United Shore Financial Services (USFS) has announced that Mat Ishbia will be appointed to the position of chief executive officer for the company. Ishbia currently serves as both president of USFS and also its successful wholesale operation, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), which under his leadership has now become the fourth largest wholesale mortgage lender in the country.

“We have put in place strategic plans and the necessary infrastructure to expand at a healthy, controlled rate due to our recent tremendous success,” said Mat Ishbia, current president of USFS and UWM. “I look forward to assuming the role of CEO at United Shore Financial Services and continuing to grow the company’s wholesale and retail residential lending channels.”

Notable is that under Ishbia’s guidance, UWM has grown exponentially since he started—from only five percent of total company production to over ninety percent. Recently, Ishbia was named as one of the 40 Most Influential Mortgage Professionals Under 40 by National Mortgage Professional Magazine, and was also named a Crain’s Detroit Business 40 under 40. His vision to establish a unique business model that is intensely focused on next-level client service is, among other things, what has largely attributed to UWM’s success.

“USFS is pleased to announce Mat as our new CEO; he has demonstrated his leadership by far surpassing industry benchmarks and setting unprecedented growth rates. His business acumen, proven leadership skills and sterling reputation are unrivaled,” said David Hall, president of USFS’ retail arm, Shore Mortgage.

Kip Kirkpatrick, USFS’ present CEO, will make a planned transition from running the day-to-day operations of the business to holding a seat on the company’s advisory board.

“Since joining USFS as CEO in 2011, Kip has supported our growth with unwavering passion and commitment, laying the foundation for continued success,” said Jeff Ishbia, USFS founder and board chair. “We look forward to working with him as a trusted, highly experienced advisor to assist in strategically growing the business.”

Earlier this year, USFS brought its more than 1,200 employees together under one roof at its new state-of-the-art corporate headquarters located at 1414 Maple Road in Troy, Michigan. The move consolidated all of USFS’ team members from four locations in Birmingham, MI and Troy, MI into a single location on three floors with more than 140,000 square feet of new space. Just two weeks ago, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder visited this new headquarters to spotlight USFS’s contributions to the community and its plans to hire 600 new employees in 2013.

Click here to view the full article.

Click here to see footage from the day’s event!

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Detroit Free Press, Wednesday, May 15, 2013

United Shore Financial Services, which has grown rapidly from a modest mortgage operation to one of the top wholesale lenders in the nation, plans to show off its new Troy headquarters Wednesday — and tout its recruitment efforts.

The company aims to fill 600 positions this year.

“We’ve talked a lot about building the right culture to recruit talent,” Mat Ishbia, the president of USFS, said. “We’ve got to build a place where employees want to work.”

Gov. Rick Snyder — along with Ishbia and other USFS leaders — is scheduled to speak during a 4 p.m. tour and ceremony and take questions from employees.

The nearly 1,200-employee company consolidated four locations in Birmingham into two floors with more than 140,000 square feet at 1414 E. Maple. The new headquarters offers top employees valet parking, and includes an expanded cafeteria, fitness center, dry cleaning drop-off and pickup — and even a Starbucks.

The offices also are painted in bright colors — and have recreational areas such as a putting green, a foosball table and a basketball hoop

“We grind hard,” Ishbia said. “But, it’s not all work. There is some enjoyment, too.”

Earlier this year, Ishbia — who is the son of the company’s founder and chairman, Jeffrey Ishbia — was a speaker at Snyder’s Economic Summit, which focused on jobs. His take, he said, is that workers and companies can do a better job of connecting.

“There are a lot of great jobs in Michigan, and a lot of great people,” Ishbia said.

USFS, which was founded 27 years ago, operates three brands: United Wholesale Mortgage, Shore Mortgage and Capital Mortgage Funding. The company grew rapidly in the aftermath of the national financial collapse. It forecasts $16 billion in loan origination this year, which puts it among the industry’s top five lenders.

“If you have the heart, work ethic and attitude to be successful, there’s no glass ceiling,” Ishbia added.

Click here to view the article on Freep.com

Michigan is on the road to recovery, and employers must now find better ways of attracting the talent they need to fill jobs.

That was the message of the 2013 Governor’s Economic Summit recently held in Detroit. Thought leaders in business, government, education and economic and workforce development rightly challenged employers to help find solutions to our state’s talent needs.

This positive spirit is needed to overcome the tired refrain that there’s a “skills gap” — that is, a lack of talent that matches up with employers’ needs — and that employers are powerless to do anything about it. At United Shore Financial Services, we’ve been able to successfully fill 500 positions since March 2011, and are on track to hire another 600 people this year.

Now, it’s absolutely true that the days of simply posting a position and having the perfect candidate respond are over. However, today’s job providers — especially those in Michigan — do have to work harder to secure the talent they want on their team.

There are three things in particular that employers can do to attract people with the right mix of talent and skills:

• Do our fair share of the work. Employers can’t just complain there are no skilled workers. Instead, we need to invest more of our time in finding the right graduates. If we do a better job of defining the exact skill sets we want, including “soft” areas like motivation, we can also screen more effectively.

We also need to forge stronger ties with universities and community colleges, including making the effort to get to know administrators.

• Invest in supplementary training. It’s smart to look for employees who may not have all the skills they will ultimately need but who are highly motivated and willing to learn. Once you’ve found these highly motivated people, boosting your training budget for existing and new employees can then make a big difference.

• Be more flexible in creating great work environments. Our experience suggests that so-called perks can be valuable if they are extended to all employees. For example, free beverages, valet parking, concierge services and a fitness center not only help attract employees but free employees to do their best work.

Employers who spend the time needed to define their needed skill sets, and invest in training and supportive work environments are the ones that will help Michigan lead the nation in its recovery from the recession.

Mat Ishbia is the president of Troy-based United Shore Financial Services, parent company of United Wholesale Mortgage, Shore Mortgage and Capital Mortgage Funding.

Click here to view the original article on Crain’s Detroit Business website.

Promoted to president of United Shore Financial Services, LLC, in January, Mat lshbia captured the industry’s attention for his emergence as a market leader and his accomplishments while at the helm of the organization’s lending subsidiary, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM). Under lshbia’s guidance, the company’s wholesale mortgage business set a record pace for growth, and though a commitment to traditional difference makers-like integrity and quality-have served him well, lshbia’s success story hinges on his fanatical attention to better, bolder service strategies.

M // Nationally, what lending trends both positive and negative are you observing in the mortgage marketplace?

ISHBIA // At this point, one of the major trends in the marketplace is serving clients both from a wholesale perspective and an originator’s perspective. The industry has been tarred with negativity from the subprime collapse and the public’s perception that it is very difficult and cumbersome to get a loan. This negativity surrounding our industry has deterred many consumers from refinancing their n1ortgagc or from using traditional financing. However, this trend is slowly starting to turn as prospective borrowers have a better understanding of their options.

One of our main goals at UWM is “Lending Made Easy.” Our objective is to make the lending process more transparent and efficient for the broker so the customers have a positive lending experience and can pursue the American Dream. We believe that once borrowers understand their options and have lenders that provide transparency to the process, borrowers will be confident in their ability to obtain loans. Additionally, we are starting to see more originators leaving the big banks and returning to their roots in the wholesale channel. We see big lenders and credit unions coming back in the broker side of the business as many realized regulations create barriers to entry but do eliminate the wholesale channel. When the regulatory turmoil started a few years ago, any people worried about the future of the mortgage broker in the lending process and decided to exit the wholesale channel.  However, as the regulations have become clearer, we have seen many of these individuals return to the wholesale channel as it continues to offer better customer service and product options for their customer base.

M // Among the wide array of policy changes affecting the financial services sector, what key concerns are at the forefront for UWM, and what new initiatives are emerging within the company to address these issues?

ISHBIA // The immense amount of regulatory changes facing all lenders is among the industry’s most significant challenges, and from the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) to state-law changes, our industry is grappling with more policy changes and uncertainty than ever before. In my view, these changes should be welcomed by all as they place an emphasis on transparency in the process and the borrower, which will lead to a stronger mortgage industry. To comply with changes and stay ahead of the curve, a company must make a major investment in compliance. We have done so, and will continue to do so, at UWM. Companies unwilling or reluctant to make this investment will simply not survive. We view this as a win for the consumers, as only those lenders focused on transparency and strict regulatory compliance will be able to provide mortgage loans.

M // As lenders make strategic changes in response to the country‘s shifting economic environment, what opportunities for growth do you anticipate during the next 12 months?

ISHBIA // I think the next u months provide huge opportunities to all lenders, regardless of whether they are tied to a bank. As long as companies embrace the regulatory changes and proactively improve processes and systems, they have a chance to gain market share and a large customer base. Obviously, some large wholesale lenders have exited the business in the last u months, which has opened the door for other lenders to pick up market share if they are focused on customer service, loan quality, and regulatory compliance. The quality of brokers we see now is significantly improved from years ago, and we think it is going to continue to get better and better as the brokers that don’t embrace the compliance changes and this new lending world will not survive. Those brokers that survive and embrace the changes will prosper.

M // How have your projections for 2013 evolved following the CFPB‘s recent release of rules governing qualified mortgages and the industry‘s servicers?

ISHBIA // As far as adjusting to the possible policy changes, we think that is a must in this industry and one of the ways that UWM differentiates itself from our competitors. We react to changes swiftly and make sure we find a way to adapt to the changes quickly while always keeping our customers’ best interests in mind at all times. We believe a transparent and responsive process is an easier lending process and benefits the borrower. We truly believe that if you consume yourself with understanding of the regulatory changes, that you can create a competitive advantage in the marketplace as others will be unwilling and undisciplined to meet the enhanced regulatory scrutiny. Our goals are clear; and we believe we will be able to achieve our production goals of s15 billion at UWM, along with all of our other objectives as it pertains to compliance, loan quality, operations processes, servicing, and more.

M / / What current compliance and risk management strategies are generating progress and enhancing efficiency for your company?

ISHBIA // Risk management is key to our business and a true advantage at UWM. We have risk committee meetings weekly with top executives to manage the risk of our company on all levels. Everything is discussed and addressed in these meetings from new regulations to loan quality, servicing issues, warehouse lines, compliance, and product level issues. In addition, we have a best-in-class compliance department that has more than tripled in size over the past year to monitor, address, and respond to the regulatory changes facing our industry. As a company, we focus on risk management so we can be a long-term player in the industry and continue to deliver superior customer service and a transparent lending process to the borrower.

M // How has your early experience as an account executive for UWM impacted the leadership methods you are utilizing to help your team remain future-focused while operating in an unpredictable marketplace?

ISHBIA // When I started at UWM nearly 10 years ago as an account executive, I worked as an outside rep in the Chicago market, where I learned firsthand what it took to really add value to brokers. I learned what was important to brokers and why they submitted loans to us versus our competitors. The level of support and responsiveness I delivered to my customers was instrumental to their success and my own, and this resulted in being promoted to our corporate office to serve as national sales manager, where I began building our inside account executive team. I focused on recruiting only the best, brightest, and most service focused salespeople and subsequently trained them in the so-called “UWM way,” which targets consistency, knowledge, and world-class service. As simple as that sounds, it has generated success for UWM because our account executives have the education, tools, and technologies to differentiate themselves from their competitors. And their success is our success.

United Wholesale Mortgage Rolls Out Marketing Program for Brokers

New online portal allows brokers to customize pre-designed flyers for borrowers 

TROY, Mich., April 9, 2013 – United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the fourth largest wholesale mortgage lender in the nation, today announced it has launched a free Web portal that enables brokers they work with to produce customized flyers, with options geared towards also marketing to borrowers and realtors.  The system offers an easy-to-use interface by which to tailor marketing pieces, thus promoting the growth of their businesses and personal brands.

Users can log into the portal and quickly generate a free PDF for email purposes of self-printing whereby contact information, company name, logos, photos and more can be configured to create a professionally designed marketing piece. Functionality at the site allows brokers and agents to personalize flyers, change content and instantly download them into formatted PDFs.  UWM makes available options to order full-color printed copies that can be used to hand out to borrowers or realtors, as mailer campaigns, or in any way the like.

“The initial response of this free service has been well-received by originators, and we expect the portal to become a widely used marketing tool over the next few months,” said Mat Ishbia, president of UWM.  “We strive to continually make our originators more successful; the development of this free service helps them to accomplish that.”

As new UWM products are introduced, they will be added to the template database for approved users to take advantage of.  Brokers can sign up to use the marketing portal by contacting UWM at (800) 981-8898 or via email at signup@uwm.com.

About United Wholesale Mortgage
Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United Wholesale Mortgage underwrites and provides closing documentation for residential mortgage loans originated by mortgage brokers, banks, credit unions and correspondents. UWM provides unparalleled service with its deep understanding of the mortgage process using its talented team of account executives, underwriters, closers and funders, who have years of experience with intricate knowledge in wholesale. UWM’s positive teamwork and dedication to exceptional customer service has resulted in continued success and growth that has spawned expansion. For more information, visit www.uwm.com or call 800-981-8898.

Click here to view the full article at MortgageSpeak.com

CONTACT:
Joe Bowerbank
Profundity Communications, Inc.
949.378.9685
jbowerbank@profunditymarketing.com

United Wholesale Mortgage Rolls Out Marketing Program for Brokers

New online portal allows brokers to customize pre-designed flyers for borrowers 

TROY, Mich., April 9, 2013 – United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), the fourth largest wholesale mortgage lender in the nation, today announced it has launched a free Web portal that enables brokers they work with to produce customized flyers, with options geared towards also marketing to borrowers and realtors.  The system offers an easy-to-use interface by which to tailor marketing pieces, thus promoting the growth of their businesses and personal brands.

Users can log into the portal and quickly generate a free PDF for email purposes of self-printing whereby contact information, company name, logos, photos and more can be configured to create a professionally designed marketing piece. Functionality at the site allows brokers and agents to personalize flyers, change content and instantly download them into formatted PDFs.  UWM makes available options to order full-color printed copies that can be used to hand out to borrowers or realtors, as mailer campaigns, or in any way the like.

“The initial response of this free service has been well-received by originators, and we expect the portal to become a widely used marketing tool over the next few months,” said Mat Ishbia, president of UWM.  “We strive to continually make our originators more successful; the development of this free service helps them to accomplish that.”

As new UWM products are introduced, they will be added to the template database for approved users to take advantage of.  Brokers can sign up to use the marketing portal by contacting UWM at (800) 981-8898 or via email at signup@uwm.com.

About United Wholesale Mortgage
Headquartered in Troy, Michigan, United Wholesale Mortgage underwrites and provides closing documentation for residential mortgage loans originated by mortgage brokers, banks, credit unions and correspondents. UWM provides unparalleled service with its deep understanding of the mortgage process using its talented team of account executives, underwriters, closers and funders, who have years of experience with intricate knowledge in wholesale. UWM’s positive teamwork and dedication to exceptional customer service has resulted in continued success and growth that has spawned expansion. For more information, visit www.uwm.com or call 800-981-8898.

CONTACT:
Joe Bowerbank
Profundity Communications, Inc.
949.378.9685
jbowerbank@profunditymarketing.com