Hildene Capital Management, a $12 billion credit-focused asset manager, entered into a strategic relationship with CrossCountry Mortgage (“CCM”), one of the largest retail residential mortgage originators in the U.S., and CrossCountry Capital, LLC (“CCC”), a company focused on housing-related principal investments. Under the terms of a multi-year agreement, Hildene will gain exclusive access to certain non-qualified mortgage (“Non-QM”) originations from the CCM platform, while CCC representatives will commit to invest in an account managed by Hildene. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
Founded in 2003 by CEO Ronald Leonhard Jr., CCM is well-recognized as a top U.S. residential mortgage originator – having closed over $50 billion of transactions in 2021 – with a diversified product suite, market-leading retail channel infrastructure, and a deep bench of over 8,000 employees across more than 700 retail locations in all 50 states. The relationship between Hildene and CrossCountry provides Hildene direct access to scalable, high credit quality Non-QM loans, and the parties the opportunity to work together to seek to securitize Non-QM loans on a programmatic basis.
Brett Jefferson, Founder and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Hildene, said, “CrossCountry Mortgage has cemented its position as a leading U.S. mortgage originator with an exceptional team of loan experts, national retail footprint and impressive track record of purchase loan origination. We are excited to partner with the company at a time of significant growth and increased market dislocation, which will allow Hildene the ability to generate sound credit investments at historically high interest rates.”
Ron Leonhardt, Founder and Chief Executive Officer at CCM, added, “We are pleased to enter into this partnership with Hildene, which will allow us to grow our Non-QM originations and further capitalize on the current market environment. We pride ourselves in the trusted brand that we have built over the last two decades, and look forward to continuing to support homebuyers and homeowners with exceptional service, products, insights, and transparency.”
Dushyant Mehra, Co-Chief Investment Officer and Portfolio Manager of Hildene, commented, “This strategic relationship grants Hildene an attractive entry point into the Non-QM market as well as an opportunity to further strengthen the depth and breadth of our investment pipeline. With traditional lenders pulling back from the market, we believe CCM’s origination platform is both complementary and accretive to Hildene’s investment philosophy as we seek to execute on unique risk-adjusted, value-generating investment opportunities for our clients.”
Steven Ujvary, Managing Partner at CCC, concluded, “Our partnership with Hildene is a testament to the high conviction we have in the Non-QM investment strategy. We look forward to working with Brett, Dushyant, and the Hildene team to source and securitize attractive residential mortgage investments together in the years ahead.”