Orange County-based multi-channel mortgage lender New American Funding (NAF) has named Shannon Robinson as vice president of its reverse mortgage division and is preparing to expand its reverse business, according to company leaders.
The company is also recently named co-founder Patty Arvielo as co-CEO and promoted COO Christy Bunce to president. The leaders said they are aligned on the expansion of NAF’s presence in the reverse mortgage space, but will stay focused on the Federal Housing Administration (FHA)’s Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) product.
New reverse mortgage VP
Robinson is an experienced reverse mortgage industry professional, and most recently held the role of VP of strategic sales and execution at American Advisors Group (AAG). Prior roles include AAG director of field operations and director of sales operations at Liberty Reverse Mortgage.
NAF said Robinson’s proven leadership in the reverse industry will contribute to operational evolution for the division.
“Her background and experience in the reverse mortgage space will help build robust processes and workflows, leading to a strong reverse platform at New American Funding,” a company spokesperson said. “She is well-known in the industry and is thrilled to introduce new opportunities to NAF.”
Arvielo and Bunce’s promotions will also assist in further development of its reverse activities, the company said.
“The leadership structure changes only strengthen our posture on reverse. Patty and Christy are very aligned on NAF’s reverse strategy and wholeheartedly support Shannon and her team in growing the reverse business,” the spokesperson said.
Expanding NAF’s reverse presence
NAF has offered reverse mortgages for the past decade, but the company’s reverse mortgage footprint is ripe for expansion, Bunce said.
“Market challenges this past year have propelled NAF to rethink and optimize different areas of the business,” Bunce said. “Reverse happens to be an area where we see tremendous opportunity, especially with Shannon’s impressive knowledge.”
For Arvielo, promoting knowledge of the reverse mortgage offering will be critical to NAF’s renewed reverse efforts.
“It is important that we routinely communicate with our existing clients the new opportunities NAF brings to the table for homeowners,” Arvielo said. “Reverse is an area where we can continue to educate the senior demographic on the opportunities of leveraging housing wealth as a retirement solution.”
Distributed sales, products and other ventures
NAF attributes its success to a combination of streamlined processing and technology implementation, as well as its competitively priced products and services. A local market presence coupled with national experience will also be vital in the future, Bunce said.
“We understand the importance of providing a local market presence with national mortgage experience and work diligently to educate loan officers on a variety of forward-thinking platforms and products,” Robinson said. “We plan to expand our call center and build an exclusive team of reverse loan agents. We are working hard on enhanced processes and new reverse mortgage offerings.”
When asked if the focus on expansion includes private-label loan options, NAF said it will primarily focus on the HECM product.
“NAF is not planning to offer any proprietary reverse mortgage products at this time, but we plan to offer a robust group of products to insure our loan originators have access to the right product for each individual customer,” the company said.
The company is optimistic about its plans to break into the reverse industry’s top 10 lenders after its efforts come to fruition.
“We have always done an excellent job offering a full product suite to each and every customer that works with NAF. By bringing Shannon on board, we are in an even better position to deliver,” Bunce said.
