Financial services veteran Patrick Halonen has joined reverse mortgage lender and servicer Longbridge Financial as the company’s new head of credit policy, underwriting and quality control.
“With over 25 years of expertise in the financial services industry, Halonen’s appointment underscores Longbridge’s continued commitment to enhance its operational frameworks as the company continues to expand,” the company explained in its announcement.
Halonen joins Longbridge after more than four years at TD Bank, where he served as a senior vice president and head of underwriting. He previously served at other large financial services companies such as Citi and US Bank. He also spent nearly 15 years working in two major divisions at Wells Fargo, including its home mortgage business.
“We are happy to have Patrick join the Longbridge Financial team in this newly formed role,” chief operating officer Bill Packer said in a statement. “His experience and proven track record across diverse lending practices make him an invaluable addition as we aim to enhance our credit, underwriting, and quality control processes.”
For his part, Halonen said his experience will be used to help Longbridge achieve its broader business objectives.
“As I step into my new role at Longbridge Financial, I’m deeply committed to help set a benchmark in industry standards through use of innovative credit, underwriting, and quality control systems,” Halonen said in a statement. “This position will allow Longbridge to capitalize on advanced operational efficiencies which are critical as we look to expand our reach in today’s competitive market.”
In its fourth quarter and full-year 2024 earnings call, Longbridge parent company Ellington Financial touted the strength of the Longbridge business and its addition of portfolio diversity to the company’s broader efforts.
“Key drivers of our results included, first, another excellent quarter from our Longbridge reverse mortgage segment, again led by the proprietary reverse mortgage business,” Ellington CEO Laurence Penn said.
Penn also alluded to the company’s development of new products that are not necessarily reverse mortgages but are focused on serving older Americans. They may share “a lot of similar characteristics” with reverse mortgages, he said.
