Beyond Title: Stewart’s Approach to Mortgage Services

Marvin Stone (00:00)
Thanks so much for joining us for another episode of Stuart in the Studio. We had a great conversation today with Beth Fowler, who runs the Stuart Leonard Services family of companies. And it was really great because we got to hear not just about the enterprise value of working with Stuart across all the different aspects of the company from lead generation all the way through servicing. But we also got to learn about Beth's investment strategy and really what she's doing to kind of look forward and chart the course for what comes ahead. So

Great conversation. Let's do this.

Beth Fowler (00:33)
Mm-hmm.

Marvin Stone (00:34)
This

is Stuart in the studio from Stewart's Thought Leaders. Okay, so we're here to talk about the Enterprise Solution today and really what that means at Stuart. But Rich you're out there every day across the country talking to lenders about the enterprise solution. How do you describe it? What do you what does that mean to you?

Rich Kuegler (00:51)
It's it's a great question because it you you're right. I'm out out and about in the in the market and and rather than say what I think, I'm gonna tell you what I hear. so our our lender clients, prospects that we meet with range from large in large independent mortgage bankers, large consumer banks, large credit unions, really trying to lend on a national scale. And some of the things that they talk about and some of the needs that they have are ways that they can reduce the pool of providers that they work with. They want to have

some some partners that have a great financial foundation, offer technology solutions, and and also, you know, national scope of services. But most importantly, they're really looking for somebody who can be a trusted advisor for them. You know, someone they can lean on to help guide them through regulatory issues, service level concerns, changes in the market, different trends, things like that.

Marvin Stone (01:42)
makes perfect sense. So T J you're also on the road all the time talking to all the same folks. Yep. Yep.

TJ Harrington (01:47)
And from Richard's perspective, it's a client goes, I have this unique problem, and they come to Stuart and we say, Yeah, we can solve for that. It's the ability to just solve for those niche problems, difficult situations, having a tool in the tool toolkit, being able to craft unique solutions, being able to be creative about pricing or products, you know, the the enterprise pieces of the puzzle that we have really cover the full life nearly the full life cycle of of mortgage production, servicing, default servicing.

We've got solutions across the depth and breadth of the of the industry. And being able to solve nearly any sort of problem is amazing. And being able to guide a lender, a servicer, a subservicer, a credit union, an IMB, anyone in the market, an investor, to say, hey, we can help you build this together and invest with you is just incredible.

Marvin Stone (02:38)
Yeah, it's a great position with all the resources. And Beth, I mean obviously, you know, running the whole show and across Stuart Learner Services, how would you put it?

Beth Fowler (02:45)
Yeah,

you know, when I think about it, you know, certainly we've got, you know, some of the best of the best point solutions that are out there, but we're thinking way more broadly than that. you know, really at the complexity of the ecosystem, that's where we can really kind of shine and create and and add value for our customers. And then, you know, beyond the what, I also think about it in terms of our people. you know, they they think from an enterprise perspective. We've got you know, some of the best talent across our teens and, you know, yes, our day to day passion may be focused on appraisal or credit or, you know.

some specific arm of Stuart. but at the same time, they're able to talk to their customers, talk to stakeholders, and really think more broadly you know, how we can pair together everything that Stuart has to offer. So I kind of tie it to the people too.

Marvin Stone (03:31)
Yeah, great point. It's it's the whole organization coming together. And one of the things, you know, TJ, you mentioned we have tools in the toolbox. Sometimes true, but sometimes there's a science experiment that we we embark upon. you know, it just becomes kind of a a really listening to that customer need. So that's one of the things with the changing environment. And I would say changing, but we've been in a higher interest rate environment for a long time. How has that changed the mix for lenders?

TJ Harrington (03:55)
You know

We've had to be inventive to move to move the market. You're competing over a smaller piece of the pie, less file volume, and lenders are not going to disrupt their business to board a new vendor, to make a change to their process unless it's really compelling. So we go out there and really say, hey, we understand you have problems. We can solve them in a way you've never seen before, and that's why you should partner with us. But this innovation and ability to work with a lender to be able to solve a problem is really something that they're not used to in a organization of our size and scale with our financial strength.

Rich Kuegler (04:27)
And I think I gonna say too, I think the market has also driven the emergence of different asset classes, different channels. You know, the old consumer direct channel that would have relied on a typical, you know, national type of business is not there any longer. So that's been replaced by different loan products, different type of fulfillment, the reemergence of TPO channels as well. And that's that's I think to TJ's point driven a lot of innovation and a lot of need for that conversation about okay, how can we do things better, more effectively, more profitable.

TJ Harrington (04:56)
In

and you see non-QM lending, you see in vet invest the the rise of investors and and and other classes of players in the market. And a lot of institutions of our size and scale can't work themselves to support that. They they have the same menu of items, say order off of our menu, and we can deliver at scale, but be able to customize in a way that meets their business needs.

Marvin Stone (05:18)
Yeah, and we kind of fast forwarded a little bit, but a lot of folks think of Stewart as the national or the local branch that they know down the street, and that's how they perceive Stewart. So Beth, what would you say you know, how would you describe the larger Stewart organization that we've maybe not touched on here? where, you know, we're really around the corner, but we're also around the country and around the world.

Beth Fowler (05:40)
Yeah, so I mean I mean you're right. When when people hear Stuart, a lot of them think of title, and yes, we we're a title insurance company with very rich, you know, 130 year plus legacy grounded in, you know, trust, strength, and expertise. But beyond that, you know, Stuart Lender Services through through our family of companies, I mean, we really can support the end-to-end you know, mortgage lifecycle, everything from application to servicing. We've got, you know, data and decisioning products through, you know, informative research and their credit and verification platform, you know, Stuart Snapshot.

Which is a proprietary, you know, data product really focused on an instant view of property characteristics, you know, our appraisal and valuation solutions through student valuation intelligence, you know, national title and settlement, you know, grounded in compliance and customer experience and with a rounded out signing experience through signer's choice, and then you know, really all of our property solutions, which encompass, you know, mortgage contracting services, property preservation, everything that we can really do from a you know, servicing perspective.

as it relates to pre- or for pre- or post-foreclosure title services, valuation and signing. So really just think about that end-to-end ecosystem and that's what start lender services can do.

Marvin Stone (06:50)
End-to-end,

yeah. From the very beginning to where where am I gonna get that next lead if I'm a loan officer, I've producing branch manager, where am I gonna get those leads? How do I understand the market? How do I pre-qualify using snapshot and such to make sure that I'm keeping my pipeline clean all the way through to the very end of servicing, whatever outcome that may be performing or not? So it's really a broad solution. and that's not even to mention the broader steward organization, like you know, commercial and international.

Agency, we have a the best agency network there is here at Stewart. So there's really a lot of opportunity to craft those solutions, kind of like you're talking about TJ, is what what is it that you need? So we come in as a little more of a consultative partner. I think you've talked about that approach a lot, because you know, yeah, off the shelf is out there, but sometimes off the shelf doesn't fit.

Rich Kuegler (07:42)
Exactly. Well, off the shelf doesn't get the operational excellence that that that you need to succeed in the market. You know, the costs have continued to go up, regulatory compliance has continued to go up, and that may vary from channel to channel, from product to product. So being able to deliver a solution that's specific to that without getting into a you know 100% customization or or whatever, also is important to do that. Yeah.

Marvin Stone (08:07)
Let's talk a little bit about the technology side just for fun. Integration, data, connecting to lender ecosystems, that's such table stakes now, I think. and Beth, you've invested a lot across all the different organizations just in lender services to make sure we have best in-class integrations. I mean, what's the message to lenders today who are looking, whether it's credit or verification, valuation appraisal, title, escrow? How would you position the integration sort of mindset that we have here at Stuart?

Beth Fowler (08:36)
Yeah, I mean maybe a couple of things. You know, one, we definitely want to make it easy. you know, one of the things that we've just really invested time in is putting forward a one API and a developer developer portal. And I know Marvin, that's kind of been a passion project of yours, but you know, how we can really make it easy for lenders to integrate with one or all of what Stuart, you know, has to offer. So you know, we're one of the few I think that has really put the time into that and it really will be a best in class resource. You know, two, we've invested, I think, in a in a new role for our organization.

We we've onboarded a SLS CIO, which I'm really excited about. You know, across our companies, we've got some of the best tech leaders, but we really didn't have anybody that was like looking at things from an overarching perspective and figure out how to, you know, really leverage the best assets across all these companies in a way that either benefits our customers or you know benefits us internally to be more efficient. And you know, having that role you know, I think it really aligns with kind of our current

growth trajectory where we're at, and it's really going to be a big part of our future in 2027.

Rich Kuegler (09:41)
Yeah and Beth, you mentioned about you know a family of companies, but like on purpose, it's been it's been really great to watch intentionally how the business has grown and added great resources in terms of talent for people, but also great capabilities, and not made them steward this or steward that. You they've been able to develop their own identity and and or maintain their own identity and keep growing, but also now have a mind toward well, what could we do with data in this in this business or in that business or process flows that can be can be

leverage in another one. So I think that's pretty exciting.

Marvin Stone (10:13)
Yeah, for sure. One of the things that is is really been great to watch is how we really tried to encompass both ends of the technology spectrum. So Beth already alluded to the fact that you know we have a dozens of LOS integrations for the ledgers, POS integrations for point of sale as well. but we also have OneHub. And I know that Rich you were very involved in getting One Hub going. talk about the market for that and where One Hub kind of fits in. Certainly.

Rich Kuegler (10:40)
Yeah, and

it that's that's really exciting because that's a great way to actually, you know, really physically show how those companies are are integrated and and together. And really One Hub is you could think of it's a it's a it's a portal that allows you to order multiple products,

Marvin Stone (10:54)
Product.

Rich Kuegler (10:55)
product families from the Stuart family of companies. So it's it's one place to go for really on a loan level, the the the lender

You typically right it's from an origination perspective, but the lender can go in and order those. And it typically helps community banks, credit unions, independent mortgage banks who may not have the benefit of integration or may not have their own platforms, so they can order outside the system, get the information back, track the orders, deliver them all on a really a loan-level basis rather than an individual product family basis.

Marvin Stone (11:29)
And so a lender who doesn't have all the great integrations and things, or maybe they've got some legacy technology or worse than a bad system is two systems or three systems or four systems. Right. they can go in and order whatever products they need from one hub, just easy login. What would be some examples of those products that they would order? How would that how would

Rich Kuegler (11:48)
So

you could order variable or varied title products, appraisal products, even flood determinations, all available on that platform.

Marvin Stone (11:57)
Okay. So it just and so E and Snapshot. So Snapshot is the one that Beth mentioned that comes back almost instantaneously to validate Exactly.

Rich Kuegler (12:05)
Property profile information.

Marvin Stone (12:07)
So a lot of great opportunity there. And then TJ, you deal with you've had several conversations with these fintech lenders who really are very demanding about wanting the APIs that Beth mentioned, where we have this developer portal and the APIs they can go in and test and everything like that.

TJ Harrington (12:24)
Their their number one concern is going fast. And so the idea of being able to have a partner that will let them be experimental to do the data to pull the data sets that they want, have the data sets available in a unified space, has been very powerful. they don't find many title companies who think that way, or a lot of lender services divisions that have flexibility.

Marvin Stone (12:44)
Yeah, makes perfect sense. So kind of telling, you know, we talked about the different companies and the different products, but Beth, when the technology piece is added to that. So if you have, you know, a lender comes to us and says, okay, I want to talk about multi-channel, all the different things you're doing, the technology piece, when we bring all that together, when you talk to lenders about being able to be that one-stop shop sort of, what is what's the reaction that you normally get?

Beth Fowler (13:11)
Well, I mean

one is somewhat unique. I mean we're we're one of the few out there that you know really can provide solutions across the the end to end. so I would say that's probably one of the biggest reactions, but then a lot of excitement. I mean, you know, to to have a partner that can really provide integrated solutions and I mean integrate or having disparate partners, I mean that just creates friction. You've got, you know, inefficiencies, you've got disparate data, you've got you know, you're just not optimizing your your process and there's just inherent cost there. So

So you know again of providing that integrated framework, I mean, I think that that can add a lot of value.

Marvin Stone (13:48)
Yeah,

we haven't even gotten to vendor management yet. So maybe the vendor management piece talk about that a little bit. Yeah, that's that's that's certainly a challenge to manage multiple vendors. So from a lender standpoint, what what do they say when it comes to vendor management with Stewart? 'Cause Stewart's not the capital base, Stewart's been around for a long, long time. So you know, how does that weigh in?

Beth Fowler (14:07)
Yeah, I mean I think it r resonates, you know, really positively. I mean, just because of, you know, we are a publicly traded company, we've got, you know, a a strong balance sheet, we've got a demonstrating track record of investment, you know, our culture is really rooted in in compliance. you know, all those things really check the boxes should check the boxes of, you know, every customer that's out there. So

Marvin Stone (14:27)
Yeah, it's it's a it's one of those things, you know, you down market I think, TJ, you've said that it's it's tough to want to add a new vendor, but there are benefits when you're really s really looking at how you manage your vendor relationships overall.

TJ Harrington (14:40)
Yeah,

absolutely. You know, being able to just when the market is down, everyone's looking to kind of trim trim the fat, bring the belt in a little bit. And the cost of vendor management, the cost of on-site audits, the cost of multiple SOC twos and financial monitoring and all the all the pieces, that's hundreds of thousands of dollars a year that by having one singular vendor partner with the financial strength, you're putting back on back on your your PL. so it's it's an easy decision.

Rich Kuegler (15:08)
And

Marvin Stone (15:09)
Mm-hmm. Yeah. And then and then as far as financial strength, where does that come into play? Do you do when you're talking to lenders across the country, do they does that come into the conversation much or is it just I'm just still focused on getting my product in the

Rich Kuegler (15:22)
Well it it depends. Like the the first, you know, the first part of the conversation will be, well, how quickly can you do it? How much does it cost? And all those types of, you know, really transactional questions. But as you look at at things from a more more holistic relationship perspective, the financial strength is is very important because they're especially in in the market like we have today, you know, TJ mentioned about lower volumes, right? And that may that may dictate that that some companies just won't necessarily make it.

Right. So they don't have the financial wherewithal to either withstand that or make the investments that are required to be where the market or to to be prepared for where the market is headed. and we're in that the good position.

TJ Harrington (16:02)
We've even seen some large national agents close shop. We had one this year a national agent and leave the business. We've had smaller, mid-size, and regionals decide to exit or sell. We've seen a national player that was affiliated with a larger financial service organization put themselves up for sale. And so there is that uncertainty at that level at that client level. And that's created opportunity for us where we've had clients come to us and say, your financial strength is incredibly attractive. We know that you're in the business.

for the long haul, we see you making the investments to grow your capability. And that signals to us that you're going to be a long-term partner.

Marvin Stone (16:37)
Yeah, Stewart's been in business for a hundred and thirty plus years and so people kind of take that like, yeah, you said that. but Grover Cleveland was president when Stewart was founded. So if you remember your history class, that's where that comes in. Yeah. but no, that's that's all great. And so I think one of the things is, you know, you talk about uncertainty, but there's real risk when a provider that you partner with, you know, one of your vendors, closes their doors. because w things aren't good before they close their doors, and then when they close their doors, it's

Rich Kuegler (17:07)
Right.

But also the the length of time it takes to onboard a new provider. It's not something that happens when, this is there's gonna be trouble here. Now it's gonna take me six or eight months to onboard somebody else. But if you have a partner who can now offer multiple services, that's an easier conversation and and maybe gives you some some redundancy and some disaster recovery. Business continuity rather.

Marvin Stone (17:29)
So so real quick, one of the things you hit on was these multiple services. And we know that Stuart Lender Services is a family of companies that have been really assembled best in class one after another. But when they're a family of companies, I don't think necessarily a lender thinks, they're all gonna work together seamlessly. How does that piece come together?

TJ Harrington (17:48)
That's huge. And I I you know, I've been around the the block a little bit and maybe I've been in a few different companies and it it's Yeah.

Marvin Stone (17:55)
We've been around the block a lot.

Beth Fowler (17:58)
Yeah. G J Who?

TJ Harrington (18:02)
I've been at a lot of places where not all of the divisions are pulling in the same direction. That there's compet there's a competitiveness where it's really looked at as a as a zero sum game, even in the same company amongst who people who should be business partners. And one of the differentiators of SLS with Beth as a leader is that we pull the oars in the same direction for the benefit of our client. And I I it sounds like a it should be a no-brainer to do that, but not everybody does. And so when we talk about, hey,

We're gonna gain wallet share with this customer by having credit appraisal and title. Can we find enterprise engagement discounts, efficiencies to make a difference for them? Can we find ways to shape pricing or product in a way that benefits them?

And unselfishly we come together for the benefit of the client and the consumer in ways that other places can't. And it's really been amazing to see and well received in the market as we have conversations across the different kind of manufacturing process where you know Matt Orlando kills it on credit. We Matt and Aaron and SVI have all the products laid out. And in title, you have kind of a more structured file rate system where maybe there's less gift there, but maybe we find other ways to make that work in credit or appraisal.

You don't see that kind of conversation and commitment across the the product lines the the way you do it, Stuart. It's really unique and amazing for customers.

Marvin Stone (19:23)
That's great. So talking about all those family of companies, Beth, you've let's turn the tables and talk about the acquisition, the investment mindset, kind of what what drives you. I mean, you've masterminded way everything. Stuart lender services just a few years ago, Rich and I used to be talking about just title. That was it. And Stuart Lender Services meant title. Today it means the full spectrum. So just kind of give us, you know, start at the top and maybe give us your mindset around what what you've done and what what got us here.

Beth Fowler (19:52)
Okay, well thank you for that. you know, certainly there have been a few of us that have, you know, helped shape you know, where where SLS is today. you know, really we try and align with you know where the market is is heading. That really drives a lot of our acquisition strategy. So, you know, how do we be how we Stuart are ready for kind of the next move in the market and then how our customers can be next move ready. we have a ton of things across our desk. the pace right now is is actually pretty incredible.

But you know, we kinda know what we're looking for. We've been, you know, really I think strategic and thoughtful in in the the companies that we brought into the fold. You know, things that we look for.

You know, certainly we we hear from the top of the house every day that, you know, Stuart wants to be in the the premier services company. So certainly in in acquisition targets we're looking for that premier element, whether it be, you know, capability, technology, talent, you know, we we want that to to fit into the Stuart fold of of being premier. And I think we've been pretty successful, you know, in that. You know, we're not acquiring companies just to be

By businesses, that's that's not our strategy. I think it you know it all really needs to be connected in a way that makes sense for the delivery of services for our customers. And that's why you've seen everything again from you know point of acquisition all the way through through servicing. you know, we are we are focused on scale, you know, that is important. you know

just for some of our businesses, the more scale that that we have, that really enables us to deliver what offers stability and then offers us to it enables us to deliver, you know, perhaps better pricing to a customer. We're able to leverage our our negotiating power a little bit better you know, with with our third parties and and you know drive cost savings that can benefit the lender. So that's a little bit about how how we think about it.

Rich Kuegler (21:40)
Yeah. And then I was going to say one one common theme as well has really been the culture. And so, you know, all the things that I think that are the common points around the the operating of the different companies is that that culture fits the the kind of the the overall vision of of the company. It's not just an independent you know line of business just going for

Marvin Stone (21:58)
Yeah, for sure. No, that's absolutely true. Now, how has the how has the market changed your sort of investment philosophy? I mean, obviously, Rick you alluded to it, the consumer direct business is not what it used to be for sure. We have lenders who are in multi-channel, so whereas you know the pendulum swings back and forth. Remember when during Trid we all thought it was gonna be just the big banks and then the pendulum goes the other way because of market needs. So how does that shape your response to the where where you're steering the ship here?

Beth Fowler (22:28)
Yeah, so I mean maybe two good examples of that would be, you know, our recent acquisition of nationwide appraisal network. you know, they have a very impressive, you know, growth strategy and you know, we had kind of been sitting on the sidelines as it relates to to acquiring or or building up our AMC business on these last couple of years. We had been a little more focused on, you know, some of our own modernization technology and customer initiatives and things like that. but at the same time we knew, you know, expanding our appraisal impact was of importance and

know really what attracted us to to NAN was you know how they leaned into the broker segment that that really is you know one of their niches and you know that's not something you do overnight you know that takes an investment in in team and operations account management there's definitely nuance there so knowing that SVI you know didn't really have a great presence you know in in the broker space that was really strategic for us and hopefully we can leverage some of those relationships to you know go beyond appraisal expand into title and whatnot so that's one way we think about it you know maybe the

The other you know recent example is the acquisition of you know MCS, which is you know one of the premier property preservation companies. You know, we we we know with some of the you know the post-pandemic restorative moratoriums and loss mitigation, all those you know, things were were starting to relax and change. The need for services in in that space was only going to increase. So that was an opportunity for us to really lean in to to how we could make sure that we were there and and there for our customers. And again,

leveraging more than just property preservation, you pair that with what we can do from a pre-foreclosure, post for foreclosure title perspective, our appraisal solutions, our signing solutions. It's a very well-rounded offering that we could deliver to the to that segment of the business. And again, part of our strategic thought process.

Marvin Stone (24:14)
Yeah,

it's been such a journey because, you know, we were always just an origination shop, right? And so now I mean part of that you you kinda touched on it a little bit, but part of it is really now to to be a full featured shop for the servicers who performing and non performing so that we have something to offer for everybody. So TJ, just you want to touch on that a little bit?

TJ Harrington (24:32)
Yeah,

I I can tell you that that we've been at a low water mark for the default portfolios. We still see strong performance for agency, but really the FHABA portfolios have degraded significantly from a performance perspective. And you see that in in the numbers. And so we really acquired MCS at a low watermark of the foreclosure activity and and asset disposition activity. You still see just

a very l low low, low time for them. And talking to s to sir to servicers and particularly on the default side, you know, they began to feel the numbers ticking up as a lot of those programs that Beth mentioned began to go away and go, yeah, we've got a a large volume of consumers who are in trouble. We're going to see what we can do and we need a capable vendor that we can engage that has a holistic view that can give us a a end to end delivery from everything. And

that property preservation piece is the tip of the spear, they tend to go out and say, is the property occupied? That dictates whether there's options for loss mitigation. It dictates the the Rube Goldberg machine of foreclosure, turn the crane away. That's

Rich Kuegler (25:39)
What that disposition strategy looked like.

TJ Harrington (25:41)
right. And and so really

Complementing and rounding out that offer that put us in place to be able to ride all of our services and the intelligence to drive cost savings and time savings. And that was really what services and subservicers were looking for, recognizing that they had been in a really good time where there hadn't been a lot of foreclosure foreclosure activity and that that process is incredibly expensive. And can we find a partner to help us drive better results and drive cost savings now while the pipes are fallow with foreclosures? And so really the acquisition of MCS was time.

And integrating them in a very, very quickly, which is the other portion of it. We've been acquisitive, but we've also been incredibly successful and disciplined on the acquisition and integration of the businesses, which is the big risk when you're so inquisitive. And it's that discipline on that part of it is stems to our operational discipline, right? The ability to integrate a new business shows that you're running your business the right way, which is another, I think, unique steward attribute and something that Brent tops the street all the time is just our efficiency.

compared to the F companies, he says, but the other peers in the market where we're

Beth Fowler (26:49)
We're

TJ Harrington (26:50)
small enough where we can't afford to make those kinds of mistakes. So execution is so key and we keep our eye on the ball.

Beth Fowler (26:57)
Yeah, maybe one other thing I'd add is, you know, we we we've you know when we've done some of these acquisitions, we get feedback from our customers. I mean, they they recognize that, you know, some of their service providers, you know, that there's gonna be consolidation. Some of their service providers today aren't gonna look the same, you know, tomorrow. Right. and you know, I I you know, we've got good feedback that, you know, we provide their company, you know, their their partners a good home. we take, you know, good care of our people. you know, we're really focused on service continuity. and at the end of the day I think we've provided those partners, you know, additional size, strength.

strength and you know, the ability to invest. So hopefully our you know, that's the feedback we get from our customers and I think it resonates.

Marvin Stone (27:33)
And that's a piece you touched on that we should probably expand on is what what is life like for these acquisitions that come in? Because I've been around the block too and I was through an acquisition by a company that said, Hey, we're gonna life's gonna be great once once you're acquired and that lasted all the way through day one. And then on day two and following it was not great because they were trying to run run things very s in a very hands on, almost a meddling way. So but in our case, what what is it like for these companies when they come on?

into the Stuart Lehrer services family.

Beth Fowler (28:05)
Yeah, I mean certainly I hope it, you know, I I hope they would share my sentiment that it's been very positive. you know, certainly I recognize and appreciate that it's a lot of change. but you know, before they come on board, we've already done, you know, a lot of diligence around the culture and and you know, certainly that is, you know, one of our gatekeeping items. We we want to make sure that the culture of the company that's coming on board really aligns with us because without that I think that really you know, there could be a a way different trajectory. But you know, we w really wanna, you know, make sure that we're preserving the secret sauce.

of you know what each of the companies can can do. That's been key to us. Talent, you know, they they have more opportunities, you know, w when they get, you know, within the s the Stuart framework. And I think we've we've demonstrated that. And then, you know, understanding their own roadmaps and how we can support that a little bit better. So a couple of things. You know, we're not perfect, but we do kind of have a playbook and we refine it over time and and get better with each one. So

Marvin Stone (28:59)
Yeah,

great. I'm gonna ask one question that is kind of everyone wants to ask a leader of a large business, so like you know, because storage lander services by itself would be a large business in the field. and you know, sort of what keeps you up at night? I mean the market changes every day, but not always for the better. And so we were l hoping for some lower interest rates, we were hoping for a more favorable environment. But aside from those types of things, aside from the three of us, what worries you most

Rich Kuegler (29:27)
Hope is not a strategy as somebody had said.

Beth Fowler (29:31)
Goodness. I mean it's certain certainly a lot of things to be worried about. You know, of course, worried about cyber, worried about, you know, regulatory change, worried about you know, just the this level of consumer distress and you know what what what that could do. but you know, same time that I'm worried about all that, I couldn't be more excited about what's ahead too. So sometimes that actually keeps me up at night, you know, just all these things going through my head. So yeah, that's what that's how I would answer it. Yeah.

Marvin Stone (29:59)
TJ, how would you answer it? And I know you're up at night because I get emails.

Beth Fowler (30:05)
Yeah, yeah.

TJ Harrington (30:08)
my seat in the marketplace has been fighting off the questions of the value of the of title insurance and and the services that we provide in in that space for a while. Now with AOLs, with Title Waiver and other other projects. part of the the thing that keeps me up at night is are we telling our story well enough to the secondary market, the investors and the asset asset clas investors in US real estate to say, hey

There's all these pieces in the manufacturing process that we provide. There's a value add to the real estate market that maybe is unseen

We are in a lot of ways are the janitors, whether it's credit, whether it's valuations or whether it's title, there's things that we do that are incremental value to transactions that are a love letter to the future. It's that appraiser appraiser who leans a little deeper to see that, hey, there's been some modifications to the property. Let me update the appraisal so that there's good data going forward on the credit side. It's modernizing and and driving things on the verification space to say, Hey,

I now have better way to calculate for self-employed for or reaching a little deeper to sh to do cash flow analysis to show abilities to actually borrow. On the title side is curating the public record, educating consumers, educating real estate agents, ensuring that we have the most up-to-date on regulatory change, as state laws change that affect the ability to secure property. All those things are kind of business usual processes that we do to add value that happen without us touting that to to lenders, to real estate agents.

into investors who then take us for granted. So I worry that we don't bugle our o our own horn enough. And as an organization and as an industry in general, we don't. That's not our makeup. We are a know your job, do your job kind of people. We we focus on execution relentlessly and we're not into singing our own praises. We don't pat ourselves on the back. But I think that we deliver outcomes and so it it worries me that people don't see our value.

Marvin Stone (32:10)
Yeah.

Rich Kuegler (32:12)
I think you do a great job.

Marvin Stone (32:14)
That's great. any quick thoughts?

Rich Kuegler (32:17)
Yeah, I I think, you know, to to echo what what TJ Beth said in terms of what what keeps you up at night, it's really the the question of as we work to fill in the white space. So in other words, are there things from that pre application phase all the way through servicing that we don't yet consider part of the Stewart family?

Do we do we recognize what those are as where as where the roadmap is headed? And then also do we effectively communicate that with our clients and also with prospects who are doing either mortgage origination, home equity origination, servicing and default or capital markets and make sure that they understand the value that we can bring so that we can be a better partner.

Marvin Stone (32:53)
Yeah, for sure. Okay. Any final thoughts, Beth?

Beth Fowler (32:57)
final thoughts. Well I mean

You know, one, Stuart Lender Services, we're doing business with over half the top three hundred lenders and and servicers and we certainly appreciate and you know those are trusted partnerships for us. Certainly would like that list to grow. but at the same time I think we're focused, probably even more focused on deepening the relationships that that we have with those customers, you know, really helping them understand, yes, Stuart is an enterprise partner, this is what it can mean for you. and and

You know, that's a an exciting place to be.

Marvin Stone (33:29)
For sure.

well and for all of us who get to work for you and shoulder to shoulder on all these great projects and things to serve the lender community, it's really exciting. I like to echo what Mark Fleming, who used to be with us, said years ago when he said it's great to work for Beth because she can talk about strategy five years out and find the error that you made on row five thousand in a spreadsheet. So you appreciate the detail there too. True stuff. And and that's what it means to be you know, when you're partnering with that kind of strength and that kind of really zeal.

To serve. That's what it means to be powered by Stuart. So give us a call. That's it for Stuart in the studio. Find more episodes and insights at Stuart.com slash Lender. We'll see you next time.

Rich Kuegler (34:12)
This podcast is for informational purposes only and reflects the views of the speakers. It should not be considered legal or business advice, and listeners should consult their own advisors before

Beth Fowler (34:18)
advice before

making decisions.