Sebastien Toutant | Play with his money, like with his board

Sébastien Toutant, or Seb Toots for lovers of snowboard, is a regular at risks in the sky, on his board, in front of millions of spectators. With his feet on the ground, the Olympic gold medalist indulges in another kind of sport, investing. His favorite disciplines: real estate and the stock market.

Sébastien Toutant’s interest in managing his money is not new. It must be said that he found himself early, in life, with sums that have nothing to do with the pocket money that parents pay to their teenagers to go to the cinema.

“At 13, I won my first competition as a professional. It gave me $10,000. That’s a nice amount, at 13! Already there, I understood that I could use it to spoil myself or invest it, ”he tells me on the phone. So he bought himself a motocross bike and a bicycle. The rest of his winnings were entrusted to a contact of his parents, in a bank.

While he is now sponsored by big brands like Nike, Oakley, O’Neill and Red Bull, and he is winning multiple medals, he has kept the same philosophy: spoil yourself and make your money grow. Thus, at 29, he has already owned eight cars, including two Audi R8s at around $200,000 each and a Porsche Macan. “For me, it’s an expense. It is a pleasure of life. It’s not to put them to sleep. I remember that from my father. »

Early in his career, Sébastien Toutant realized that it was a good idea to put his money to work while he lived with his parents and that his financial needs were minimal. Especially since his sport exposes him to a risk of serious injury that could change the course of his life.

The virtuoso of the board does not hide that he is “passionate about real estate”, where he concentrates 60% of his assets, the rest being on the stock market. Because there will always be more humans on Earth and all this beautiful world needs a roof, he justifies. With his brother, he bought a first triplex “a long time ago”. Then it was a sixplex with his brother and two sisters.

Together with his brother Olivier and a friend, the Olympian started a business which currently lends to three real estate companies.

“We buy the entire land. These real estate companies build the houses and rent them out and they reimburse us. What is interesting is that the first phase often allows us to seek our down payment. So you end up with 50% of a project without having any money lying around. This “turnkey service”, explains Sébastien Toutant, is simpler than the acquisition and management of existing buildings and allows you to find yourself more quickly with a large number of doors.

More recently, the big jump expert (big air) set up a second business with friends to acquire properties overseas. They started with a villa in Tulum, Mexico, which is rented on Airbnb most of the time, but reserved for each owner two weeks per year. The idea is to repeat this model – which unites investment and pleasure – elsewhere in the world. “We try to find other destinations where we can do sports, trekking. »

The athlete has also owned, for almost eight years, a vast penthouse more than 2000 ft² overlooking the river in Repentigny. That’s where he lives. But not for very long. For the past few months, the condo has been for sale at a price of $1.6 million. Sébastien has reached the stage of the house and the land. He can’t wait to build on the land with a view of the St. Lawrence that he bought. The plans are already ready.

Sébastien also invests in the stock market, with the help of a financial security advisor he has known for a long time.

The two men contact each other every month, sometimes every two weeks, “to talk about new products, new ways of investing”. Sébastien says that he does not hesitate to “challenge” anyone who watches over his assets in the light of the returns obtained, because “the goal is to make money”.

The snowboarder also says that over the years, he “gives himself permission to try different things”, since he doesn’t need all his money right away. This leeway relieves him of a lot of stress. An example ? At the start of the pandemic, he chose a strategy called “3 for 1”.

Basically, for every $1,000 he invests in the stock market, he borrows $3,000 and expects his returns to exceed the interest he has to repay monthly. He agrees that it is as risky as his most spectacular jumps. But so far, he is proud of his shot. And on the whole, he considers himself to be quite cautious.

Obviously, the notion of risk for a young professional snowboarder has nothing to do with that of Sunday skiers!

Over the years, Seb Toots has even dared to put money into three restaurants, because it’s a sector he likes. These adventures, however, did not fatten his bank account. “It’s boring, because I lost money, but it’s one more experience in my life. It’s the kind of project that, if you’re not there often to give your vision, is doomed to failure. When he has more time, he would like to get back to it…as he gets up after a failed landing.

Unsurprisingly, like many young people his age, he does not turn his back on cryptocurrencies. “I haven’t invested in bitcoins yet, but one of my associates has a lot of experience with it and I would like to have some investments in it eventually. »

At the dawn of his thirties, Sébastien Toutant can certainly say that he has achieved one of his goals, which was to “secure [son] to come up “. But as he “likes to create and become better”, he plans to live from another passion after his career as a snowboarder, a passion that will allow him to invest and spoil himself.