Despite many companies pulling away from correspondent lending, First Guaranty Mortgage Corporation once again announced more dedicated resources as its new hire announcements continue to pour in.
In its latest announcement, FGMC said mortgage industry veterans Joe Garcia and Baird Marble joined the company as account executives for the correspondent division.
FGMC is a multiple-year Inc. 5000 winner. This year it ranked 3,288, and grew 101% in the past three years.
Just a little more than a month ago, FGMC announced it named Angelo Zakis as its new regional sales manager for the correspondent division. Now, it adds Garcia and Marble into the fold.
Together, Garcia and Marble bring more than 50 years of industry experience. “Joe and Baird are representative of the growing FGMC Correspondent team in every way,” said Mark Mayhook, managing director of TPO Production. “Each is experienced; talented; proactive and, above all, client focused.”
Prior to joining FGMC, Garcia was regional sales leader with PHH Mortgage, and before that, he was regional production manager for Guaranteed Rate.
Meanwhile, Marble most recently was regional vice president for American Financial Resources, and prior to that, Marble was senior account manager for Radian.
Interestingly enough, both Zakis and Garcia come from companies that are leaving the correspondent space.
Zakis’ previous stint at BOK Financial was cut short after the company announced in August plans to shut down its correspondent lending channel, effective Dec. 31, 2016, after an evaluation of the lender’s business and current market conditions. It was only back in May that BOK Financial promoted Zakis over the new Credit Union Segment as national account manager.
The story is similar for PHH, where Garcia worked. Back in May, PHH Corporation announced in its first-quarter earnings that it decided to exit the wholesale/correspondent lending channel.
But FGMC isn’t the only one opting to grow its correspondent division as other lenders see as strong future there as well.
Ditech Financial announced in January that it is expanding its correspondent lending division services to a larger number of correspondent clients by focusing on non-delegated lending thanks to strong growth in the space over the last 18 months.
On top of all this, FGMC also announced the appointment of Mike McElroy as the company’s General Counsel.
McElroy comes to FGMC with extensive industry experience, including key roles with national mortgage lending and servicing firms; government sponsored enterprises; and private firms.
“In Mike, First Guaranty is getting a proven chief legal officer with significant experience in the mortgage industry,” said Andrew Peters, CEO. “There’s very little he hasn’t seen over the course of his career. Moreover, the breadth of his experience – from team management to capital market transactions, litigation, M&A and more – immediately makes him an invaluable addition to our leadership team.”
