The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday, Nov. 5, edition that Evolve Funds boss Raj Lala says Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce was the first stock he ever bought. The Globe's guest columnist Brenda Bouw writes that Mr. Lala says: "I bought it in 1996, after taking my first job at AIC Investment Planning Ltd. ... A well-seasoned sales rep from one of the mutual fund companies we worked with took me for coffee and told me I should consider investing in stocks of companies whose products I know and am familiar with. It was also an investing strategy I read about in a book by well-known American investor Peter Lynch. I was a long-time customer of CIBC, with a savings account and a student loan, so I decided to buy the stock. I bought about $6,000 worth of CIBC shares at the time. It went against the philosophy of paying down your debt before you start investing, but I got excited about the opportunity to start buying stocks. I remember thinking when, not if, the stock doubles, I will sell half and use the gain to pay down my student debt." It doubled in 18 months. Mr. Lala says the Peter Lynch concept of buying stock in companies or products you are using "makes a lot of sense."