At CMI, we’re committed to creating mortgage investment products that deliver consistent returns for all types of investors. We owe our strong track record of success to our vast mortgage industry experience, access to high quality mortgages and award-winning team of mortgage and investment experts that carefully analyze, evaluate, curate and allocate mortgages to each of our three distinct MIC portfolios.
With over $1 billion in deals since inception, we’ve become an industry leader in the alternative lending and investment markets. Our rigorous due diligence standards in mortgage underwriting and analysis have helped us create a suite of MIC funds that target distinct investor profiles. Each fund consists of collateralized mortgage assets in strong residential real estate markets across Canada.
The CMI Story
Canadian Mortgages Inc (CMI) was founded in 2005 by Bryan Jaskolka as a traditional consumer mortgage brokerage. After the 2008 financial crisis, CMI responded to the increasing demand for private lending by pivoting the business model to meet the needs of mortgage brokers and their clients who were unable to get financing from traditional lenders, such as the banks.
CMI then expanded to serve investors and their growing need to generate competitive yields for their portfolios, creating our first investment division in 2011. Since then, CMI has become a leader in the Canadian non-bank financial services market, offering a broad range of mortgage investment products to a wide variety of investors.
In 2015 we then launched our flagship MIC fund, the CMI Balanced Mortgage Fund. After the success of that fund, we expanded our offerings by creating two additional MIC options for investors. We launched the CMI MIC High-Yield Opportunity Fund in 2019 and the CMI MIC Prime Mortgage Fund in 2020. Each fund offers investors unique investment opportunities.
At CMI, we’re dedicated to helping our clients make the right investment decisions and providing mortgage investment solutions that deliver results.
Built on a Strong Foundation
Our proven track record of success is based on five key principles:
1
Prudent Investment Philosophy
Our investment strategy is based on lending short-term mortgages (6–24 months) and providing borrowers with “common sense” lending solutions. With a focus on capital preservation, stability and attractive, sustainable yields, our MICs invest in a pool of well-diversified residential mortgages given to qualified borrowers who, for a variety of reasons, don’t qualify for traditional bank financing.
2
Consistent, Compelling Returns
At the core of both our MICs and our mortgage investment program is a rigorous due diligence process and active management philosophy. This, coupled with our extensive experience in the mortgage industry, has allowed us to become an attractive alternative to traditional fixed income products. Historically, the CMI MIC Funds – CMI MIC Prime Mortgage Fund, CMI MIC Balanced Mortgage Fund and CMI MIC High Yield Opportunity Fund – have delivered a net annual yield of between 6 – 11%.
3
Low Expense Ratios
All mortgage assets within the CMI MICs are sourced through our parent company, CMI. This enables us to reduce our operating costs, thus positively impacting returns. By managing all aspects of these funds internally, we’re able to decrease the expense ratio of our funds, resulting in lower fees for investors. In addition, the borrower pays the costs associated with the administration of these mortgages, removing that burden from investors. These cost savings are then passed on to investors, helping to generate more attractive net returns.
4
Active Risk Mitigation Strategy
Our primary focus is on capital preservation through a comprehensive risk mitigation strategy. To do this, we focus on:
- Stable, high-growth residential real estate markets across Canada.
- Maintaining a diversified pool of mortgages, with no single mortgage exceeding 10% of the book value of the fund.
- Strict mortgage origination guidelines backed by our experienced underwriters, who carefully assess each property’s liquidity, equity growth projections and the ability of the borrower to service the debt.
- Conservative residential property valuations provided by an experienced team of third-party professional appraisers. This helps to lower the volatility in property values.
- Retaining an appropriate amount of cash within each fund to service investor redemptions.
5
Smart Lending Practices
Our lending activity focuses on Canadian residential real estate markets with sound economic fundamentals that are inherently more stable.
Delivering an Attractive Suite of Mortgage Investment Products
CMI has been recognized as one of the fastest growing mortgage investment companies in Canada. We offer investors two distinctly different types of mortgage investment products, both of which follow a conservative investment philosophy with a primary focus on capital preservation.
CMI Mortgage Investments Program
With the CMI Mortgage Investments Program, investors can invest in a single, standalone short-term residential mortgage. These mortgages are usually offered to borrowers at higher interest rates, making them an attractive investment opportunity – and one that also offers the added benefit of collateralized real estate.
This type of investment is best suited to higher net worth investors who have a larger amount of liquid financial assets, anywhere from $500,000 – $1,000,000 and who meet the qualifications of Accredited Investor status.
Mortgage Investment Corporations
The CMI suite of Mortgage Investment Corporations (MICs), are pooled investment funds that invest in multiple private mortgages on behalf of the investor.
The CMI MIC Funds invest in first and second residential mortgages in historically strong, stable residential real estate markets. They are designed to meet the needs of various investor profiles. MIC funds are accessible to a wide range of investors with their relatively low entry threshold of only $5,000.
Contact Us
Contact us for more information on our MIC funds or to book an appointment with one of our Investment Professionals.