Stratmor Group, a mortgage lending consulting firm that helps banks build profitable lending and servicing operations, has hired Thomas Finnegan III as the company’s new senior associate.
Finnegan, an industry veteran with over 30 years of mortgage banking experience, will advise Stratmor’s banking clients on how to improve their mortgage performance.
“As a former bank mortgage CEO, I bring some practical experience to the table for these Stratmor strategic assignments,” Finnegan said. “I can speak to what works and what doesn’t when it comes to a bank’s mortgage operation. I can also help banks build the relationship between their retail and wealth units and the retail mortgage group that is so critical to success.”
Previously, Finnegan served as president and chief executive officer of mortgage banking units at Ohio-based FirstMerit Bank and Huntington Bank. Finnegan also served as a senior mortgage banking executive at Integra Bank and Landmark Savings Association in Pittsburgh. He began his business career with Peat, Marwick, Mitchell & Co. (now KPMG), as a Certified Public Accountant in the firm's Pittsburgh office.
Finnegan is a past president of the Ohio Mortgage Bankers Association and the Mortgage Bankers Association of Southwestern Pa. He also served on the residential board of governors of the Mortgage Bankers Association of America, and was a founding board member of the Mortgage Bankers Association of Pennsylvania.
“Tom has worked in institutions that Stratmor has served, so he knows our methods well. He has the C-level experience we were looking for to expand our bank consulting business,” said Lisa Springer, managing director and chief operating officer for Stratmor. “Most importantly, he is a good fit with our corporate culture. Tom stepped into a strategic conversation about organizational structure and compensation with a Stratmor client within his first week and was able to provide significant value. We’re very pleased to have him on board.”
Finnegan has experience building mortgage sales organizations targeted toward external business development. He has developed and implemented strategies in secondary marketing, servicing, loss mitigation and servicing asset management, production operations and IT, construction lending, bank mortgage portfolio management and affiliated title company operations. He led successful integration of acquired banks' mortgage operations at FirstMerit, Huntington and Integra, and was responsible for the evaluation and purchase of an independent mortgage bank by Integra.
“Mortgage is a cyclical and volatile business. Banks need strategies to deal with [times] when volumes rise or shrink,” Finnegan said. “At the same time, the mortgage is an anchor product for most consumers that carries a lot of information about the consumer that the bank can use to better serve them. In addition, banks have certain social obligations related to [the Community Reinvestment Act] that they must meet in a profitable way. In this age of increased scrutiny, banks are rightfully concerned about implementing a realistic approach to the mortgage business. I’m very excited about helping institutions get that job done.”