DeRose Loves that Investment Buzz.

• Author: BRONIKOWSKI, LYNN

STOCK-PICKING, HAND-HOLDING DAIN EXEC HELPS CLIENTS RIDE THE ROLLER COASTER

Christine DeRose believes she's as much a psychologist as a stockbroker.

"My job is almost like being a psychologist; a lot of our job involves getting to know our clients," said DeRose, associate vice president and investment officer in Dain Rauscher's downtown investment offices. "One person's investment risk is not the same as another person's, and it takes a long time to get to know clients and learn just what their investment risks are."

Riding the stock market roller coaster, DeRose's client conversations can take on a therapeutic air.

"A year ago, in August, when the market had a 550-point drop, we did a lot of handholding around here," recalled DeRose, who joined Dain in June 1996. "I actually gained a lot of clients that day. It was a matter of calling those who needed a call and saying 'Don't worry; markets are always going to go up and down.'"

For the most part it's been up ever since, with the U.S. economy in January celebrating a record-breaking 107 months of economic expansion -- a streak that began in 1991.

"This investment business is THE buzz today," says DeRose. "Everywhere you go, whether you're at your athletic club, in a coffee shop or having conversations at a party, that's what everyone is talking about."

DeRose believes she and her financial-planning colleagues are key players in the economic surge.

"We're helping clients sift through the barrage of information," said DeRose. "For our grandparents, it was the industrial revolution," she said. "We're in the midst of a technology revolution, and this is what is driving all business today."

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