Five Who Shook Up Their Field: King of the Hill in Home Loans

The living is easy in Des Moines, home of Norwest Mortgage Inc. Even in the office of chief executive Mark Oman, visitors say, the atmosphere is usually folksy and low key.

But if Mr. Oman doesn't exhibit a hard-driving personal style, he has still pushed his company fast and far, shaping it into the nation's No. 1 mortgage company in a remarkably short time. And his unit's steadiness and reliability have been key factors.

The mortgage bank's Minneapolis-based parent company, Norwest Corp., has been willing to lay out the long money for big acquisitions because the unit has avoided the earnings volatility that has plagued other mortgage companies. And some say a big part of the consistency was achieved through expense controls. At the same time, Mr. Oman has used acquisitions as a learning experience for his company. Each new jewel has been carefully studied for best business practices that could be adopted throughout the mortgage organization. While Norwest has pushed Countrywide Credit Industries down to No. 2, that company's chairman, David Loeb, isn't reluctant to praise Mr. Oman. "He knows how to run a good shop," Mr. Loeb said.

How rapid has Norwest's growth been? The company's servicing portfolio more than doubled to $206 billion at midyear from the level a year earlier, with much of the gain coming from the acquisition of Prudential Home Loans. At the end of 1993, Norwest rank ed eighth, with just $45.7 billion in servicing.

The company has also become the No. 1 originator, funding $26.6 billion in the first half, up from $13.3 billion a year earlier.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
MORE FROM AMERICAN BANKER