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me and my money

Colleen Gibb, 51

Occupation

Chartered Accountant

Portfolio

Shares in the big banks, insurance companies and wealth management firms.

The Investor

Being an accountant, Colleen Gibb says she is very risk averse. But she also understands the higher returns offered by stocks. To square these two leanings, she focuses on blue-chip companies that have been around for a while. "When you look at a strong company's financial statements, you can see they have assets, income, and large retained earnings, which means it's made money over time and kept it in the business," says Ms. Gibb, who lives in Burlington, Ont.

On True Value

Ms. Gibb compares a company's share price with its retained earnings. She then adjusts the retained earnings to reflect the company's true value. For instance, If the company has a lot of assets at cost on its books that have a much higher market value, she'll add the difference to retained earnings. Her overall goal? "I want to find out if the company is worth what it's being sold for."

Why She Uses An Adviser

"I've seen so many clients who invest on their own and pretty much lose everything. Investing is hard, and it's something you have to have a lot of knowledge to do."

On Good Advice

"Good advice is consistent advice." Investing success, she says, "Isn't about chasing the latest deal or the latest tax shelter. It's buying and holding stocks that have a true value, and which will appreciate over time."

Her Asset Allocation

These days, Ms. Gibb estimates two-thirds of her portfolio is in equities. "At this point in my life I'm not looking for any income, and I'm trying to get as much growth as I can."

Her Focus

On Canada: "In the past we were trying to diversify into the U.S. and European markets. But Canada now has a better outlook compared to the U.S. "They've taken on so much debt, their dollar is highly valued, and there's lots of problems with the housing market that haven't come to fruition, because some people can't even find out who holds their mortgage."

Best Move

"The banks have certainly done well, because they're controlled in Canada and make billions and billions of profit, and are safe."

Worst Move

With her conservative approach, Ms. Gibb has to reach way back to Bre-X to come up with a stinker. Even her accounting mindset didn't protect her against the same forces that leave office workers unable to stay out of the office lottery pool, just in case their colleagues end up with the winning ticket. "It was the focus of a lot of office conversation," she recalls. "So to keep up with everybody I got a few shares."

Advice

"There' no free lunch, there's no quick money to be made. It's the tried and true with conservative investments that create wealth."

Special to The Globe and Mail

Want to share your strategies? E-mail: tony.martin@sympatico.ca

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