From left, Jordan Fairlie, Carolyn Cooper and Cameron Cooper
VICTORIA – A passing of the torch is taking place at the Cooper Pacific Mortgage Investment Corporation family firm.
Morley Cooper, who founded the company in 1994 in Victoria, together with a group of prominent local property developers and businessmen, has retired.
Morley remembers “It started over a lunch with a close friend and quickly evolved to include eleven friends and business as-sociates and the company grew from there.”
In 2019, Morley took over full ownership of the company from the other shareholders, each of whom contributed significantly to the growth and success of the company.
New ownership of the company is taken over by Morley’s son Cam Cooper, his daughter Carolyn Cooper and Jordan Fairlie. Cam has been with the company since it started and has learn-ed the business, moving up the executive ranks and took over as CEO in 2019.
His sister Carolyn has worked with the company off and on since it started. She has been full-time for the past five years and is Vice President of Administration. Jordan Fairlie joined the company in 2016 and is Chief Investment Officer.
“My Dad moved to Victoria in 1980 from Edmonton where he was very well respected and known nationally in the commercial mortgage lending industry,” Carolyn states. “He has built a good foundation in Victoria that will continue on.”
Cam points out that the philosophy of the company has not changed over the years.
“We focus on mostly lending locally, primarily for short terms, two years or less,” he explains. “We finance construction projects from single family homes to townhouse developments, condo developments, subdivisions, land servicing and land acquisitions.”
Jordan stresses that “our investors want to know that they’re in good hands. It’s still a family business at the end of the day. Cam has been running the business for the past number of years, and it’s a new generation. We hope to bring some innovative, younger aspects to the business, but at the end of the day, we’re still the same.”
Morley Cooper, who founded the company in 1994 in Victoria with 11 other businessmen
Cam says borrower clients benefit from the fact they can deal directly with local decision makers in a company like Cooper Pacific.
“They can come and talk to me and they don’t have to go through layers of bureaucracy,” he in Victoria with 11 other businessmen states. “We are a smaller operation so decisions are made quickly.”
Cooper Pacific offers investment opportunities in their Mortgage Investment Corporation (MIC). The goal is to preserve capital while providing consistent returns.
“Our transparency has made us successful, as people tell us we’re really open and honest,” Cam says. “Victoria is a small town when it comes right down to it, and if you’re good, your name is going to get passed around, and we get a lot of good referrals. Dad taught us a lot and built a good foundation for us here.”
