Nationwide Equities’ retail reverse mortgage offering has a new name.
Starting this week, the Mahwah, N.J.-based lender will offer Home Equity Conversion Mortgage products to consumers under the name Reverse Loans USA.
“The only reason we’re doing a name change is to identify concisely and without question what we’re selling,” Nationwide CEO Paul Lamparillo told RMD. “If you personally received a mailer from Nationwide Equities, that’s a highly ambiguous name. Is it a leasing company? Is it a credit card company?”
The multi-channel name strategy isn’t necessarily new for Nationwide: The company has branded its wholesale reverse mortgage offering as Reverse Power.
“If it says Reverse Loans USA, it cuts to the chase. It identifies what our product and our intent is,” Lamparillo said.
In addition, the company will continue to use Nationwide for its forward mortgage team, which Lamparillo plans to grow amid anticipated declines in reverse mortgage volume one the wake of the October 2 principal limit cuts.
“We’ve been hiring like drunken sailors on the forward side to try to bridge the gap that we anticipate and are realizing right now,” he said. “The volume has cut drastically on the reverse side. And the forward side is vibrant — there’s not even a hiccup.”
Diversification has taken on additional importance in the reverse mortgage space since the changes, with a predicted drop-off in originations of up to 30% once the pre-October 2 pipeline clears out. Earlier this month, industry leader American Advisors Group formally rolled out its forward-mortgage division after months of hints.
“There will be attrition as a result of the October 2 changes, and some smaller companies might be diversifying or looking to fold up shop,” Lamparillo said. “But we are receiving a tremendous amount of calls from originators looking to consider relocating. It’s very interesting.”
Written by Alex Spanko
