This city is in great investing shape.
That’s according to Kevin O’Leary, chairman of O’Leary Funds and the television personality who is best known for his work on CBC’s Dragons’ Den. He met with members of this region’s investing community Monday at the Valhalla Inn.
“I have crossed the country and you are one of the luckiest cities in Canada right now,” he told reporters before his afternoon presentation.
“You have had a pretty good time of all this, and you look at real estate prices, they’re up. There are a lot of people growing their assets in Thunder Bay. Whatever you’re doing, keep doing it.”
A group of local investment advisors have been working with O’Leary’s group, and welcomed the opportunity for him to visit the city and meet with people.
Investment advisor Frank Zanatta said having O’Leary give credence to opportunities in the region reinforces what local investment experts have expressed.
“I think there has been a lot of doom and gloom with what happened with the paper mills, and we kept a positive attitude and so have a lot of other individuals in the city,” Zanatta said. “Bringing in Kevin and reinforcing that is great for the community and great for all the other things that are happening in the city.”
O’Leary, renowned for his work on the television series The Dragons’ Den, said there is a changing economic climate with rates beginning to rise for the first time in over 20 years, and added people are cautious about how to proceed.
“We’re talking about what else you can own as rates start to rise, and when is the time to buy government bonds again. These are the fundamental building blocks of investing,” O’Leary explained.
“A lot of people have shared my philosophy in investing, value yield, in other words investing in something that gives you a cheque every month. Over time, I’ve got a lot of shareholders and investors up here in Thunder Bay.”
Zanatta said having O’Leary and his reputation speak about the local market conditions can provide a spark for investments.
Zanatta added they share O’Leary’s long-term outlook.
“With Kevin here, we’re looking at the big picture,” Zanatta said. “It’s been a challenging time for investors over the last number of years and Kevin is a successful, smart person and he’ll have some great ideas about the direction for the future.”
