finance

Bull, bear or bubble?

Though North American stock indexes have risen to new heights in recent months, anyone who regularly checks financial news these days is unlikely to encounter the words “calm” and “steady” in descriptions of present-day markets. Rather, financial media are inclined to employ adjectives such as “turbulent” and “rocky.” Some headlines are saying the market (or sectors within it) is in bubble territory. Meanwhile, gold, often a refuge for those looking for stability, has also climbed to all-time highs.

David Heyman, a financial adviser for Edward Jones in Victoria, said it’s hard to decide whether we are in a bubble or not. COVID, he argues, exposed the vulnerabilities of the world’s supply chains, and many governments, especially in the United States, focused on domestic industries as a means not to be dependent on suppliers in other parts of the world.

“This is inflationary and costly, but it partly explains the strength in stock markets. Trump, in particular, is determined to bring industrial production back to the US. This trend is expected to continue for many years,” Heyman said.

To avoid risk in the event of a precipitous market decline, Heyman advises those close to retirement to have portfolios heavier in bonds and GICs (guaranteed investment certificates). For those in the earlier stages of their careers, he thinks equities, in the long run, are the way to go.

“History shows you can make a lot more in the stock market than you can in the bond market, but you’ll have to be able to withstand the volatility and endure the next recession, which will come one day,” he said.

In Canada, Heyman said, high prices in the housing market and the fact that interest rates may not fall as low as hoped have put the domestic housing market under pressure. Further, unemployment in Canada is heading upwards, while tariffs are in place and a trade deal remains elusive. There is a similar situation in the United States, he added, with inflation expected to remain high.

“The impact of tariffs in Canada has not been fully felt, as the Canadian dollar has declined to compensate, but Canada is more exposed to US tariffs than most countries. Sharply lower immigration in Canada will also have a dampening effect on the economy,” Heyman said.

Shay (Shy) Keil, senior wealth advisor at ScotiaMcLeod, said many people are worried that a market correction is imminent but that each investor would be impacted differently.

“Be mindful of what you own and make sure you are not overly concentrated in any one area,” Keil said. “When you are young, you have the time to weather 10-15% declines in the stock market. When you are retired or nearing retirement, your ability to withstand a market decline is absolutely a function of how you are invested, and the reality is that many people do not know what risks are in their portfolios.

“The challenge is that, when markets are volatile, investors often shift to much lower rate GICs/bonds without considering the significant impact it will have on their monthly income,” said Keil. “We would recommend to consider investing more into blue chip investments that will potentially maintain strong income and historically may not be as impacted by market volatility.”

Keil specializes in guiding clients with tax-smart strategies and cash flow solutions. “Earning predictable and consistent income is valuable in all market and economic cycles,” he said. “Our clients sleep better knowing they can draw from this income without touching their original capital, even when markets are volatile.”

This year has been a stellar one for technology stocks. As of Oct. 16, the sector on the S&P 500 index, where many mutual funds are invested, has risen more than 19%, with some companies climbing nearly 35% year-to-date. Consumer and energy stocks have shown much more modest increases and have declined in some cases.

On the Toronto Stock Exchange, most sectors have done well in 2025, with IT and materials leading the way during the current bull market. Consumer staples, utilities and health care are often considered stocks that perform well in bear markets.

In general, bonds, while offering a lower return, tend to be more stable than stocks. GICs are investments with set rates of return that are guaranteed up to $100,000 by the Canada Deposit Insurance Corporation (CDIC).

When investing, one should understand that there is a risk of losing money. While financial institutions may present packages that draw attention to positive returns over the course of several years, they will also include words to the effect that funds are not guaranteed to go up, values fluctuate and future results may not mirror past performance.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC. This article is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment or other advice.

From the archives … a coin, etc.

My latest trip down a rabbit hole was inspired by this issue’s theme of Finance & Law. One of the first news items that caught my eye was “Model for U.S. Coin Revealed as a Jewess at Marriage.” The two-paragraph story appeared in the July 24, 1930, copy of one of the Jewish Independent’s predecessors, the Jewish Centre News.

“Through her marriage it was revealed that Miss Doris Doscher, whose face adorns the new twenty-five cent pieces issued by the National Treasury, is a Jewess. She was married yesterday to Dr. H. William Baum at the Jewish Institute of Religion,” reads the article.

“Miss Doscher was selected several years ago by the government representatives as the model for the new twenty-five cent pieces because she characterized ‘the highest type of American Womanhood.’”

Doscher, who lived from 1882 to 1970, was an actress (in silent films!) and model. Her main claim to fame movie-wise seems to have been the role of Eve in 1918’s The Birth of a Race. Her most famous modeling ventures were for the Standing Liberty Quarter (in circulation 1916-1930), designed by Hermon Atkins MacNeil, and for the Pulitzer Fountain of Abundance by Karl Bitter (and Thomas Hastings, according to nycgovparks.org), which was dedicated in 2016, having been completed by Isidore Konti and Karl Gruppe after Bitter died in 1915. The fountain is located at Grand Army Plaza in Manhattan.

From the late 1920s, Doscher worked as a newspaper columnist and radio broadcaster, even having her own health and beauty column for a time; she also lectured on the topic. But, back to the Standing Liberty Quarter, which was controversial for a couple of reasons.

image - A 1918 print of Doris Doscher, horizontally flipped for comparison to the Standing Liberty Quarter, for which she may have been the model — A 1918 print of Doris Doscher, horizontally flipped for comparison to the Standing Liberty Quarter, for which she may have been the model. (photo from mediastorehouse.com)

image - Standing Liberty Quarter, 1930 — The Standing Liberty Quarter, 1930.

The first iteration of Liberty was quite risqué, with her right breast exposed, which apparently appalled the women’s movement of the day, as well as clergy and others. According to edmontoncoinclub.com, “The initial production run of 52,000 pieces had made their way through the Treasury system by January 1917; by then, the production of the ‘Type 1’ 1917 issue was already in full-swing … but by early 1917 clearly something had to be done. Hermon MacNeil was obliged to modify his design, which he strenuously objected to [an article on uscoinnews.com asserts that MacNeil never authorized the design change], and the reasons that were given to him by the mint were everything from poor striking characteristics, relief problems, die wear, coin wear, anything else but that exposed breast. The dies were modified in time for the 1918 strike (known as ‘Type 2’), and it featured a now ‘clad-to-the-neck’ in chain-mail Liberty.” Other changes were made for that casting and there were later revisions.

“The last run of the Standing Liberty Quarter took place in 1930, with only Philadelphia and San Francisco minting them. None were made in 1931 or 1932, possibly reflecting an oversupply because of the Great Depression, which had decimated the world economy in 1929,” notes the article on edmontoncoinclub.com.

The second controversy – which is still unresolved – arose after Doscher died. In 1972, another actress and model, Irene MacDowell, claimed to have been MacNeil’s model. According to various reports, her husband was friends with MacNeil and would not have approved of her modeling for the sculptor, hence, the secrecy. Another rumour is that MacNeil’s wife considered MacDowell a threat to her marriage, and so the sculptor kept her identity hidden.

It may never be known whether MacDowell or Doscher was the real model for the Standing Liberty Quarter, but Doscher was publicly credited, becoming known as known as “the girl on the Quarter.” And the moniker stuck. As noted on a memorial site for MacNeil (hermonatkinsmacneil.com), “100 years after the birth of Hermon MacNeil and fifty years after the Standing Liberty Quarter was minted, Doris Doscher Baum appeared on the TV quiz show I’ve Got a Secret on April 4, 1966.” The video is on YouTube.

There’s even more on this whole topic – including the reason the Standing Liberty coin was made. According to a blog on greatamericancoincompany.com, “When Robert W. Woolley took office as Mint director in April 1915, he asked [Philadelphia Mint superintendent Adam] Joyce to have [Mint chief engraver Charles] Barber submit some new designs for the dime, quarter and half dollar. It seems Woolley misinterpreted a memo from the assistant treasury secretary stating that coin designs could be changed after 25 years. Woolley took it to mean they must be changed and set the redesign wheels in motion.”

Barber’s suggested designs did not impress, and so a few sculptors were asked to make a submission, and MacNeil’s won. In the end, the blog notes, more than 214 million MacNeil quarters were made.

I could have spent as many hours exploring the other clippings I picked for this issue’s theme. I settled on a group that, to me, shows the paper’s diversity, as well as how technology and societal attitudes change over the years.

image - April 4, 1947: In an article by Winnipeg Jewish community member David Orlikow, Saskatchewan’s then-premier Tommy Douglas talks about the Bill of Rights his province was introducing – the first such bill in Canada. Orlikow would have a 43-year political career, including 26 years as an MP (1962-1988) — April 4, 1947: In an article by Winnipeg Jewish community member David Orlikow, Saskatchewan’s then-premier Tommy Douglas talks about the Bill of Rights his province was introducing – the first such bill in Canada. Orlikow would have a 43-year political career, including 26 years as an MP (1962-1988).

imaeg - Oct. 17, 1969: An organization called the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education was appalled, to say the least, by the goings-on at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, which, it contended, created “a national hallucination which has distorted the minds of 200,000,000 Americans as to what is wrong morally" — Oct. 17, 1969: An organization called the National Committee for Furtherance of Jewish Education was appalled, to say the least, by the goings-on at the Woodstock Music and Arts Festival, which, it contended, created “a national hallucination which has distorted the minds of 200,000,000 Americans as to what is wrong morally.”

image 2 - Community organizations need to fundraise, of course. A couple of the longest-running initiatives were the Hadassah Bazaar, which may have started in 1933 as a small affair at the JCC that graduated to Seaforth Armories in 1952, though the 1952 bazaar is generally counted as the first one and the 2007 event at the Hellenic Community Centre as the last; and the community phone directory, a fundraiser for Vancouver Talmud Torah that ran from 1959 to 2013-14. — Community organizations need to fundraise, of course. A couple of the longest-running initiatives were the Hadassah Bazaar, which may have started in 1933 as a small affair at the JCC that graduated to Seaforth Armories in 1952, though the 1952 bazaar is generally counted as the first one and the 2007 event at the Hellenic Community Centre as the last; and the community phone directory, a fundraiser for Vancouver Talmud Torah that ran from 1959 to 2013-14.

image - Nov. 17, 1995: Antisemitic graffiti on Beth Israel Synagogue concerned a passerby, but it was a “false alarm.” BI had agreed for its exterior to be used for “an episode of the locally-produced cop show The Commish.” — Nov. 17, 1995: Antisemitic graffiti on Beth Israel Synagogue concerned a passerby, but it was a “false alarm.” BI had agreed for its exterior to be used for “an episode of the locally-produced cop show The Commish.”

At the top of his game

Shay Keil with daughter Tali, a student at King David High School. (photo from Shay Keil)

A Vancouver-area wealth manager and philanthropist is celebrating a trifecta of milestones.

Shay Keil (pronounced “Shy Kyle”) has just been named one of Canada’s 150 top wealth advisors by the Globe and Mail’s Report on Business magazine. The accolade comes just as Keil marks 30 years in the finance industry. To top it off, he set out to mark the 30-year milestone by raising and donating $30,000 to B.C. Children’s Hospital – instead, he recently handed over a cheque for $51,000.

photo - Shay Keil has been named one of Canada’s 150 top wealth advisors by the Globe and Mail — Shay Keil has been named one of Canada’s 150 top wealth advisors by the *Globe and Mail. (photo from Shay Keil)*

In addition to his work anniversary, the fundraiser was inspired by the son of Keil’s former assistant, who was in Children’s Hospital for an extended period last summer.

“He was diagnosed with a very severe form of epilepsy and he suffered from dozens of seizures in the month of July,” Keil said. “He is recovering well and the treatment program at Children’s Hospital seems to have resolved all of his seizure problems and he’s been seizure-free August, September, October. It’s quite a testament to the amazing work they did.”

Keil initially wasn’t certain his $30,000 goal was realistic.

“I was worried I wouldn’t even raise $30,000 but lots of people have rallied,” he said. “It was really amazing, so I was very proud.”

That achievement was still fresh when Report on Business rolled off the presses, placing Keil among the foremost Canadians in his field.

“I don’t often toot my own horn,” he said, “but, frankly, having 30 years, raising $51,000 and then being voted in by the Globe and Mail to be in the top list of wealth advisors is an enormously proud moment in my career. It’s validating all the hard work I’ve done all these years at delivering top-quality financial guidance to my clients and building a large client base of people who trust me.”

Keil’s work focuses on tax, income and charitable strategies. A confirmed “numbers guy,” he thrives on helping clients realize their goals, he said.

“I’m giving people comfort and peace of mind in dealing with their financial future,” he said.

Keil was born in Tel Aviv and moved to Vancouver as a child. He attended Vancouver Talmud Torah and graduated from Eric Hamber Secondary School. His entire three-decade career has been with Scotiabank, where he started as a bank teller and moved up through the ranks to become a wealth advisor with ScotiaMcLeod.

“Honoured, overwhelmed, proud,” are the words he uses to describe his feelings at the confluence of accolades.

“I’m very committed to giving back to my community and to educating young people on how to understand their financial pictures and objectives,” he said.

photo - nOne of Shay Keil’s passions is driving racecars — One of Shay Keil’s passions is driving racecars. *(photo from Shay Keil)*

Keil has been involved in a panoply of Jewish community institutions as a volunteer and financial supporter. He is a past president of Richmond Jewish Day School and is currently on the board of directors of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, as well as co-chair of major donor gifts for Federation’s annual campaign. His other significant commitments include Jewish Family Services, Chabad of Richmond, Beth Tikvah and Beth Israel synagogues, the Jewish Community Centre of Greater Vancouver, King David High School and the Louis Brier Home and Hospital.

When not working or volunteering, Keil spends time with his family – wife Mickey, son Trevin (a third-year university student) and daughter Tali (Grade 11 at King David). He also loves camping and golf and has a thrill-seeking side, which he feeds driving racecars.

“I’m having so much fun I’m going to continue doing what I’m doing,” he said. “I’m having the time of my life.”

Real estate in time of COVID

Michael Geller at the groundbreaking of ConWest’s IRONWORKS development in 2017. (photo from Michael Geller)

The COVID pandemic and the months of social isolation it created will have impacts on real estate prices, urban design and human behaviours, says a local expert. But the changes are not likely to be revolutionary so much as accelerate trends already underway.

Michael Geller, an architect, planner, real estate consultant and property developer, spoke to the Temple Sholom Men’s Club in a virtual event via the meeting platform Zoom May 25. (For more on the club, click here.) Geller is also adjunct professor in Simon Fraser University’s Centre for Sustainable Community Development and a longtime leader in Jewish communal organizations. His topic was Real Estate in the Era of COVID.

“Housing sales are down significantly and are as low as they have been in recent memory,” he said. Wages have been dramatically impacted for an enormous number of individuals and household debt is increasing significantly. Many renters are unable to meet their payments.

Housing sales are affected by the obvious issues of economics, but also because buyers and sellers are reticent about the physical interaction required in the process of viewing potential homes. Sales have not entirely collapsed, though, he noted.

“There are still some bidding wars for more affordable condos, priced under $700,000,” said Geller, adding: “Can you imagine 30 years ago being told that affordable condos would be under 700,000? It just shows you what has happened to our market in recent years.”

While sales are down, there has not been a significant increase in the supply of either listings or new homes coming to market, he said. “So, at the moment, we aren’t seeing the dramatic drop in prices that many assumed, myself included, would occur.”

What may occur is a stalling of new construction because lenders are cautious. “They don’t want to lend money for anyone to buy land at the moment,” he said. “This is a significant factor.”

While there were many years when there was almost no purpose-built rental housing created, this has shifted, with about 4,000 new units this year in the city proper and 9,300 in Metro Vancouver. This supply, combined with the economic challenges brought about by the pandemic, have had impacts on rental rates. “For the first time in a long time, we are starting to see a softening of rent,” he said.

Foreign investment has been credited with playing an outsized role in property values in recent decades and some commentators speculate that buyers may be “circling like vultures” in the event of comparative real estate bargains in British Columbia, he said.

Geller noted the opposite could occur, however, as the market softens. “Some of the people who came, especially from mainland China but also Hong Kong and Europe, might actually divest themselves of their investments and pull out of the Vancouver market,” he said.

International events will also likely play a role. Uncertainty and upheaval around changes in China’s governance of Hong Kong could make Canada very appealing, especially to the 300,000 residents of Hong Kong who have Canadian citizenship.

“We have a high level of personal safety and, when you think about it, that is one of the most important considerations,” he said. “You can have all the money in the world but if you don’t feel safe in your home at night, you may not necessarily stay in that home.”

British Columbia’s recognized success in dealing with the pandemic has enhanced its international image. “As we start to focus more and more on health issues, that cannot be ignored,” he said.

Foreign investment in Vancouver has dropped significantly since the implementation of the foreign buyers’ tax.

“Will those foreign buyers come back, even if they have to pay 20% premium?” Geller asked. “If they don’t come back, and if that means local developers decide not to build, whether it be rental or condominiums, and we start to see significant unemployment of all those construction workers … then it may well be that the government says, you know, this is a difficult situation, these are unprecedented times and maybe they’ll just decide that, for the next two years, the foreign buyers tax will be reduced to five percent rather than 20% in order to stimulate the economy.”

On the commercial real estate front, the experience of working from home may change our relationship to the office. If people continue working remotely, that could reduce demand for office space. On the flip side, new ideas of personal space and social distancing could mean that people come to expect fewer workers in more space, thereby increasing demand.

If more people do opt for remote work options, some may choose to move to more affordable and remote locations. Home design might adapt to include formal workspaces so that people aren’t using kitchen counters as desks. Condo towers and apartment buildings might opt for hotel-style shared business centres rather than spas. They may move toward more “touchless tech” – a familiar example being the Shabbat elevator.

As stores reopen, retailers may see a decline in shoppers, but Geller suspects that warehouse space is headed for a bull market. “As more and more people are buying online, there is a need for more and more warehouse space to store all this product before it’s delivered,” he said. “This applies not just to clothing and giftware, it applies to food and other goods that are stored in cold warehouses.”

Looking at social changes that have resulted from pandemics in previous centuries, Geller said, “One of the things that came out of [earlier pandemics] was an appreciation of the need for more parks and green space throughout the cities. Central Park in New York, that was created by the New York City Board of Health because of the belief that this would lead to improved human environmental health for everybody in the city. In most European cities and many other American cities, large parks and green networks were created to help people lead healthier lives.”

Improved sanitation, water supply and sewage treatment systems were also at least partly a result of these catastrophes. Home design changed, including the advent of sleeping porches, based on the understanding that fresh air was preferable to stuffy interiors. The modern bathroom, including the proliferation of white tiles that both made it easier to clean and added to the perception of sterility, emerged. Wooden toilet seats, which were the norm, were replaced by plastic ones.

“The powder room became a creation in a larger house because the man who came to deliver the coal or to deliver the ice, you didn’t want them going through your house using your bathroom, so powder rooms became popular,” he said.

Though he had plenty of ideas, Geller was emphatic that he didn’t really know what the future holds. But he has some confidence about a general forecast.

“Often,” he said, “pandemics and similar sorts of events accelerate changes that were already happening.”

Financial hopes

In a Temple Sholom webinar May 6, ZLC Financial’s Garry Zlotnik, left, and Jon McKinney spoke on the topic Financial Planning in a Pandemic. (photos from Temple Sholom)

Reflecting on previous financial downturns – in 1987, 2000 and 2008 – Garry Zlotnik, chair and chief executive officer of ZLC Financial, admitted he felt worse now, during the COVID-19 pandemic, than in earlier recessions – not because of the economic implications but rather the health issues currently confronting the world.

“A year from now, two years from now, we’ll look back on this time and say, ‘Wow, that was just the most ridiculous, crazy thing in our lifetimes.’ But things will move forward in a positive way, with all the ingenuity that our population has,” Zlotnik said, adding that, as in any market, there are winners, such as Zoom, the web conferencing platform on which the webinar – called Financial Planning in a Pandemic – took place May 6.

Zlotnik was joined by Jon McKinney, ZLC’s president and portfolio manager, in the hour-long discussion, which was part of Temple Sholom’s Let’s Talk About It series.

McKinney holds overall responsibility for client relations, business development and administration at ZLC and has almost 30 years of financial sector experience in both portfolio management and accounting. Zlotnik, who has close to 40 years of experience as a chartered accountant and formed ZLC Wealth in 2000 – ZLC Financial was established in 1946 – also has served in numerous positions within the Jewish community, including as board president and chair of the Jewish Federation of Greater Vancouver, co-chair of the Vancouver JCC Maccabi Games, co-president of Vancouver Talmud Torah, treasurer of B’nai Brith Canada and president of the Richmond Country Club.

Though the spread of the virus has been flattening lately, the economic statistics – jobless claims, consumer spending – have been grim, with Canada’s economy further challenged by tense U.S.-China trade relations and a downward turn in the price of oil. According to McKinney, a silver lining has been the stimulus and bond buying by governments and central banks to prop up markets.

McKinney cited a Warren Buffett maxim from the midst of the 2008 recession: “Be fearful when others are greedy and be greedy when others are fearful.” If one had heeded that advice in late March of this year, he said, then April would have seen the best returns for equities since 1987, particularly as the U.S. Federal Reserve had been displaying its willingness to pump liquidity into the markets. The S&P 500 index, for example, gained 12.7% last month.

A principal message of the discussion was for investors to take a broad, long-term view. “Market timing is impossible,” McKinney cautioned. “But we can tell you there will be a bottom, and holding investments in companies that can weather this storm will be profitable long-term.”

In outlining ZLC’s own investment strategy, McKinney said, “We have reasonable diversification across different holdings and we pick good managers. We don’t just buy the index, and we look for companies that fly under the radar. We also invest in long/short funds and real estate.”

However, ZLC is concerned that there may be a retreat from the level the market is at now, as more bad news could filter through the system. Short-term, they believe, there could be a pullback and, if it comes, it will provide a great opportunity for investors.

“There are going to be some fairly volatile times ahead,” Zlotnik predicted, mentioning that it will take some time for people to get used to spending as they once did in pre-coronavirus times.

Oil and gas is one sector that has been beaten up in the past three quarters. It is, according to McKinney, contingent on the economy whether it rebounds, but many companies in the sector have seen strong gains through April and May.

“Every asset class has taken a hit,” Zlotnik said, though he sees opportunities in corporate bonds, which operate like a bond when a company’s price goes down and like equity when its price increases.

As for the Canadian dollar, McKinney forecasted the loonie either staying where it is or moving slightly higher after the recent rush to U.S. dollars, which tends to happen during economic crises.

For those with some money to put into the market, Zlotnik spoke of “dollar cost average strategy,” which means placing a fixed amount into a given investment on a regular basis. For example, if someone has $100,000 to invest, then they would place $10,000 in a given investment once a month for 10 months.

“It is important to know what one’s risk tolerance is and having a plan based on that,” he noted. Since March 2009, investment risk, for Vancouverites especially, has not been a factor, as both the equity and real estate markets have headed in an upwards direction.

A video of the webinar can be found on the Temple Sholom website: templesholom.ca/video.

Sam Margolis has written for the Globe and Mail, the National Post, UPI and MSNBC.

Mortgage industry’s future

(photo by Nick Youngson / Alpha Stock Images)

The next decade is going to see an evolution in how Canadians obtain mortgages. These shifts will transform the experience for both the mortgage professional and, more importantly, the borrower. Here’s where things are now and what I foresee.

The mortgage industry

A borrower can go to three sources to get their mortgage: account managers at banks, mortgage specialists at banks and mortgage brokers. (I use “bank” as a catchall for financial institutions, including credit unions and trust companies. Financial planners are not included because they represent such a small slice of the pie and refer files to mortgage specialists.)

Employees, particularly account managers, are a bank’s frontline team for mortgages. These salaried employees get incentives if they hit sales targets, but they are, by definition, jacks-of-all-trades. They help with a client’s routine banking needs, open investment accounts, provide general advice and also write mortgages.

Because mortgages are complex, account managers are encouraged (and often required) to send their mortgage applications to a mortgage specialist. This is good policy, because it is best to have an expert eye review something as significant as an average family’s most significant investment and the average bank’s bread-and-butter. Also, because there have rightly been many – one expert told me there was a total of 168 – new rules since the 2008 financial crisis, it has become increasingly difficult to “dabble” in mortgages.

Given these developments, a consumer would be wise to trust the most important financial transaction in their life to a professional who has expertise in a single field, rather than a generalist who is doing mortgages off the side of their desk.

Of course, every bank employs a network of mortgage specialists, with each bank investing varying amounts of resources into training. Still, a mortgage specialist is just that: a bank employee who specializes in mortgages.

Most banks’ mortgage specialists are commission-based and can make a good living from their work. But remember: bank specialists work for the bank, not for you. (They also don’t require a licence or any accreditation to write up your mortgage application.)

Mortgage brokers are independent professionals whose unique responsibility is finding the ideal financial solution for each client, not whatever rate or product their bank is pushing on any given day.

A mortgage broker is a professional who has successfully completed an educational process, passed an exam and undergone comprehensive assessments, including biannual criminal background checks. Additionally, continuing education is required to ensure that mortgage brokers remain informed of the latest developments in this ever-changing industry. Mortgage professionals at the banks, however well-intentioned or however closely they follow the business pages, have no such requirements.

It is commonly said that a mortgage broker “shops around” for the best rate. This is partly true, but there’s more. Brokers know the rates and conditions of every lender. What we do with that information is tailor each client’s need with rate and product choices, allowing them, with their mortgage broker’s guidance, to make the most informed, appropriate decision for what best suits them.

For example, a broker might recommend a more flexible mortgage product with a slightly higher-than-base rate versus a lower rate with restrictions. This is crucial because, again, everyone’s case is unique. Circumstances change. Relocation is sometimes unavoidable.

Even better: for most mortgages, a mortgage broker’s service is provided at no cost to the borrower. Brokers earn their keep from the lender that finances the borrower’s mortgage.

Where is industry headed?

Account managers at banks will continue to write mortgage applications because this remains an efficient use of the bank’s resources. The banks have been building increasingly sophisticated mortgage application platforms for their mortgage specialists and account managers to use. These easy-to-use apps are straightforward and allow their employees to quickly and efficiently pull together all of the necessary information to verify credit data and employment, assess risk and review the property, all at the click of a few buttons.

The banks built these systems so that employees with less expertise (and lower salaries) can replicate or reduce the work of more highly trained professional staff. And, since mortgage specialists are largely commission-based, it seems to me that banks will increasingly depend on salaried individuals who read from their computer screen while dealing with mortgage-seekers.

The obvious issue with an account manager reading off a screen is that, at any point in time where real advice is required, the bank employee will not have the training or experience to provide it.

There is, of course, still currently a place for bank specialists. The best of them can and do give the best service possible to their clients.

My prediction is that the mortgage specialist role will be curtailed until only a few high producers remain. Banks will probably continue to make it easier for mortgage specialists to do their jobs, allowing them to take on more files and the best will grow and the worst will drop off.

Don’t misunderstand me. There is a place for technology, obviously, in the process. In fact, mortgage brokers, by necessity, are entrepreneurial

and resourceful, and have created economies of scale, processing documentation and applications more efficiently than ever. For instance, my team and I have automated the process of 70-plus internal steps per client throughout the mortgage process, streamlining everything for ourselves so that our clients can benefit from the most comprehensive and individualized experience we can offer. This involved a lot of time up-front, but it means that our clients receive the service they want, tailor-fit to their specific needs.

My prediction for mortgage brokers is that there will be a culling of the herd, just like with mortgage specialists. A broker, and any consultant in this day and age, needs to innovate and use the newest technologies to stay relevant in the eyes of borrowers. Not just that, the brokers themselves need to know each lender’s products and how to get files approved.

Superb knowledge, a fast and efficient process, and amazing customer service will become the bare minimum in the future, and the specialists and brokers who “dabble” or aren’t 100% committed to improving their craft will get left in the dust.

Eitan Pinsky is principal of Pinsky Mortgages, a Vancouver-based mortgage broker.

Praise for whistleblowers

Alan Le Fevre, president of the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society, and Acting Mayor Raymond Louie, right, with the City of Vancouver’s proclamation of Raoul Wallenberg Day. (photo by Masumi Kikuchi)

“If we had a society that was free from embezzlement, free of theft, free of dishonesty, free of unethical conduct, we wouldn’t need whistleblowers. But, unfortunately, we are not a perfect society,” said Ujjal Dosanjh in his keynote address at the 13th annual Raoul Wallenberg Day event, which was held on Jan. 14 at the H.R. MacMillan Space Centre.

Dosanjh, a former federal cabinet minister, B.C. attorney general and the province’s 33rd premier, was, in 2015, the inaugural recipient of the Wallenberg-Sugihara Civil Courage Society’s Civil Courage Award. He was recognized for “his great courage in the face of escalating violence by extremists in the Indo-Canadian community that arose from conflicts that had erupted in India,” said WSCCS board member Ana Policzer in her remarks on Sunday.

The society hosts the annual Wallenberg Day event and, this year, they honoured Vancouver-based lawyer Alayne Fleischmann with the Civil Courage Award.

Fleischmann was born in Terrace, B.C. She got her bachelor’s degree in philosophy from the University of British Columbia, her master’s in international and comparative law from the Institute of International and Comparative Law, Cornell Law School and Université Paris (Sorbonne), and her juris doctor degree from Cornell. In 2006, she was working in quality control at JPMorgan Chase in New York. There, she discovered and tried to stop what she described as “massive criminal securities fraud” – mortgage operations similar to those of many other financial institutions, which led to the 2008 economic collapse. Her efforts resulted in a $9 billion fine being levied on JPMorgan Chase, but no one from the bank was ever prosecuted. She moved back to British Columbia in 2008.

In a 2014 Rolling Stone article, writer Matt Taibbi goes into great detail about Fleischmann’s experiences, the difficulties she faced in bringing the truth to light and the limited impact the truth played in whatever minor justice was carried out against all the banks guilty of mortgage-related wrongdoings. In effect, Taibbi argues, the U.S. department of justice “struck a series of historic settlement deals with Chase, Citigroup and Bank of America. The root bargain in these deals was cash for secrecy. The banks paid big fines, without trials or even judges – only secret negotiations that typically ended with the public shown nothing but vague, quasi-official papers called ‘statements of facts,’ which were conveniently devoid of anything like actual facts.”

The full Rolling Stone article can be accessed via wsccs.ca/wallenberg-days/2018. At the Wallenberg Day event, organizers screened a 2014 interview with Taibbi and Fleischmann by Democracy Now! WSCCS president Alan Le Fevre also spoke briefly about Fleischmann’s actions and why she was chosen to receive the Civil Courage Award. Unfortunately, Fleischmann could not accept the award in person because of the ongoing litigation.

In his remarks, Dosanjh saluted whistleblowers. “In Canada,” he said, “we don’t know too many of our own heroes…. But we have them. One that we have amongst us in Canada is the honouree tonight, Alayne Fleischmann.”

There are monetary costs to illegitimate or immoral actions, Dosanjh said, but such actions also “jeopardize the health, safety and well-being of the employees, the customers and the society of the institutions.”

Whistleblowers like Fleischmann set out to right a wrong, he said. They are morally compelled to the point where they take the “risk of losing their careers,” “being ostracized” and having rumours spread about them to “delegitimize the truth that they’re trying to tell.”

After such individuals come forward, he said, “life is never the same. You lose friends, you lose relationships, obviously you lose a job possibly, or you’re not promoted or you’re demoted…. And, sometimes, it can be dangerous physically. People have been known to be killed, at least across the border, for trying to expose the truth. Karen Silkwood comes to mind.”

Dosanjh warned that whistleblowers aren’t always correct, however, giving the example of eight B.C. health ministry workers who were found to have been wrongly dismissed in 2012, amid allegations of wrongdoing. “It’s a risky business,” he said. “You’re playing with your own life but you’re also playing with the lives of others you’re trying to expose.” So, you have to not only have the courage to speak up, he said, but the wisdom to know when to not do so, or when to investigate further before doing so.

Several audience members gave their take on corporate and government corruption in the question-and-answer period. Dosanjh said people need to get more vocal about these issues. “There is no silver bullet to deal with any particular issue,” he said. “It’s just a matter of becoming more active politically and raising your voices.”

To an audience member who decried greed as criminal, Dosanjh said, “If you say greed is the basic urge to make more money, that shouldn’t be a crime…. You want to make money, you want to work more … that’s what keeps the world going…. Illegal greed should be a crime – and it already is! The fact is we’re not prosecuting criminals, we’re not apprehending them, we’re not investigating them as much as we should, and we’re falling down in some respects.”

The afternoon event also included the reading by Acting Mayor Raymond Louie of the City of Vancouver proclamation of Jan. 14 as Raoul Wallenberg Day. He thanked event organizers and attendees for taking the time “to remember and to also recommit … with this ongoing effort to have a better world overall.”

The WSCCS is continually “seeking to identify people who, at significant personal risk, have helped to improve or save the lives of others by going against unjust laws or conventions.” For more information, visit wsccs.ca.