Timothy Bowler, president of Intercontinental Exchange, Inc. Benchmark Administration (IBA), will take on a new role as president of ICE Mortgage Technology starting on March 1.
Bowler will be in charge of ICE’s business segment, which is focused on automating elements of the mortgage industry and delivered a revenue of $1.1 billion in 2022, the firm said Tuesday.
Bowler succeeds Joe Tyrrell, who will be leaving for a new opportunity outside of the firm. Tyrrell joined Ellie Mae in 2002, where he was promoted to executive vice president in 2013 from chief operating officer and senior vice president. ICE acquired Ellie Mae in 2020 from Thomas Bravo for $11 billion.
“In an era of higher interest rates and increased closing fees, when the dream of home ownership remains elusive for too many people, Tim Bowler’s broad expertise in the housing markets lends itself perfectly to ICE’s vision of transforming and digitizing the mortgage industry, making loans more affordable and the process of securing a mortgage faster, easier, less expensive, and more transparent,” Ben Jackson, president of Intercontinental Exchange, said in a statement on Tuesday.
Bowler joined ICE in 2017 to lead IBA, the company’s subsidiary responsible for overseeing global benchmarks, including the ICE Swap Rate, the LBMA gold price, and ICE London Interbank offered rate (LIBOR).
His career includes managing director in the financial institutions group at Goldman Sachs, counselor to former U.S. Treasury Secretary Jack Lew and acting assistant secretary for financial stability.
ICE’s appointment of Bowler as incoming president ICE Mortgage Technology comes at a crucial time for the company. Pending approval from the Financial Trade Commission (FTC), ICE expects to complete the acquisition of Black Knight in the first half of this year.
The FTC has been scrutinizing the ICE-Black Knight deal for months amid concerns of antitrust issues from trade groups and U.S. lawmakers. If the $13 billion deal goes through, ICE would become the most dominant mortgage services company in the country.
ICE Mortgage Technology is also eyeing increased sales in its Encompass loan origination system in 2023.
While the mortgage technology division at ICE posted $249 million in total revenue in the fourth quarter, down 9.8% from the previous quarter’s $297 million, the bright spot came from its Encompass sales.
More than 60% of its clients renewed subscriptions in the fourth quarter, and at a higher rate than they did at the beginning of that quarter, Ben Jackson, president of ICE told analysts in its latest earnings call.
ICE Mortgage Technology aims to pick up business from new industry entrants — particularly new mortgage shops opened by laid-off mortgage professionals as well as large home lending banks looking to invest in their outdated infrastructure system.
The firm expects the business model that focuses on recurring revenue will help grow the business by 8-10% per year.
