Most of us in the broker biz pay our $225/year dues to be members of the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP).
CAAMP is a trade organization that’s dedicated to the advancement of Canada’s mortgage industry. It has advocated for its members on a variety of issues ranging from brokers’ GST exemption to last April’s new mortgage rules.
Just for thrills we poked through CAAMP’s latest 2009/2010 financials to see how it’s been spending and making money. Here are some of the highlights (all comparisons are versus the prior year):
- Membership fee revenue grew 6.2%
- Salaries and benefits rose 8%
- 22% more was spent on advertising and promotion
- Last year’s national conference in Toronto brought in 15.5% less revenue than Vancouver 2008, while remaining CAAMP’s biggest expense at $1.6 million
- CAAMP’s earnings (revenues beyond expenses) dropped about 28%
- Its assets rose 9.7% to $4.3 million
Well, personally speaking I would love to see two specific things for my $225.
1. More detailed statistics from CAAMP about the types of mortgages people are getting, how often they break mortgages, and how long they refinance or renew with the same lender.
2. More advanced level education for brokers online (at no cost!)
i am not going to renew the membership….salary ??? benefits??? incresed !!!! are they crazy !! i been a member CIMBL since 1998 ,and AMP ( 2004) now STOP!!
Still don’t get it CAAMP- Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals. So why are not all members either AMP’s or AMP candidates. Maybe change the name to Canadian Association of whoever wants to look like they know something about mortgages. I believe if you want to join the CGA Association you either have to be a student or a qualified member. To me just another example of why this industry fails. Time to get serious and make this a real profession. Crazy that you can be working in a tuxedo store one day and be a member of CAAMP the next.
Seems to me to be time to cut back on big conferences, symposiums, and golf tournaments. Too much wining, dining, and networking (although I know that’s part of the business). Get back to basics.
The market is going through a correction which is going to and has already effected the number of Mortgage Brokers remaining in the Industry. What plans does CAAMP have to mitigate the effect of this shrinking membership pool? I can see an increase in fees coming shortly to support the bureaucracy that has been built during the headier days of mortgage origination. It is now time to trim and trim fast . All expenditures should we tied directly to revenue.
John
I side with Bryan. How does a golf tournament help me close more mortgages??? Give us real tools we can easily access and use to improve our businesses.
It’s $225/YEAR… you spend more on coffee in 6 months…
I would also like to see some kind of volume or deal minimum before you can achieve the AMP-candidate designation. Unless you’ve arranged $15 million and 50 deals you’re not a “professional” IMO.
Its good to hear that Membership fee revenue grew Salaries and benefits rose 8% and so on… but we just hope that all of these are true..