[New] Family values drive Sun West

BY SARAH WOLAK, STAFF WRITER, NATIONAL MORTGAGE PROFESSIONAL MAGAZINE

Pavan Agarwal loves to dance, even though it’s clearly not his forte. He’s a little too reserved, a bit too stiff — better yet, too polite. But he’s got a message he wants to get across, and as he takes the stage with a nervous reserve, he nonetheless does it with all the gusto he can. Pavan’s a 54-yearold Napoleon Dynamite, who just happens to run a multi-billion dollar mortgage company and a blockchainbuilding tech innovator.

Still, his message is clear: let’s celebrate being human and tap into human efficiency to help people achieve homeownership.

Pavan is the CEO of Sun West Mortgage Company, but he doesn’t come across as a domineering leader. He’s the first to admit that the title “boss” doesn’t suit him — nor does it suit Sun West’s values. The word itself implies egotistical values, those of which Pavan doesn’t embody. He’s a casual, family-oriented CEO, showing up at trade shows and conferences sporting a Sun West t-shirt and jeans. He could easily send one of his 600 employees, but that’s not Pavan’s style. He shows up walking amongst a gaggle of enthusiastic employees as if he is just another originator. And, sometimes, walking alongside her son is Sharda Agarwal, who serves as a member of the company’s board and attends conferences with Pavan as his cheerleader.

When Pavan takes center stage, he’s soft-spoken and well-mannered. He plays music to delight and connect with his audience, even pulling out a few dance moves to entertain them. His timid energy shifts to a confident air when he starts to talk about Sun West and the values that his father, Hari, embedded the company with.

All Hands On Deck

Pavan, who grew up in Cerritos, Calif., spent most of his childhood helping his parents — both in the real estate business — with cleaning, collecting rent and pitching open house signs. His father, Hari, started Sun West in the 1980s. Even though Pavan expressed an early interest in coding and later pursued a electrical engineering degree, his father groomed and encouraged him to try out mortgage originating — even as a young teenager. “By the time I was a young adult I served multiple duties at the company, including being a wholesale representative, brand rep and a loan originator,” Pavan said. “I even served as head janitor,” he joked.

Pavan has fond memories of playing with his two sisters at Sun West’s first office after school while their parents worked late into the night. Being an immigrant family, all the Agarwals were expected to help out and prioritize the family’s livelihood.

“Like most tight-knit families there was no clear line between the family business and the family home,” Pavan said. “Yes, I had a wonderfully entertaining full childhood, but it was always scheduled around the priorities of the business needs.”

Just like Hari curated a tight-knit family, he also poured these values into creating a family-oriented business. Both parents encouraged their children to work for the company and learn the ins and outs of the business. “I always used to instruct Pavan to go sit with his father and listen to him close a deal,” his mother, Sharda, said.

Pavan, who had an affinity for technology at a young age, was asked by Hari to assist with making Sun West more technologically forward-facing. Hari flirted with the idea of artificial intelligence, but during the 80s, it seemed too daunting and futuristic. “[My father] realized even though he knew the tech basics he didn’t possess the vocabulary and detailed knowledge of how to implement his technologyrooted vision of Sun West,” Pavan said. “So, it was a natural progressive hand-off.”

As Hari began to withdraw from duties, he asked Pavan to take over as CEO in 2008 — in the middle of the Great Recession. While Pavan was doing business in New York, he and his father shared a quick phone conversation in which he was asked to take over the managerial role. “It was a casual conversation [that we had],” Pavan says. “My father was in California and I gave him a call about a collateral margin-call situation that was happening. He essentially said to me, ‘If you can figure this out, you can take care of everything going forward’.” That “collateral situation” wasn’t a walk in the park. Bear Stearns had crashed, decreasing loan values at a staggering rate. Pavan’s loan values plummeted, leaving him to decide how to handle all that he and Hari had worked for amidst a financial disaster. “In short, our company warehouse declined by 14 points — equivalent to $20 million lost. We had to find people to take loans off our hands to reduce the difference.” Pavan naturally called Hari and promised he would figure everything out. He says that his strong relationships with his clients came into play that day; he approached UBS Investment and said, “Listen, [Sun West] is in a tough situation, can you help me?” UBS was able to buy the loans just below par value with one condition: that when it came time to sell off the loans in a bond, Sun West had to issue securities. Pavan kept that promise. “That trade only happened because my [promise] meant something to UBS,” he said. “My relationships saved me that day.”

LIKE FATHER, LIKE SON

Pavan, who has fond memories of his late father, credits Hari for inspiring his leadership skills. “My father was the business leader before me and as his son, I am like him as a leader,” he said. “I’ve always tried to lead by example in my work.” The Agarwals lost their patriarch at the end of 2021, which greatly affected Pavan. “My main focus when we lost dad wasn’t on the company at first, it was taking care of mom,” Pavan said, his voice wavering ever so slightly. “But then, we had to think about how to go from here and lead without his help.”

Pavan’s leadership draws inspiration from Hari, and it’s evident in his philosophies. “My father always used to say to me ‘forget the credentials,” Pavan said. “Ask yourself if you would lend them the money and, if you would, how would you want to be treated as a customer?”

People first has always been Sun West’s top priority, which is why Pavan prioritizes his staff as much as his customers. His leadership style can best be described as an open-door policy,