Investing with a DIY strategy

Luc Nocent, 51

Occupation: Owner of high-speed video software business

Portfolio: TD Bank, CIBC, Bank of Montreal, Bank of Nova Scotia, BCE, AT&T Inc., Wal-Mart Stores, TransCanada Pipelines, Pfizer

Solidly in blue chips

Luc Nocent has said goodbye to trading, and hello to blue-chip stocks and index funds. In part, this is because of the lessons learned from the dot-com crunch. He also doesn't have the time, running his own 15-person Montreal business. "Statistically, I'm just going along with the wave," he says. "Very few people are capable of beating the wave. How many Warren Buffetts are there out there?"

His Index Funds

Mr. Nocent doesn't feel it's possible to outdo the market with any consistency. That's why he uses exchange-traded funds (ETFs), most of them broad-market-based. "Who am I to choose a specific sector?" he says. "In the end, statistically speaking, I'm not sure it makes a big difference."

Why He Doesn't Like Analysts

"I manage a company. If you ask me what am I going to do in the next quarter, I'd say 'I'm sorry but I don't know.' It's so difficult to predict what your customers are going to do, what orders they're going to give you. When I read an analyst and he says he thinks RIM is going to keep going up, I say 'How do you know, my friend?' You don't know what their sales are like. Even if the CFO knows, he can't tell you."

Best Move

"I didn't panic in the spring. I've been playing this game for a long time now, and I only check my portfolio once every three months." His strategy, he says, means that shorter-term drops make no difference to him. "I didn't sell anything, and in fact, I bought GE and added some more TD Bank."

Worst Move

Mr. Nocent said his worst move was panicking just enough in the recession not to buy more. "I'm a bit like everyone else and I thought it might be the end of the world. I knew that people were panicking. On the other hand, I didn't know how long the recession would last. There were rumours Citibank and Bank of America could go bankrupt." And if there's another crash? "That's what I pray for every day. I would definitely buy more blue chips and the S&P 500 Index."

Advice

"I just don't understand why people go to brokers. I don't think it's hard to manage your own money. It's a lot easier than people make it out to be. I look at how much money people spend on advice, and in my opinion, I'm sorry, but you're getting screwed. Two per cent on a fund or brokerage account over a lifetime is a hell of a lot of money."

Want to share your strategies?

E-mail tony.martin@sympatico.ca