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David Smith, who led Keller Williams’ mortgage operations for nearly two years before departing in November, has been named head of Truist Bank’s home lending division.
Smith’s experience leading Keller Williams’ affiliated mortgage lending, insurance and title businesses provides him “with a unique view into the current, purchase-heavy real estate market,” Truist said Tuesday in announcing his promotion to head of Truist Mortgage.
Keller Home Loans is now a division of Mutual of Omaha Mortgage Inc. after the real estate franchise giant announced it was selling its mortgage division in February.
David Smith
Smith, who joined Truist in January as deputy head of mortgage, was president and CEO of CitiMortgage before joining Keller Home Financial Services in 2021. Smith is taking over as head of Truist Mortgage from Todd Chamberlain who is retiring at the end of July.
As head of Truist Mortgage, Smith will oversee nationwide direct, correspondent and warehouse lending channels as well as servicing for more than 1.2 million homeowners, reporting to Truist Chief Retail and Small Business Banking Officer Dontá Wilson.
Dontá Wilson
“David’s experience and accomplishments as a leader in the mortgage industry position Truist to reimagine the future of Truist Mortgage for our clients,” Wilson said in a statement.
Primarily known as a regional commercial bank, Charlotte, North Carolina-based Truist is the product of a 2019 “merger of equals” between SunTrust Banks Inc. and BB&T Corp.
Truist 2022 revenue by business segment
Source: Truist 2022 annual report to investors
Last year, mortgage lending accounted for just 4 percent of Truist’s revenue as rising interest rates took a toll on the entire mortgage industry’s profit margins and refinance volume.
Truist mortgage banking income
Source: Truist regulatory filing
In 2022, Truist generated $460 million in income from mortgage banking, down from $734 million the year before and $1.185 billion in 2020.
Truist in April reported $1.4 billion in first-quarter net income as the company continued to shift its post-merger focus from “integrating to operating,” with revenue surging 15 percent from a year ago, to $6.15 billion.
“Based on a volatile and uncertain environment, we successfully demonstrated the strength and resiliency of Truist’s diverse business mix, scale and market share, granular and relationship-oriented deposit base and strong capital and liquidity,” Chairman and CEO Bill Rogers said on a call with investment analysts.
But some of that momentum “was offset by some higher funding costs and somewhat elevated expenses,” Rogers said. “Strategically, we continue to take actions to optimize our franchise and focus our resources on areas where we have an advantage in the marketplace and at the same time, simplify, consolidate or exit certain activities to improve profitable growth.”
In mortgage, CFO Mike Maguire said Truist continues to “adjust our capacity and focus … to reflect current challenging market conditions and our own strategic focus on client primacy.”
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