Vancouver-based Trez Capital Celebrating 25 years of Success

This month, Vancouver-based real estate financier, Trez Capital celebrated its 25th year in business and a recent milestone of $5B in assets under management. 

"I wish I could say that when I started Trez Capital 25 years ago, I had some grand strategy with a clear vision. I always wanted to grow the business and keep on growing. However, I had no lofty goal to reach nearly $5 billion in assets under management and I never tried to quantify what financial success looked like," said Morley Greene, Trez Capital's, Chairman & Chief Executive Officer.

Trez Capital has found remarkable success over the last quarter century and is now home to over 180 employees across eight offices in Canada and the United States. A hundred of Trez Capital's employees are located right here in Vancouver. "It all started in Vancouver. I didn't know it then, but the late 1990s was the perfect time to start in the lending business. Real estate prices were stable, the market was improving and there was a shortage of capital for real estate financing. Investors were clamoring for consistently yielding investments, and by the end of that decade, I managed to grow my initial investor capital of $3.5 million to a $10 million portfolio of loans under management," said Morley.

"We [Trez Capital] are experts in real estate who aim to offer financial solutions to partners and borrowers while generating consistent reliable returns for our investors," said Dean Kirkham, President and Chief Operating Officer. This year, Dean was appointed the role of President to lead Trez Capital's strategic goals and to continue to build as one of North America's largest non-bank commercial real estate financiers. "We are continuing to build Trez Capital," said Dean. "As I look to the future, we are focused on attracting and growing incredible talent across the firm and creating a common culture and bond across the entire organization – one where we hold the investor in the center of everything we do."

Being 25 years old, Trez Capital has lived through several challenging economic cycles such as the Global Financial Crisis, and most recently, the global pandemic. Despite market cycles, the industry-leading team has persevered to ensure that its investors have a stable income and consistent returns. "We strive to be entrepreneurial no matter the economic environment, we are always working to find the right opportunities for our investors. It is why we have so many offices, and what we call our 'boots-on-the-ground' approach to investing," commented Morley.

The success of Trez Capital has also been attributed to strong guiding principles. "With Trez Capital, it really comes down to the core principles we all live by in the workplace. We are all leading and interacting with each other by example," said Dean. "Morley is well-known for saying, 'Always do the right thing.' I think that the message of taking accountability is respected and lived-out in our day-to-day work as leaders. We have been able to build a team of hard-working talent that practice this mantra and I'm grateful for that."

When asked about what the next 25 years will look like for the Canadian firm, Morley said, "As Trez Capital continues to grow, its values will remain the same, believing in entrepreneurialism and accountability, and always doing the right thing for investors and borrowers." Dean added, "I'm looking forward to what's in store for the future of Trez Capital. We will continue to manage the business strategically to best serve our investors, borrowers, and partners. Trez Capital is excited for all of the great things ahead."

Founded in 1997, Trez Capital is a diversified real estate investment firm and preeminent provider of commercial real estate debt and equity financing solutions in Canada and the United States. Trez Capital offers private and institutional investors strategies to invest in a variety of opportunistic, fully-secured mortgage investment funds and like investment assets, and provide property developers and owners with quick approvals on flexible short- to mid-term financing.