Gun for hire finds a home

The M3 Group has appointed Mark Squire Chief Operating Officer of VERICO.

Squire, an industry stalwart for two decades, will be responsible for the VERICO’s continued growth strategy and will work in tandem with M3’s President of Mortgage Operations Albert Collu in developing a top team of independent brokers as it eyes greater expansion across Canada.

“M3 Group continues to add value to all the brokers they support and I am excited to be part of the leadership team,” said Squire. “As the Network of the Year, it is clear that VERICO continues to set the standard for the rest of the industry and I am honoured to be part of that.”

Squire’s reputation in the industry is as exceptional as it is well-known. He has about 30 years of experience in the financial services, having begun his career with CIBC, where he stayed for 18 years in various roles, including at CIBC Mortgages Inc. Eleven years ago, Squire joined National Bank of Canada and worked as its Assistant VP for Mortgage Broker Services, directing growth strategies and changing its mortgage services.

With Squire on board, National Bank grew its broker channel presence, in part because of his idea to implement a broker rewards program and nixing its volume bonuses with efficiency bonuses. Impressively, under Squire’s leadership National Bank’s broker channel originations surged a whopping 344% in only three years, improving its market share from 21st place in 2007 to eighth in 2011.

Eventually Squire joined Manulife as Head of Mortgage Broker Services, and the lender grew its market share from 20th to 10th position during his tenure.

Now, it appears Squire is landing where he’s always wanted to be.

“I said 11 years ago when I entered into the mortgage broker industry, if I were to ever join a broker network it would be VERICO,” he said. “I believe in its business model and values that the organization was built on.”