John Jeanmonod, the regional vice president of sales, is moving into Hutchens' former post. Additionally, Alysse Prosnick will become EVP of operations, while Travis LaLonde moves up to EVP of credit.

This is part of a reorganization at the company, Hutchens said in an interview.

"It's really preparing us for continued growth, and we anticipate big and fast growth, so we just want to have the right leadership," he explained.

Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions has seen  large growth in its non-QM business this year. Its affiliate under the Angel Oak banner has performed seven securitizations so far this year, or about one a month.

"These organizational changes are a testament to the in-house talent at Angel Oak and commitment of these four individuals in driving our broader success," said Mike Fierman, managing partner and co-CEO of Angel Oak Cos., the parent of the third-party originator. 

"These moves not only recognize the well-deserved achievements and contributions of these executives but also position us to thrive as we continue to expand our non-QM solutions and partner network."

Before joining Angel Oak in March 2014, Hutchens was president of Novo Appraisal Management. Other past positions include senior vice president of production at BayRock Mortgage and SVP of sales for SouthStar Funding, his LinkedIn profile said.

All of the new EVPs have also been with Angel Oak for some time, Hutchens noted. Jeanmonod also joined in 2014, Prosnick has been with the company for nine years and LaLonde for more than six years.

These promotions are rewarding them for their success in building Angel Oak Mortgage Solutions, Hutchens said.

The reorganization allows them to focus on very specific roles at the company, Hutchens said, using LaLonde as an example. Most recently LaLonde was the Dallas regional manager and "was just involved in a lot of different pieces."

Now being in charge of credit, "he has a very clear and focused direction of responsibilities," said Hutchens.

The recent increase in mortgage application activity is also being seen on the non-QM side of the business, he said. The market still has plenty of customers that fall outside of the conforming scope, such as self-employed people, as well as those who rely on bank statements for underwriting and property investors who may not qualify for Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac products.

Helping is the fact that in the past two years, as the conforming market shrank, Angel Oak saw the most submissions from people who never previously originated a non-QM loan.

"A lot of loan officers changed their business strategies and started incorporating non-QM into their product offerings," Hutchens said. "So going into this next cycle of improved rates, improved activity and improved number of transactions, they're going to keep non-QM as part of their offerings, which is good for our space for sure."

The company will remain strictly in the wholesale and correspondent channels. A retail affiliate was sold in November 2022. and the parent company does not plan to reenter that business.

Angel Oak has been adding to its product menu as of late, with the addition of a bank statement home equity line of credit offering, Hutchens said. Its own studies have shown property owners have $11.5 trillion of tappable equity, the amount they can borrow without getting above an 80% combined loan-to-value ratio. That is similar to numbers calculated by ICE Mortgage Technology.

"It has gone extremely well, and we expect even as rates ease, that the demand for HELOCs will continue to be strong just based on record owner equity, record credit card debt and record low first-lien rates that people have locked in" to their current properties, he continued.