Steven Procter
Steven Procter, 26
Occupation
Physiotherapist and personal trainer
The portfolio
At time of writing, includes Central Fund of Canada Ltd., Uranium Participation Corp., Horizons BetaPro Comex Gold Bullion Bull Plus ETF, VirnetX Holding Corp., Staples Inc., McDonald's Corp., Ford Motor Co., Cresud SA (ADR), Arco Resources Corp., Boardwalk Pipeline Partners LP.
The investor
Steven Procter practises physiotherapy at Totum Performance, on the fringes of Toronto's financial district. He uses the spare time between patients to manage his own investments. "It also helps that many of my clients work within the financial sector and are gracious enough to indulge me in some shop-talk while on the treatment table."
Investment approach
Mr. Procter describes his approach as "rather aggressive." There are no fixed-income securities in his portfolio, and he is willing to take "calculated risks" in the hunt for investment returns in the stock market. "I am pleased to be consistently averaging between 2.5 to 3 per cent a quarter."
"My favourite strategy is to trade off the volatility of securities that I have a long-term bullish view on. I attempt to take short-term profits on 5- to 10-per-cent moves upward, but if caught on a downswing, I will stick around, trusting in my long-term outlook."
He likes Uranium Participation Corp. due to a bullish view on uranium. He also has been trading Trina Solar Ltd., a Chinese provider of solar products. And over the past year, he bet on a rebound in natural gas through the Horizons BetaPro Nymex Natural Gas Bull Plus ETF.
To diversify, Mr. Procter buys into value-priced stocks in other sectors "as they present themselves." A recent example was Staples, bought after 2012 guidance was lowered in August, and Ford, bought when the price declined during the summer on euro zone worries. He also mixes in some high-yield dividend providers, such as real estate investment trusts and master limited partnerships.
Best move
"I have been heavily overweight in precious metals for a few months now. Thanks to the Fed's QE3 announcement, I've been able to secure great profits."
Worst move
"Groupon. I tried to get clever following their second-quarter revenue miss, and cut myself trying to 'catch a falling knife.' "
Advice
Mr. Procter believes stock markets nowadays are driven as much by psychology as by economics. "My advice is to steel yourself against the mob mentality by investing in things you believe in."
Special to The Globe and Mail
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