Madison, Wis.-based Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation has made two new, key hires to its national reverse mortgage leadership team, the company announced on Thursday.
Tom Evans has joined Fairway as VP of marketing for the company’s reverse mortgage division, while Peter Sciandra is Fairway’s new national manager of reverse mortgage sales, as the company seeks to expand its market share as a leading provider of Home Equity Conversion Mortgages (HECMs).
Evans previously worked with Finance of America first as that company’s national brand director, then as its chief marketing officer, and during his tenure helped to oversee a national television advertising campaign for reverse mortgages featuring actor Robert Wagner.
Sciandra most recently worked for Longbridge Financial before his move to Fairway, where he served first as the leader of the company’s wholesale channel before becoming its VP of products and strategic accounts. Sciandra also previously held positions at Security One Lending/Reverse Mortgage Solutions and in the former reverse mortgage division of MetLife Home Loans.
The new hires are being made with eyes set on both increasing the size of the company’s market share in the reverse mortgage space, but also in an effort to build out the company’s stature with highly-skilled, proven reverse mortgage professionals. This is according to Harlan Accola, Fairway’s national reverse mortgage director.
“We are dedicated to expanding not only Fairway’s current reverse market share, but also having a meaningful impact on the number of HECMs done across the country,” said Accola. “Tom and Peter have walked the walk and have been pioneers in our industry for years.”
In his new role with Fairway, Sciandra seeks to find new ways for people to think about retirement strategy while broadening the role that technology can play in the reverse mortgage process.
“We need to create technology and partnerships that incorporate reverse mortgages to change the way that individuals think about retirement strategy,” Sciandra said in a statement. “HECMs deserve the same excellence in technology that we see throughout the forward mortgage industry, and Fairway will be the leader in creating those partner- and senior-consumer-focused tools.”
The ability to recharacterize the product category in the minds of customers is also of great importance to Evans, he adds.
“We’ve been trying to flip the script on the reverse mortgage story for years,” Evans said. “Fairway is focused on creating fresh messaging to reinvent the HECM as a natural stage of the consumer lending lifespan and as a natural option for a loan officer’s ongoing pipeline.”
The industry veterans are coming into Fairway with great anticipation for expanding the company’s standing in the reverse mortgage space, Accola adds.
“Tom and Peter are coming in with a high expectation to drive our HECM production,” said Accola. “We are confident that Fairway will continue to climb the rankings with their added energy and expertise.”
According to the most recent endorsement data as tabulated by New View Advisors, Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation ranks in sixth place among top 10 reverse mortgage lenders, with 1,697 endorsements recorded over the past 12 months.
