In 2006, KV Capital began in a shared office in Edmonton with my brother, Farhan Virani, my brother-in-law, Shafin Kanji, and our father and lifelong mentor, Amin Virani. There was no bold vision, but rather just simple beliefs about what good business looked like and a desire to work with the people you enjoy being around.
We committed to a central principle for how we would build the firm: we wanted to be able to sleep well, every night. We understood people borrowing or investing money deserve clarity and transparency. We understood words that match actions become trust. And trust, earned one decision at a time, can compound like interest.
Two decades later, those concepts continue to underpin how we operate. This year, KV surpassed $1 billion in assets under management. On its own, that number is meaningless. What matters is what sits behind it: thousands of individual decisions to trust KV, made by investors, borrowers, clients, and partners. And what a journey it has been.
Our business looks very different today than it did in 2006. KV began as a mortgage brokerage, then expanded into private real estate lending, real estate equity, and private equity investing. We have also grown beyond Edmonton, first to Calgary and then Toronto, and have added extraordinary people whose expertise, judgment, and character have made KV what it is today.
Over the past twenty years, we have faced challenges that tested entire markets, including the global financial crisis, Alberta’s oil downturn, the COVID pandemic, and the rapid interest-rate reset of recent years. Looking back, some of KV’s strongest relationships today were forged during those periods, not because everything went according to plan, but because when it didn’t, we operated in the manner we said we would.
The last twenty years have not been a straight line, and I would not pretend otherwise. Experience, much like trust, compounds. You make decisions, observe outcomes, learn, and adjust. I believe KV Capital is the strongest it has ever been because of our accumulated experience earning the trust of investors, partners, borrowers, and clients.
So as we reach $1 billion in AUM and twenty years in business, we feel a great deal of gratitude and want to say thank you.
To our earliest investors: when you entrusted us with your capital before we had a track record, you gave us our start. We have never forgotten that, and never will.
To every investor who has joined us since: thank you for your confidence in KV and for holding us to a high standard. The responsibility that comes with managing someone else’s capital will never become routine for us.
To our borrowers, developers, clients, and business partners: thank you for bringing us your opportunities and your challenges. A great deal of what KV does well today exists because a client trusted us to solve a problem, pushed us to think differently, or gave us the opportunity to do more.
To our advisors and board members: thank you for your counsel and candour. Strong organizations need people who are willing to challenge their thinking, not simply affirm it.
And to every person who has worked at KV Capital over the past twenty years: thank you. This milestone belongs to you as much as anyone. Your hard work, commitment, and belief in what we are building made all of this possible.
As we look ahead, we know the financial world will continue to evolve. Markets will change. Technology will change. KV will change too. But the fundamentals will not. The next chapter of KV Capital will be built on the same relationships that made this one possible.
Aleem Virani, CPA, CA, CBV, ICD.D
Chief Executive Officer, KV Capital
KV Capital Inc. is a licensed mortgage brokerage in Alberta, Ontario, and British Columbia, and a licensed financing corporation in Saskatchewan | Ontario Licenses #13465 and #13656 | Saskatchewan License #514505
