Engineer holding mutual funds turns
to Canadian
bank for long-
term gains
Engineer holding mutual funds turns to Canadian bank for long-term gains
Brenda Bouw
Special to The Globe and Mail
Published 3 hours ago
Open this photo in gallery:
Henry Ko. Supplied
Share
Bookmark
Please log in to bookmark this story. Log In Create Free Account
Henry Ko, 62, Montreal
What was your first stock?
My first stock was actually a technology mutual fund that I bought from
Altamira Investment Services Inc. in the early 1980s, when I was in university
in my early 20s. [Altamira was bought by National Bank in 2002]. I held on to
that fund for several years, including when the dot.com bubble burst in 2000
and the value of it dropped significantly. I was shell-shocked, like many
other investors, but I stayed invested. Then, as I started earning money in my
career as an engineer, I started diversifying my portfolio by purchasing more
mutual funds. I watched the value of my portfolio increase as the market
recovered and grew. In 2007• Финансовый кризис » Ипотечный кризис » Ипотечный кризис в США (2007), I started to read headlines about a subprime
mortgage crisis• Финансовый кризис » Ипотечный кризис » Ипотечный кризис в США (2007) brewing in the U.S. I sold about 35 per cent of my mutual
funds in November, 2007• Финансовый кризис » Ипотечный кризис » Ипотечный кризис в США (2007), before the global financial crisis• Финансовый кризис hit in 2008 and
the market dropped. I suffered less than others because I had reduced my
equity holdings and put the money into cash.
What did you do with the cash?
I was organizing a hockey group in December, 2009, and my neighbour, an
accountant, had just joined the team. I remember we were sitting on the bench,
and I asked her what I should do with the cash. She suggested that I buy a
Canadian bank. I was wary, given we had just gone through the global financial
crisis• Финансовый кризис, but she said that Canadian banks were much more stable than in the
U.S. I decided to buy Bank of Nova Scotia because that’s where I held my
mortgage. I bought that stock for about $29 in January, 2010. I’ve owned it
and have been collecting dividends ever since. It’s now trading at about $77.
What have you learned from your investing experiences to date?
I learned to buy solid dividend stocks and be patient. With the introduction
of the tax-free• Торговля » Tax free savings account and once National Bank Direct Brokerage went
to free trading, I tried investing on my own in a few speculative stocks.
Generally, I broke even, but I found it too stressful. Today, I stick with
dividend stocks in sectors such as utilities and financial and real-estate
investment trusts and, in the past couple of years, I have also started buying
lower-cost exchange-traded funds.
What’s your advice for someone buying their first stock?
I advise my two kids, who are in their late teens and just opened their own
tax-free• Торговля » Tax free savings accounts, to buy dividend-paying stocks in companies they
understand and watch the payments roll in. Also, when it comes to speculative
stocks, like cryptocurrency, only invest in those for fun if you enjoy the
exercise and can afford to lose the money.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
@@@@
