MIDDLETOWN – With an eye toward expanding its business-to-business services, Embrace Home Loans has named one of its top executives to lead the effort.
Kurt Noyce, who for nearly two decades served as president of the Middletown-based independent mortgage lender, was named head of its Financial Institution Services Division. The division focuses on providing loan operations for banks and credit unions.
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“We believe the services we provide banks allow banks to scale a variety of challenges they face today in providing their customers a highly satisfying mortgage loan experience and originate mortgages profitably,” said Dennis Hardiman, Embrace CEO.
The services are relatively new in the mortgage-lending business. In the past, banks and credit unions would be wary outsource such an important segment of the industry’s core business, especially to an independent mortgage lender.
But Embrace, which originates more than $3 billion in mortgages each year, has been successful in demonstrating the value of such an approach. It has already partnered with a handful of financial institutions, which benefit from Embrace’s highly focused and specialized services.
The mortgage-lending business, after all, has become much more complex in wake of the increased regulatory scrutiny that emerged following the devastating boom-and-bust cycle that fueled the 2008 financial crisis.
“Banks are frustrated by the difficulties they face in providing mortgages for their customers, and this has caused a growing number of banks to stop offering them. We see there to be a sizable growth opportunity for us with helping banks be successful with furnishing mortgages to their customers and respond to the digitalization of mortgages which is taking place,” Hardiman said.
Mortgage growth within the financial institutions partnered with Embrace more than doubled the national average of 16 percent in 2016, according to a press release. Since 2008, independent mortgage lenders, like Embrace, have gained market share from traditional financial institutions. Noyce in December told Providence Business News the trend also helps rationalize partnerships.
“Banks have so many competing demands on their focus and funding … that it has become challenging to keep their mortgage group competitive against independents that have just one focus: mortgage lending,” Noyce said.
The company expects Noyce, who has been instrumental in growing the company, and elevating the Embrace brand nationwide, will continue to build on that success.
“We need a proven leader and mortgage professional to guide this effort for us, and there is none better than Kurt for the task,” Hardiman continued.
Hardiman will maintain his title as CEO and assume the title of president. Al Dussinger, formerly the chief technology officer for 22 years, has been appointed chief operating officer.
Eli Sherman is a PBN staff writer. Email him at Sherman@PBN.com, or follow him on Twitter @Eli_Sherman.
