Ep.142 | Private Lending Is Older Than Canada's Big Banks

Most people think of private lending as something new. It isn't. In this episode, Ryan and Neal trace the complete history of private lending in Canada, from the handshake loans of the pre-WWI era to the creation of Mortgage Investment Corporations in the 1970s, through the mortgage broker boom of the 80s and 90s, the stress test of 2016 to 2018, and the pandemic explosion that followed.They break down how MICs were designed to democratize mortgage investing for everyday Canadians, why the structure is uniquely Canadian and doesn't exist anywhere else in the world, and how securitization let the big banks squeeze out individual lenders for decades. They also get into where things are heading: more institutional capital entering the space, tighter regulation, and AI starting to reshape how mortgage applications get processed.A must-listen if you want to understand the full arc of an industry that has been quietly solving problems banks won't touch for over 100 years.Chapters:2:39 Why We're Covering Private Lending History 6:01 Before the Big Banks: Lending Pre-WWI 7:44 The Borrower Profile That Never Changed 8:05 Banks Were More Conservative Back Then10:24 Why MICs Were Created in the 1970s 11:00 How a MIC Actually Works 14:23 MICs Are Uniquely Canadian 15:04 When Mortgage Brokers Changed the Game 17:37 When Housing Became an Asset Class 20:03 The Stress Test That Changed Everything 23:32 Was Growth Need-Driven or Lender-Driven? 26:29 The Pandemic Boom: 2020 to 2022 28:57 Private Lending Today: More Sophisticated Than Ever 33:54 Future: Institutional Capital and Regulation 34:26 AI Is Coming for the Broker Space 38:31 Where Private Lending Goes from HereResources:Keystone Capital GroupCPLP Instagram: @cplpodcastKeystone Instagram: @keycapgroupFind Neal On:Instagram: @neal.andreinoLinkedIn: Neal AndreinoFind Ryan on:LinkedIn: Ryan MacNeilE-mail: [email protected]