I first met Ivan in December 1979 at The Ontario Economic Council’s (a government-sponsored think tank) Christmas Party (as they were called back then). Sharon was the office manager for the Council, which meant she had the task of looking after a bunch of profs and graduate students who needed some real-world direction about where to sit and how to sign up to get paid. Ivan was her date for the party.
I recall that he fairly crackled with intellectual energy ...and this in a roomful of some very bright people... and that he had a way of engaging with you directly (in your face, but not in a threatening way). I also recall - and it was obvious to everyone there - that he was besotted with Sharon.
He asked me what I intended to do after my term at the Council ended, and offered lunch and advice to help me with the transition. One the best moves I ever made was to take him up on that offer.
Fast forward to 2002 (and after he had left FirstLine/CIBC); I re-joined him at Xceed Mortgage Corporation. We had a short but glorious ride before the liquidity crisis of 2008 took away most of our funding sources.
We sold Xceed in 2013, Ivan “retired” and I went on to become the CEO of Haventree Bank, and in that role continued to draw on his knowledge, experience and generosity with time and advice. He was truly a mentor without whom, I would not have been able to do what I did.
Just like you Brendan, I miss him …
Michael Jones
President and CEO
Xceed Mortgage Corporation, 2002-2013
In 1978 I met Ivan at CanReit (Canada’s first REIT?) where he was waiting in the lobby for my partner Harry Knutson to pitch him something. “Why wait, pitch me!” and that was the beginning of wonderful friendship.
Ivan was pitching an insurance brokerage idea and a mortgage brokerage idea. We bought in.
In 1979, we sold the REIT to Gerry Schwartz and moved on to Metropolitan Trust to run some forgotten savings companies. Ivan did know about mortgages. Then I got convinced to run an 80-year-old Fidelity Trust (owned by Peter Pocklington) and I persuaded Ivan to join me to run the mortgage side where he got to start his GMC (Guarantee Mortgage Certificate) idea.
We had to sell Fidelity in 1983 after Trudeau’s NEP made our legacy Alberta mortgages worthless. But we had gained a reputation with the regulators for being honest and competent. A young Alan Jette helped us with the balance sheet.
Allan Silber of Counsel Trust asked us to join him. We did and Ivan’s GMC idea was now blossoming into being the start of Canada’s mortgage securitization market.
Ivan had met Bob Ord who brought us First Western Trust which we bought (with help from Jay Hennick) and renamed it FirstLine Trust - focused on only being a mortgage bank. Together Ivan and I left Counsel in 1989 and took Firstline with us, with the help of Manulife as the major investor.
Mortgage securitization caught on because it was a better deal for consumers, mortgage brokers and institutional investors without the layers of big bank bureaucracy.
In 1995, there was a change of CEO at Manulife who wanted us out. So, we put it up for sale and all the Big Banks bid for us. We chose CIBC. It worked out. We left in 2000, and Ivan went on to buy and grow Xceed.
Throughout our 20-year business relationship he was always the brains, and I was the brawn, with organizational guidance from Doug Emerson.
While our business and management partnership ended then, Ivan and I remained personal friends. He did have lots of ideas about new businesses, good wine, travel locations and restaurants.
We had our usual yearly lunch with his Sharon and my Mary at Joe’s Stone Crab two months before his death (the white wine had to be kept cold, really cold).
We’ll miss him.
Brendan Calder
Chair, President and CEO
CIBC Mortgages, 1996 - 2000
President/Co-founder & Significant Shareholder
FirstLine Trust Company, 1988 - 1996