Nexstar Lands Morgan Stanley

Nexstar Financial, St. Louis, a fast-growing private-label funder, has landed a major new client -- Morgan Stanley Dean Witter, one of the nation's largest retail brokerage firms.Under the agreement, MSDW's customer-service officers will take mortgage applications from its brokerage clients using Nexstar's technology. Nexstar will then process, underwrite, and fund the loan behind the scenes for MSDW. In a recent interview with National Mortgage News, Nexstar chief executive Richard Thornberry said the company is also talking to two additional firms that might become clients early next year. Formed five years ago (and backed by the buyout firm of Kohlberg, Kravis and Roberts), Nexstar has almost 30 clients. As a private-label funder, it competes against Cendant Mortgage Corp., Mt. Laurel, N.J., and others in that niche.