February 6, 2007
Michelle Minier Assumes CEO Responsibility of Financial Freedom; Jim Mahoney Remains Chairman
Contact:
Frank Piemonte
River Communications
914.686.5599
fpiemonte@riverinc.com
Michelle Minier Assumes CEO Responsibility of Financial Freedom; Jim Mahoney Remains Chairman
Irvine, CA, (February 6, 2007) – Michelle Minier, an 11-year veteran of Indymac Bank, has assumed full CEO duties at Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation, as part of a management succession plan that was announced in July 2006. Since that time, Minier has been sharing co-CEO responsibilities with Jim Mahoney who will stay on as Chairman of the Board.
Ms. Minier will focus on continuing to aggressively grow and expand the reverse mortgage market and build the internal infrastructure for greater scalability and efficiency. In collaboration with Mr. Mahoney and the Board, she will further develop the vision and overall strategy for the company. As Chairman, Mr. Mahoney will focus on identifying new opportunities for Financial Freedom to fulfill its mission of enhancing the lives of seniors through a potentially broader range of products and services.
"Jim Mahoney and his team have done a great job in building Financial Freedom into a reverse mortgage powerhouse," stated Michael W. Perry, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Indymac Bank, which acquired Financial Freedom in July 2004. "Jim's new role is perfect for what he wants to do, and having him focus on the big picture will greatly assist Indymac in continuing to grow Financial Freedom and maintaining its industry leadership position."
"In her role as CEO, Michelle Minier will ensure that Financial Freedom maximizes its potential in the reverse mortgage business," stated Mr. Mahoney. "She has a track record of successfully managing rapidly growing mortgage businesses and knows how to build the internal infrastructure necessary to grow, lower costs, and manage risk, which will be critical as the reverse mortgage business matures and gets more competitive. As a long-time employee of Indymac, she knows the Company very well and will know exactly when, where and how to use the resources at Indymac for Financial Freedom's competitive advantage."
Prior to joining Financial Freedom, Minier served as Executive Vice President in charge of Central Mortgage Operations (CMO) and continues to be a member of Indymac Bank's Executive Committee. During her time at the helm of CMO she was directly responsible for all aspects of mortgage lending operations across all business channels of Indymac Bank, including all standards, processes, systems, and procedures. In the seven-quarter period, lasting through Q1-06, that Ms. Minier led the CMO group, Indymac's mortgage volume nearly doubled. During her tenure in mortgage banking leadership positions at Indymac, the company has climbed from being ranked the 24th largest mortgage lender in the nation in 2002 to #7 as of Q1-06.
Throughout her career at Indymac, Ms. Minier has held a number of increasingly senior and strategic roles. She has an accounting background at Indymac as Assistant Controller and rapidly moved to the profit center side of the business, eventually becoming President of Warehouse Lending and, later, EVP and President of B2B Lending (Indymac's largest business line, now called the Mortgage Professionals Group).
Jim Mahoney, Chairman Financial Freedom
Jim Mahoney has been involved in the development, design, marketing, origination and servicing of reverse mortgages since 1990. Under his leadership, Financial Freedom has dominated the industry as the nation's largest lender of reverse mortgages for the last 10 years and continues to maintain a market share of over 50 percent.
Financial Freedom also developed the first ever jumbo reverse mortgage for seniors with higher value homes as well as the first no-fee reverse mortgage. The company's current proprietary product, the Cash Account Advantage Plan, provides seniors with higher value homes unparalleled flexibility in pricing, lower interest rates than were previously offered, and the ability to use more of their home equity than ever before.
Mahoney is also instrumental in founding The National Reverse Mortgage Lender's Association, the industry's trade group, of which he remains Co- Chairman.
Through its participation, Financial Freedom helped establish Best Practices and Code of Conduct models that ensured lenders treated seniors respectfully. The company also worked with the industry and government agencies to establish critical safeguards to protect seniors. As a result, seniors are well informed of their options when they take out a reverse mortgage from Financial Freedom and know that they are in control of their financial situation.
The company also began educating consumers about reverse mortgages, training lenders to be sensitive to the needs of seniors, and developing proprietary products that addressed needs in the marketplace that could not be met by government sponsored programs.
About Financial Freedom
Financial Freedom, a subsidiary of IndyMac Bank F.S.B. (Indymac Bank®), is the largest originator of reverse mortgages in the United States. Financial Freedom originated $5 billion in loan fundings on $15.2 billion in home value in reverse mortgages in 2006 and is now the largest servicer of reverse mortgages with a servicing portfolio of approximately 116,00 loans. The company closed 48,954 reverse mortgage loans in 2006, representing a 57% increase over volume in 2005 when the company closed a record 30,995 loans.
Financial Freedom developed the industry's first reverse mortgage software, the Reverse Mortgage Analyzer, to help lenders compare the benefits between the HECM, Fannie Mae and the Cash Account products. The Reverse Mortgage Analyzer has been a powerful tool since 1997 and is the industry standard with more than 28,000 registered users. In addition, this RMA software application has been used to train counselors.
Financial Freedom is also founding member of the National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association. NRMLA is a nonprofit trade association, based in Washington, DC, whose mission is to support the continued evolution of reverse mortgages as an important financial option for senior homeowners while educating both its members and consumers about the varied applications of this unique loan. For more information, visit the Financial Freedom Web site at www.financialfreedom.com.
Members sign a Code of Conduct pledging to abide by guidelines that assure fair, ethical, and respectful practices in offering and making reverse mortgages to seniors. For more information, visit the NRMLA Web site at www.reversemortgage.org.
®2007 Registered trade/service marks are property of Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation, A Subsidiary of IndyMac Bank, F.S.B .
©2007 Financial Freedom Senior Funding Corporation
About IndyMac Bancorp, Inc.
IndyMac Bancorp, Inc. (NYSE:NDE) is the holding company for IndyMac Bank, F.S.B. (Indymac Bank®), the 7th largest savings and loan and the 2nd largest independent mortgage lender in the nation. Indymac Bank, operating as a hybrid thrift/mortgage banker, provides cost-efficient financing for the acquisition, development, and improvement of single-family homes. Indymac also provides financing secured by single-family homes and other banking products to facilitate consumers' personal financial goals.
With an increased focus on building customer relationships and a valuable consumer franchise, Indymac is committed to becoming a top six mortgage lender in the U.S. by 2010, while maintaining annualized earnings per share growth in excess of 15 percent. The company is dedicated to continually raising expectations and conducting itself with the highest level of ethics.
IndyMac Bank also offers a wide array of Web-enhanced banking services, including deposits, competitive CD and money market accounts, and online bill payment services. IndyMac Bank is FDIC insured.
For more information about IndyMac and its affiliates, or to subscribe to the Company's Email Alert feature for notification on company news and events, please visit our Website at www.indymacbank.com.