After featuring an “investment novel” about suspect venture fund blackholes that I found on Canadian Business Online, I went back to the site a few more times and found some pleasant changes. I used to be a subscriber of the magazine until I got fed up with its many pages of advertising editorials. Advertising editorials were pages of information designed to look like articles but were at least ethical enough to state that it’s actually an advertisement discreetly.

I realized that Canadian Business Online wore its new look just recently. I browsed through its roster list of columnists, pondering if I could ever write at the level of these professional journalists. (Hey, a blogger can dream right?).

I noticed something instantly. Out of the dizzying credentials of CFAs, accounting principals, and financial journalists, a very plain-looking staff writer Calvin Leung stood out. Yes, he’s Asian, but what caught my attention was his by-line compared to the other accomplished financial journalists.

Prior to joining the magazine, in 2005, [Calvin] worked in sales at Proctor & Gamble, in marketing at Unilever and in advertising as a freelance copywriter.

I’m not trying to take away anything from Calvin. In fact, with my contrarian thinking, I was actually excited to read investment articles from someone who seemed like he’ll be able to relate to the average joe better than the other professionals. At least, Calvin did not wear a tie in his profile picture!

I read a couple of Calvin’s articles to decide if I truly liked him. His writing style is refreshing, uncluttered from jargon and infused with a bit of humour. The content pretty much sticks to Canadian Business’s philosophy to write “safe” articles that cater the the investing majorities. Nonetheless, Calvin’s articles are easy to follow and remain very informative. Check out his writings if you are a Personal Finance blogger (aka PFBlogger), you might pick up some tips to improve your own blogging as well!