Date Published: October 2025
The Financial Services industry is doing what it does best – pivoting. After a pretty dismal 2024 in terms of growth and recruiting, I can’t help but think of Ross Gellar’s character in the infamous Friends episode when Ross and his buddies are trying to get a couch moved upstairs that won’t fit, with Ross finally yelling out, “Pivot!” It appears the mortgage industry did just that. It’s not that rates have significantly plummeted or that the industry was given a magic bullet to navigate a challenging market – perhaps it’s just the realization that these are the cards we’ve been dealt, and we still need to move forward.
We have seen a major uptick in recruiting activity this year at the senior leadership and executive level, in addition to production management and footprint growth. Technology is the trending subject matter – lenders are furiously upgrading / replacing stale technology for new and innovative solutions. This has led to some lenders going outside the industry all together for innovative leaders who can bring fresh ideas and a new perspective.
If you are an executive and evaluating your options, it is critical to align yourself with a healthy organization. Not just from a financial perspective, although clearly that is important, but moreover you need to evaluate the company as a whole and conduct critical due diligence. You should be thinking about not only “can I lead this team,” but “can this organization succeed in the shifting landscape, with me in this role, and is the opportunity aligned with what I want long term.” Some of the most important factors:
Financial Health & Capital Structure
-What is the lender’s balance sheet strength, funding sources, liquidity, and ability to weather interest rate cycles, regulatory downturns, or housing market stress?
-How is the capital structured? Are there risks from debt load, cost of funds, or reliance on volatile wholesale funding / warehouse financing?
-What exposure do they have to prepayment risk, interest rate spread compression, credit losses, etc.?
Regulatory / Compliance Risk
-How robust are their compliance, underwriting, and audit functions?
-Track record with regulatory examinations (state and federal), lawsuits, or penalties.
-How well equipped are they to adapt to regulatory changes (TRID, CFPB, Fannie/Freddie, HUD, etc.)?
Technology & Operational Efficiency
-Level of investment in loan origination systems (LOS), underwriting and other automation, data analytics, e‑mortgages, remote digital closings, etc. When is the last time they upgraded Technology? Are they leveraging AI and if so, how?
-Ability to scale operations without disproportionally increasing costs.
-What do Underwriting turn times look like?
Product and Channel Mix
-What mix of retail, wholesale, correspondent, and possibly broker channels does the lender operate in?
-What kind of product portfolio (conforming, jumbo, FHA, VA, USDA, etc.)? Diversity helps with mitigating risk.
-Geographic diversity: are they operating in multiple states or regions with differing housing cycles and regulatory environments?
Leadership, Culture & Talent
-How strong is the existing senior leadership team? Are they strategic thinkers, transparent, ethical, resilient?
-Culture of innovation vs. incrementalism. Are people open to change, continuous improvement, digital transformation?
-Depth of bench: do they have strong mid‑level management, technical experts (underwriting, risk, compliance), and can these roles retain talent?
-Turnover rate at the executive level, as well as in Sales
Market Position & Competitive Advantage
-Brand strength, reputation, relationships with real estate agents, brokers, investors, Builders
-Cost structure vs. competitors: can they price aggressively without sacrificing margin or quality?
-Strategic differentiators (e.g. digital/tech, customer experience, culture, speed, certainty of close) that can attract both borrowers and agents.
Growth Opportunities & Strategy
-What is the strategic roadmap? Expansion into new markets or channels? Vertical integration (servicing, secondary markets, title / appraisal partnerships)?
-How dependent is the growth on refi cycles vs purchase volume?
-Are there opportunities for inorganic growth (acquisitions, partnerships)?
Alignment of Incentives / Compensation
-How are executive compensation, bonus, equity, stock, profit sharing structured?
-Are the incentives aligned with long‑term value (quality, compliance, risk management, customer satisfaction), not just volume?
-Does leadership reward risk‑adjusted returns and sustainable growth over “feet to the fire” volume targets?
Reputation, Transparency & Ethics
-Track record of customer satisfaction, fair dealing, audit outcomes, investor relations.
-Transparency in disclosures, pricing, fee structures.
-Ethical history: lawsuits, regulatory infractions, consumer complaints.
If you are considering making a move from your current employer, you will feel more confident sliding into that new seat if you have thoroughly vetted the organization and understand its strengths as well as areas that need improvement. No company is perfect – if they were, they wouldn’t need you!
Author: Tami Coffey
