Many investors may be piling into cannabis stocks as Canada prepares to legalize recreational use in October, but one prominent Toronto portfolio manager says he’s staying clear of the sector.

“This is a rock solid industry in the future,” Gordon Reid, president and CEO of Goodreid Investment Counsel Corp., said in an interview with BNN Bloomberg Wednesday.

“All that said, Goodreid has zero investment in cannabis … because there’s far too much volatility and price discovery going on.”

Reid’s comments come as Constellation Brands Inc., the owner of Corona beer, announced it will invest $5 billion to raise its stake in Canopy Growth Corp. to 38 per cent.

Shares in Canopy, the country’s largest licensed marijuana producer, soared as much as 54 per cent in pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange following the announcement of the deal.  This follows a retreat in Canadian pot stocks on Tuesday after the Ontario government said it will delay the launch of bricks-and-mortar cannabis stores until six months after legalization.

Reid said that while the marijuana sector appears to offer lots of investment opportunities, it’s not for Goodreid’s high-net worth clients.

“[Cannabis] is a nascent industry. We’d rather pay a higher price for much greater certainty,” Reid said.

“People aren’t coming to a wealth manager for a story they can tell at a cocktail party. They’re coming with money that has been grown over decades often and is hard earned.”

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Does Constellation’s deal with Canopy change your view of pot stocks?

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