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MortgagePoint ยป Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 46 May 2023 T H E P O I N T Q: What tools would you suggest that servicers have in their toolkit to make it and excel in today's marketplace? I am a firm believer in simplicity. Regard- less of the state of the marketplace, there are two key elements needed to excel. One is top talent, which is defined as people who execute collectively to a well-defined mission and consistent vision. I think the second is top technology. We have been and still are in a technology revolution, and it moves faster than any of us ever believed it could move. Utilizing top technology solutions and strategically building your infrastructure and architecture to be nimble are absolutely criti- cal steps to excel in today's marketplace. Q: Does Selene have any programs or products in the works set to be rolled out in the near future? From a technology standpoint, meeting customers in the channel of choice is im- portant. From a financial aspect, your digital interactions come with a lesser cost, but there are individuals who need to and still desire to communicate through a voice channel. Significantly enhancing our digital capabili- ties is our primary focus. The other thing that some may or may not know about Selene in general is we also have a due diligence organization, Selene Diligence, in the Selene family of companies. Selene Diligence continues to build out its product set, and is offering dynamic due diligence services. We also have Selene Title as well, which has continued to build out their national footprint and build the capabilities to service single-family rentals and originations in default markets. Q: What lies ahead for the servicing space for the rest of this year and beyond? From my perspective, based on recent events such as the pandemic and even the recent banking failures, we should anticipate increased regulatory oversight and engage- ment. We will all feel the increased financial pressures for the reasons I mentioned earlier. The mortgage industry has always proven to be resilient, and with a strong focus on finan- cial discipline, and moving at the speed of quality, we will absolutely be pressure-tested over the next few years. From a customer perspective, we will experience longer-term relationships due to the decreased purchase activity and the nonexistent refinance market. Customers will stay with us longer. As customer demands continue to migrate into those digital rela- tionships, servicers like Selene must have the capabilities to meet customers in their channel of choice like I mentioned earlier, for no other reason than to build trust. That trust is an important principle that not only drives efficiency and satisfaction, but also ensures engagement if a hardship scenario were ever to surface. What we learned from the mortgage meltdown and the pandemic is how we established relationships and trust with customers that really separates us. From a visionary standpoint, you must build rela- tionships when there is no hardship, so that when hardship arises, you already have that relationship established. The mortgage industry has always proven to be resilient, and with a strong focus on financial discipline, and moving at the speed of quality, we will absolutely be pressure-tested over the next few years."