[New] Brave New World

If 2022 has one big lesson to teach 2023, it’s this: Bold innovation will win the day.

Too many companies went into the start of last year with expectations of a three-peat. Some tempered their outlooks out of caution over slightly higher interest rates. But it’s hard to find anyone who was planning for the largest and fastest rate hikes in history.

Suddenly, lenders found themselves with no refi business and in a tough slog for purchase originations. Alternative products offer some reprieve, but while consumers may be interested in Non-QM or private lending loans, the investor community is too shell-shocked. That leaves those niche providers with borrowers but few buyers.

There are a lot of predictions for what is to come this year, many contradictory. But here’s the clear part: Companies without the ability to reinvest and those who continue to approach the market with the same techniques are the ones least likely to see the start of 2024. What’s needed are “innocent eyes,” untainted by past expectations and ready to see the world anew. We need to look at reality as it is, not as it was and not as we wish it to be. And then, the winners will be those who take action, not those who hunker down.

Seeing The Light

So throughout this year, we’ll be looking at innovators and visionaries. We’ll be profiling the confident and the accomplished. And we’ll be bringing out the techniques and commitment that result in success in a market that’s marked by doom and gloom.

We’re starting with Pavan Agarwal. He’s not the kind of mortgage executive who gets a lot of press, not the guy who gets his name in all the news stories. But he’s building on the philosophies that guided his father, who started Californiabased Sun West Mortgage nearly 40 years ago. And since Pavan took over running the company during the Great Recession, he’s proven that compassion and competitiveness can work together.

But he’s also looking to the future, and he sees tech being the great accelerator. That’s why he founded Celligence, a tech startup based in Puerto Rico. It’s developing new systems for the mortgage industry, leading off with a program called Morgan that threatens to upend traditional loan-application processing and underwriting. He’s looking to transform a process that takes days or weeks to one that takes minutes or hours.

There’s a lot of work to do here. But Pavan and his family see the challenge as an opportunity, a chance to take big steps.

Eyes wide open, he’s looking to push into a stronger future. It’s a lesson worth learning. n

VINCENT M. VALVO Publisher, Editor-in-Chief

Keith Griffin SENIOR EDITOR

Gary Rogo SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR Mike Savino

HEAD OF MULTIMEDIA

Katie Jensen, Steven Goode, Douglas Page, Sarah Wolak

STAFF WRITERS

Rob Chrisman, Dave Hershman, Erica LaCentra, Nick Roberson, Lew Sichelman, Mary Kay Scully

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nicole Coughlin, Nichole Cakirca

ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES

Alison Valvo

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Julie Carmichael

PROJECT MANAGER Meghan Hogan DESIGN MANAGER

Stacy Murray, Christopher Wallace GRAPHIC DESIGN MANAGERS

Navindra Persaud

DIRECTOR OF EVENTS William Valvo

UX DESIGN DIRECTOR Andrew Berman

HEAD OF CUSTOMER OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT

Tigi Kuttamperoor, Matthew Mullins, Angelo Scalise

MULTIMEDIA SPECIALISTS

Melissa Pianin

MARKETING & EVENTS ASSOCIATE Kristie Woods-Lindig

ONLINE ENGAGEMENT SPECIALIST

Joel Berman

FOUNDING PUBLISHER

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