North Carolina-based Truist Financial Corporation announced on Tuesday that seasoned mortgage executive David Smith will be the head of Truist Mortgage effective July 31. Smith will replace the soon-to-be-retired Todd Chamberlain, who will assist with the transition.
Smith, whose experience includes leadership roles at companies such as Keller Williams and CitiMortgage, will oversee the strategy and execution of originations, fulfillment, servicing and warehouse lending.
In addition, Smith will lead the nationwide direct channels and correspondent business, reporting to chief retail and small business banking officer Dontá Wilson.
Wilson said that Smith positions Truist to “reimagine the future,” according to a news release.
Truist, a top U.S. mortgage lender and servicer, has shrunk amid a challenging mortgage market.
In the first quarter of 2023, the company originated $4 billion in mortgages, according to the Inside Mortgage Finance (IMF) estimates. The volume was 64% lower than in the same period of last year but was enough to rank the company the 15th largest residential mortgage lender in the country.
The company’s volume comes mainly from third-party originators. It originated $2.7 billion through TPO in Q1 2023, down 67.2% year over year. Meanwhile, the retail channel was responsible for $1.3 billion, a 58.3% decline in the same period.
The firm’s owned servicing portfolio, now under Smith’s leadership, reached $272 billion from January to March, 10.4% higher than in the same period of 2022. Truist is the 12th largest servicer by owned portfolio in the U.S, according to the IMF data.
Prior to joining Truist, Smith led the mortgage lending, insurance and title businesses affiliated with Keller Williams. Before that, Smith was the president and chief executive officer of CitiMortgage, a subsidiary of Citibank, where he navigated the financial downturn of 2008. His expertise is in building product breadth and pricing strategies for clients.
Smith said that he targets with his new position at Truist to deliver an “innovative, digital-first client experience to help even more clients bring their dreams into reality and achieve financial happiness,” according to a news release.
