James Hymas graduated from the University of Toronto in 1984, with an Honours B.Sc. in Chemistry. Within two years he was involved in the investment industry, performing back-office work at Merrill Lynch Canada, Inc. In 1990, he joined Richardson Greenshields of Canada, Inc. and as a supervisor in the Treasury Department utilized his back-office experience to monitor and reduce the risk to the firm's capital due to operational mishaps. He joined Greydanus, Boeckh & Associates, Inc. shortly after completion of the academic requirements for the CFA Charter.
At GBA, he rapidly gained the respect of his superiors, and became Chief Operating Officer in 1995. As COO, he had full responsibility for all Portfolio Management, Investment Research and Office Operations of the firm, designing and developing new products for the firm in the asset classes of preferred shares and common stock, in addition to his responsibility for the firm's Government bond portfolios under management (over $1.7 billion). In December, 1999, GBA was acquired by TD Asset Management, a division of the Toronto Dominion Bank. James left the firm simultaneously with the takeover, to concentrate his efforts towards providing investment management of the highest quality.
In November, 2004, James joined Portus Alternative Asset Management Inc. as Vice President, Research and Investments, with a specific mandate "to create an internal asset allocation platform at the Corporation which will involve the trading of preferred shares" (quotation from the employment contract). Portus was placed in receivership in March 2005 due to regulatory problems over which Mr. Hymas had no control. This monumental bad timing of employment confirmed Mr. Hymas aversion to attempting to time the markets!
Hymas Investment Management resumed portfolio management services in August, 2005, and remains active as a developer and vendor of analytical software. Consultancy services are also offered.
