It’s been five years since the last time I took part in the CAAMP strategy session, and over the next two days I’m at it again.  The board is meeting in Niagara to chart the course for CAAMP for the next five years.  It’s an important exercise to go through, and it’s an exercise that all the directors take seriously. The decisions that will be made over the next two days will reflect the wishes of the membership.

There have been many changes in our industry over the last five years, and it only stands to reason that changes would apply to CAAMP as well.  From my perspective the most profound change for CAAMP is their activism.  Over the last five years CAAMP has become THE voice of the broker channel, and represents the interests of multiple constituents on a national level.  CAAMP’s membership has made their wishes clear, government relations is recognized as the number one activity that CAAMP undertakes on their behalf.  Can’t say with any certainty what the board will ultimately decide on over the next two days but I suspect government relations will be at the forefront.  One of the other changes that I’ve noticed over the last five years is that there is less chatter that CAAMP dues are simply a cash grab.  I don’t think it’s a case of not seeing the forest from the trees but I believe the majority of the membership has been able to join the dots.  Paying dues means we have the ability to lobby government, which leads to protecting what’s in our member’s wallets, and to ensure sustainability for the long haul.

The association has grown by leaps and bounds over the past five years, and it truly represents our industry in all regions of the country.  Our preset Chair is from Manitoba, next year’s Chair is from Saskatchewan, and two years ago our Chair was from British Columbia.   In my humble opinion CAAMP cannot be viewed as an Ontario based association only.  CAAMP’s membership is in line with our countries population but geography alone does not dictate who will lead the association; ability does, and that’s the way it should be.

Until next time

Cheers

For some time now, finding positive news about the mortgage industry and the real estate market in general required a Sherpa Guide and a donkey.  “I think I just heard something positive about mortgages…  OOPS, my bad, it’s just Big Foot.”

It hasn’t been easy but over the past couple of weeks there’s been news which leads me to believe the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse may not be on the way.

CAAMP’s Annual State of the Residential Mortgage Market in Canada (love those short titles) was released just prior to Mortgage Forum 2012 in Vancouver.  It’s a must read for everyone in the industry.  All the major media outlets have picked up the report and there’s been a significant amount of coverage based on the report.  One aspect of the report that bodes well for the industry, and should give regulators some degree of comfort, is how responsible Canadian borrowers are.  I found it striking that 32% of borrowers either increased their monthly payments or made principal reductions over the past 12 months.  It is estimated that $3.5 billion in additional monthly payments were made, and a further $20 billion in lump sum payments.  Yes, consumers are taking on more debt but they’re looking at paying off their debt sooner.  When stories are written about consumer debt levels, a word or two should be dedicated to how responsible Canadians are in attempting to eliminate their debt.

Here’s another indication that consumers maybe be smarter than the press give them credit for.  Over the past 12 months there’s been a high level of ARM conversions to 5 year fixed terms, and the product of choice today is 5 year fixed. Maybe, just maybe consumers are smart enough to know that now is not the time to gamble.  They’re looking at five year terms and saying the rate is competitive and it’s worth the peace of mind for the next five years.

As far as I’m concerned, the only stat that matters to our industry is the unemployment rate.  Everything else, where prime is going etc., is secondary.  Our industry, our entire economy will rise and fall with employment numbers.  It’s simple, if borrowers are working and they have access to cheap money, like they do now and will have for the next few years, there’s less reason to dump a property.  A home owner may not get the price they’re looking for but because the home is affordable there is less reason to discount the price.

If a home owner loses their job a completely different set of circumstances arise.  That’s why there’s reason for optimism over the most recent employment numbers.  According to Stat’s Canada, 59 thousand new jobs were created in November. On a year over year basis 294 thousand new jobs have been created, and hours worked have also increased.  These numbers are critical, not only to our industry but to our economy. Anytime we see a reduction in the employment rate it’s a reason for a high five or fist bump.  So turn around and give your work mate a fist bump because our unemployment rate has been reduced to 7.2%.

There’s more good news that will be readily available when the full Maritz survey becomes public in January, another must read.  But even if we only take into account the data available today there’s reason for optimism, and lessons to be learned.  For instance, consumers do not require regulators to legislate responsibility. Consumers are miles ahead on that one.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Customer Complaints play a critical role in any organization because they are the rawest form of interaction between a customer and a business.  Complaints, by their very nature, are an emotional reaction to an experience.  It’s visceral so it’s more about emotion than fact.  Customers who are angry, frustrated or “feel” like they have been disrespected in some fashion are more inclined to let their feelings be known.  A company should never, ever, dismiss a customer’s complaint, even if it’s proven that the complaint has no factual foundation.  An angry customer today has a multitude of communication platforms at their disposal to share their outrage.  A company who ignores customer complaints does so at their own peril.  Companies can learn a great deal from complaints and in some cases customer complaints can help an organization identify flaws in their DNA.

As the Chair of the CAAMP Mortgage Forum, I think about customer complaints and feedback, and how best to interpret the complaints/feedback.  Unlike organizations that produce a product, the Mortgage Forum is an experience.  An experience is emotional and therefore when I review the CAAMP survey I do so through a filter.  All the feedback we receive about the conference is carefully analyzed but I also remind myself that it is nearly impossible to satisfy everyone. Some people are predisposed to having a less than positive experience.

For example, some complaints are made by those who fall into the “bitter bucket”.  These are individuals who really dislike a different approach. Let me rephrase that, they hate everything.  They long for the old ways.  The simple things in life provide them comfort, and they miss that.  If the messiah himself was to appear on stage these people would say, “great…just what we need…another motivational speaker”.  The other group is the “phantom bucket”.  These are the people who go to the conference and don’t attend any sessions. However, they still share their opinions about the quality of the sessions and speakers.  I’m impressed that their telepathic prowess is not impacted by sleep deprivation and libation intake.

Irrespective of the categories of complaints they all serve a purpose.  The Mortgage Forum is a two and half day experience and the likelihood of being completely satisfied over the course of the entire conference is pretty low. The attention to detail, by those responsible for putting this event together, is the reason why the majority of delegates are satisfied with their experience at the Mortgage Forum. For the people who arrange the Mortgage Forum, it’s the little things.  Like addressing the complaint we received one year that “the bagel’s we served at breakfast were too small”.  So now when you have breakfast at the Mortgage Forum you’ll notice there are bagel instructions on the back of all the napkins: “If you believe the bagels are too small, please feel free to eat two of them“.  Just kidding, we went with bigger bagels.

Until next time,

Cheers.

It’s day two at the CAAMP Mortgage Forum and the day stated with music and a presentation on the creative process with recording artist David Usher. Hell of a way to start the day. I challenged the creative part of my brain by asking him to come up with lyrics that incorporate the words bps, OSFI, B20 and trailer fees. We might have to wait a while to hear that hit.

I have to get back to the conference.

Until next time,

Cheers.

Minus the tents, sleeping on the ground, rummaging for food and not bathing for a few days.  There will be no roughing it at the CAAMP Mortgage Forum 2012.  Every aspect of the conference is high end.  From its location, speaker line-up and entertainment.  The mortgage industry is entitled to an event which is celebratory in nature.  Our industry has been in the cross-hairs for some time now, and this conference gives us an opportunity to say to all those who viewed our industry in a negative light, We’re still here…We’re still standing…We’re still relevant.

As the Conference Chair, my wish is that all attendees enjoy the experience.  There’s nothing wrong with having fun while you learn and network.  Personally, what I’m looking forward to is talking to people.  Old school, one-on-one conversations. Less texts, and more handshakes and smiles.  Here’s to a great Mortgage Forum 2012, and I look forward to seeing you in Vancouver.

 Until next time,

 Cheers.

In a little over a week I get to play the part of an expected father, the birth of a massive baby;  Mortgage Forum 2012 officially opens on Sunday, November 25th, in the beautiful city of Vancouver. This is year two of the conference transformation or rebirth if you will.  The teeth gnashing and nail biting was far more intense last year.  I guess that’s because you’re never 100 per cent sure if and how the change will be embraced.  I received many compliments during the Forum last year but I had this nagging doubt that people were just being polite.  Therefore, attendees true feelings and thoughts would be captured by way of survey results.  I waited with baited breath to get the results, and what a satisfying exhale it was when the results came in.  The results were off the charts, and it was there in black and white, the changes were embraced.  Many the of the survey respondents commented, “How are you going to top it next year?”  All modesty aside, we’re going to do it. (more…)

“It is to our collective benefit to ensure that the talent pool is deep, and cultivating that talent will enable our industry to flourish and grow.”

Well, sort of.  Last week CAAMP forwarded the attached video to all members, and seeing how I did the narration I thought it would be appropriate to use the video as my blog.  In the event you didn’t get a chance to see the video,  it speaks to one of my initiatives, organic growth for the channel.  This is an issue that we as industry should all be cognizant of.  Succession planning is critical for any organization, and the same principles hold true for an industry.  Many of the past and present leaders of our industry still have time to make significant contributions.  But with each passing day we get closer to passing on the leadership torch.  Who will be the ones to take on that responsibility?  Many of our future leaders are among us now, and some maybe contemplating our industry as a vocation.  Identifying future leaders, and providing them with council and visibility, will assist  our industry through transition.  It is to our collective benefit to ensure that the talent pool is deep, and cultivating that talent will enable our industry to flourish and grow.  Where will the next generations of brokers, lenders and insurers going to come from?  Would it not be to our benefit to have university and college students choose brokering as a career path?  Can we continue to count on people just bumping into our industry and deciding that they’ll give it a go?  Our industry is at a crossroads.  Our market share has flatten, intense competitive factors are at play and we all now face the challenge of strong regulatory headwinds.  Our future leaders will have to be far more sophisticated to deal with these issues than we are today.  Our industry is evolving, and it will be imperative that the leadership skill level evolves at the same pace.

Until next time

Cheers

I’m in Quebec City today to chair my last CAAMP Board meeting. Where has the time gone? I have on more official function to serve, the annual AGM in October, and one ceremonial event, Mortgage Form 2012, before passing on the torch to our Vice-Chair, Daryl Harris.

I had dinner with Daryl last night to discuss association issues. He asked me if chairing my last board meeting was bitter sweet. My answer was, no. It’s time. For this association to grow and and evolve requires fresh ideas. My time chair has been rewarding on so many fronts, but now it’s Daryl’s time to lead the board. I know Daryl will do an outstanding job as chair. My role on the executive next year is that of Past-Chair, and the Past-Chair’s primary role is to stay out of the Chair’s way. There to be called upon for council and advise but the leadership and vision will be in Daryl’s hands come October.

Before I pass the torch on to Daryl, one of the most important events during the calendar year has to take place, CAAMP Board elections. A number of CAAMP Board members are up for re-election and many have stated that their intention is to run again. To those board members who have decided to run again, I wish you all the best. You served our members with distinction, and you made a contribution. For those members who have decided to run, you’re to be commended. Fighting for the right to volunteer your time is truly admirable.

Until next time

Cheers

“What makes this award a little sweeter is that the CAAMP Mortgage Forum 2011 beat out two large American conferences.”

I had a new blog all crafted and ready to be posted today but I had to set it aside.  Why?  Because I received some fantastic news on Monday morning that I had to share.  CAAMP Mortgage Forum 2011 was the recipient of  another award over the weekend.  This is now the second award that the CAAMP Mortgage Forum 2011 has received.  The most recent award was from the International Events Society.  The ISES awarded CAAMP the “Best Meeting Conference over $250K”.  What makes this award a little sweeter is that the CAAMP Mortgage Forum 2011 beat out two large American conferences.  The sense of pride and accomplishment has nothing to do with an inferiority complex.  We can do anything as well as they do South of the boarder and given the state of our respective economies we’ve demonstrated that we can do a lot of things better north of the 49^th parallel.  What makes this a little sweeter for me is based solely on the fact that Canada’s Woman soccer team lost to the US woman’s team over the weekend at the London Olympics.  The loss was a direct result of shameful officiating and the referee in charge of the match should never be allowed to officiate a match of such significance again.  It was gut wrenching to watch our gal’s come out on the short end because of an officials ineptitude.  Our Woman’s soccer team have dedicated years of training for this moment, and as far as I’m concerned, they’re true champions.

Okay, I’ll get off on one soap-box to jump on another.  We won, hands down fair and square!  I’m so proud of the staff at CAAMP.  Putting a conference together like ours takes extraordinary effort.  It’s easy to take for granted the work that is required to pull off an event of this magnitude.  The truth is the CAAMP staff has spoiled us a little.  It’s easy to assume that every conference is like ours and that every conference is as cost effective as ours.  As someone who’s attended many conferences outside of Canada, I can honestly say that we’re very fortunate.  From sheer size to quality and cost, we are the best.  And now we have some hardware to prove it.  Take a bow Michael Ellenzweig, Cara Shulman, Alison Cousland, the organizing committee and all the staff at CAAMP for making it happen.  Most importantly, thank you to all the Mortgage Forum sponsors, and those who attended.  Without your collective support the conference doesn’t happen.

Thanks to our sponsors, Mortgage Forum 2012 in Vancouver promises to be bigger and better.  Hopefully I’ll see you in Vancouver from November 25 -27, 2012.

Link to Mortgage Forum 2012 Conference site

 Until next time,

 Cheers.

By the time this blog is posted, I’ll be somewhere over the Pacific Ocean heading towards Sydney, Australia.   My final destination is Adelaide, Australia.  The purpose of the journey is to attend the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia National Conference.  It’s a long, a very long way, to go to attend a conference.  By the time you read this blog, I will be well into my 22 hour flight and, I suspect, I will be going a little stir crazy.  I’ve traveled a number of times to Europe, but an 8 hour flight to Europe is like a walk around the block compared to “going down under.”  It’s a trip I always wanted to make, but I always found a reason to put it off.  Must be the thought of been cramped in a tin can for 22 hours.  But now, there was definitive time and reason to go.  The MFAA is Australia’s equivalent of CAAMP.  As much as I’m delighted to remove an item from my bucket list, going to Australia, the primary purpose of the visit is to represent CAAMP, and to go for my own personal development.

Canada and Australia are similar in many ways; specifically as it relates to the mortgage industry, an oligopoly exists in both countries, but the big difference is the disappearance of mono-lines in Australia.  That was a result of the credit crisis of 2008, or as the Aussie’s like to say, the GSS (Global Shit Storm).  The mortgage industry in Australia changed significantly post-2008.  As mentioned, mono-lines became a footnote in the annals of the mortgage lending history in Australia.  Given limited competition, broker commissions where significantly reduced.  The four major banks in Australia now control 90% of the broker market share.  The banks imposed proficiency exams on brokers to do business with them, at a cost of $750 to write the exam.  The major banks took an equity position in some of the larger broker house’s in Australia, and they exercise their influence and control by way of board seats.  Yet, for all the challenges the Australian broker market has faced since the GSS, they still control a 40% market share.  That’s what I find fascinating.  The Canadian broker market came out relatively unscathed after 2008, and yet broker market share in Canada is not growing.  The data would suggest that broker market share in Canada is actually contracting; so what is it about Australian broker market  that enables them not only maintain their market share but actually grow it?  That’s going to be the first question I ask of any stakeholder in Australia.  I hope to garner some insights and to see if there’s some practical application to our market, given examples from Australia.

What I’m really looking forward to is talking to lenders and brokers who fully embrace a trailer fee model.  Brokers and lenders in Australia are vested and fully committed to this model.  So what I hope to gleam is, how did they get there?  I believe the trailer fee model is now accepted by the broker community in Canada.  It’s no longer viewed as the boogieman or the great unknown.  In large part this is due to Merix’s commitment towards this compensation model, and it pioneering of the trailer fee model.  Many lenders talked about in the past but Merix actually did it.  I commend all the broker lenders in Canada that have created a hybrid of the Merix model.   Lenders in Canada can call them renewal fees if they like but the fact is prior to Merix, lenders were not paying on renewal.  My hope is that every lender jumps on board and helps to create future value for mortgage brokers in Canada.  Who knows, maybe one day Aussie brokers and lenders will ask us, how did you do it?

Until next time

Cheers

Read More Add a Comment

Not long ago CAAMP’s Chief Economists, Will Dunning, said to me that economists base their forecasts on their personality.

How many times have you heard, “it’s just an honour to be nominated“.  What rubbish! If you’re going to be nominated for an award you want the hardware.  A nomination gives you hope and the trophy is the validation.  We all need, and like, the validation.  Those who say it doesn’t matter are being disingenuous.  Even if the sentiment is sincere why wouldn’t you want people’s efforts to be acknowledged?  No one has ever won an award without the hard work of a lot of other people.  When you win an award there’s many finger prints on the trophy.

I take great pride in the fact that CAAMP won the award for Conference of The Year at the Canadian Event Industry Awards.  If you consider all the conferences that are held in Canada each year, the trophy is a significant accomplishment.  Mortgage Forum 2011 was a huge success, and that was confirmed by the survey results and from the numerous comments I received from attendees.   CAAMP took a gamble by changing up the conference, and the changes were well received.  The affiliation with the Art of Sales ensured that the line-up of speakers surpassed all previous conferences.  Tuesday turned into a full day of speaker sessions and it was impressive to see an audience of 2,220.  I remember standing at the back of the hall during one of the speaker sessions and saying to myself, “damn, it actually worked”.  When you make changes you never know how the changes will be received until you go live.  There’s a big divide between concept and execution.  The devil is in the detail, and the CAAMP staff didn’t miss a single detail.  I’ve got proof of that…it’s a nice shiny trophy.

So how does CAAMP top last year’s conference at Mortgage Forum 2012 in Vancouver? It’s not going to be easy but they’re up for the challenge.  They’ll do what they always do, and that means they’ll put on a hell of a show.  CAAMP announced this week that Amanda Lang, CBC’s senior business correspondent, is returning as host of the Mortgage Forum 2012. That’s a fabulous start.  What’s also returning is CAAMP Comedy Fest; we’re in the process right now of signing a contract with the headliner.  I can’t say who it is yet but he’s gut busting funny.  There’s a good chance that you’ve seen him on the TV talk-show circuit or one of his HBO comedy specials.  Many of the speakers for the Tuesday’s portion of the conference have committed, and the theme for Tuesday is the Art of Marketing.  CAAMP will announce the speaker line-up in short order.  Trust me, you’ll be impressed.

It’s disclosure time.  I’m the conference chair for Mortgage Forum 2012, and I have a vested interest in the success of this conference.  Anytime you attach your name or reputation to something you want to make its successful.  So I’ll use every tool at my disposal to ensure success, up to an including, bravado, hype, spin and hyperbole.  Shooting from the lip is easier to do when you know there’s a group of highly killed individuals doing all the heavy lifting behind the scenes to ensure Mortgage Forum 2012 is the best conference we’ve ever had.  Is that spin on my part?  There’s an easy way to find out….see you at Mortgage Forum 2012 in Vancouver.

Until next time

Cheers