10 Questions with Michael Millar -Financial Fitness & You

At age 39, Michael Millar, Head of Wealth Management, Sagicor Asset Management Inc., is one of the youngest leaders of Wealth Management for a major financial institution regionally and internationally. Passionate about his role, the talented University of Edinburgh graduate has made a commitment to not only share his knowledge on investments and the importance of being financially astute but also staying fit.?

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Q. Hi Michael, how did you start your fitness journey??

A. Fitness started for me during my school days, I would say secondary school. I would have joined the basketball team and I would have captained that team so for me, being actively fit was part of being able to play basketball at the level that I desired. As I moved into work and as I started to pursue my studies and build out a family, it meant that I set aside fitness as secondary priorities. Until my adulthood, I started to see the weight creep on. I made a promise to myself as soon as I finished my studies, anything else I do, professional development or studying will have to structure around fitness. The greatest wealth is health, without health, you cannot achieve anything.?

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?Q. What is your favourite physical activity??

A. My favourite physical activity is strength training. I love to lift weights in the gym. Building muscle is core to building longevity, building muscle can transform your physique. Having a good team around you, training partners, having a good coach, that plays a critical role too in how you enjoy the activity of gym. I work out five times a week with a mixture of cardio and weight training and rest one or two days. When you are in a physically and mentally demanding job, a fit body usually performs better. You can handle stressful situations better and you have endurance. I think these are the benefits of being fit. Another part is looking at what you eat, what you read, the relationships you have around you…it is all part of total fitness routine.?

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Q. What is your best fitness advice??

A. Fitness is a key component in preserving your health. There are so many benefits whether it is a reduction of non-communicable diseases and raising your self-confidence and being positive in your outlook. But get a routine that you can maintain. Similar to what advice I give in investing, consistency over intensity. It makes no sense being able to go hard for one day, and then, you injury yourself or you are unable to do it in consistent fashion. Whatever you do, do it consistently.?

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Q. Did you always want a career in finance/wealth management?

A. Normally growing up, you tend to seek career paths from people around you. My dad was an auto mechanic and I remember being very young helping him fix cars, and I felt as though this was a career that I wanted to pursue. As I got older, as I attended university, I was not sure what I wanted to do except for some reason finance and investment sounded sexy to me (laughs). It was always something I wanted to explore in my undergraduate programme. I felt from the time that I entered the world of work, I felt that there was a need to specialise in Finance and Investments. I knew it was an area that I wanted to excel in.?

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?Q. Are there any financial thought leaders/CEOs who inspire you??

?A. Of course. When you look at the gurus of investing, you have people like the Warren Buffett, and if you look closer, in the area of Finance and Investment, Dexter Moe (Vice President, Investment Management, Sagicor Asset Management Inc) - comes to mind, he has inspired me. He was one of the first people who took the chance on me in terms of hiring me as an investment analyst and getting me into investment management.?

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Q. How do you mentally and physically prepare yourself for the day ahead in Wealth Management?

A. Most mornings, I take a walk/jog for about 45 minutes before I head into the office. At the office, I tend to look at the markets, investment research and information from our investment advisors and find out what is moving in the market.?

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Q. What is the first step to building wealth??

A. The first step to building wealth is more of a shift mentally in understanding that one, you just need to delay instant or immediate gratification for the hope of earning some level of return in the future. You do not need to be ultra-wealthy to be able to invest. For some people, they feel to set aside a small amount, it is not worth it. If you can set aside consistently, it accumulates, the beautiful thing is that when it accumulates it, it attracts interest. The quickest way to build wealth is to allow compound interest to work in your favour. Start with whatever you can and start investing in whatever is available that meets your risk profile.?

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?Q. Give us three tips as a first-time investor. What should we know??

A. Tip 1-When we talk about risk in investing, it is not a complete loss in capital. It is a temporary erosion of a particular capital base. For instance, people think that investments will generate a positive return in a very linear systematic way year after year. Therefore, they get scared when they hear “volatility”. Volatility is that markets can go down temporarily but if you have sufficient “time horizon,” you can expect to recover. Volatility is not necessary the worst thing in investing.?The higher the volatility, the higher the return.?

Tip 2- With a small investment, you can still achieve a well-diversified portfolio by way of utilising products such as mutual funds. Yes, a person may deem their investment to be small in the context of the person who may have a million dollars. At the same time, you can use a small amount and invest it in a mutual fund, and you are now benefiting from the pooled resources of those who may have a lot more than you. You benefit from diversification, professional management, you are in a structure that is liquid, you have your money back when you need it.?

Tip 3- The length of time you stay invested is usually one of the critical factors in how your investment will perform. This is because it goes through compound interest.?

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Q. What is the most challenging, attaining wealth or managing wealth??

A. It depends on who you ask. Both are equally challenging. It depends on where you are starting from. If you are starting from zero or little means, attaining wealth can prove to be more difficult than managing wealth. The reason being that once you have attained wealth, you can usually outsource the management of wealth to a professional. For instance, if you have worked, or you have come into a windfall via inheritance, you do not have to self-manage. The issue attaining it generally is something driven by the individual whereas managing, you can hire-in the requisite skillset to manage your wealth. We at Sagicor Asset Management Inc are equipped to manage your wealth.??

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Q. How do you determine an investor’s risk tolerance??

A. Risk tolerance is a combination of willingness to take risks and your ability to take risks. There should be some consistency across the board. If you are very willing to take risks and lack the ability, chances are you will end up with a significant loss position beyond what you can tolerate. If you are looking at your willingness, look at your sources of income and wealth. How do you derive your wealth? If you have done so through entrepreneurship, those individuals are very risk seeking, or if you have done so through stable employment over a long period of time, it speaks to risk averse accumulation. If you deem your wealth to be large, you tend to have a lot greater willingness to take on risk versus if you deem it to be small.?

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Time horizon tends to be a factor.??

Do you want to know how you can make your first investment? Email Michael Millar at [email protected] to learn more.