MARKET OPPORTUNITIES AND OPERATIONS TRACK: Staying Financially Viable in a Tough Mortgage Market
The mortgage market has been plagued by rising interest rates, lower origination volume, growing expenses, and tough competition, making it one of the most challenging periods on record. Industry veterans discuss the future, and the ways lenders can leverage technology and operational changes to drive sales and productivity. Considerations include the advantages and disadvantages across business models; banks vs. IMBs, small vs. large lenders, and the various production channels from retail to wholesale. Sponsored by FICO.
Speakers
Introductions
Michael Singer serves as Director of Marketing for FICO, where he is focused on outreach to mortgage and secondary market clients. A seasoned marketing communications professional, his career has included marketing leadership positions with Fannie Mae, where he served as senior brand manager, the Urban Land Institute, where he was vice president of marketing and public relations, and the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, where he was associate director of marketing. He began his career in financial services marketing at GEICO. He is a graduate of the University of Chicago.
Moderator
With extensive experience in mortgage banking and mortgage servicing, Seth leads the Mortgage Banking Consulting Services practice at Richey May. A sought-after speaker, he often speaks on liquidity and the overall challenges in the mortgage industry. Seth joined Richey May from the STRATMOR Group where he was a principal. Prior to joining STRATMOR, he was EVP of Trading and Analytics at Phoenix Capital. Seth also served as SVP, Servicing Asset Manager at SunTrust Mortgage for more than 10 years, where he developed and led their servicing rights valuation team. His career also includes accounting, analytics and auditing roles at Bank of America, KPMG LLP and United Financial Inc. Seth holds the designation of Certified Mortgage Banker (CMB) from the MBA.
Speakers
Christina Zotzmann Brown, COO of Atlantic Bay Mortgage Group, with 26 years of diverse industry experience, spanning from origination, closing, underwriting, and post-closing functions. She currently manages ABMG's loan manufacturing process. She holds the accreditation of Certified Mortgage Banker, Accredited Mortgage Banker, and Certified Residential Underwriter. Christina is a leader in the industry, being part of IMB Executive Council, LendersOne Advisory Council, Virginia Housing Advisory Board, and CHLA.
Matthew Cammarota is the Senior Vice President and Head of Retail Lending at Liberty Bank based in Middletown Connecticut. He joined Liberty Bank in 2021 after more than 13 years at Webster Bank where he held a number of key leadership positions, most recently as the Director of Consumer and Business Credit. Matthew is a 25-year industry leader in community banking and brings to Liberty Bank a wealth of experience in consumer and mortgage lending, loan fulfillment, operations, customer experience and risk management. In August of this year, he helped Liberty achieve #1 status in mortgage market share for Connecticut banks according to data from the Warren Group. Very active in banking associations, he has served as the Chairperson of the Consumer Bankers’ Association (CBA) Home Equity Committee from 2020 to 2022, is an active participant in the CBA’s Mid-Tier Executive Forum, and a relatively new participant to the MBA Community Bank Network. Additionally, he is the Chairperson of Columbus House, Inc., a non-profit organization based in New Haven CT.
John Hedlund is the Chief Operating Officer and Managing Director of AmeriHome Mortgage, a Western Alliance Bank Company. John was one of the original founders (2013) of AmeriHome and helped lead the sale to Western Alliance Bank in 2021. He leads all production businesses of AmeriHome. Mr. Hedlund is an experienced C-level business executive, specializing in the strategic design, execution and leadership of financial services organizations. He has successfully led numerous businesses through major transformational change over the past 30 years, displaying a unique ability to drive sustainable revenue growth and productivity improvements while fostering a loyal and cohesive leadership team.
Deb Jones, CMB, is Director of Mortgage Capital Markets for Citizens Bank. She oversees teams that manage all capital and secondary market activities and strategic balance sheet transactions. In her 35+ year career, Deb held various roles, including, trading, deal structuring and asset sales with Greenwich Capital and the RTC. She also served broader roles, including as Chief Administration Officer at Charter One; and EVP and principal in a mortgage consulting firm. Deb participates in industry activities with advisory boards and trade associations. She recently served as Chair of MBA Capital Markets Committee and is now Secretary of the CMB Society. She is an avid equestrian and owns a small horse farm in Virginia Richmond and is co-founder in her sister’s organic spirits company.
Amber Kramer, MBA, CPA, CMB, is the Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer of Guild Mortgage Company. As CFO, she is responsible for the accounting, finance, treasury, payroll and facilities functions. Amber has served as Guild Mortgage Company's SVP, CFO since January 2020. Prior to serving as CFO, Amber served in various finance positions at Guild Mortgage Company, including Senior Vice President, Finance from 2015 to 2020 and its Vice President, Finance from 2010 to 2015.
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