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Most of us can only
amuse ourselves by daydreaming about what we would do with a million bucks.
So does Pamela Wallin, the host of the Canadian edition of Who Wants to
be a Millionaire. But she knows exactly what she would do if she won
that kind of money.
“I believe you
should pay off debt. That is the first thing I would do: Pay off debts and
mortgages. That would be my first strategy. But before that, I would make
sure I had the advice of a trusted advisor,” she says. “[I am] pretty
conservative. I’m not saying I grew up putting the money in the mattress —
it was the credit union.”
Maybe that is why
Ms. Wallin turns to Michael Decter, who is, in his words, “a friend in long
standing,” to pick stocks for her. “It’s a lot better than having a stranger
manage your portfolio,” she says. Besides, Mr. Decter has pretty good
instincts, even though he started working in the investment business only a
couple of years ago. Before that, Mr. Decter held a number of senior
management positions in health care, including a stint as Ontario’s deputy
minister of health.
Now, Mr. Decter is
president of Lawrence Decter Investment Counsel in Toronto. And his partner,
Jack Lawrence, is one of the most respected dealmakers on Bay Street.
Lawrence Decter
caters to the investment needs of a select group of 60 clients, both large
institutions and individual clients, like Ms. Wallin. “His philosophy is
really the same [as mine]. Invest in what you know, similar to Warren
Buffett and Peter Lynch,” Ms. Wallin says.
“We’re value
investors and stock pickers,” Mr. Decter explains. “We’re not momentum
players, and we don’t match major indices. We want solid companies that look
like they’ll be profitable going into the future.”
So what stocks is
Mr. Decter buying for his clients?
He likes natural
gas companies such as Alberta Energy Co. (AEC/TSE), Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM/TSE)
and Search Energy Corp. (SGY/TSE). Those look good, he says, because the
price of natural gas has doubled in the past year.
Outside the energy
sector, Mr. Decter is keen on CHC Helicopter Corp. (FLY.A/TSE) and
FirstService Corp. (FSV/TSE), a Toronto-based property management company.
In the United States, Mr. Decter has his eye on Visteon Corp. (VC/NYSE), a
spin-off from Ford’s parts division, and Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC/NYSE).
Not all of Ms.
Wallin’s investments are winners. Take, for example, Chapters Inc. (CHP/TSE).
The bookseller’s shares have taken a beating on the market. Chapters shares
now trade at $10.45 — a big drop from the $31.50 it was trading at a year
ago.
In spite of
Chapter’s poor performance, Ms. Wallin says she is a “believer” in the
company. “I do think in a sense you have to go with what you know, and trust
your instincts,” she says.
Ms. Wallin says
about half her money is in equities — mostly blue chips, with some tech
holdings to keep things interesting without being too risky.
Does her day job
asking people questions make her a better informed or more inquisitive
investor? “I’m not jumping up at board meetings. But research is fundamental
to everything we do. I make sure I’ve done my homework before any interview.
I try to approach everything that way.”
And people
frequently volunteer information, Ms. Wallin says. “It’s one of the joys of
being on television — people recognize you and talk to you a lot. It’s
fairly easy for us to spot the difference between a trend and the
flavor-of-the-month. Look at the bigger economic picture. What are we always
going to need in this country as opposed to scooters.”
Aside from her
investment portfolio, Ms. Wallin also has a stake in a number of ventures:
there’s her own production company, Pamela Wallin Productions; a content
deal with Chapters.ca; and the News Theatre, a Toronto
news conference and media facility in which Ms. Wallin is a partner. She is
also co-owns a hair salon in her hometown of Wadena, Sask., with her sister.
With all of this
activity, you would think that Ms. Wallin’s investment portfolio would be
bulging. But she says otherwise. “Unfortunately, I don’t have a million
dollars to invest — wouldn’t I love to,” she says. Maybe, with Mr. Decter’s
help, she will. Some day. |
