After a bank merger derailed his opportunity as a management trainee, Neil Bader moved over to the mortgage side at Bowery Savings Bank. He quickly figured he could be more successful in the growing mortgage brokerage industry.

He and a partner founded Skyscraper Capital, which in 1999 merged with IPI and its affiliate MortgageIT to become IPISkyscraper, creating at the time one of the top four mortgage brokers in the nation, according to MortgageStats.

After exiting the broker business, Bader went over to the banking side, first at Wells Fargo, and now as the executive vice president and national director of retail lending at The Federal Savings Bank.

That provides him with insight on the trends in how originations are done during that period, from the heyday of the mortgage brokers through the resurgence and then pull-back of the banks.

National Mortgage News spoke with Bader about his career. Responses have been edited for length and clarity.