LinkedIn:
linkedin.com/company/homeequitybank
Website:
chipadvisor.ca
Email:
marketingrequests@heb.ca
Phone:
(416) 925 4757
Number of employees:
300
Year founded:
1986
Headquarters:
Toronto, ON
“It is a priority for us to continue to tap the unmet needs of our clients and grow with them to understand how to service them properly and give them what they need in this ever-changing landscape”
Vivianne Gauci,
HomeEquity Bank
Every company wants to grow its business, yet few know how to sustain it for the long haul. It takes many years of development and a large amount of dedication to achieve longevity – especially in the mortgage industry. HomeEquity Bank, the leader in reverse mortgage lending, has kept the momentum going for 35 years, establishing itself as a leader in the space.
Which brings us to the question: what is HomeEquity Bank’s secret to success?
The answer lies in their vision and mission . Vivianne Gauci, Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience, believes the company’s commitment to Canadian homeowners aged 55+ makes the bank’s business model unique and is the biggest factor in its ability to thrive during challenging times.
“Our business completely revolves around the 55+ demographic. We are the only bank in Canada that solely services this customer base,” Gauci tells CMP. “It is a priority for us to continue to tap the unmet needs of our clients and grow with them to understand how to service them properly and give them what they need in this ever-changing landscape.”
Sarah M Stewart
Associate Vice President,
Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Karen Bannister, CM
Vice President, Marketing
Cody Woolf
Director, Health, Safety and Environment
Brent Fillmore
Founder
Cindy Martel
Vice President, Finance
Andrew Jensen
Chief Operating Officer
Vivianne Gauci
Senior Vice President,
Marketing & Customer Experience
Yvonne Ziomecki
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales
Steven Ranson
President and Chief Executive Officer
Leadership
Sarah M Stewart has more than 15 years of strategic leasing and customer care experience in residential property management. She is responsible for overseeing all aspects of Centurion’s national leasing platforms, residential lead generation, and overall customer experience excellence through operation of the company’s internal customer service department.
Associate Vice President, Leasing and Call Centre Operations
Sarah M Stewart
Karen Bannister has over 20 years of marketing expertise and has a Chartered Marketer designation from the Canadian Marketing Association. She is a strategic marketing leader with a career record of success in developing and executing effective marketing strategies, growing revenue, and overseeing multi-talented teams. She also holds five certifications for marketing and brand management.
Karen has successfully completed the Mini-MBA, Essentials of Management program at Schulich School of Business, and most recently completed the Communications and Leadership Program at The Ivey Academy.
Vice President, Marketing
Karen Bannister, CM
Cody Woolf joined the Fillmore team in 2011 and holds the title director of health, safety and environment. He is a Canadian Registered Safety Professional (CRSP). He also has extensive safety experience and background in criminal justice, which provides a depth of experience for the implementation of Fillmore Construction’s health and safety program. Cody is responsible for creating a positive and safe work environment and strives to promote safety as not only a policy but a lifestyle. He has initiated and implements a range of health, safety and environmental features that have been of critical importance to the overall safety objectives, operations, and profitability of Fillmore Construction. The results of his impact are evident in the positive statistical results and policies that have been developed since he joined the company and the emphasis on safety program development.
Director, Health, Safety and Environment
Cody Woolf
Fillmore Construction was founded by Brent Fillmore in 1991. He was looking to start his own small construction business and the opportunity presented itself with many repeat client relationships. Through lessons learned from 13 years of managing projects, developing business and holding various VP roles with his previous employer, Brent formulated his own approach to running his company. He knew that the key to success was based on relationships and bringing repeated value to them. He was dedicated to the idea that one does not need hundreds of clients and instead must focus on ensuring that a smaller pool of clients was given the best service possible. With over 40 years of construction management experience Brent has remarkable expertise in nearly every facet of the construction industry.
Founder
Brent Fillmore
Cindy Martel earned her CMA (CPA) designation in 1995, and gained extensive experience while working in the private sector, fulfilling various leadership roles in the areas of finance and human resources. She joined the Fillmore Construction team in 2014 as controller and progressed into her current role as VP of finance in 2021.
Vice President, Finance
Cindy Martel
Andrew Jensen has extensive knowledge in managing all aspects of the finance function through strong commercial, strategic, M&A, and change management experience. He has financially led companies engaged in various fields including real estate, financial services, telecommunications, and the franchising sectors in Australia and abroad.
Andrew is an accomplished CFO with over 18 years of experience in senior finance and management roles. He currently serves as a non-executive director and chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee for Freedom Insurance Group (ASX.FIG), specialising in the design, distribution, and administration of life insurance products in Australia. Prior to these roles, he was the CFO and director of Ray White, Australasia’s largest real estate group with over $20bn in annual sales, and Loan Market, one of Australia’s largest independent mortgage broking businesses. He has also been the CFO of VGC Food Group, a private diversified manufacturing and franchising business. Lastly, Andrew was CFO and COO of Digicel PNG (Papua New Guinea), part of Digicel Group Ltd, one of the largest and most successful telecommunications companies in the South Pacific.
He is also a fellow of the National Institute of Accountants and a member of the Institute of Company Directors.
Chief Operating Officer
Andrew Jensen
As SVP for marketing, Vivianne Gauci is responsible for increasing brand awareness and affinity, driving originations growth through digital and direct-to-consumer channels, and supporting the sales teams as they expand HomeEquity Bank’s reach through the banks, wealth and mortgage broker channels. She joined HomeEquity Bank in 2015 and has over 20 years of experience in global financial services companies. In her role at HomeEquity Bank, she has spearheaded the work to expand the awareness of reverse mortgages in Canada and help advocate for the unique financial needs of Canadians aged 55 and older.
Senior Vice President, Marketing & Customer Experience
Vivianne Gauci
Yvonne Ziomecki, EVP for marketing & sales, joined HomeEquity Bank in 2013 and is responsible for developing the Bank’s sales, marketing strategy and vision. This includes driving originations growth and increasing revenues through successful implementation of marketing initiatives, brand strategy, research, pricing, product marketing, marketing communications, advertising and public relations.
Executive Vice President, Marketing & Sales
Yvonne Ziomecki
Steven Ranson, president and CEO of HomeEquity Bank, has been the driving force of Canada’s leading reverse mortgage provider for the last 24 years. He demonstrates his business acumen through his ability to manoeuvre through a landscape of complex financial scenarios and the credit market instruments needed to fuel the growth of the company, while never losing sight of the big picture of improving the lives of Canadians aged 55 and older. His leadership has resulted in a company that achieved $1 billion of reverse mortgage originations in 2021, a 28% increase from 2020.
President and Chief Executive Officer
Steven Ranson
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“HomeEquity Bank will continue to roll out initiatives that support our purpose of empowering Canadians 55+ to live retirement their way. We will also continue to provide Canadians 55+ with an experience that is personal and tailored to them,” Gauci adds.
Empowered by its commitment to helping Canadians prepare for retirement, the company is seeing its efforts pay off. In 2021, HomeEquity Bank reported that its mortgage origination volume crossed $1 billion in loans for the first time – a 28% gain from 2020. The bank’s portfolio value has also increased considerably to $5.4 billion at the end of 2021.
As HomeEquity Bank’s portfolio grew, the company also ramped up its efforts to connect with customers and provide them with educational content. HomeEquity Bank’s President and CEO, Steven Ranson and Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Yvonne Ziomecki co-authored a book about reverse mortgages to help readers become confident and better informed about their retirement options in the face of increasing inflationary pressures. To help boost these initiatives, the company also brought on Pattie-Lovett Reid as Chief Financial Commentator to enhance their communications and PR strategy.
“HomeEquity Bank is always looking at ways we can expand our reach and educate our clients and partners so that they know how important it is that we advocate for this demographic.”
One way HomeEquity Bank continuously improves its service and product offerings, Gauci adds, is by listening to feedback from clients and partners who have an understanding of what financial solutions are currently available and gauging if there are any challenges with the available options.
“We are working on delivering an exceptional customer experience so that it is easy, timely and straightforward for our customers,” Gauci says. “Our long-term vision is to reimagine our customer and partner journeys to deliver a simple, efficient, and highly pleasing experience supported by empowered teams and enabled with leading digital capabilities.”
HomeEquity Bank also boasts an exceptional work culture that strives to attract and nurture professionals with an entrepreneurial mindset.
“We believe that by focusing on the employee experience, we will create brand advocates out of our employees,” says Gauci.
“Our long-term vision is to reimagine our customer and partner journeys to deliver a simple, efficient and highly pleasing experience supported by empowered teams and enabled with leading digital capabilities”
Vivianne Gauci,
HomeEquity Bank