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Bond Street Mercantile

About

Bond Street Mercantile offers two tracks of product offerings, one Israel-based specialty investments and one North America-based specialty investments.

Bond Street Mercantile’s Israel based investments include:

  1. The Holy Land Investment Fund (“HLIF”)

    A balanced fund of Israel-related equity and bond investments. The HLIF focuses primarily on five sectors of the Israeli economy including oil and gas, real estate, technology, pharmaceuticals and financial services.

    It is an RRSP eligible, Canadian dollar investment, that is an excellent way to diversify your investment portfolio.

  2. The Canada Israel Investment Fund LPs (“CIIF”)

    These LP’s invest in major Israeli infrastructure projects, many guaranteed by the government of Israel. It is a longer term, lower risk, US dollar investment in a Canadian LP. I is not RRSP eligible.

Bond Street Mercantile’s Canada based specialty investments include:

  1. Specialty Private Mortgages and MIC

    We provide two options to invest in private mortgages in the GTA. One option is to have a private, individual mortgage with a low loan to value on a GTA property or to share a mortgage with one or two other investors. Interest rates are usually in the 8-14% range for a 1 year mortgage.

    The other option is to invest in the MIC (Mortgage Investment Corporation) with which we are affiliated. This allows you to invest in a pool of GTA residential first mortgages and to exit or enter the MIC at any time. The interest rate is 8.5% PLUS there is the opportunity to share in the profits of the MIC at the end of each fiscal year.

  2. Private Placements in Public Companies (“PIPES”)

    From time to time, we offer investors the opportunity to buy shares in publicly traded Canadian companies at a significant discount from the current trading price with additional benefits (such as warrants and interest payments). Bond Street Mercantile did the PIPE in Canada for Facebook prior to its IPO.

    Recently we have been involved in 6 PIPES, 4 in the burgeoning Canadian medical cannabis sector.

Our Team

  1. ZaleZale L. Newman
  2. GordonGordon Higgins
  3. MichalMichal Ben Aharon

Zale L. Newman

CEO & Founder

Mr. Newman’s principal occupation is President, Dealing Representative and Ultimate Designated Person (UDP). He formed BSM Capital Corporation in 2007.

Mr. Newman has been a leader and innovator in the financial services industry since 1984. He received his MBA from Toronto’s York University, as well as a BA in economics from Yeshiva University and additional business studies at the University of Toronto, New York University, and McGill University.

Mr. Newman has done extensive work in the financial services field since he first joined his family’s 50 year old insurance and financial services firm in 1984. In 1987, the family business was sold to the Corporate Insurance Group (“CIG”), a large public insurance holding company. Mr. Newman first went to CIG to manage the acquired company’s business but was soon appointed President of CIG’s Canada-wide life insurance division, the company’s most profitable division.

In 1991, he left CIG to form PKNS, an innovative insurance and financial services company, together with three other partners. The firm established corporate marketing ventures with Paisley Manor Insurance Brokers, Panfinancial and a number of other insurance and financial services companies.

In 2003, Mr. Newman developed a series of financial products and instruments that were new to the Canadian marketplace. He joined with Stephen A Rosen, a recognized tax lawyer, to form Rosen Newman and Associates Inc. Products included the diverse yet related fields of life insurance, exempt market products, alternative investments and tax reduction strategies.

In 2007 he founded BSM Capital Corporation, known as Bond Street Mercantile to create and market highly innovative niche financial products, designed mostly for Canadian accredited investors. BSM provides niche opportunities, including opportunities in Canada, Israel, and charity maximizing programs.

Mr. Newman is well-known within the Israeli financial, legal and accounting communities and has brokered a number of transactions related to the financial services industry in Israel.

Constantly ahead of changes and developments in the fields of tax and investments, Mr. Newman is also passionately involved in poverty relief, and the well-being of children, teenagers, and the disabled.

Gordon Higgins

President, Higgins Investment Group, IFM and Portfolio Manager

Gordon Higgins brings a wealth of experience to your portfolio. In addition to a history of managing funds for High Net Worth individuals, he has managed Pension Funds and Mutual Funds.

Mr. Higgins managed mutual funds and closed end funds at a company with over $5 billion in assets. He also managed pooled funds and pension funds as Vice-President, North American Equities at one of Canada’s largest insurance companies.

He graduated from the University of Toronto with a Bachelor of Commerce degree and received his Masters in Business Administration from York University. Mr. Higgins holds both the Chartered Accountant and Chartered Financial Analyst designations.

Michal Ben Aharon

Client Services Manager

Michal currently serves as client services manager. After establishing herself as a highly skilled professional with over a decade of experience in investment management and business development. Most recently, she excelled in the position of Deputy Chief Representative of Bank Hapoalim in Canada, where she directed high net worth private banking and international investments. Her accomplishments extend beyond the realm of her business career, evidenced by her service as a Lieutenant in the IDF. She joins BSM Capital Corp after being highly recommended for her professionalism, leadership and integrity. Involved in many Israeli and Jewish initiatives including the Canada-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Mrs. Benaharon also supports the Jerusalem Foundation and her alma mater, Tel Aviv University, where she studied Economics, Statistics and Operations Research.

Our Philosophy

At Bond Street Mercantile (BSM Capital Corporation), we provide niche investment opportunities for Canadian Accredited Investors.

We follow the latest trends and search Canada and Israel for unique opportunities or, as is the case of our Israel based investments, we create them ourselves.

Our goal is to be creative yet conservative, innovative yet always mindful of risk mitigation.

Our goal is to provide investors with diversification beyond their regular equity, bond and real estate investments. And to provide excellent investment opportunities with a sound measure of risk mitigation. We are always mindful of our responsibility towards our clients and our relationship with them is sacrosanct. We appreciate their patronage and we try to provide them assistance in any way that we can. We wish to protect their hard-earned money while building their net worth with sound but interesting and innovative financial opportunities.

Finally, at Bond Street Mercantile, we are acutely aware of our ability to make a positive impact on the people and the societies wherein we operate. Thus we are extremely active in particular charitable activities, both as donors and fundraisers and assisting those in need.

It is a privilege to serve our client base of similar minded successful, responsible and charitable people.

Press

Zale Newman with George W. Bush and Laura Bush Zale Newman with President George W. Bush and First Lady Laura Bush

Zale Newman with Elie Wiesel Zale Newman with Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel

Zale Newman with Natan Sharansky Zale Newman with Natan Sharansky, Former Chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel