“People left good paying jobs to be a part of this company when it was nothing more than a concept… Investors took a gamble on our business plan but more importantly the people behind the business plan.”

There’s not much happening on my end. Of course I say that with tongue firmly planted in cheek. By now I assume you’ve heard that controlling interest in both MERIX Financial, and Paradigm Quest, changed hands last week. It took a couple of days for it to actually sink in that the sale process was really over. The process had been going on for a better part of a year. It was all consuming, and all distracting. But now it’s finally done and we can all refocuses our energy on growing both MERIX Financial and Paradigm Quest.

Before moving forward I wanted to share some thoughts with you, and to acknowledge some people who played a role in the success of both MERIX Financial and Paradigm Quest. First and foremost, Kathy Gregory. The creation of MERIX and Paradigm was first formulated on the back of napkins, over a few libations. This was long before these entities were called MERIX and Paradigm. Back then we referred to these companies as Sales Co. and Process Co. From a napkin to a fully baked business plan was the next step. At that point Kathy made one of the most important hires for both companies, our CFO, Donald Zuill. Kathy, Donald and I believed to our very core that this plan would work but now all we had to do was convince some folks with money, real money. Kathy and Donald did just that. A group of individuals came together to create an entity which is known today as FFP, Five Fathom Partners. FFP took a gamble on a business plan but more importantly the people behind the business plan. To FFP, particularly John Donald, thank you for you belief in the plan, and us. We will always wear the shareholder value we created like a badge of honour. We said we would not fail you, and we take great pride in holding up our end of the bargain.

From a MERIX perspective, I want to thank a few individuals for their faith in our vision, and to put it quite humbly, your faith in me. You left good paying jobs to be a part of this company when it was nothing more than a concept. To Andy Kuyper, Lori Smith, Jill Paish and Lloyd Pritchard, it was my pleasure to have shared this part of the journey with all of you. To all of our loyal supporters, and particularly those who were early adopters to the trailer fee model, I thank you for your faith, and for demonstrating to the industry that the trailer fee model is sustainable. You helped to change the industry. Many lenders in the industry now pay on renewals. That didn’t happen because lenders wanted to be more generous. It happened because you helped to legitimize the trailer fee model. Now it’s time to move forward. To those who still wish to debate the safety of trailer fees, clearly there’s nothing I can say or do to change your mind. So I won’t bother trying. After all these years what more can we say or do demonstrate trailer fees are safe. So we’re going to focus on the segment of the market place that does get it. Oh, and one more thing – to our competitors who tried to create uncertainty in the market by suggesting that brokers trailer fees were at risk with MERIX because of the impending sale, all is fair in love and war. And I would like to thank you for stoking our internal fire. We’re coming!

Until next time,

Cheers