Sector developments and company hires

Pagaya brings in new blood

Pagaya, the data-driven asset manager, has made five key hires across all areas of its business. It has hired Jeff Andrews and Paul Limanni as, respectively, head of originations and head of structured products. Andrews joins from LendingClub where he was vp of strategic partnerships, and Limanni joins from Shelter Growth Capital Partners. Limanni will oversee all structured deals as Pagaya handles new asset classes.

Additionally, Brandon McCue has joined Pagaya as senior md of client advisory. Previously, he was the US director of business development at Moore Capital Management.

Rob Brady is also the new senior md of institutional sales US. He joins Pagaya from Brigade Capital where he was a partner and director of institutional sales. Brady’s role is to bring Pagaya’s data-driven investment strategies to additional institutional investors.

Anna Roubos has joined as vp of brand & communications. She led Pagaya’s public relations initiatives as it evolved from an early-stage startup to a global asset management firm in her role as the founder of Table Public Relations, recently acquired by Just Drive Media.

Elsewhere, Oliver E Wriedt has joined SCIO Capital has as a strategic advisor from New-York based DFG Investment Advisers, where he was ceo. He has 26 years of experience in lending, structuring, portfolio management and business development.

DMFCO targets Germany/Austria

DMFCO has formed a partnership with Donner and Reuschel to offer exposure to Dutch residential mortgages originated by MUNT Hypotheken (DMFCO's own mortgage label) to institutional investors in Germany and Austria. Donner and Reuschel will be the exclusive distributor of Dutch mortgage investments in the two countries.  DMFCO has so far raised over €20bn in Dutch residential mortgage loan investments, and. Donner & Reuschel has expanded its product offering to insurance companies and pension funds via its structured capital markets team.

Originations at record highs

Fannie Mae predicts that 2020 will be the best-ever year for mortgage originations, as record low rates drive refinancings and stronger than anticipated new and existing home sales. It now forecasts that 2020 originations will hit $3.87trn, the highest figure in the 32 years the GSE has tracked the data and almost $0.5trn higher than its August projection of $3.41trn.

The new forecast now calls for $1.07 trillion of originations in the third quarter, which would make two quarters in a row of over $1 trillion in production.