Cameron Fortin snaps up dream job

allison martens

He hasn’t even walked the stage yet, and Cameron Fortin has already begun his “dream job,” one that most finance students would kill for.

At Formula Growth, a mutual fund company in downtown Montreal, Fortin is part of a tightly knit team that manages portfolios with a net worth of approximately $600 million.

He says he relishes the fast-paced atmosphere. “The variety of companies we keep an eye on is really diverse. There’s a lot of exciting stuff going on, whether it’s new technology, a new drug to treat cancer or a hot new restaurant chain.”

Fortin cut his teeth in the Kenneth Woods Portfolio Management program in the John Molson School of Business, which each year gives eight to 10 students the opportunity to manage a $1 million portfolio.

He said it went “hand-in-hand” with the JMSB’s co-op program, through which he completed several work terms at firms in Toronto and here in his hometown of Montreal.

It was the co-op program option that led him to do his BComm at the JMSB. He also served as a VP Academic on the JMSB Case Competition Committee, which organizes the teams that compete around the world each year.

In 2004, he was a member of the Concordia team that made the finals of the International Business Challenge, a case competition held in Austin, Tex. In 2005, he helped lead the team to a first-place finish as a coach.

“Coaching is very rewarding because it’s incredible how you can take three or four people who are very talented – but have never worked together – and mold them into a cohesive team.

“After a few practices, they really come together.” Right now, Fortin is rehearsing something completely different: The speech he will deliver as valedictorian at the JMSB Convocation on June 13.

“It’s possibly the last time my classmates will be forced to listen to me,” he laughed. “But really, I’m absolutely thrilled. It’s such a huge honour, and a great way to cap off four years.”