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OCTOBER 2019 BCBUSINESS 63 W ayne Wachell got a bit of a late start with the game of tennis, but he's more than made up for it over the years. The then–University of Alberta student was 20 when he began watching Argentine tennis sen- sation Guillermo Vilas. "He was kind of like Rafael Nadal back in 1975," Wachell recalls. "So I picked up a tennis racket and started hitting with a friend and thought, Wow, I can do this pretty good." Cut to 45 years later, and the co-founder and CEO of Vancouver-based Genus Capital Management admits that he's probably played "a little more than my wife would like." But there have been some slight adjustments over the decades. As the Wachell family grew (he now has two adult children), cutting out on Saturday morn- ings at 10 a.m. to return serves wasn't going to fly anymore. "I quickly got a new pro- gram, started playing at 7 a.m. in the morning and would walk in as the kids were getting up," Wachell says. "Every morning I'm up at 5:30 because of the markets, and at my age, fitness is everything. Tennis helps keep my muscle mass and my flexibility." Though the kids have long since left Wachell's West Morning Racket Genus Capital co-founder and CEO Wayne Wachell gets into the swing of things by Nathan Caddell W E E K E N D WA R R IOR ( quality time ) WARRIOR SPOTLIGHT Vancouver-based Genus Capital Management celebrated its 30th anni- versary this summer. The investment firm, which has 34 employees, manages $1.5 billion in assets for individuals, foundations and institutions. Genus has also generated a reputation for socially responsible invest- ing, as co-founders Wayne Wachell and Leslie Cliff have prioritized combatting global warming and moving away from fossil fuels. "That's been our growth area–clients that are concerned about climate change," Wachell says. "We have investment solu- tions for clients that want to meet their financial goals but want to have portfolios that are more aligned with their values." –N.C. O FF T H E C LO C K HAPPY TO SERVE Playing tennis is one of the ways Wachell keeps busy ALBERT LAW