- Riding the bull, hunting the bear
“On the weekends I go to my farm in Flesherton, put on rubber boots, grab the chain saw and chop a tree or two”, Werner Joller says. When you first see the private banker sitting in his large office in Toronto’s Financial District, it is hard to imagine him in this scenario. Canada’s outdoors however, was exactly the reason why Werner originally came to Canada in the late eighties. “I am an outdoor type of guy. Already as a young man I was fascinated by Canada’s nature”, he says. While working for the “Schweizerischer Bankverein” he was sent to many different parts of the World. In 1977, Werner seized his chance and took on an assignment in Montreal, where he stayed for a few years.
After stops in the Bahamas and in Luxembourg, Werner’s work finally brought him to Toronto. The decisive criterion for his destinations always being the right balance between personal and professional life: “Money and career isn’t everything.”, Werner says. “I came to Canada because I liked it. I go hunting a lot and I enjoy the outdoors, and that’s something Canada’s great for. Already before, when I came to Montreal as a young man, I did so because of the fishing and all that.” Had he solely concentrated on his career, he would not have gone to Montreal, but New York. “And when I went to Nassau, I thought about fishing in the Caribbean. Which of course I did! But had it been for my career, I would have gone to Singapore or London. And this is the reason I came back to Canada. It was a decision that was of personal importance.”
Once his older daughter had started her studies at university and the younger was going to high school in Toronto, it was clear to Werner that he would stay. “At some point you start to grow roots”, Werner explains. He therefore decided to partner up with his colleague David and open up the Toronto offices for a Swiss private bank. A few years later, Hottinger Group was looking to expand its global reach and open a new beachhead in Canada. In 2003, Werner together with David as founding partners, decided to open Hottinger Asset Management Canada Inc. with their head office in Toronto. “Once you become your own employer, there’s nobody telling you where to go anymore!”, he says and laughs. So from then on his stay in Toronto was secured – and the Ontarian black bears were in danger.
“At our farm in Flesherton I enjoy chopping the wood for the winter and my wife does the gardening. We grow potatoes”, Werner says about the weekends at the farm. While he takes care of the heating, his wife takes on the fight against groundhogs, rabbits and mice to protect their potatoes. To ensure the meat supply, Werner goes hunting with his wife and friends in his own woods. “There are a lot of black bears in the area. Well until you want to shoot one that is. Then they’re all gone. They’re not that stupid, it’s not as easy as it looks! Last year I went hunting with three friends for a week and I was the only one who caught a bear – and that was after two days. The other three went out every day, from early morning until late at night, but had no luck!” The black bear, Werner’s trophy of his two days of patience, was later enjoyed by family and friends as “Bärenpfeffer”. The fur will serve as a souvenir: “While in Dinner for One they a have a tiger, I will soon have my black bear decorating the living room”. Most recently Werner also bought a fishing boat, with which he will go after Salmons, Trouts, Pikes and Walleyes in the Georgian Bay.
“The living standard my family enjoys here in Toronto would be impossible in Switzerland. This is why we are here. This is why we will stay”, Werner says and smiles while looking at the picture of his black bear that serves as wallpaper on his monitor.
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J.B.
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