The Great TFSA Race: Value investor

Nathan Moncrief, 26, Winnipeg

TFSA: $60,500

Portfolio: 75% small-cap value stocks 25% large-cap value stocks

Six years ago, Nathan Moncrief had a job in the pipeline industry, earning an annual salary of more than $100,000. For the next five years, he saved diligently and taught himself everything he could about value investing. Today, Nathan is studying for his bachelor of commerce degree at the University of Manitoba and has taken the Canadian Securities Course.

Besides investing in real estate, the Winnipeg resident runs his own small investment firm and is proud of the $60,500 he’s built up in his TFSA. He made most of that money buying and trading just four stocks: Jefferies Group (LUK), a New York-based global investment bank that has since merged with U.S. conglomerate Leucadia National, Bank of America (BAC), tech giant Google (GOOG), and Facebook (FB).

Nathan bought Bank of America, Google and Leucadia National in 2011; of the three, he still holds Leucadia. “Facebook I bought earlier this summer at $27 a share but sold too soon at $38,” he says.

Lately, Nathan has been researching small Canadian companies. “I’m not very optimistic, though,” he says. “I’m having a hard time finding good valuations.” Nathan is looking at EGI Financial Holdings (EFH), an insurer based in Mississauga, Ont., and Logistec (LGT.A), a Montreal-headquartered marine and environmental services provider. “It’s quite profitable,” Nathan says of Logistec. “It’s also trading at just 10 times earnings. For me, it all comes down to trying to find companies with the combination of sustainable competitive advantages and a good business model.”

Nathan wants to enjoy some of his TFSA earnings now, so he’s slowly taking out cash to pay for a waterfront condo he bought for himself, his wife and their newborn baby. He figures he can put the money back in 2014 or later. “I’ve always been interested in being an entrepreneur,” Nathan says. “My dream is to become a self-employed stock analyst. I’m studying and working toward that right now. Then I can work at my passion of stock-investing all my life.”

The Great TFSA Race

Penny-stock investor: Jim Nykyforuk, 38, Kelowna, B.C. – $300,000

Small-cap turned dividend investor: Dale McSween, 64, Cornwall, Ont. – $61,700

Bottom-feeder turned income investor: Jean, 80, Sarnia, Ont., and his financial planner Jeff Burchill – $72,212

Micro/value investor: Jin Won Choi, 31, London, Ont.  – $50,876

Conservative income investor: Paul Boughey, 49, Cambridge, Ont. – $48,300

Risk- averse DIY income investor: David Boult, 57, Stittsville, Ont. – $46,350