New American Funding - Maverick of the Year

Company: New American Funding, Tustin, CA
Company Description: New American Funding is a mortgage banker, licensed in 48 states across the nation, that funds over $900 million in home loans every month and maintains a servicing profile of over $23 billion. Our company offers a full spectrum of loan products and we have won numerous awards for our industry leadership and efforts in diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Nomination Category: Management Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Maverick of the Year - Consumer Services

Nomination Title: Rick Arvielo

As Co-Founder and CEO of New American Funding, Rick Arvielo has taken his privately-owned mortgage company and strategically met today’s home buyer head-on with vision, innovation, and growth in preparation for the ever-evolving housing market.

Under Rick’s leadership, New American Funding had a record-breaking 2020, funding 101,726 loans for $29.7 billion in loan volume. As of March 2021, the company has an overall servicing portfolio of 181,000+ loans in its servicing center for $46.7 billion. He drove the company’s retail footprint to 186 nationwide branches and over 4900+ employees by seizing upon historically low interest rates and developing innovative technology.

Rick’s ability to inspire the workforce and deliver results could especially be seen in the past year. While other companies were reacting to the spread of COVID-19, New American Funding was already mobilizing with a plan and a purpose.

Arvielo and his executive team carefully assessed the situation in February 2020 to safely transition 3,300 employees to work from home. With advanced coordination from its IT Dept., Rick ensured that the company was able to secure enough laptops to connect the entire staff to their network.

In addition, Rick and his executive team were transparent in their communications throughout the transition—answering employees’ questions directly in live-stream sessions and utilizing internal marketing efforts to create informative videos showing employees balancing their new life and career adjustment. The company even replicated its fun, on-site experience by offering various contests with prizes for employees and their families.

With the transition successfully implemented, Arvielo worked diligently to ensure the company’s hiring of 2,767 new employees in 2020 would keep up with the company’s all-time high in origination volume, which doubled in the past year, despite nearly all of its staff working from home during that time.

Rick leads by example, curating a culture of integrity and collaboration—what he refers to as “NAF360” for its all-around commitment to nurturing an environment of respect for everyone the company employs or does business with. This starts with the new-hire process and is passed along the organization at every point of contact.

His commitment to integrity culminated with his company being awarded the prestigious International Torch Award for Ethics by the Better Business Bureau in Dec. 2019. While the honor is shared with each employee, it stems from Rick’s business credo to uphold ethical standards and to promote trust in the marketplace. For these efforts, the company was also named a Best Workplace with separate honors from FORTUNE and Great Place to Work® for its progressive culture in empowering women, minorities, and Millennials who currently make up 60%, 46% and 38% of the company’s.

Rick keeps the company focused on innovation by personally spearheading technological developments such as the way the company’s Loan Originators serve their customers with local expertise. Through Local Buyer Connect, potential online borrowers directly connect to a Loan Originator’s cell phone, geographically matched by their local proximity. This optimizes the loan’s chances of conversion because of the Loan Originator’s local knowledge and the borrower’s comfort with a lender from their community. This also allows Loan Originators to conveniently take as many leads as they would like, while building their business at their own pace.

Through the use of an automated reputation service, Rick increased the percentage of consumer reviews for Loan Originators. The automated service generated over 159,000+ customer reviews with an overall rating of 4.9/5.0 stars for New American Funding’s Loan Officers, improving their online presence and enabling the company to be a top employer. Additionally, the reviews received are not just posted to the Loan Officers social media pages, but also on a branch and corporate level, helping the Loan Officer gain more visibility and boost SEO results.

Rick continues to lead industry change through his lobbying efforts to help more families gain access to credit and achieve the American dream of homeownership.

-Under Rick’s leadership, New American Funding had a record-breaking year of funding with 101,726 loans for $29.7 billion

-Hired 2,776 team members in 2020 —increasing staff size by 35% for a current total of about 4,900+ across 186 nationwide location

-Created a culture of trust, respect, and integrity that culminated in the Better Business Bureau awarding New American Funding its coveted International Torch Award for Ethics

-Personally spearheaded “Local Buyer Connect” to geographically match an online borrower to the expertise of a local New American Funding Loan Originator in their community

-Served in an elected position on the steering committee (2016-2020) for the Mortgage Action Alliance (MAA), a voluntary, non-partisan, and free nationwide grassroots lobbying network of real estate finance industry professionals, dedicated to strengthening the industry's voice and lobbying power

-Respected thought leader who hosted Housing Wire seminars in 2019 which addressed the key challenges for the future of the housing industry

-Technological innovator who leveraged Loan Originators’ online reputation with an automated service that has captured 159,000+ customer reviews for an overall rating of 4.9/5.0—both higher than many of the company’s key competitors

-Through his encouragement, New American Funding employees made their presence known in the industry by contributing more to the Mortgage Bankers Association Political Action Committee than any other single company

-Special guest speaker at “Thrive and Lead,” the company’s mentorship program designed to empower employees, especially women and minorities trying to advance themselves personally and professionally

-Winner of Silver Stevie® Great Employers Award for People-Focused CEO of the Year