MCT Exchange 2025 Recap

The first quarter of 2025 kicked off with incredible momentum as we welcomed our largest audience yet to MCT Exchange.

This year’s event brought fresh perspectives on innovation and market strategy, with exclusive insights into the future of AI in mortgage capital markets. Attendees got a first look at the evolution of MCT’s Atlas AI advisor, including upcoming capabilities like report summarization and process automation designed to drive operational efficiency.

Industry leaders shared deep dives on affordability challenges, rate trends, and what today’s market means for tomorrow’s decisions. The result? Engaging conversations, meaningful connections, and actionable strategies to navigate a rapidly evolving landscape.

Thank you to all our clients, partners, and friends who made this year’s Exchange unforgettable. Couldn’t make it? View the recap video, panel summaries, and photos below.

Table of Contents

• Thursday – General Sessions and Breakout Sessions
• Thursday Afternoon – Altitude Sky Lounge
• Friday – Panels, Breakout Sessions, & Roundtable Discussions
• Friday Afternoon – After Party at the Hard Rock Hotel Float Bar
• MCT Exchange App – Overview & Photos
• Photo Gallery

Opening Remarks: Capitalizing on New Opportunities

Presenter —Curtis Richins
Sponsor — NQM Funding

In this opening session of MCT Exchange 2025, Curtis Richins, President and CEO, covered a range of topics from macro and industry trends to a recap of recent and future innovations. In these remarks, Mr. Richins demonstrated MCT’s firm commitment to client, partner, and industry success.

View the presentation slide deck in the app

Hot Topics for 2025

Presenter – Chris Anderson
Panelists — Sarah Hellman, Rob Chrisman, Vinay Miglani, Chris Naylor, & David Battany

This interactive discussion led by Chris Anderson featured diverse voices from within the MCT community. This forward-thinking panel explored the most pressing challenges lenders face today, including:

• AI’s transformative role in lending operations
• Adapting to the shifting regulatory environment
• Key performance indicators for today’s market
• Effective strategies to boost loan production despite current conditions

The final 15 minutes were reserved for audience engagement to facilitate a collaborative forum to address specific concerns.

View the presentation slide deck on the app

Converging Paths: Redefining the Lender and Investor Relationship

Presenter – Justin Grant
Panelists – Tim Bernard, Devon Bevis, Karin Good, Salpi Meyer

In an era of rapid financial innovation and market volatility, the traditional boundaries between lenders and investors are becoming increasingly fluid. This thought-provoking panel brought together industry leaders to explore how emerging technologies, evolving risk appetites, and new market dynamics are reshaping the relationship between these two, crucial players in mortgage capital markets.

View the presentation slide deck on the app

MCT Exchange Breakout Session 1

Breakout Session 1.1 Academic Track – Understanding Specified Pool Pay-ups: Implications for Pricing and Hedging

Presenters — Paul Yarbrough & Andrew Rhodes
Sponsor — First Horizon

This session explored the nuances of specified pools in residential mortgages and focused on their distinct prepayment characteristics and the impact on hedging strategies. Speakers discussed how different durations affect risk management compared to non-spec locks and examine approaches to pricing these effectively on the front end.

Breakout Session 1.2 Software Track – Pipeline Management Essentials

Presenters — Chris Barnes & Natalie Lane
Sponsor — matchbox LLC

This in-person seminar where explored key analytical tools within MCTlive!. Topics included: “PT Analyzer” for evaluating loan pull-through rates, the “Pipeline Deltas” tab for tracking day-over-day, loan-level data changes, and the “Data Validation” section of the “Pipeline Coverage” tab for ensuring accuracy in pipeline management. This session focused on the features that can improve decision-making to optimize your secondary market strategy.

Breakout Session 1.3 Partner Track – Scaling Strategically with Confidence

Presenter — Natalie Arshakian
Panelists — Mark Wilson, Sam Mehta, & Frank Fiore
Sponsor — Servbank/TMS

This breakout session was designed to equip lenders with tools to scale and grow their business effectively by utilizing outsourced support and technology solutions. This group of expert panelists discussed ways to help lenders rapidly scale capacity in areas such as lock desk management, accounting, technology administration, and strategies to increase efficiency and productivity while mitigating risk and financial expense.

View the presentation slide decks on the app

MCT Exchange Breakout Session 2

Breakout Session 2.1 Academic Track – What’s New in Best Execution

Presenter — Justin Grant
Panelists — Jennifer Kennelly, Bill Shirreffs, & Manny Reyes
Sponsor — PHH Mortgage

Stay ahead of the curve in secondary marketing with the latest developments in best execution strategies. This panel explored emerging trends, technology advancements, and market dynamics impacting loan sale optimization. Experts discussed key considerations for maximizing profitability, mitigating risk, and navigating today’s volatile rate environment.

Breakout Session 2.2 Software Track – Interactive Instruction + Q&A on MCT’s Latest Technology Releases

Speaker — Steve Pawlowski
Panelists — Cody Echols, Dustin Movius, & Sarah Hellman
Sponsor — NationalMI

This interactive session combined hands-on instruction with Q&A to showcase MCT’s latest technology releases, including the new Lender Analytics BI platform. Attendees learned practical applications of key features, received implementation tips, and discovered how these advancements can enhance your workflow and decision-making processes. Through demonstration and discussion, attendees gained a clearer understanding of how to maximize these new tools in your daily operations.

Breakout Session 2.3 Partner Track – Unleashing Team Potential: Individuality as a Collective Strength

Presenter — Leslie Winick
Panelists — Tom McHugh, Deb Jones, Devon Bevis, & Traci Husslein
Sponsor — Customers Bank

In today’s dynamic workplace, the most successful teams don’t just accommodate individuality – they actively harness it to drive innovation and excellence. This engaging panel explored how leaders can create an environment where unique perspectives, working styles, and talents become catalysts for collective success.

View the presentation slide decks on the app

MCT Exchange Breakout Session 3

Presenters — Jessica Visniskie & Ron Happell
Sponsor — FHN Financial

During this interactive training session, attendees explored whether their organization is positioned to bring hedging and/or loan sales capabilities in-house. We examined the key infrastructure requirements, expertise needed, and operational considerations that determine readiness for internalizing these critical functions.

Breakout Session 3.2 Software Track – Managing MSR Risk with Innovative Technology

Presenters — Azad Rafat, Bill Shirreffs, & Natalie Martinez

In this session, we explored key elements of managing MSR risk through an integrated technology platform that provides analytics and decision support. We examined current trends, what to monitor in a portfolio, balance sheet management, retain vs. release decisions, principal pay downs, and franchise value/cross hedge benefits. Our goal was to help attendees make more strategic risk management decisions with their portfolio.

Breakout Session 3.3 Partner Track – A More Mature Non-Q.M. Market: What’s Next?

Presenters — Ben Itkin & Paul Yarbrough
Panelists — Eloise Schmitz, Devin Norales, & Rudy Orman
Sponsor — Wintrust

Lenders have long eyed the non-Q.M. market for growth opportunities and a resurgence to the mainstream. In this breakout session, we examined the hurdles to that resurgence and how they might be addressed with a team of expert panelists who are steeped in the space and building for the future.

View the presentation slide decks on the app

Technology Stewardship: Our Newest Capital Markets Innovations

Presenters: Phil Rasori, Paul Yarbrough, & Steve Pawlowski

MCT continues its tradition of redefining what’s possible in mortgage capital markets. In this session, Phil Rasori and Steve Pawlowski unveiled highlights from our comprehensive development roadmap – showcasing both recently launched innovations and upcoming game-changing features. Drawing on the transformative power of AI, these advancements promised to reshape how you operate in today’s dynamic market environment.

View the presentation slide decks on the app

MCT Investor Panel: The Diversity of Executions in the Marketplace

Moderators & Panelists – Kristen McCarthy, Andrew Rhodes, Chris King, Greg Richardson, & Brian Gilpin
Sponsor: Lakeview

This informational panel explored strategies in anticipation of market upswings, while reflecting on successful approaches from 2024. Our expert guests discussed effective hedging techniques used to position for growth in 2025. Attendees gained actionable insights on navigating economic shifts and optimizing mortgage banking operations based on past performance and future projections.

View the presentation slide deck

MCT Exchange Breakout Session 4

Presenters — Cody Echols, Andre Pollesel, & Drew Thornhill
Sponsor — Texas Capital

This session dove into the importance of loan delivery methods and when to use each approach. In today’s volatile market, having a strategic yet flexible execution plan is crucial. We demonstrated the “why” and “when” of utilizing MCTLive!’s comprehensive execution functionality. We shared strategies that maximize execution based on attendee investor set and program mix — all while leveraging the user-friendly features of the industry’s most comprehensive mortgage capital markets platform.

Breakout Session 4.2 Software Track – MBS Pool Optimization & Bidding featuring Agile Trading Technologies

Presenters — Andrew Rhodes & Greg Vacura
Sponsor — Bank of Oklahoma

In today’s evolving MBS market, optimizing pools requires both precision and adaptability. In this session, presenters navigated granular specs, shifting investor demand, and the complexities of modern pool structuring. Then, attendees saw how Agile Trading Technologies is revolutionizing the bidding process with intuitive tools designed to save time, reduce errors, and maximize execution—turning what was once a logistical challenge into a competitive advantage.

Breakout Session 4.3 Partner Track – Town Hall with the Those in the Trenches

Presenter — Rob Chrisman
Panelists — Brenda Usher, Dave Brown, Ann Steadman, & David Battany
Sponsor — Mortech/Zillow

Changes are coming fast and furious out of Washington DC. How are lenders and veterans in the industry navigating Agency and regulatory changes? We explored the most recent developments with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, FHA, whatever else happened that morning in this session. Attendees gained insights into how companies are “keeping their knees bent” to implement changes aimed at fostering home affordability, improving technology, expanding product innovation, and more. Moderated by Rob Chrisman, this interactive session provided an opportunity for participants to pose questions they may have about how best to help consumers.

View the presentation slide decks on the app