The chief executive of First American Financial Corp. said rival
Speaking at the Keefe, Bruyette & Woods Mortgage Finance Conference in New York Tuesday, Dennis Gilmore said First American was third in the settlement services space while LPS and FNF were the top two firms. So it is an opportunity to pick up incremental business.
He added that its was not the size of LPS that would have held First American back from acquiring it but that management felt it would not be a strategic fit.
Speaking of acquisitions, Gilmore said First American is willing to use its capital for strategic transactions.
However, he did not see much opportunity for a transaction involving another large underwriter; there was more opportunity to acquire regional agencies.
On the settlement services side it is looking at companies whose offering could add to First American’s product mix.
As for the title business, the company wants to grow its
The spike in rates did not have much impact on the volume of open orders, First American executives said. In May the company averaged 6,900 open orders a day, similar to April. But the mix changed as purchase volume was up 1% month-to-month and refinance volume was down 6%.
Gilmore was asked about how regulatory issues could affect First American’s business. He said from an insurance perspective, going forward it would be business as usual.
Things are not as clear as it regards how the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would impact First American.
Gilmore said with CFPB, First American’s lender customers are under greater scrutiny and that could affect its business.
