Interview with Albert Collu

VERICO’s new president explains how he imagines himself fitting in with the respected broker network, and answers the one question that seems to be on every broker’s mind

VERICO’s new president explains how he imagines himself fitting in with the respected broker network, and answers the one question that seems to be on every broker’s mind.

“[Verico has] accomplished so much over their 10 year, 11 year history,” Albert Collu, president of VERICO, told MortgageBrokerNews.ca. “They’ve built a great business; however, I think there are parts of the business I’m confident we can add value to as it relates to specific strategies and services to really enhance the business of the licensees that are currently in place and maybe to attract more down the road.”

Collu officially stepped into the role September 1. 

He brings with him over a decade of mortgage industry experience, most recently as the CEO and president of Mortgage Architects.

But that doesn’t mean he’s coming in, guns a-blazing.

“The company has done an incredible job without me. I’m looking more just to be an added resource for the VERICO staff and operations as well as the licensees in any way, shape I can to help them build their businesses,” Collu said. “Truthfully, I’m just going to spend the next 3-4 months to learn from the VERICO team, with John and Colin, to understand how VERICO has gotten to where it is. 

“And then I’ll work with the licensees to identify what we’ve done really, really well; what gaps and opportunities there are and really start filling those as early as January, where I can.”

Despite VERICO being based in Vancouver, Collu will remain in Toronto. The network is establishing a secondary home-base in Canada’s largest city.

“Make no mistake: Ontario is not a small market for VERICO. What it does for us is not necessarily comment on whether we can attract more people from the Ontario markets or eastern markets; it’s more a commentary of spreading out the operational load,” Collu said. “Most of the lending, insurer, and  supply-side is based here, so it makes us a little bit more strategically efficient so we can conduct better meetings and we can create better synergies. This just gives us an added footprint.”

Collu Joins VERICO mere months after his former company, Mortgage Architects, was acquired by rival Dominion Lending Centres.

The question had to be asked: Did that acquisition factor into Collu’s decision to join VERICO?
“That question gets asked all the time. The truth is, when that acquisition occurred, I went into the environment with an open mind and that I was going to give everything I had, thereafter,” Collu said. “I owed it to the staff at Mortgage Architects, I owed it to the brokers; they’re all top shelf. The brokers are top shelf, the staff is top shelf, so I wanted to give everything I could to that particular group.

“Did it factor? No, not immediately. No. But time has a way of opening up opportunities and new thoughts and new endeavours.”