Ross Ferrier, a branch manager and portfolio manager with Commerce Valley Financial Group at CIBC Wood Gundy, sits below the Omaha Royals jersey signed by Warren Buffet that hangs in his Thornhill, Ont., office.iStockPhoto / Getty Images
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In the Behind the Advice series, Globe Advisor asks advisors about their relationship with money from a young age, lessons learned over the years, and how their experiences influence the advice they give clients.
Ross Ferrier, a branch manager and portfolio manager with Commerce Valley Financial Group at CIBC Wood Gundy in Thornhill, Ont., talks about money lessons growing up, his time as a professional baseball player after being drafted by the New York Mets, and advice he got from Warren Buffett:
Describe your first money lesson.
I grew up in a middle-class family in Waterloo, Ont. My father was a mechanical engineer and my mother was head of the engineering mathematics science faculty library at the University of Waterloo. Whenever my younger brother and I would ask for something, my parents would say, ‘Money doesn’t grow on trees.’ To me, it meant that if you wanted something, there had to be an equal or greater effort to earn the money to get it. I had two reactions: I was frustrated because I was told there were limits to what I could have. It also got me interested in how to earn and save money, so I didn’t have those limits.
How did this influence your money habits growing up?
I became a big saver. I used to keep track of every nickel I spent. To this day, I save way more than I probably need to – and I still keep track of it. In my 20s, when I was a member of the New York Mets organization, they kept asking me if I was okay because I wasn’t depositing my cheques. I didn’t need the money; my housing and food were paid for. Given my upbringing, I wasn’t used to buying many extra things. The organization then helped me set up a U.S. bank account where I could deposit and save my earnings.
When it comes to spending, I prefer to spend money on experiences for my family rather than on material things. I have four kids, ages 12 to 24, and I also talk to them about money and the importance of saving and investing to be independent later in life.
Are there other memories around money that you’d like to share?
As a kid, I would spend my summers with my grandmother in Jamaica (where my mom is originally from). She lived in a small, two-bedroom house in Montego Bay with bars on the windows and no air-conditioning. I remember seeing the Half Moon luxury resort down the road: It’s a 400-acre property with a private beach surrounded by a tall white concrete wall. My grandmother used to say, ‘You don’t need to look over there because you’ll never be able to afford to stay there.’ In other words, don’t tempt yourself. I think that probably made me want to go there even more. Now, when I go to Jamaica, that’s where we stay. The first time I took my kids there, I told them the story to inspire them to be financially independent.
What’s your biggest money mistake, and what did you learn from it?
Sometimes, in this business, you can get a bit of hubris that you can do better than the market. In 2013, I invested some of my savings in a single Canadian oil and gas stock that I prefer not to mention and lost a good chunk of it. Nobody likes losing money, but I took it extremely personally, in part because I’m such a big saver. I took a risk that I normally would never take. Thankfully, I didn’t put any of my clients’ money into it.
That experience jolted me. I learned to stick with my investment values and never buy a stock I don’t understand fully. It also grounded me and served as a reminder not to get caught up in the hysteria and noise of chasing huge returns. Because of that mistake, I probably have an unnecessary aversion to risk. I need to analyze and reanalyze any investment I make before moving forward. I’m not a quick decision-maker.
What’s the best piece of money advice you’ve received?
It was from Warren Buffett at his annual meeting in 2002. My mentor, Michael Lee-Chin (the founder and chairman of Portland Holdings Ltd.) introduced me to him, and he signed an Omaha Royals jersey that I had from my baseball days, which hangs in my office today. He told me that investing is like baseball: You don’t need to swing at every pitch; you only need to swing at the right ones. So, when investing, I always try to wait for the right opportunities.
What advice do you have for people looking to become an adviser?
It’s important to have money management skills, but it’s equally important to have people management skills. Your job is to manage money but also to build trust with your clients. No matter how much you explain how a product works, your value is how you explain it to them in a way they can relate to and that works for them.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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