Pacific North America Acquires Mortgage Architects and MyNext Mortgage Company

Pacific North America (Pacific NA) has acquired Mortgage Architects and its exclusive lender, MyNext Mortgage Company.

Pacific NA is a new company founded by Alex Haditaghi, CEO of MortgageBrokers.com. The company’s mortgage brokerage operations will be headed by Bob Ord, CEO of Mortgage Architects.

In a statement today, Haditaghi said:

• “Mortgage Architects is the jewel of the mortgage industry in Canada. Bob Ord is a renowned industry veteran, they have an exceptional management team, and they designed a company based on a unique model of elite Lead mortgage planners”
• “Our goal is to evolve myNext Mortgage Company into a Canadian Bank that is centered around the mortgage financing transaction.”
• The company’s mortgage planning mandate will be to provide “niche products and exceptional advice to customers as they move through their life stages, from pre-buyer to retired, ultimately managing their debt for the creation of wealth along side a partner financial planner.”

“Mortgage Architects sought a strong financial partner to take it to the next level,” Ord said. That undoubtedly means a partner that can accelerate Mortgage Architects' move into the banking space.

Here’s more of what we’re hearing (but by no means confirmed):

• Pacific NA’s goal will likely be to acquire other mortgage brokerages on a selective basis.
• If that happens, we’re guessing that some or all of these acquired companies would retain their own branding.
• Mortgage brokerages operating under the Pacific NA umbrella would share technology and back office support.
• From what we understand, the company would ideally like to obtain its bank license by year end.
• MyNext Bank, as it may be called, will potentially operate as an online bank with a small number of branches in strategic locations.
• MyNext Bank would be heavily consumer-focused and mortgage-centric. It would feature niche products (like RRSP-linked mortgages, for example) and would likely adopt a trailer fee model for compensating brokers for renewals. Longer-term, complimentary products would probably be released including lines of credit, credit cards, and financial planning.
• Pacific NA is supposedly developing a variety of new broker technologies including online mortgage planning software and an online broker status system for its in-house lender (similar to First National’s “Merlin”).

Objectively speaking, Pacific NA got a decent catch in Mortgage Architects. MA has 364 mortgage planners across the country that did $5 billion in volume last year. Compared to most competitors, that volume is pretty darned good on a per-agent basis.

There’s been no statement on if/how this news will affect MortgageBrokers.com, which is a public company with 503 planners of its own. Nor were financial terms of the deal announced.

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ABOUT MORTGAGE ARCHITECTS INC.
Mortgage Architects is a national mortgage brokerage with its corporate head office in Mississauga and regional offices in Vancouver, Calgary, Laval, and Halifax. Lead planners require a proven track record of high professional standards and $25 million in yearly volume prior to joining the company. The company is structured to be owned by the planners themselves. Mortgage Architects was founded, in part, by Bob Ord. Prior to launching Mortgage Architects, Bob Ord played an integral role in the development and success of industry giants such as FirstLine Mortgages, Mortgage Centre Canada, Filogix Inc. and Mortgage Intelligence. For more information: www.mortgagearchitects.ca.

ABOUT PACIFIC NA
Pacific NA is a financial services company focused on creating a virtual bank that will deliver unique lending products and mortgage planning services to the company’s broker owners.

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Full Disclosure: Members of our staff are mortgage planners with Mortgage Architects and shareholders of MortgageBrokers.com. Comments must remain closed until more information is publicly disseminated by the companies themselves. This article should not be construed as a positive or negative opinion on the future prospects of any companies herein.