Category: Press
Assurance Financial Names Jim Clapp
as Chief Lending Officer
October 3, 2024
Baton Rouge, LA – October 3, 2024 – Assurance Financial, a leading mortgage lending company, is pleased to announce the appointment of Jim Clapp to the newly created role of Chief Lending Officer (CLO). With over 25 years of experience in the financial services and mortgage industries, Jim will lead Assurance Financial’s lending strategy, focusing on innovation, efficiency, and continued growth in mortgage services across the nation. In his new position, Jim will oversee the company’s strategic lending initiatives, and business development processes, ensuring that Assurance Financial continues to deliver personalized, streamlined lending solutions to its clients. His leadership will enhance the company’s competitive edge as it adapts to a dynamic mortgage market and implements innovative lending practices.
“We are excited to welcome Jim to our leadership team. His wealth of experience and strategic vision make him an invaluable addition,” said Kenny Hodges, CEO of Assurance Financial. “We are confident that under his leadership we will continue to expand our market presence and deliver exceptional value to our clients and partners.”
Prior to joining Assurance Financial, Jim held executive roles at several prominent mortgage and financial organizations, where he was responsible for strategic growth, risk management, and driving operational efficiency. His expertise in lending and leadership aligns perfectly with Assurance Financial’s mission to provide a superior mortgage experience that is client-focused and rooted in trust.
Jim Clapp’s appointment marks a significant step in Assurance Financial’s commitment to leadership excellence and future-focused lending strategies. The newly established Chief Lending Officer role reflects the company’s dedication to enhancing its service offerings and cementing its position as a leader in the mortgage industry.
For more information about Assurance Financial, please visit www.assurancemortgage.com.
About Assurance Financial
Assurance Financial is a full-service mortgage lender offering a variety of loan solutions for homeowners and homebuyers. With a mission to provide a simple and stress-free mortgage experience, Assurance Financial prides itself on providing customized loan options, superior customer service, and cutting-edge technology to meet the unique needs of each client. The company serves clients across the United States, offering a full range of mortgage products, including conventional loans, FHA loans, VA loans, and more.
Download the press release here. For media inquiries, please contact Lindsi Flynn, Director of Marketing at lflynn@assurancemortgage.com
Assurance Financial Awarded at Total Expert’s 2024 Accelerate Conference
July 5, 2024
We’re proud to announce that Assurance Financial has been recognized in two categories at Total Expert’s 2024 Accelerate conference.
The fourth annual Expy Awards celebrate Total Expert customers for their ability to surpass the limits of what is possible to provide unparalleled customer experiences and drive the financial services industry forward. Winners are chosen for their utilization of the platform to the highest extent to drive business growth and build authentic customer connections. This year’s winners were announced at Total Expert’s 2024 Accelerate Conference in Minneapolis, Minnesota, where financial services leaders gathered to share winning strategies.
- The Adopter: Without universal adoption, even the most innovative technology becomes shelfware. For Assurance Financial, the universal buy-in of the Total Expert platform into daily operations was a route to business growth and overall company success. They noted substantial increases in new loans, funded loans, email click-through rates, and task completion rates correlating to a growth in customer retention
- Firestarter – Director of Marketing Lindsi Flynn: A user who embodies innovation, growth, and industry disruption within their organizations. Firestarters are at the forefront of driving positive change, sparking innovation, and propelling their companies toward a dynamic future.
“Our Expy Award-winners are some of the most forward-thinking organizations in the industry, empowering their workforce with the resources to meet growing customer expectations,” said Joe Welu, founder and CEO of Total Expert. “They are one step ahead of the industry—changing the way their teams leverage data by clearly recognizing customer needs, improving the decision-making process, and establishing more personalized customer journeys. We’re proud to celebrate their success and inspiring dedication to customer-centric innovation through Total Expert.” Learn more here.
For the second year in a row, Assurance Financial made the National Mortgage News list of the top 50 Best Mortgage Companies to Work For! We value our workplace culture, and it shows.
Consideration for this award was based on an employee questionnaire that included topics like role satisfaction, work environment, pay and benefits, training and resources, leadership, and more.
Assurance Financial Reduces Cost Per Loan and Improves Borrower Satisfaction with Appraisal Automation from Reggora
Reggora, an appraisal management software company that is modernizing residential real estate valuation for mortgage lenders, announces outstanding business results with Assurance Financial. By automating its appraisal order management process, Assurance Financial has significantly reduced operating costs and increased borrower satisfaction.
Working with Reggora’s mortgage solutions team Assurance Financial reduced their cost per loan by $150, while also resolving the borrower’s long-standing issues with the appraisal experience — paying for the appraisal, scheduling the inspection, missing escrow deadlines and more. The average turn-time to deliver the appraisal dropped by 7 days, and borrowers rated their appraisal experience an average of 4.3 out of 5 stars.
“Many operations managers may resist the need for digitizing the appraisal process if internal teams are effective,” said Katherine Campbell, Chief Digital Officer at Assurance Financial. “They may think, ‘There is no issue, so if it’s not broken, don’t fix it.’ However, this is the bridge that we lenders need to all cross. Regardless of how effective your team is, rote behavior should be replaced by technology. It raises the quality of the employees’ work, which often creates more satisfaction.”
Right now, mortgage interest rates are rising and every day counts when lenders are trying to secure the lowest interest rate possible for their borrowers. Assurance Financial determined that this is the perfect time to implement appraisal management technology to improve operations, reduce cost and increase consumer confidence.
“A fast, convenient digital mortgage is a key part of providing a great borrower experience and our aim is to support that through eliminating pain points in the appraisal process,” said Brian Zitin, CEO and Co-founder of Reggora. “And what’s better for the borrower is also better for the lender. We can improve margins on each loan by eliminating unnecessary costs in a lender’s appraisal operation.”
To learn more about the success that Assurance Financial achieved with Reggora, click here.
Loan Vision Case Study Featuring Assurance Financial
As with all forward-thinking organizations, Assurance Financial is well aware that continuous improvement is a necessity for any business, especially one in the ever-changing mortgage industry. 2019 found Assurance Financial looking for answers. With rapid upgrades to much of their customer-facing technology stack occurring, they knew they had to be able to quantify the spend being made and show some return on investment (ROI), but how? With their volume now averaging $1 billion per year, a far cry from the $25 million they did in their first year of business 18 years prior, Assurance found that their general ledger system could not give them the data they wanted to answer the questions being asked by the business.
“It was an old system that was kind of clunky and not very high tech,” said Chad Hebert, Chief Financial Officer at Assurance. “The capabilities weren’t the best.”
Having made the switch from a generic bookkeeping tool in 2012 to the only industry G/L solution at the time, Assurance felt their prior accounting system had reached the end of its useful life after 7 years. It was affecting the company to the point that the accounting team was having to implement other software to make up for what their current system was lacking. Assurance wanted to make sure their next solution was going to be an all-in-one fix. It needed to not only drive maximum efficiency in accounting, but also help them achieve a better understanding of their true cost to originate a loan, while also allowing them to better measure the ROI on many of the technology investments they had made.
“I think one of the biggest things people think about when investing in technology is how they’re going to get the most out of a tool, not just functionally, but also financially,” says Katherine Campbell, Digital Digital Officer at Assurance. “If they invest in something, what is their ROI going to look like?”
Assurance Financial’s new solution had to be for the long term. It would have to support the growth delivered by an ambitious management team, now and far into the future.
The Solution & The Implementation Experience
Loan Vision was not a new product to Hebert. The talk about Loan Vision had been something he had heard about for several years, as it popped up often during CFO round tables, at conferences, and in other industry events.
“This industry is kind of dominated by two players,” says Hebert. “And when you start hearing that people are making the switch from one to the other, and why they’re making that switch, that’s what led me to pull the trigger.”
What made Hebert most excited about the decision to move, was the solution’s ability to condense many of the support systems and processes into one platform, as their current system’s inability to do so was really weighing on his team.
HousingWire recognized Katherine Campbell, Assurance Financial Chief Digital Officer, with their 2022 Marketing Leaders award.
HousingWire’s Marketing Leaders award celebrates the most creative and influential marketing minds of the housing economy. These leaders have a track record of transforming brands, leading teams, and driving business results within their industries. Through marketing strategies, campaigns, and purpose-driven programs, HW Marketing Leaders are strengthening their brands and building their organizations’ reputations each and every day.
Katherine Campbell is a veteran in the financial services industry and currently serves as the chief digital officer for Assurance Financial. With more than 20 years of digital experience, she is an analytics-driven executive with expertise in web conversion, UI, and technical integrations.
Campbell quickly made an impact when she joined the organization in 2018 and has climbed the ranks to be an influential voice within the company — and the mortgage industry at large. Campbell has hand-selected top-tier technology, adopting and integrating over 20 new solutions since joining Assurance Financial. Campbell understands the industry like no other and has the digital expertise to know what technology the Assurance Financial team needs to stand out as a lender and deliver a superior customer experience. Campbell oversaw the implementation of an improved online application process for borrowers, positioning Assurance Financial as a trusted lender and technology leader.
Check out Katherine Campbell’s feature here.