Shant Banosian is the most successful LO in the modern era. He’s topped the charts 8 years running & should hit $650M in originations this year. That’s even as he moonlights as president of Rate, helping thousands of LOs scale their businesses. 

“It’s going as well as I could have hoped it’s gone,” Shant told The Scoop. “I was admittedly a bit nervous – how is my business going to sustain this? But I built a great system.”

These days, Shant is more coach than player. But the goal isn’t to create an army of mini-Shants. That wouldn’t work anyway.

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“We have thousands of originators, & not all of them are on the same path. Some people want to do more business, some people want to make more money, some people want to have more work-life balance,” he said. “Some people want to market better. Not everybody wants to be me, and I don't expect everybody to want that. I want to figure out where they want to go & meet them where they're at.”

There is work to be done at Rate. The firm is known for good tech, strong products (w/ a particular recent focus on non-QM) & a sales-focused culture that respects what Shant has done over the years. But even so, he’s not The Guy. Founder & CEO Victor Ciardelli is as aggressive & present as ever, sources said.

Rate is growing, according to the data. It’s added about $725M in LO production over the last year & LO headcount has risen by 53, per RETR. Sales staff seem willing to give Shant grace while he learns how to be much more than just a whale of a producer, per Rate insiders. The company has lost some top sales talent in recent years to arch-rival CrossCountry Mortgage. Mid-level and lower-level producers have sometimes decamped for other shops over a perceived lack of support, sources said.

As to whether Shant can truly excel at both jobs at a high level – perhaps the challenge is overstated? No one asks whether Bill Cosgrove can run Union Home Mortgage & the Tampa Bay Rays, or question a post-Suns acquisition Mat Ishbia’s ability to run UWM. Plenty of mortgage execs have a life beyond mortgage. 

That’s where structure & delegation comes in. And that has been Shant’s secret sauce all these years. It’s why he’s also able to do much more refi business than others at Rate, where recapture rates trail the industry average. If Shant can help get Rate’s famously purchase-focused LOs to greatly increase retention, that would be a sign that a HoF player can excel in his second act too.

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In a few days, several thousand mortgage executives & vendors will descend on Sin City to gamble, schmooze, hobnob & (maybe) even catch a few educational sessions at mortgage’s biggest event of the year. Vegas is not where I would hold a conference, but for the 5th straight year Bob Broeksmit forgot to ask my opinion so here we are 🤷. I asked dozens of regular MBA Annual Attendees to share their best tips for not just surviving, but thriving at MBA Annual. The Scoop has also gotten its hands on a pretty comprehensive list of the parties – will Broeksmit boogie to Pink as hard as he did w/ Katy Perry last year? – so check that out below.

And now, to the Party List.

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