A renewed focus on developing business

Business development and growth takes on a new urgency in the mortgage channel

Lenders who have prided themselves on partnering with brokers are making a concerted effort to focus on business development to remain competitive in the lending channel.

One newcomer to the space, Canadiana Financial, has brought on board two people into this role in recent weeks for its west coast and Toronto area markets.

“We welcome Shaun Francis and Stella Racioppo to the team for our business development in Vancouver and the GTA East,” says Kevin Conroy, president at Canadiana.

One brokerage made similar moves back in the summer when it hired Dan Pauls and Amanda Chalifour to grow its markets.

“Dan joined us on June 15 as our regional sales manager, South Western Ontario,” says Gavin Marshall, president and CEO of Magenta Capital Corporation. “Amanda joined us as a funding specialist in our Kanata office.”

Francis and Racioppo will be the new directors of business development for Vancouver, B.C. and Toronto, Ont. respectively.

Francis spent 11 years at a large bank and for the past six years was a mobile mortgage specialist; while Racioppo comes from the appraisal services industry where she was a national account manager for the past seven years, and in the financial services for the past 14 years.

“Their attention to detail, knowledge of the industry and exceptional customer service will make them a great asset to our broker partners,” says Conroy.