Ex-Fleet Originations Chief Resurfaces at Small Lender with Big Plans

Jack Daly just can't keep away from the front lines.

Mr. Daly, who left Fleet Mortgage a year ago, has popped up in California as a senior executive with a growing three-year-old lender.

"I missed the action," Mr. Daly said. "It's great to be directly involved."

As chief operating officer of Platinum Mortgage, Irvine, Mr. Daly will focus on national expansion and broadening the product mix into areas that include highly leveraged loans.

His "experience in a multitude of origination channels and his leadership capabilities fit perfectly with our plans for expansion," said Mark Moses, Platinum's chief executive officer.

Platinum, which was formed in 1994, has about $360 million in originations through conventional loans and does most of its business in the West.

As a smaller company, Platinum can benefit from a veteran's insights, industry observers said.

"With the narrowing margins in this business, it helps to have someone with a strong production background," said Mike McMahon, an associate at UBS Securities, San Francisco. "Jack has that background."

Mr. Daly has spent much of the past 20 years in the mortgage business. After leaving Fleet he kept a low profile as a consultant to lenders through his firm, Pratt-Daly Corp.

He had worked for Fleet Mortgage less than a year, as executive vice president in charge of production, when he left, in June 1996. That was near the start of an exodus of top management from the troubled Columbia, S.C., lender.

Mr. Daly headed the mortgage business at Security Pacific from 1991 until 1993, when BankAmerica Corp. acquired the company. In the 1980s he was president of Glenfed Mortgage Corp. and executive vice president of retail lending for its parent, Glendale Federal.

Mr. Daly's presence is already being felt at Platinum. Employees answer their phones with "It's a wonderful day at Platinum Mortgage," a greeting similar to the one Mr. Daly introduced at Fleet Mortgage. (It was dropped soon after he left.)

Platinum wants to offer home improvement and debt consolidation loans, including those allowing 125% loan-to-value ratios, Mr. Daly said. The company is also planning to do more business out of state, through a network of smaller brokerages. Ultimately Mr. Daly and other managers envision taking Platinum public.

"We want to take the company to another level," Mr. Daly said.

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