|
Special Reports
Recruiting And Training
ABC Sponsors Seminars to Train Mortgage Planners
A mix of a broker and a financial planner.
By Brad Finkelstein
American Brokers Conduit, the wholesale unit of American Home Mortgage
Investment Corp. here, has become the exclusive wholesale lender sponsor of CMPS Live, seminars held by the Certified
Mortgage Planning Specialist Institute.
The program is designed so that mortgage brokers do more than just quote rate and term to a borrower, said Don
Henig, president of ABC. Those who take the course, pass a test and get a certified mortgage planning specialist
designation, he said, have the skills necessary to advise the borrower to help manage their mortgage as part of
their overall financial plan. They want to have that trusted advisor relationship with the customer. "There
is so much to learn about the mortgage industry that people don't touch on," Mr. Henig said. The course creates
a hybrid between a mortgage broker and a financial planner. But, unlike a financial planner, the mortgage planner
does not handle investments.
Mr. Henig, whose background before he entered the mortgage business was in financial planning, checked out the
course. He said he was "very happy" to hear that CMPS Institute trains people on aspects of the mortgage
industry that people rarely talk about anymore.
ABC sent some of its loan officers to take the course and only 50% of them passed the test, Mr. Henig said, another
thing that gratified him, because it means the curriculum is not easy.
Mr. Henig is a former mortgage broker and past president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers. When
asked if he wished there was a course like this when he was in the business, he honestly answered no, because it
would have taken away his competitive advantage.
He was the only mortgage broker in his market talking with sources such as financial planners, attorneys and accountants.
By taking this course, he said, loan officers will know how to talk with those people.
Those taking the class come away knowing more what 90% of their competition does, Mr. Henig said. The course raises
the level of professionalism of the mortgage industry and it is very beneficial for the consumer as well. The customer
gets put into the proper product for their circumstances and gets an explanation why.
Becoming the sponsor of the seminars is just an extension of ABC's commitment to training and education. The company
also has its Advisor Seminar Series, which features such industry trainers as Tim Braheem, Greg Frost, Barry Habib,
Jim McMahan, Ron Vaimberg and Sue Woodard.
At each Advisor Seminar Series, ABC will be distributing information about CMPS to attendees.
Gibran Nicholas, chairman and chief executive of the CMPS Institute, is one of the instructors on the core curriculum
along with Mr. Habib, Mr. McMahan and Ms. Woodard. Other instructors include Tim Duncan, David Kuiper, Freddie
Mac chief economist Frank Nothaft and former "Apprentice" contestant Troy McClain.
The live training consists of three days covering such concepts as financial market and interest rate analysis,
cash flow and debt analysis, real estate equity management, real estate investment planning, and mortgage and real
estate taxation concepts.
|
