MortgageBrokers.com to rebrand as Mortgage Architects
By
Vernon Clement Jones
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28/11/2011 3:00:00 PM
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10
comments
MortgageBrokerNews.ca has learned that Pacific Mortgage Group will fold MortgageBrokers.com into the Mortgage Architects brand, the parent company pledging to complete that merger by next spring.
In a letter sent last week to broker-partners via email, MortgageBrokers.com President Dan Putnam outlined the plan that will see MortgageBrokers.com brokerages, brokers and agents rebrand and then operate under "Mortgage Architects."
That transition should be completed by the start of the spring 2012 market, with MortgageBrokers.com pledging to assume re-branding costs for brokers and agents around changing business cards and signage.
It has become increasingly difficult to promote and manage two mortgage brokerage brands, said Putnam in the email to brokers, also suggesting Mortgage Architects was chosen as the new standard bearer because of its larger funded volume and broader name recognition.
The company is expected to make a formal announcement to the industry Tuesday, having already directed its brokers to share the announcement with their respective teams.
At least one MortgageBrokers.com agent told MortgageBrokerNews.ca that he welcomes the rebranding, suggesting it will ultimately strengthen the operation.
Putnam is, in fact, pledging a well-organized transition.
The decision follows a changing of the guard at Pacific’s head office this fall.
“The Board of Directors of Pacific Mortgage Group Inc. is delighted to announce the appointment of Ron Swift as CEO of overall group operations,” read the press statement. “Mr. Swift, a Canadian mortgage hall of famer and one of the Canadian mortgage industry’ s most recognized and respected leaders, will take over the helm at Pacific in the coming weeks.”
That move saw the MCAP head effectively take responsibility for what was then myNext, MortgageBrokers.com and Mortgage Architects, with their respective heads reporting to him.
Swift has already presided over the rebranding of myNext to Radius Financial.
Pacific is hoping the new name will better position the lender as a competitor to MCAP and other broker lenders. This past spring, Pacific announced that its lender would, in fact, open itself to deals arranged outside the Mortgage Architects/MortgageBrokers.com family.
Latest Comments
Total:
10
comment(s)
Just Another Broker on
29 Nov 2011 01:21 PM
Boy, all those brokers who joined Mortgage Architects must be ecstatic about these changes. I'm so glad I didn't fall for the story a few years ago about an "elite" brokerage that would ensure everyone would "benefit financially in the event of a sale." Talk about a snow job! Hindsight is 20/20, and I clearly made the right decision when I made my choice. Turns out there's nothing "elite" about Mortgage Architects after all, eh? Half the MB.com Agents are part-time anyway, and do no volume, so it'll be interesting to watch the cultures "merge" from the sidelines. Or fall apart. Whichever. And what broker in their right mind is going to support Radius if they are owned by a competing brokerage?
Ottawa Broker on
29 Nov 2011 01:37 PM
Sounds like a complete mess to me.
Jason Smale on
29 Nov 2011 02:06 PM
Wow, interesting turn of events indeed!
Credibility None Existent on
29 Nov 2011 02:21 PM
Similar to "Just another Broker", not doubt we also made the right decision not to get drawn in to the MB.com sales pitch of "getting" shares in return for handing over your business, and the ability to sell your business, or have it sold at a later date, by adding value through their public offering, in New York initially I may add. Although their listing has since been pulled, they traded at penny stock prices (and I mean penny)and your investment following suit. Convoluted, confusing and doing nothing but painting a bad picture for our industry.
Ron Butler on
29 Nov 2011 03:56 PM
100% true that MB.com was a really questionable stock ownership fiasco.
Still, Ron Swift is a highly regarded guy who should be given the chance to get a competitive monoline lender up and running. We can all use another strong monoline. The fact is most of us have dealt with Firstline at one time or another and CIBC has always owned two different mortgage brokerage operations that competed with us so its not unheard of for brokers to deal with companies that own other brokers.
Liz on
29 Nov 2011 08:07 PM
Contrary to "just another broker", I think this is fantastic news. There is something really wrong with our industry in that all we ever do is throw stones at eachother. Despite the fact that there are many networks out there, we NEED to support the industry in its entirety. If half our energy was spent in spreading the good word to the consumers on our value add, we would see a lift in marketshare. I am so tired of comments like this.
steve in toronto on
30 Nov 2011 12:10 AM
Good point Ron. The broker chanels loves to support competitors, ie Firstline and Scotia Authority. The real challenge as a chanel and industry is to recognie who the competition actually is; the banks. Once this clear all our efforts should be directed at eroding market share. Thus we should embrace radius as the expense if firstline,etal.
George on
30 Nov 2011 09:03 AM
What a joke mb.com was and is. If you read their financials (it is public information), you will see that the company cannot support itself. What a complete joke. I was surprised to see Dan go over to such a mess.
Alex Haditaghi on
30 Nov 2011 09:46 PM
I always question the integrity of people who make disparaging comments about others in a public forum and then conveniently fail to leave their real name. It is just such people who give our industry a bad name and should be removed from it. What type of person makes such comments about one of the hardest working and best managed teams in the industry. It most definitely is someone who is far removed from the situation and very much lacks any real knowledge about it. Let me set the record straight:
MortgageBrokers.com was the first publicly traded mortgage brokerage in Canada. The purpose of it being public was to be completely transparent to our brokers; to gain access to a wide network of potential partners that could help us build a full service financial services company expanded outside of brokerage; and to create access to growth capital. We feel that we have accomplished all of these.
In general, brokerage operations are break even enterprises at best. We don’t feel the end goal is create a national brokerage - it is the starting point. The broker market is losing ground and we need to begin to think differently and invest in our brokers to allow them to have the tools and capabilities to more fully service the Canadian consumer - or else our industry will continue to be marginalized. Through affiliated businesses in the lending and insurance markets (manufacturing), our company is able to continue to invest into our brokerage network (distribution).
I am very proud of our accomplishments, the support of our brokers and of having the industry’s best management team bar none. In five short years, I was able to:
1. build our organization and be recognized by profit magazine as the fastest growing emerging growth company in Canada by Profit magazine;
2. Secure the resources to acquire a billion dollar portfolio lender and a quality national brokerage almost three times as large as ourselves. We are now the only brokerage in Canada that has it’s own CMHC, Genworth approved lender with in excess of a billion dollars of assets under administration and growing;
3. be the only company in the industry with a world class blue chip board of directors including Alfred Apps, the right Hon. James Peterson; Barry Pickford, and Todd Halpern; and,
4. Attract one of the best management teams in the industry led by Ron Swift including Alice Chan, Dong Lee, Dan Putnam, Meini Eckert, Joanne Vickery, Luisa Simonetti, Raj Singh, Suzanna Stefanec, Lorraine Sato, George Zhang, Gary Cilevitz, Robert Hyde,…
Today, we have the seasoned management, PROFITABLE business and access to capital to continue to grow our organization into Canada’s next full service financial services company. How about you?
Alex Haditaghi
Founder and Vice Chairman
Pacific Mortgage Group Inc.
Albert on
01 Dec 2011 10:38 AM
Just another broker, you sound like a competitor of this company! Let me guess this is your "Bold Statement"? You are the "Bold" example of what is wrong with this industry!