CrossCountry HoldCo, the parent company of retail lender CrossCountry Mortgage (CCM), has partnered with a fund from Ares Alternative Credit and Hildene Capital Management to expand its nonagency mortgage asset management arm. 

The agreements, announced Thursday, provide access to $1 billion in equity capital commitments, representing roughly $20 billion in new loan investments for the company’s nonqualified mortgage (non-QM) asset management platform.

The expansion adds products including residential transition loans, construction and builder financing, multifamily lending, home equity lines of credit (HELOCs) and second-lien strategies.

The investments will flow through CrossCountry Capital (CCC), a subsidiary launched in 2022 that currently manages $7 billion in loans. CCC’s nonagency securitization program has attracted more than 50 institutional investors.

Ron Leonhardt, who founded the Ohio-based CCM in 2003, said the asset management arm supports the company’s origination business by allowing it to “capitalize on the current market environment.”

CrossCountry Mortgage says it operates 960 retail locations. Nationwide Multistate Licensing System (NMLS) data shows 727 active branches and 4,347 sponsored loan officers. The company claims it has more than 8,000 employees and offers more than 120 mortgage, refinance and home equity products. 

“The continued expansion of CCC allows us to further diversify our business model outside of core origination and servicing activities in a capital-light manner, and is a testament to our proven track record of originating high-quality non-agency mortgage investments,” Madhur Agarwal, CCM’s chief financial officer, said in a statement. 

Hildene, a $16.8 billion credit-focused alternative asset manager, has been an active partner. It closed a $496.3 million securitization backed by 968 non-QM loans in August and a $416.4 million deal in June backed by 881 residential mortgages. Both pools were wholly originated through Hildene’s relationship with CCM.

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