Our team

Better people make better lending

We lend billions of dollars to commercial real estate projects every year. But it’s not just capital that distinguishes us. It’s the empowered nature of our workforce. Our advisors are experienced experts whose sole focus is to deliver financing strategies that enable you to achieve greater success.

Our Better Lending culture – three decades in the making – is built on the skill that comes from pure mortgage lending. Because we start from a position of knowledge about you, your project, and your market, we can design solutions that are fit for your purpose. And because accountability is in our nature, we meet our commitments.

Better by design, better by nature, better for you in every corner of the country.

Back to all teams

Team La Rocca

Proactive communication. Simplified process. Realistic expectations.

Alessandro La Rocca and Yasmin Gedeon* came together as a team in 2021. Nicolas Colizza joined the team as an Analyst in 2023. Alessandro joined First National after a decade as a key contributor in the real estate group at one of Canada’s big banks. Yasmin joined the team after completing her BComm in Finance from Concordia. Nicolas’ experience in mortgage lending encompasses conventional and construction financing. Together, they are supporting borrowers in Quebec with multi-residential and construction financing. As a team, they emphasize being proactive – whether it is sharing knowledge to help qualify a deal, communication during a deal or ongoing portfolio management. They understand that purchasing and financing real estate can be complex. So for them, the goal is always simplicity. Being accessible to answer questions. Explaining how the process works. Transparency. Setting realistic expectations about what will happen and when. To them, advising and building trust means listening intently and outlining the pros and cons of the financing options they present. It also means getting to know the people behind the business, sharing interests and investing time in relationship building. Passionate about real estate, they want to feel proud of the projects they work on with clients and want to be known for their quick response, honest communication and proactive approach.