Prodigy to sell mutual funds at age 18

December 9, 2009

ST. CATHARINES — Chris O'Connor is celebrating a milestone that comes with two perks.

For his 18th birthday, he'll be able to vote — and legally register to sell mutual funds.

"There are a lot of doors opening for me on Friday," said O'Connor of Port Dalhousie. "It's pretty exciting."

This year, O'Connor got his mutual fund license diploma from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

While it isn't known if he's the youngest in Canada to achieve it, O'Connor said longtime financial professionals he's spoken to haven't heard of anyone younger.

"It all started when I was 13 and didn't know what the stock market was," said the St. Francis Secondary School grad. "So my uncle Ed O'Connor was the first person I asked.

"Through Internet research I wanted to know more and more," he said.

"I learned about everything in the market that was available in terms of investment."

Mutual funds were a natural segue, said the teen: "It's a smart investment where you have an understanding of the market, stocks and why you want to invest."

Co-op education placements at local financial offices set the wheels in motion said O'Connor, who's in his first year of a Brock University business administration degree.

His mutual fund licence effort demanded 150-200 hours of study in a one-year course. O'Connor finished it in two months this summer.

Posted By DON FRASER/Sun Media