MITCHELL ROSENBERG, CIM®, Portfolio Manager, Rosenberg Wealth Management, Raymond James Ltd.
MITCHELL ROSENBERG CIM®
"The Art of Portfolio Management and Strategic Investment"
Mitchell Rosenberg, Portfolio Manager with Rosenberg Wealth Management at Raymond James Ltd., has a sign on his desk that reads, Artists See Things in a Different Light; So Do Great Investors. It’s a daily affirmation of his creative wealth management approach to support each client’s unique financial needs and goals. “I love what I do. I create portfolios tailored to individual needs and I don’t use cookie-cutter products,” says Mitchell. “Yes, I crunch numbers, but I really do look at creating portfolios as an art.”
That artistic flair comes naturally to Mitchell, a born musician who began drumming at the age of seven, envisioning a career as a studio musician. However, that path was not to be. Sometimes it takes an outsider’s perspective to identify innate talent when it presents and point out a meaningful direction. “I’m a musician and an artist who always had a passion for investing and I’d worked in various industries in sales and marketing,” says Mitchell. “My uncle and I loved discussing investments and stocks. He advised me, ‘Mitchell, if you like this so much, why don’t you do it? If you like money, go into the money business.’ So, I signed up for my Canadian Securities Institute training, going back to school in my 30s. I was married to my wife Donna with two young daughters starting a new career.”
Mitchell started out as an Investment Advisor with Midland Walwyn. “They had the best training program out there, they really invested in their employees, and they had great leadership” says Mitchell. “This was the tech boom period and things were crazy.”
A year and a half later, the company was bought out by Merrill Lynch, and soon after again by CIBC, leaving Mitchell uncertain about his next steps. However, a surprisingly great offer kept him on until the opportunity presented to return to familiar leadership at Blackmont Capital. Headed by Bill Packham and Bob Schultz, formerly of Midland Walwyn and Merrill Lynch, Mitchell aligned with the company’s client-centric priorities and their refusal to push products. “We were bought out by Macquarie Private Wealth, and they were also great people to work with,” says Mitchell. “But, around this time, Raymond James had been in discussion with me for about a year. Donna actually saw a great fit there and basically said, "just do it already."
So, he made that leap to Raymond James in 2013. “They have that same philosophy I loved about Midland Walwyn and Merrill Lynch which involves above all, serving the client first,” says Mitchell. “They take care of the rest and do not offer benefits that might compromise any advisor’s decision making based on any platform, fee based or commission service or product. We also own our own book. It’s nice to know the firm’s priority is to support me and my clients, not to make money off us. These things are all important to me.”
Today, Rosenberg Wealth Management is built on Mitchell’s belief in holistically approaching every client’s financial wellbeing, recognizing that all the parts of an individual’s life story are interconnected. “It’s not just about money. We understand that family, community, spirituality, and finances connect into this work,” says Mitchell. “My goal is to offer better opportunities for people to build wealth so they can take excellent care of themselves and enjoy experiences beyond peace of mind. When a client calls me up thanking us for the results we’re achieving in their portfolio, and they’re grateful for being supported through a stressful financial time, that’s the biggest buzz in the world for me.”
In order to take that holistic approach, Mitchell appreciates that money means different things to different people. “Most individuals are emotionally attached when it comes to their investments,” he says. “If an entire portfolio is up 38 percent, but one stock is down 20 percent, most people will focus on that one position, a cognitive bias called ‘framing.’ My job is to take the emotion out of investment and make smart strategic decisions that get results.”
There’s also great pride in providing reassurance to clients in stressful times. “I’ve steered my clients through many market corrections including the tech bubble and the 2008 financial crisis. Managing emotions, especially in challenging times, is always a major focus,” he says. “We guided clients through the COVID correction. At the start, we knew many companies would benefit through this time and we did some massive portfolio revisions, adding many different stocks –all the technologies that benefited throughout this time and will continue to going forward. COVID has changed the way businesses do business, the way people live and work, it’s changed everything. Our clients have come through this last year extremely well.”
It’s Mitchell’s instinct and artistic approach that make his portfolio management strategies so effective. “We need to have perspective from the other side of the ship. When people are buying, I tend to sell into the market and vice versa,” he says. “Too often, people sell as an emotional reaction without a rational understanding. That’s why they should turn to trusted professionals who remove the emotion and better understand the market.”
Rosenberg Wealth Management serves many medical professionals, business executives, and retirees and is structured around serving multi-generational families. “When we help our clients’ children, there’s an educational aspect to teach the next generation how to benefit taxwise and utilize all the tools at their disposal,” says Mitchell. “We are also the quarterback for any other partnered professionals who need anything on the client’s behalf.”
Mitchell humbly credits his success to working with great people and is especially grateful for his assistant, Amanda Greenberg. “She’s diligent, smart, ambitious, she understands my disadvantages and balances them out,” he laughs.
Continued learning also plays a role, including achieving his Chartered Investment Manager (CIM®) designation, so Mitchell can take care of his clients on a discretionary basis. “People hire us to manage their money and we have the proper understanding and investment policy knowledge to get that done in the best and most responsible way,” says Mitchell. Recently acquiring his Series 65 license, Mitchell is registered as an Investment Advisor and Portfolio Manager with Raymond James (USA) Ltd. “I’m able to better serve my snowbird clients and those who reside south of the border by offering fee-based investment advice in the U.S. and I can offer cross-border financial services as well,” says Mitchell. “I like to think of myself as a ‘money doctor,’ taking care of things to keep people healthy and happy.”
Given his passion for philanthropically supporting various medical initiatives, it’s no surprise Mitchell takes that caretaking approach to his work. An asthmatic himself, he’s been very involved with the Montreal Chest Institute (MCI), hosting annual charitable baseball games to raise over $250,000. Over the years, Mitchell has served on the MCI board of directors and as vice president prior to their merging with the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) Foundation. He currently sits on the MUHC investment committee. “I’m proud to say that with every game we’ve hosted, every dollar goes towards a specific project. The innovation happening through their hospital, its staff, and doctors is unlike any other hospital,” says Mitchell. “Giving back to my community is extremely important to me. Macquarie Private Wealth really opened my eyes to how important that is. When I moved to Raymond James, I stressed early on that philanthropy was important to me, and that I needed to continue to support the MCI. They were very supportive and have been right behind me ever since through the help of the Raymond James Canada Foundation.”
Also close to Mitchell’s heart is the Douglas Eating Disorders Clinic in Montreal. “Going through these disorders is an extremely emotional experience for any family and there’s truly a lack of care,” says Mitchell. “This institute is the only one of its kind in Quebec and they have over 200 people on a waiting list. Private care can cost over $300,000.”
Mitchell’s family focus and big vision have always guided his way. “Working from home throughout the pandemic has meant more access to my work environment and more family time. However, I’ve never looked at my job as ‘work,’ so balancing the two is not a challenge,” says Mitchell. “When my girls were young, I never worked late or weekends. I made sure I was home. That was very important to me.”
Both daughters continue Mitchell’s passion for the medical professions. Carly is in the last year of her medical residency in Minneapolis while Talia is in her second year of graduate studies in Social Work at Yeshiva University and doing a stage in New York City. “When my children turn 55, that’s when I’ll retire,” Mitchell says with a laugh. He’ll still be drumming along too.
Mitchell Rosenberg is a Portfolio Manager with Raymond James Ltd. and Raymond James (USA) Ltd. Raymond James Ltd., member of Canadian Investor Protection Fund. Raymond James (USA) Ltd., member FINRA/SIPC.
Natalie Noble’s love of writing stems from her passion for hearing and sharing people’s stories. Over the years she has written for various business, real estate, and agriculture publications. At the heart of her work is a desire to continuously learn and connect.
Mitchell Rosenberg I Rosenberg Wealth Management
Portfolio Manager, CIM | Raymond James Ltd.
Portfolio Manager | Raymond James (USA) Ltd.
Suite 2600, 1000 De La Gauchetiere
Montreal, QC, H3B 4W5
514-687-5968 Tol Free: 1-800-567-4465