Tribute to employee | A golden helper who knows nothing about finance

In 2006, when retired financial planner Pierre Lafond offered Jacqueline Ojeda a position as an administrative assistant, she hesitated.

Moved by Gabriel García Márquez and Taylor Caldwell, shortly before from Mexico, when she taught English, this literary woman did not speak French well and, above all, she had no interest in the abstruse and arid, world, she believed. Mutual funds.

“Honestly, I thought I wouldn't like it,” she said. What I am interested in is teaching second languages ​​and I want to enroll in university. While I was waiting and told myself to pay for my education, I said yes. »

Seventeen years later, M^me Ojeda is the framework of Mr. Lafond's office, who wrote Press To say it was the best hiring decision of his life.

“This employee is gold in a bar,” Mr. Lafond said in an interview, adding that he will soon retire and credits himself for trusting her judgment not only on the resume but on the candidate's character.

“When she came to Quebec at the age of 40, she was a pure immigrant, she sold everything she had in Mexico to come and settle here with her daughter. »

However, the immigrant, who speaks little French and knows nothing about mutual funds, doesn't take half measures, her boss says: “To improve her French, she enrolled in UQAM's intensive program of Frenchization. She understands everything! She writes French almost without mistakes and she checks when she is not sure. She has an eagle eye and corrects my reports as well. » As a result, she handles customer service on the telephone and in writing with primarily French-speaking clients, Mr. Lafond said.

“I loved it so much!” “, said M^me Ojeda about his French lessons. “I'm analyzing the differences with the language and Spanish, which is fascinating. » She notes that French, with its many exceptions, is more complicated than Spanish, and its spelling is almost entirely phonetic. “Take last names: Archbalt, Thibault, Pino. I put an o at the end. And it ends there!”, she said with a smile.

With the same enthusiasm for the technical side of the work, Mr. Lafond said: His “hard worker” invested in learning collective savings and earned his certificate from the Investment Funds Institute of Canada.

Mr. Lafond said his assistant had the knowledge to be a Collective Savings representative and he offered her to take on clients at one point.

“No, it takes a certain temperament to do that, for example when markets fall and you have to manage your emotions and the emotions of your clients,” says M.^me Ojeda. I don't have it. Same thing for funding advice. If I try to sell you something, I will end up having to buy something from you! »

On the other hand, Mr. Lafond demonstrated that her employee had a good business decision when she chose something else for her company to merge with, with the intention of gradually withdrawing from the business: “She said . »

Recently, Mr. Lafond was able to relax with his partner for a few months: “I was in touch with the office, but with Jacqueline in post, I had complete peace of mind knowing that the castle was well guarded. »

“In Mexico, I did my baccalaureate in communications,” says M.^me Ojeda. But I chose an English teacher because the schedule accommodated my 3-year-old daughter's daycare. This has served me well in collective savings. Most mutual fund companies are based in Toronto and I learned a lot there as well. »

“But what I love most is interacting with customers. These are my favorite moments of the day,” she says, as her boss also emphasizes: “My clients love it, some of them don't even want to talk to me! »

“In a world where good customer service is from another era, I feel privileged to have such an ally,” Mr. Lafond said.