The amount of retail investor interest in the cannabis space is “off the charts,” according to one Bay Street portfolio manager.

Bryden Teich, portfolio manager at Avenue Investment Management, told BNN Bloomberg on Tuesday that his friends who haven’t invested before are now reaching out to inquire about what pot stock they should pick.

“I’ve never seen anything like it and I think it speaks to the speculation of the space right now,” he said.

Teich said that the cannabis sector has its drawbacks. Despite pot’s legalization in Canada next week, there are still roadblocks as the drug is federally outlawed in the U.S. and there are only a handful of cannabis companies that might be global players several years from now, he noted.

“There’s still too much risk out there and at the end of the day, none of these companies really make any money. We’re still focused on really stable, pension-style investing and none of these really fall into the bucket of what we’re doing.”

Teich said that Molson Coors Canada Inc. is a company that Avenue Investment is evaluating following its recent joint venture deal with Hexo Corp. to create cannabis-infused beverages.

“On a decision like that, there’s concerns about Molson Coors and their legacy business because it’s so much focused on the domestic beer market … which has been under pressure,” Teich said.

“Evaluating that comes to, what’s the existing business doing? Is there something exciting? What’s the market opportunity with Hexo? And you make a decision bridging those together.”

Cannabis Canada is BNN Bloomberg’s in-depth series exploring the stunning formation of the entirely new – and controversial – Canadian recreational marijuana industry. Read more from the special series here and subscribe to our Cannabis Canada newsletter to have the latest marijuana news delivered directly to your inbox every day.