PONTIAC, MI, February 22, 2021 – United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM), today announced the hire of Desmond P. Smith as the company’s Chief Growth Officer. Smith most recently served as Senior Vice President, Chief Customer Officer for Single Family Business at Fannie Mae.
In the newly formed role at UWM, Smith will focus on innovative ways to advance and grow the mortgage broker channel. With three decades of knowledge and experience from his time spent at FHA, Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase, Citi, Capital One Home Loans and Fannie Mae, he is able to shine a cascading spotlight on the difference between retail and wholesale lending.
“Desmond is an innovative and thoughtful veteran of the mortgage industry who will bring a unique skillset and background to our team that will allow us to catapult the broker channel forward,” said Mat Ishbia, President and CEO of UWM. “He believes in the wholesale channel and knows first-hand the benefits mortgage brokers bring to borrowers as well as the benefits a loan originator has access to when working at a broker shop.”
Smith has been recognized for creating high-performance cultures, empowering teams and transforming businesses. During his 20 years working for Wells Fargo, JPMorgan Chase and Citibank, Smith had an abundance of experience running national production teams and correspondent business, which resulted in record volume, growth and profits. He began his time at Fannie Mae leading the East for its top 200 customers. Soon after, he took over all 1,200 customers and was appointed Chief Customer Officer, where he was responsible for everything from origination to servicing. During his last 4.5 years at the company, he worked to reorganize the Customer Teams, creating business units that experienced record volume, great returns, high quality, exceptional employee engagement scores and top tier NPS scores from customers.
“I’ve had the privilege of working with many different companies and I am proud of the impact I was able to make, but when it was time for the next chapter in my career, joining the team at UWM was a no-brainer,” Smith said. “UWM was one of my top customers at Fannie Mae, so I’m very familiar with how they operate and their leaders. I’ve always been impressed by their dedication and focus on the broker channel. I’ve had the benefit of understanding all the origination channels, and mortgage brokers really are better. In most instances, they offer a more efficient experience with a cheaper cost. I’m ecstatic about the contributions I can make to ensure more people know this to be true.”