I'm Back...Sort of.

Guess where I am now...Toronto. For those who don't know (how could you? Toronto what #2, after Hong Kong, on the SARS hit parade a couple of years ago...ah, to be flying during SARS...3 seats to oneself...but I digress) it's the largest city in Ontario, the capital of the province and our national capital (Ottawa) is in the same province.

Why am I here? To work. I've been here a while now seeking out firms to work for. Been up and down the street and met almost everyone who is anyone in the Alternative (as in Alternative Investment, not music) space. Well, not everyone...that's a little arrogant to say. But, I've got, in a short time, a pretty good idea of the lay of the land here.

How did it all start? As usual (well, it's how I started my extrication from Korea) it was a call from a headhunter (aka recruiter). He had a job for me that got me thinking. I wasn't into the new position, but it got me thinking that I'd really like to get back into hedge funds and structured products (hedge funds are loosely regulated pools of capital managed by--usually--a seasoned pro; structured products are like index-linked GICs or term deposits or bonds you might have seen at the bank...basically a product that--usually--guarantees invested capital plus the chance at some upside as determined by some sort of underlying investment like stocks, the price of gold or interest rates...I'll have to write more on this later).

Anyhoo, this estate planning thing is ok. I can create interesting structures and tactics within the tax act and other laws and regulations, but it doesn't really have the oomph of AI (Alternative Investments). Once you figure it out there is little variation on it...whereas in AI the possibilities are pretty varied and tend to change every few months. A very exciting place to be, if you ask me.

I'm a little torn between going with a big firm and being a cog (been there) or a smaller one where I can get my hands on many areas of development, research, marketing and education (done that). The (AI) community in Toronto is pretty small, which is good and bad. Good in that I got a handle on it in a pretty short period of time...bad in that every single interview and meeting can be broadcast to everyone else quickly. Think of a town of 50 people where an outsider comes in and meets with the sheriff, the mayor, the judge, the mailman, the general store owner, and the undertaker--in about a week everyone can compare notes (if they want) and separate any fact from fiction. The good news is I got tons of fact, having been in the business for 10+ years...it's going alright so far.

So, here I am in a different city on my son's birthday, again. It happened last year, too. At least I was there for his first birthday...as in getting born. To all those others who have this as their special day: happy birthday!

Well, that's about it for now...better head to the gym again. Been there 2-3 hours a day lately...got to keep the ol' bod in good order.

Later...more to come.