DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/1517420
MortgagePoint » Your Trusted Source for Mortgage Banking and Servicing News 28 March 2024 I N D U S T R Y U P D A T E U.S., with approximately 200 branches across the West, Central, and Southeast regions. In 2023, Academy Mortgage gen- erated $5.59 billion in loan originations. Academy Mortgage Chief Executive Adam Kessler will join Guild's senior lead- ership team through the transition and newly combined organization. Academy branches will operate as a division within Guild, and transition to the Guild brand. "Academy has always led the industry in its commitment to Inspiring Hope, Delivering Dreams, and Building Pros- perity—for our homeowners, partners, and employees. Joining forces with Guild Mortgage will allow us to accelerate our collective desire to preserve and promote that vision as we work together to become the nation's best independent mortgage lender," Kessler said. "I've known Terry and the Guild team for a long time, and our common mission, vision, and values made it clear joining forces would be a win-win for both companies. Joining Guild provides new opportunities for our team to access Guild's industry-leading product suite and leverage Guild's robust reputa- tion, technology, and servicing platform while strengthening both organization's focus on people, purpose, productivity, and prosperity." Academy becomes the sixth lender to join forces with Guild via acquisition since 2021 and will increase Guild's number of licensed originators to more than 2,100. Based on origination volume of both organizations through Q3 of 2023, the combined enterprise would repre- sent 1.3% of retail market share among nonbank retail mortgage lenders, which would rank eighth nationally. Both Guild and Academy are com- mitted to the retail purchase mortgage market, with more than 95% of their combined loan volume in 2023 gen- erating from the local retail market in communities they serve. FANNIE MAE HONORED WITH 'EQUALITY 100 AWARD' F annie Mae has been recognized with the Equality 100 Award: Leader in LGBTQ+ Workplace Inclusion from the Human Rights Cam- paign Foundation, receiving a score of 100 on its 2023-2024 Corporate Equality Index (CEI) for the ninth consecutive year. The annual benchmarking survey and report measures corporate poli- cies, practices, and benefits related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality. "Fannie Mae is proud to be recog- nized by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation for our diversity and for fostering an inclusive, psychologically safe environment," said Priscilla Almo- dovar, CEO of Fannie Mae. "As our world grows more diverse every day, we put a premium on diversity of thought and experience among our leaders and em- ployees, and we encourage diversity and inclusivity among our business partners and throughout the housing market." Fannie Mae's commitment to diver- sity and inclusion in the workplace and industry is shown through many internal and external initiatives, such as: » Supporting employee resource groups, including the LGBTQ+ Live Openly group, as they encourage professional development, cultural, and commu- nity service, and give employees of all backgrounds and interests a chance to connect, learn, and grow while furthering the company's mission and business objectives. » Offering inclusive benefits such as childcare, adoption, and bonding leave, and surrogacy assistance. » Sponsoring the Future Housing Lead- ers program, which connects college students with diverse backgrounds to paid internship and entry-level job opportunities in the housing industry offered by top employers who are ac- tively engaged in promoting diversity in their workforce. » Promoting equal opportunities for em- "As our world grows more diverse every day, we put a premium on diversity of thought and experience among our leaders and employees, and we encourage diversity and inclusivity among our business partners and throughout the housing market." —Priscilla Almodovar, CEO, Fannie Mae