NICK MANCINI
Chairman of the Board
Nick has over 30 years' experience in the financial and information services industries in Canada, US and internationally. Over that time he has held the following senior executive positions: Managing Director of Amex Bank and Senior Vice President, General Manager, Financial Services Group, American Express; President & CEO, International Group, Dun & Bradstreet; Executive Vice President, Canada Trust; Senior Executive Vice President, Trimark Investment Management; President & CEO, Assante Canada. Founder and CEO, CCL Managed Portfolios Inc. He serves and has served on a number of private and public company boards and was an inaugural member of the Schulich Business School Advisory Council, International MBA Program and MIT/York Enterprise forum. He holds an Honours B.A. and Masters in Economics from York University.
Karl Straky
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, Canadian First Financial Holdings Limited
Mr. Straky has been involved in the mortgage sector for over 20 years. He was a principal of one of Canada's premier regional mortgage brokerage firms, Jordan Mortgages. He was also at the forefront of the creation of mortgage brokerage super brokers when he became a founder of Mortgage Intelligence. In addition, he was a previous owner of Filogix and the founder of The Mortgage Training Group. Karl's involvement with the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals (CAAMP) has been extensive. He served on the Executive Committee for four years as Secretary, Vice Chair, Chair and Past Chair. The AMP designation (Accredited Mortgage Professional) was created in 2001 under his stewardship as Chairman. During his four years as the Chair of the National Conference Committee, the annual conference grew from a regional event to the largest real-estate/finance related conference in Canada. Mr. Straky is also an active board member and advocate for the CAAMP Foundation. As a top-producing Mortgage Agent, he has received numerous awards and has been a member on a number of industry advisory committees. He is one of only five individuals to receive both the CAAMP Founders Award (2003) and the CAAMP Michael Ellenzweig Outstanding Service Award (2001) and is a member of the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame.
Robert Cummings
Director, President and Chief Executive Officer, CF Capital Corporation
Mr. Cummings is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Ontario and British Columbia. He has extensive banking experience in Canada, the United States and Central America. Mr. Cummings was Controller of The Bank of Nova Scotia's United States regional office, as well as serving with that bank's New York capital markets team, managing currency and interest rate swap books. Upon relocating to Canada, he joined CIBC as a Vice President, Corporate and Investment Banking. In that role, Mr. Cummings was responsible for the establishment of Canada's first asset-backed securitization business and eventually assumed the role of Senior Vice President responsible for the Ontario corporate region. Mr. Cummings was also responsible for CIBC's consumer, small business, and CIBC branded mortgage lending businesses. He joined Canada Trust in 1991 and held various roles helping to transform that financial institution into one of Canada's leading retail banking and wealth management companies. He eventually held the position of Executive Vice President, accountable for the company's retail, small business and commercial lending business, which included credit cards and mortgages. Most recently, Mr. Cummings was a Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Choice Bank, a Belizean-based private bank and credit card issuer, which he developed into a successful and profitable business. He has also served as a director on numerous corporate boards.
Stephen Ellis
COO, Wealth Management and Insurance, Canadian First Financial Holdings Limited
Stephen has led senior management teams in the attainment of strategic business goals and objectives as well as in the development of comprehensive compliance regimes at the securities and mutual fund dealership levels. His impressive strategic planning and business development expertise, combined with his broad base of experiences in the front, middle and back offices in a variety of settings, is a definite benefit to our organization as a whole.
Stephen has held senior positions with premier companies such as; Assante Canada - Chief Operating Officer Member of the Executive Committee responsible for the finance, legal, compliance, operations, information technology and human resource functions of the company. Management accountability for 400 staff, an operating budget of $30.0mm and a capital budget of between $15.0 and $25.0mm. President and Ultimate Designated Person (UDP) of Assante Capital Management (ACM) - the IDA registrant, President of Assante Financial Management (AFM) - the MFDA registrant, Chairman of the Risk Management Committee, Deutsche Bank Canada - Vice President and Director Responsible for the operations, technology and real estate services for Deutsche Bank Canada and its subsidiaries, reporting to the President. Management accountability for 65 staff, an operating budget of $10.0mm and a capital budget of $2.5mm, Credit Union Central of Ontario (CUCO) - Vice President - Treasury and Lending Member of the senior executive team at CUCO with responsibility for managing the balance sheet of $2.3Bln including its liquidity pool ($1.5Bln), credit union lending programs ($500mm) alternative investments ($150mm) and syndicated commercial lending portfolio ($150mm). Direct P&L responsibility for $17mm in financial margin and $1.5mm in fees. Oversight responsibilities for 20 professionals, analysts and administrative staff. Chairman of the ALCO and member of the Risk Management Committee, Bank of Montreal - Business Systems Manager - Technology Division Senior manager reporting to a Senior Vice-President responsible for developing new policies, processes and systems to improve the operational efficiency of, and manage the market, credit and operational risk for, the Treasury division. Management accountability for 40 staff, an operating budget of $3.5mm and a capital budget between $5.0mm and $10.0mm.
Fred Lazar, Director
Mr. Lazar brings an extremely impressive academic pedigree to our board, including a B.Comm. from the University of Toronto, as well as an M.A. and PH.D. from Harvard University. Mr. Lazar is currently an Associate Professor, Department of Economics, Faculty of Arts and Schulich School of Business of York University and is a past Director of the Graduate Program of Economics: Coordinator, Economics Area, Schulich. Among his high-profile endeavours Mr. Lazar has served as a consultant to the Ontario Royal Commission on the Status of Pensions and has published articles for the Commission.Ian Murray, Director
Ian Murray brings over 24 years of financial expertise to the CFFH Board of Directors. Ian's most recent responsibilities were in the role of audit partner within a variety of different industry settings at KPMG, including several years in the role as a managing partner in the financial services sector. Ian was a member of the CICA Auditing Standards Board for 7 years, with 2 of those years as Chair. In addition to those important roles he was also Canada's representative on the International Audit Practices Committee (now called the International Auditing Standards Board) for two and a half years. In March of 2009, Ian elected to take early retirement from his career at KPMG. While doing so Ian has chosen to stay intimately involved in corporate Canada and has taken an active role, sitting on several Boards including: Advisory Board Member -Wakefield Canada, recently admitted to the Top 50 best managed private businesses in Canada, Board Member -Horizon Advantages Equity Fund, Board Member - Golf Association of Ontario (GAO), and Advisory Board Member - Bullion Management Group (BMG).Robert Leeming, Director
Mr. Leeming's career in information technology began in 1971, and in 1989 he was one of the founders of Strategic Information Technology, which was formed to develop state of the art computer systems for financial institutions. Strategic Information Technology has become a leading supplier of information technology to Canadian and foreign banks, trust companies, credit unions and government agencies. With Mr. Leeming's leadership as President, SIT has expanded and currently employs over 130 people. Mr. Leeming has kept his organization at the forefront of both enterprise and departmental solutions through such milestones as the introduction of its first loan origination system in 1990, the development (with Manulife Bank) of the "One Account" concept, the CIPA National Award for productivity (in conjunction with AGF Trust), to Strategic Information Technology's present offerings that include WEB and card solutions, Mr. Leeming has kept his organization at the forefront of both enterprise and departmental solutions and is a member of the Canadian Mortgage Hall of Fame..Angie Benetis, Director
Ms. Benetis has had an extensive senior executive career at Strategic Information Technology. Currently, as Vice President, Business Partner Strategies, Ms. Benetis' role is to position Canadian and foreign clients to accommodate emerging trends in the financial services sector. Her previous roles at Strategic Information Technology were Vice President of Business Solutions, Director, Sales & Marketing and Manager, Business Development. Prior to joining Strategic Information Technology, Ms. Benetis had extensive experience in the financial services sector, holding senior roles with MCAP, Focus National Mortgage (member of the Brascan Group) and Morguard Trust Company. She has held the CAAMP AMP designation since its creation and is also President of Britlith Canada Limited, one of the principal shareholders of Canadian First.Peter Majthenyi, Director
Mr. Majthenyi has been one of the leading mortgage professionals with Mortgage Architects since that firm's inception in 2006. Mr. Majthenyi started his career with Midland Doherty, and eventually was part of the creation and development of Norlite Financial, a predecessor of the national mortgage brokerage firm Mortgage Intelligence. Mr. Majthenyi is recognized as a pioneer in the mortgage brokerage sector, and he is consistently one of the top brokers by transaction in Canada. He holds the CAAMP AMP designation and serves on several advisory boards assisting with the development of new and better mortgage product lines. Mr. Majthenyi also organizes regular mortgage presentations and workshops to enhance consumer awareness. He is a frequent guest on Business News Network, where he comments on current developments in the mortgage sector.Brian Matthey, Director
Mr. Matthey is an Accredited Mortgage Professional and is a partner in Verico - The Mortgage Professionals in Kingston Ontario. Under Brian's stewardship The brokerage has evolved from a 3-person shop to Canada's 2010 Mortgage Brokerage of the Year, with two partners, and 28 staff operate throughout Eastern Ontario. Brian is a Fellow of the Institute of Canadian Bankers (1975) and founder of our National Association CAAMP (Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals. He holds the Accredited Mortgage Professional designation through CAAMP and also a member of the Independent Mortgage Brokers Association of Ontario and holds the Certified Professional Mortgage Broker designation. In addition Mr. Matthey is the chairman for the National Advisory Council for Verico Canada Inc.