being entirely sure of what it was I was supposed to do when I showed up for work on Monday. The three partners of that firm were demanding and super cool people. I had to grow up quick. This led to a similar position in the downtown core, involving office towers and commercial real estate.

A friend of mine was a manager at an investment bank, and after realizing that I had privately taken the Canadian Securities course and noticing my collection of financial books, convinced me that I should try being an investment advisor. Sounded good to me, and I started with a bank owned investment firm on Bay Street in 1994. It was very exciting.

Shortly after this, I luckily lassoed Pegasus, and after thoroughly testing her good nature and sense of humour, we became engaged. My firm had also just opened a branch office in Northern Ontario, and while Toronto had been very good to me, this was our chance to move to somewhere it was easier to park your car.

Two decades and two kids later, I’ve learned a lot and realize there is so much more to know. In this time, I’ve completed the top planning programs. These courses are excellent and provided an in depth understanding of the financial consulting process. However, these courses are also like reading a book on how to drive a car. The real world can be very different.

In addition to this, I started concentrating more on the insurance planning and less on the investment business. While I found the investment industry fascinating and still do, it doesn’t really match my personality. For example: if you bought a set of tires from me and two weeks later, you tell me “Hey, I’m missing a tire” and I reply “well that’s the market for you, just wait and it’ll come back”. I hated that.