Starting an investment company

[MoneyGal]

(I should emphasize that I cut and pasted that penultimate post from the source given at the top of the post)

I wanted to provide a sense of the "typical" career path to ICPM.

[Toronto.gal]

what I see too often in women (in my opinion) is overhesitation. As in - women probably "intern" and think, "oh, I should get another designation before I'm ready to really go out on my own" when they are likely totally ready, just lacking confidence -- I personally see this all the time in all fields, not just money management. Women probably over-intern while men may under-intern.

So true, but I agree that things are changing slowly but surely!

Nothing wrong having goals, being ambitious & wanting to succeed, BUT most times there are NO short-cuts in life without consequence.

Imagine being operated by someone without MUCH experience [there is a reason why residency training = several years {in many fields}].

[VJ99]

As with so many things, something that looks simple from afar is devilish in its detail.
I left an institutional fund manager a few years ago to start my own investment management firm.
Even with a great concept – global tactical portfolios using ETFs – it’s been a long, hard road.
As for doing it on the side while you work another, unrelated job - good luck to you.

What you will find is that making the investment decisions is fairly straightforward.
It’s the business of actually managing the money that is time-consuming and costly: large capital requirements; lots of regulations and audits; lots of paperwork; dealing with custodians; providing regular performance reporting; managing positions across scores of accounts; meeting and pitching prospective clients. The list goes on but I think you get my point.

All this will cost money and require staff.

The first thing to do would be to get familiar with the regulations as provided by your provincial regulator. Here’s a link for the Ontario Securities Commission.
http://www.osc.gov.on.ca/en/SecuritiesLaw_irps_index.htm

I don’t mean to discourage you but it does help to know what you are wishing for. Of course, the rewards are significant if you can make a success of it.

BTW – I will be speaking at the World Alternative Investment Summit in Niagara Falls tomorrow if anyone as a chance to visit. Here’s a link.
http://www.waisc.com/

And I will be on BNN Market Call Thursday afternoon with Michael Hainsworth. If you have ETF questions, that’s the time to call in.

All the best,
Vikash
www.archerETF.com

[Argonaut]

Thanks for your insight, Vikash! To clarify, I would be starting up the company on the side, with our own capital and not taking clients yet. Like a holding company. Would you say that a partnership structure or corporate structure would work better in this case? Perhaps initially a partnership that can incorporate later. If and when I want to do this full time then I will obviously commit all my time to it.

[VJ99]

As long as its only your own money, no problem. I'm not qualified to give advice on your corporate structure. If it is just you and a friend, then maybe a joint bank account with a joint trading account would do the trick. As soon as you starting taking other people's money though, all the regulatory stuff will kick in.

[Fain]

This is my take-away from all these posts, thanks.

I must say, this thread is filled with what I perceive to be an annoying trait shared amongst Canadians. The tendency to be Debbie Downers and Finger Wagging Paternal Figures, "no-you-can't-do-that", etc. As a Canadian I do this sometimes as well. But the American in me is winning over in this case.. let's just cut through all the red tape and do this. A good plan today is better than an excellent plan tomorrow. If you succeed, great, if you fail you learn something from it.

Another avenue might be to forget other people's money, initially, and just be financed. I have great credit and am pre-approved for business loans and all that.

Don't let these people get you down, most people are conservative in their investment strategy and don't know anything apart from buy and hold. Unless you have balls to take a chance, you'll just be wishing instead of having. If you have a good track record with a good percentage return on your investments. Go for the gold, start early and even if you don't get alot of clients early on, they will eventually be won over by your returns that you've made for yourself at least. Then when you start managing other people's money successfully then come the referrals and then come the big money.

This is something you can do in addition to your other job as well until it steamrolls into something big.

I am starting my own S Corporation based out of delaware.

[Homerhomer]

The young crowd around here doesn't seem to understand that the kind (and unwanted as OP stated) advice given wasn't not to do it, but to do it the right way.

In just about any business it is beneficial to work for someone first to get experience and learn the ebs and flow of the profession, the business, and get the connections. No magic wand.

[Eclectic12]

Don't let these people get you down, most people are conservative in their investment strategy and don't know anything apart from buy and hold. Unless you have balls to take a chance, you'll just be wishing instead of having ...
This is something you can do in addition to your other job as well until it steamrolls into something big.

I am starting my own S Corporation based out of delaware.

Problem is that the people most likely to place their money with a manager are likely also likely going to be asking for credentials and experience in addition to past record. In other words, they are going to be conservative.

If one can start on their own and grow into something big - that's great.

But like my sister-in-law who thought hanging a sign outside her hair dressing salon would result in a steady stream of customers, there may be a lot of time, effort and sweat required to achieve this.


Cheers