加拿大銀行開課 教富家子弟理財

Wealth managers at Bank of Montreal kept hearing the same things from Canada's richest families: Help me! My kids know nothing about money and will squander the family fortunes.

Two years later, the one-day seminar aimed at the grown children of what the bank calls its "high net worth families" has a waiting list, and is taking to the road to teach heirs and heiresses across Canada how to manage their money.

"Word has gotten out about the program," said Jean Blacklock, vice-president of wealth services at Canada's fourth-largest bank. "Our competitors are not offering anything similar ... and parents are very happy to see how excited their children were after attending the seminar."

Many were less thrilled before they attended, forced to participate by parents who control the purse strings.

"Levels of interest vary," admitted Jim Davies, the New-York based expert who teaches the day-long course. "You get one who says: 'I play the guitar and draw, and my father told me I have to go to this or he'd cut me off'."

But the economic crisis and grim headlines have upped appetites for the seminar, aimed at teaching a few key generalities: how to set goals, balance a budget, and avoid getting swindled by Bernie Madoff-esque money managers.

"They're concerned about that, of course they are," said Davies, a New York Institute of Finance faculty member who has been teaching children of the wealthy for 20 years.

The code word for the seminar is discretion. Blacklock declined to name clients, saying only that parents have a net worth of at least C$500,000. She said it is frequently a family affair.

"Siblings often come together, or we have cousin combinations," Blacklock explained, showing the plush seminar room, 68 stories above Toronto's financial district, where wealthy heirs had enjoyed wall-to-wall views of Lake Ontario only moments before.

加拿大蒙特利爾銀行的理財經理們過去總是從該國最富裕的家庭聽到同樣的話：幫幫我！我的孩子對理財一無所知，總有一天會蕩盡家財。

兩年之後的今天，蒙特利爾銀行專門針對“高額資產家庭”子弟推出的的一日知識講座頗受追捧，該講座主要教授加拿大富豪家族的繼承人們如何管理財富。

該銀行的理財服務部副總監吉恩•布萊克洛克說：“有關開課的消息已經傳出去。我們提供的服務是競爭對手所沒有的，家長們看到他們的孩子參加講座後很興奮也感到非常開心。”蒙特利爾銀行是加拿大第四大銀行。

很多孩子之前並不感興趣，是在管錢的父母的逼迫下才去聽課的。

來自紐約、教授該理財課程的專家吉姆•達維斯坦稱：“大家的興趣程度各不相同。有個學員說，‘我愛彈吉它畫畫，但我爸告訴我必須去上這個課，要不他就不給我錢花。’”

但經濟危機和各種鬱悶的消息增加了該講座的吸引力。該講座旨在教授幾個主要的常識性問題，包括如果設定目標，保持預算平衡以及如何避免受麥道夫這樣的理財經理的詐騙等等。

達維斯說：“他們很關心這些問題，這是當然的。”達維斯是紐約財政學院的一名老師，他教授富家子弟理財已有20年。

該講座的關鍵詞是謹慎。布萊克洛克拒絕提供學員信息，只稱參加培訓的學員的家庭淨資產至少爲50萬加元。據她介紹，家庭成員們總是一起來聽課。

布萊克洛克解釋說：“一家的兄弟姐妹常常一起來聽課，也有表親一起來的。”講座教室十分豪華，位於多倫多金融區68層的高樓之上，在這裏這些富家子弟們剛剛欣賞到安大略湖的全景。

Vocabulary:

purse string:錢袋口上的繩子；指金錢