Keep Your Head In The Game T

he headlines are stark. Mortgage lender after mortgage lender are closing their doors. Employee layoffs are skyrocketing. The cost of being in the mortgage business, right now, is just too high. So, many industry players are simply folding, or at best are staying pat.

Then there are the high-stakes players. They’re the ones who’ve been careful with their chips when they won. They hoarded their winnings, careful not to bet cavalierly. And now they’re betting big. Because in a year when players across the board are bemoaning the hand they’ve been dealt, the high-stakes players understand that every gamble has the opportunity to bring in stacks of cash.

It’s natural for companies to want to leave the table when the action is against them. But true card sharps don’t do that. They know the game has ups and downs, and they know that if they are strategic in their play, the odds long term will be in their favor.

Upping The Ante

So for those in our industry who think the best bet is to fold and come back to the game at a better time, we say just look at the participants who are instead bulking up, getting ready to be powerhouses when the cards turn. Mutual of Omaha Mortgage grabbed Keller Williams Mortgage and is quickly positioning itself as a bigger power. CMG pulled in the entire retail side of Homebridge Financial. Crain Mortgage Group surrendered and is now part of Legacy Bank & Trust.

But the company winning hand-over-hand appears to be Guild Mortgage. The publicly-traded company was a regional retail powerhouse all on its own. But with good capital reserves and savvy leadership, it’s been on a tear expanding its national footprint and growing its talent ranks. In just the past six months, it raked in New Mexico-based Legacy Mortgage, then midwest legend Inlanta Mortgage, and just a few weeks ago capped off its winning streak by sweeping up Cherry Creek Mortgage.

Guild takes pride that it’s C-Suite is predominantly female. But it’s been proving that in the M&A world, gender doesn’t impede aggressive action. Guild’s story is one that has a simple premise: those who planned before and are strong now will be strongest tomorrow.

Ante up, they say.

VINCENT M. VALVO Publisher, Editor-in-Chief

STAFF

Vincent M. Valvo

CEO, PUBLISHER, EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Beverly Bolnick

ASSOCIATE PUBLISHER

Christine Stuart

EDITORIAL DIRECTOR

David Krechevsky

EDITOR

Keith Griffin

SENIOR EDITOR

Gary Rogo

SPECIAL SECTIONS EDITOR

Mike Savino

HEAD OF MULTIMEDIA

Katie Jensen, Sarah Wolak

STAFF WRITERS

Rob Chrisman, Dave Hershman, Erica LaCentra, Harvey Mackay, Lew Sichelman, Mary Kay Scully

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nicole Coughlin, Nichole Cakirca

ADVERTISING ASSOCIATES

Alison Valvo

DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC GROWTH

Steven Winokur

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER

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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