Being a finalist for the Cansure Insurance Broker of the Year Award at the Insurance Business Canada Awards is far from the only recognition one broker has received over the course of his career.
Matthew Ablakan (pictured), broker of record for the Millennial’s Choice Group of Companies, has been a finalist for Best Entrepreneur Under 40 at the Vaughan Chamber of Commerce Business Achievement Awards in 2018, recipient of the Mortgage Professionals Canada 2017 Innovator of the Year Award, recipient of the Broker of the Year Award – Diversification at the 2019 Canadian Mortgage Awards…and the list goes. In fact, this professional has received 20 recognitions total for his real estate, mortgage, and insurance-related work.
Accordingly, Ablakan’s journey in insurance stemmed out from his real estate business.
“My career journey started in 2012 when I became a licensed real estate salesperson. After one year of being in the business, I became licensed in the area of mortgages to better serve my clients. Fast forward to the beginning of 2016 and I was thinking about how I could play at a bigger level,” he said. “I decided to create a team under the two brokerages that I was a part of. I was thinking about unique names and what to call ourselves and then the Millennial’s Choice team was born. Shortly thereafter, I became licensed in the area of life insurance. I left both of the brokerages we had been a part of to launch the Millennial’s Choice Group of Companies.”
The broker of record is living proof that the world of insurance offers a variety of opportunities, which is what has kept him interested in continuing to work in this field. Of course, being an owner and founder has its perks as well.
“There are so many paths and avenues to take in this field [and] I kept going initially because it was fun,” explained Ablakan. “I get to work for myself, earn as much as I can, and come and go as I please. Now that I have a group of companies, it is still fun, however, the reason why I stay interested and engaged has changed. Now I do it because I realized that we all have infinite potential stored within each one of us. I am just working towards my own potential.”
Yet establishing a successful brokerage wasn’t necessarily an easy feat to accomplish. There is a litany of challenges when building your own business, Ablakan told Insurance Business.
“Things like brokerage compliance, financing, getting office space, hiring staff, and recruiting other agents are all new responsibilities when opening up your own brokerage,” he said. “I would say the single most challenging thing is the learning curve that you go through when you’re setting up the brokerage and then afterwards once you’re launched. I believe that we’ve moved past this now and we are ready to take our momentum right into 2020.”
And the challenges keep on coming with the insurance landscape influx as it experiences a hard market. Nonetheless, the competition for clients’ business among insurers helps keep people satisfied.
“We’ve seen many different insurance companies offering competitive products to our clients. This has enabled us to have an open conversation about the needs of our clients and the different options that are available to them at a relatively low cost,” said Ablakan.
As for his latest recognition as an IBC Broker of the Year finalist, the broker of record says landing on the list of nominees was already a win.
“I am extremely grateful and humbled to be considered a finalist in this area. There is a lot of talent out there and just the recognition alone as a finalist is a huge win,” said Ablakan.
