Recently, MCT sat down with Mark Young, Chief Operating Officer at American Federal Mortgage.
After transitioning to MCT, American Federal Mortgage improved its execution by approximately 25 basis points over best efforts, giving the team more flexibility to compete on rates, invest in growth, and support increasing loan volume.
By pairing MCT’s pricing engine, hedging, and real-time best execution with hands-on advisory, Mark’s team has captured roughly a 25 basis point lift over best efforts, freed up budget to reinvest in growth, and set a course from about $450 million toward a targeted $600 million production year.
A 25 BPS Lift Over Best Efforts, and a Benchmark for Growing Lenders
American Federal Mortgage was already selling loans on a mandatory basis when it came to MCT, so Mark’s story highlights what that decision is worth once the right technology, execution, and partner are behind it.
Over the past two years, Mark’s desk has grown its margin with MCT to roughly a 25 basis point lift over best efforts, the same pickup MCT points to as the average opportunity for lenders moving from best efforts to mandatory. For a lender earlier in that journey, American Federal Mortgage is a clear picture of where the road leads: a sustained, repeatable lift that compounds across every loan.
With MCT, American Federal Mortgage gained:
- A 25 BPS lift over best efforts, sustained across two years of the partnership
- A modern pricing engine that replaced its previous provider in what Mark calls “a really easy transition”
- Real-time best execution plus an expanding investor network, with MCT introductions to new investors and products
- Ongoing market education and monitoring of pull-through and margin, so the desk always knows where it stands
- Pricing flexibility that lets loan officers get aggressive to win a loan without giving up margin
Turning Margin Into a Growth Engine
For Mark, the value of the 25 BPS lift is what allows the business to invest in its growth.
That matters more than ever in a market where, as Mark puts it, “mortgages are being commoditized.” Borrowers shop aggregators for the best rate before they ever talk to a loan officer. “If you don’t have a competitive rate, I think you’re definitely losing a lot of customers,” he said. The margin American Federal Mortgage captures with MCT is what lets the team put a genuinely competitive product in front of those borrowers while still protecting profitability.
American Federal Mortgage did about $450 million in volume last year and is targeting roughly $600 million this year. The lift it captures with MCT helps fund the marketing and competitive pricing behind that growth.
To build that environment, American Federal Mortgage relies on:
- MCTlive! – a comprehensive capital markets platform for day-to-day pipeline management, trade position management, and loan-sale best execution that automates repetitive tasks and frees the team for higher-value work.
- MCT Marketplace – digital whole loan trading with real-time best execution across investors, plus an expanding network of investor relationships and MCT introductions to new products.
- Base Rate Generator – a modern pricing engine that informs front-end rate sheets with back-end capital markets execution, replacing American Federal Mortgage’s previous provider.
“The biggest thing that MCT is doing for us is educating us… and keeping us up to date, watching over our pull-through rate, our lift over best efforts, always updating us with what’s happening in the market.”
– Mark Young, Chief Operating Officer, American Federal Mortgage
Summary of American Federal Mortgage’s Top Takeaways
Since partnering with MCT two years ago, American Federal Mortgage has grown its margin to roughly a 25 BPS lift over best efforts, reinvested that lift into marketing and more competitive pricing, and leaned on MCT’s market insight to stay ahead in a commoditizing market.
Mark also credits the MCT team itself. The relationship has felt personal from day one, starting with a welcome lunch with President and CEO, Curtis Richins, and the MCT team early in the engagement.
“Kevin and Joe have been great. When we onboarded MCT, we actually had lunch with Curtis and the team, and that was pretty cool to meet the founder of the company. Even though we’re a new client, it felt like they actually cared about us.”
Conclusion: A Margin Advantage That Funds Growth
By pairing a modern pricing engine and mandatory execution with real-time best execution and hands-on advisory, American Federal Mortgage has grown its margin to roughly a 25 basis point lift over best efforts, and turned that lift into fuel for growth: more marketing, more competitive pricing, and a clear path from about $450 million toward a targeted $600 million production year.
For lenders earlier in their move to mandatory, that 25 BPS is a benchmark, and a place to go. American Federal Mortgage shows what a sustained lift over best efforts looks like when the right technology, execution, and partner are in place.
Ready to see where a lift over best efforts could take your desk? Schedule a demo to see how the same pricing, best execution, and advisory American Federal Mortgage relies on can grow your margin and fund your growth.
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