Hope for Wholesale/Correspondent: Cole Taylor

It’s no secret that over the past three years the megabanks have run screaming from the third-party lending sector, abandoning correspondent lenders and loan brokers alike. Bank of America and TPO: Gone. Citigroup and TPO: gone. Ally Financial: Just about gone. But there’s a growing trend of mid-sized and regional banks that see a huge opportunity in wholesale and correspondent. (Before I go on, keep in mind that among the ‘megas’ U.S. Bancorp has stepped up nicely in correspondent and wholesale lending.) As for the mids, just take a look at the 1Q results of Cole Taylor Mortgage, a bank subsidiary. CTM saw its revenues increase by 94% on a sequential basis in the first quarter while its mortgage servicing portfolio more than doubled in size. CTM wholesale chief Willie Newman has done a nice job of growing the business the past two years. If Willie’s name is familiar, it should be – he used to run wholesale at InterFirst/ABN Amro. As most smart mortgage bankers know: the time to enter a sector is when the big guys start running for the hills.