DSNews delivers stories, ideas, links, companies, people, events, and videos impacting the mortgage default servicing industry.
Issue link: http://digital.dsnews.com/i/958746
22 As the CFO and Co-Founder of Blend, a technology company transforming the $40+ trillion consumer lending industry, Erin Collard is a seasoned professional in economics, technology, and the housing sector. He attended the University of Sheffield where he received a bachelor's degree in Economics. From there, he attended the University of Warwick where he earned a Master's of Science in Economics. Before Blend, Collard served as an early employee and head trader of Clarium Capital Management (hedge fund founded by Peter iel) and Armored Wolf. Why did you first become interested in the study of economics? I was always obsessed with statistics when I was young. I found the application of mathematics to real-world problems endlessly appealing, so it was a natural path to studying economics. Spending the majority of my postgraduate time researching Central Bank reaction functions, my academic career was cut somewhat shorter than intended when Peter iel asked me to join and help build his global macro hedge fund. It was exciting to spend years dissecting and analyzing the world of data where economic theory and market reality finally met. Even today, as CFO and Co-founder of Blend, I still view the world through the lens of an economist with the same passion that got me interested in economics in the beginning. What trends do you think the economy will see throughout 2018? In 2017, the U.S. experienced a slowdown in home sales but not in prices, which was primarily due to the lack of housing available for purchase. In 2018, we're not going to see this improve dramatically. While homebuilders are continuing to help on the supply side, their focus is currently on the "moving up" market vs. the entry level market for millennials and first-time homebuyers. Affordability will remain front and center for 2018 and will be made sharper because of the current administration's changes to mort- gage interest tax deductions. As a byproduct of this, the U.S. housing market will experi- ence an increased demand for smaller, more affordable homes and the role of homebuilders to meet that need will become increasingly important. Investment in technology seems poised to continue increasing following a very strong 2017, particularly in early and later-stage companies. is is great news for the financial sector and economy as a whole. While many are focused on blockchain and its ability to power a multitude of platforms and applica- tions, we will also continue to see a strong focus on cybersecurity and fraud prevention. As a result, I think the industry will see a lot more regulation, as various regulatory bodies struggle to keep up with the pace of develop- ment. One trend I noticed last year that I hope continues is a focus from fintech companies on encouraging and almost 'gamifying' sav- ings and wealth management for millennials. is could be a massive win for the economy as millennials continue to increase their slice of the economic pie. As we look globally, one of the more interesting trends we may see is divergence in central bank policy, a stark contrast to the last 10 years of coordinated policy. While we may see the U.S. and U.K. continue to have steepening yield curves in relation to the E.U., this will have consequences for global trade and asset relocation. As a result, we can expect a continuation of asset inflation in the U.S., and quite possibly for our net exports to form an obstacle to growth in the years to come. ASK THE ECONOMIST HEAR DIRECTLY FROM TODAY'S LEADING MARKET EXPERTS. "Investors see a big opportunity for technology to drive change across different areas of financial services, and I believe we'll only see this interest grow in 2018 and beyond." Erin Collard CFO and Co-Founder, Blend