Virgin Renews Commitment to Wholesale

While others continue to drop out of the wholesale mortgage lending business, the U.S. outsourcer that made an innovative move into that space when British mogul Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group acquired it last year has been expanding and has renewed its commitment to it, saying it plans to continue to grow it with an "elite" group of brokers. Since it acquired outsourcing firm Lendia and transformed it into a wholesaler that gives its brokers the option of converting their fixed staffing costs into variable-rate outsourcing costs, the Waltham, Mass.-based business has more than doubled its volume and client base of brokers and is now licensed in 30 states across the country, Virgin Money founder and chief executive officer Asheesh Advani told MortgageWire. More than 150 third-party originators have joined the company's network and while Mr. Advani said he could not quantify the extent to which they have opted to use the company's outsourcing option, he said the "timely offering" has had "a fair amount of success" in attracting brokers. He said the company has unique plans for the business that are "ahead of regulatory trends," including an effort designed to attract the highest quality brokers in the country. In addition to former Lendia executive Greg O'Connor, who is currently an executive vice president at the Virgin unit, executives that are now leading the business and supporting Mr. O'Connor include Kim Lanagan, who supports in-house account executives who work out of the company's home office in Waltham, and Dennis Waller, who manages AEs in the field. Virgin also does some social/retail mortgage lending in the United States and Sir Richard has had his eye on the U.S. mortgage market since at least 2007 when he appeared at the Mortgage Bankers Association's annual convention to underline his interest in it.