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Mark Rotstein, Investment Advisor

Why did you choose financial services?
I was always interested in saving and investing for the future. When I was growing up, I was following the stock market and reading the financial pages of the newspaper, after the sports pages. I even entered a stock market challenge in junior high school and that tweaked my interest.

Before I was an Investment Advisor, I worked at Credit Suisse where part of my job was working on the institutional desk, mostly doing bond and currency trading. The other half of the day, I worked in the wealth management area managing assets for families with $5 million to invest. Because it was a smaller organization then, we wore two different hats.

Why did you become an Investment Advisor?
From my time at Credit Suisse, I realized that I preferred the wealth management side of the business because I could deal with people one on one. It wasn't about buying and selling, but really about helping people manage their investments, reviewing their results with them and helping them understand our investment strategy.

Why RBC?
I wanted to work for a large, credible organization, which is essential for someone starting out. I used RBC as a selling feature for my clients because not only did I have access to every product and service available, but also there was no need to go anywhere else for anything. It adds a lot of credibility, especially to a young person starting out in this business to be with a reputable company. It's hard enough to sell yourself-you don't want to have to justify the company you work for.

What is your greatest challenge as an Investment Advisor?
This is an industry with a lot of ups and downs. You can't take bad markets or bad days home with you. You have to leave that at the office. During tough times, you try to make sure that your clients have realistic expectations and that they understand the trade off between risk and returns. You review their portfolio with them and the goals you had set out for yourselves and measure your performance based on the plan.

How does RBC support you in your success?
One thing that helps me to be successful is that I get very good support from my branch manager and regional management. Management supports me when I have client issues. They help me build my business. RBC as a group provides all the tools necessary, whether it is technology or back office support, that help me run my business. And it's always getting better.

What would you say to a person starting out in the industry today?
It's a lot of hard work, above and beyond everything else. Always do what is in the best interest of your client. You don't have to have a financial background but you can educate yourself. If you have the interest and the desire to learn, you can be successful in this business.

There are many different paths to success, and no path is better than another. You have to find the right path for you and then you have to work hard at it.

It's also important that you relate to your clients as they go through different stages of their life. If you can relate to them, you're in a better position to understand their needs and the challenges that they face.

What makes you successful?
I view myself as a quarterback-I'm the liaison between the experts and my clients. By calling on others for expertise in certain areas, I'm in a better position to offer the best advice to my clients. And that's where RBC helps because we have access to a network of experts to help our clients, no matter how complex or sophisticated their needs are.

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