Coreen T. Sol, CFA

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Coreen T. Sol, CFA

Coreen T. Sol, CFA, Senior Portfolio Manager, CIBC Private Wealth
Author - Unbiased Investor: Reduce Financial Stress & Keep More of Your Money (Wiley, 2022)

Through the course of my practice over the last 30 years, I have refined a process to reduce stress by limiting the impacts of naturally occurring biases present in complex financial decisions, life’s inflection points, and during volatile markets. By building and maintaining passive income and matching income needs with planned liquidity, we create long-term financial security for our clients and

their families. My passion to understand bias in financial decisions provoked my books, Practically Investing, Smart Investment Techniques Your Neighbour Doesn’t Know (2014) and Unbiased Investor: Reduce Stress in Financial Decisions and Keep More of Your Money (2022). I was also fortunate to research curriculum for the Faculty of Management at UBC Okanagan where I lectured in behavioural finance in 2015 as part of their undergraduate program. I credit my experience as a professional ballet dancer at Ballet British Columbia for my dedication, drive, and curiosity, while the years building a practice and raising three teenagers has provided some insights into my client’s own priorities and objectives. When away from my office, I can be found on my yoga mat, a golf course, gnu snowboard, or my road bike. I also feel passioned to support our community and the arts including Ballet B.C., Ballet Kelowna, the Vancouver Art Gallery, CIBC Run for the Cure, and other vital organizations.https://www.cibc.com/content/dam/pwm-public-assets/documents/pdfs/social-media-disclaimer.pdf

06/01/2026

Losing one hundred dollars hurts about twice as much as making one hundred dollars feels good. The arithmetic disagrees with the feeling.

Loss aversion is the bias Kahneman and Tversky documented in 1979 — losses get weighted roughly 2:1 against equivalent gains.

It governs decumulation. The retiree who lived through 2008 rebalances toward cash long after the market stopped asking for it. The first dollar withdrawn from an RRSP feels heavier than the fifty thousand the account earned last year. A winner gets held past its run because selling means accepting a loss the brain hasn't booked.

This isn't a tolerance problem. It's a measurement problem — the brain isn't using a linear scale.

Which of your current portfolio decisions is being shaped by what you'd lose, rather than by what the position is meant to do?

— Coreen Sol, CFA

05/31/2026

This week in The Week Ahead, Avery Shenfeld highlights how, despite other priorities occupying the President, trade policy remains a key focus. The stalled momentum on Canada-US trade developments and the likely delay of the USMCA reviews Canada’s continued vulnerability to US tariffs and shifting trade strategies.

05/29/2026

Most financial plans start with a number. A retirement age. A portfolio target. A withdrawal rate.

They should start earlier than that.

The first step in the Personal Economic Values framework — from Unbiased Investor — is the one most plans skip. It doesn't feel like planning.

Before you set goals or pick instruments, you name what the money is actually serving. Not the dollar amount. The purpose underneath.

A child's tuition paid from your own earnings so they start debt-free. A decade of Tuesday mornings with a grandchild that your schedule doesn't currently allow. A quiet twenty-third year of running a business you love but could sell tomorrow.

The named purpose is what makes the rest of the plan resistant to drift.

Without it, the numbers float. You save enough for a retirement you can't describe. You convert the RRSP at 71 because the rule says so — not because the timing serves any named purpose.

The plan becomes a score to beat.

One question for the weekend: if you wrote down the three things your money is actually serving right now — without looking at any account — what would they be?

Coreen Sol, CFA — Senior Portfolio Manager, CIBC Wood Gundy

05/27/2026

The most expensive sentence in retirement planning:

But I've held this since 1998.

Sunk cost fallacy is the bias of letting past spending — money, time, or identity — distort today's decision.

The investor holding a losing position because of what it cost. The owner refusing to sell because of decades of effort.

The cleaner question is forward-looking. If you were buying this position today, would you? If no, the cost basis isn't a reason to hold.

What's still in your portfolio because of what it cost, not because of what it does?

Coreen Sol, CFA — Senior Portfolio Manager, CIBC Wood Gundy

05/24/2026

This week in The Week Ahead, Avery Shenfeld highlights how US deficits and global tensions are keeping long-term Treasury yields high. Even if rates fall briefly, lasting challenges mean higher borrowing costs could continue to impact housing and economic growth.

05/17/2026

This week in The Week Ahead, Avery Shenfeld explores the growing concerns about the long-term impacts of AI and technology on the US and Canadian economies, and what it means for workers, shareholders and market trends.

05/10/2026

In this week’s The Week Ahead, Avery Shenfeld highlights Kevin Warsh likely becoming the next Fed chair.

Although Warsh has some unusual ideas and a mixed history at the Fed, he probably won’t make big changes right away, since he’ll need to prove his independence and rely on the Fed’s experienced staff.

05/09/2026

Build trusted relationships before you need them.

Cognitive decline isn't defined only by memory loss. Choices become more complex as we age, just as cognitive stability wains, the ability to adapt and manage stress declines, and people increasingly prefer to avoid negative events and decisions. It is easy to dismiss this evolution because the rate of change is almost imperceptible. Compounding the issue, unexpected health events can occur at any age and cognitive changes are uncomfortable to acknowledge. Their impacts, however, can significantly influence your future.

Without a plan, informal relationships or professionals selected by others may step into important decision-making roles despite your intentions. Taking early steps to cultivate trusted relationships with those who may one day make legal, financial, and healthcare choices on your behalf is critical to ensure your well-being throughout the rest of your life.

Consider establishing relationships that you can count on when the time comes. When it comes to investment management during retirement, discretionary investment management and professionals who can act as a fiduciary offer a clear advantage.

A discretionary portfolio manager will create a written personal Investment Policy Statement to govern your investment management, on which they can rely even if you can no longer manage financial choices. Also, an investment professional who acts as a fiduciary offers the advantage of acting with a higher legal standard of care.

The most life-changing outcomes during your retirement will be in the hands of your trusted advisors. The goal is not just to plan, but to ensure the right working relationships are in place. The weightiest decision may be selecting who will make decisions for you.

05/06/2026

Naming family may not be an honour as much as a burden.

The customary approach to name a spouse, child, or close friend as power of attorney (POA), trustee, or executor feels practical on the surface. It avoids professional fees and keeps decisions within the family. But this may be a false economy.

These roles are not symbolic; they are operational. They require time, judgement, emotional resilience, and technical knowledge. Acting as an executor, for example, involves legal filings, tax reporting, asset distribution, and coordination across institutions. Completion may last months or years, and improper ex*****on carries liability risks. Additionally, if you consider naming a friend as trustee, you may be calling on them to act on your behalf for decades, with little or no compensation.
Also, there are longstanding conventions to name the oldest child or first-born male child as executor, or to assign legal responsibilities based on proximity rather than capability.

It is common to default to familiar choices (familiarity bias) or decisions that feel pre-ordained because they are easier to make and often help avoid difficult conversations. However, these plans should not be about tradition; they are about ex*****on under pressure and the person best suited is not necessarily the oldest or the most available.

In British Columbia, executors are entitled to fair and reasonable compensation capped at about 5% of the estate value, regardless of whether you name a family member or professional. Naming a family member or friend, however, can cause hard feelings when the choice of executor feels like favouritism; the executor feels overwhelmed when the time comes to act; or the executor collects fees from the estate to the detriment of other beneficiaries. What begins as a cost-saving exercise can lead to delays, errors, and fractured relationships.

05/03/2026

In this week’s The Week Ahead, Avery Shenfeld highlights how ongoing tensions in the Persian Gulf are fueling higher oil prices, creating both opportunities and challenges.

Elevated prices are bolstering North American producers and Alberta’s fiscal position, yet persistent energy shocks threaten to disrupt central bank strategies, potentially postponing rate cuts or leading to further increases.

Address

2434/1055 Dunsmuir Street
Vancouver, BC

Telephone

+18773315122

Website

https://woodgundyadvisors.cibc.com/web/solinvest/, https://unbiasedinvestor.org, https://unbiasedinvestor.org/

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