| We have made a significant investment
in both our mortgage banking and thrift infrastructure including
an investment in a strong team and state-of-the-art technologies.
Our existing infrastructure is capable of managing an institution
many times our current asset and loan volume size with marginal
investments in sales, marketing and operational costs. This is a
key driver of earnings enhancement over time.
To enhance our technology infrastructure and improve efficiencies
in our core business, we are currently focused on digitizing and
imaging the middle tier processing of our mortgage manufacturing
activities. This will close the gap between our strong automated
front-end underwriting and pricing systems and our back-end automated
servicing capabilities. As we complete the full automation of mortgage
processing from front to back, we will have the ability to perform
many of the routine tasks of mortgage processing from anywhere in
the world and achieve significant cost savings.
I’d like to take this opportunity to welcome Terrance G.
Hodel to our Board of Directors. Terry has more than three decades
of senior management experience in mortgage banking and financial
institutions management, including his service as President and
Chief Operating Officer of North American Mortgage Company, one
of the top mortgage bankers in the Country prior to its acquisition
by Dime Bancorp, Inc. He brings a wealth of mortgage banking expertise
and insight into the industry and fills a big gap created by the
loss of our Founder and Honorary Chairman Emeritus David S. Loeb. |
