Until September 2011, Vitess Rider Peter Hodson was Chairman at Sprott Asset Management, Canada’s largest and most successful hedge fund company; as Bay Street Shark as it seems to come. His first step, as an entrepreneur, was to found his own individual investor-centric independent research firm 5i Research Inc. and then shortly after to acquire Canadian MoneySaver Magazine.

As the Globe & Mail noted, “Sprott is as far removed from MoneySaver as Formula 1 is from your daily commute”. But for Peter, it makes perfect sense. And it seems that it also does for a few select car companies: why not leverage the immense expertise, experience and lessons-learnt of multi-billion dollar engineering scenes for the betterment of everyday driving; well… investing in the case of 5i Research: some well educated and pragmatic advice for Main Street.

Peter has over 25 years of experience with the investment industry. He began his career as managing director with Dominion Bond Rating Service, and later became director of equities at Mutual Asset Management, where he managed over $1-billion in assets. His career also included senior management positions at Synergy Mutual Funds and CI Investments.

Many of Peter’s insightful columns can be found at the National Post where has written bi-weekly for 4 years as well as on BNN. If you are a reader of Investor’s Digest, you most likely have read pieces from him as well: he has been a columnist there for over 10 years.

“Individual investors pay too much in fees, they trade too much, they do the exact wrong thing at the exact wrong time. They just need some help” says Peter Hodson. Ask him what he thinks about structured products or research restrictions on IPOs and you can be sure that you will get the long answer… complete with first-hand exposure and a great deal of passion.

That of course might not sit well with the industry and his former colleagues, but who can blame him for having a vision that goes a bit against the traditional way of doing things, with a plan to get there, and for having a little fun in the process. Something we know a thing or two about at Vitess…

Over the last couple of years, the Vitess community has grown at a fast pace, with a significant number of Vitess Riders being investment industry executives. And as we all know, there is nothing like a passionate discussion fuelled by strong opinions, especially so on a bike during a group ride!!! Our next Gran Allenamento not to be missed under any excuse…

Peter is the proud owner of a Vitess equipped with Di2 and Lightweight Standard III Clincher wheels and custom-painted to the colors of his beloved Audi R8 V10 Spyder. He is based in Kitchener (Ontario) where he lives with his wife Vicky and his 4 children. He is hopeful that his new venture will allow more saddle time.