Archwell Capital has named Freedom Mortgage Vice Chairman Mike Middleman its chief executive officer, putting a longtime mortgage executive in charge of an investment portfolio spanning financial services, technology, insurance, and real estate.
Middleman spent the past decade in senior leadership positions at Freedom Mortgage, one of the nation’s largest mortgage lenders and servicers. He will remain vice chairman of the company while leading Archwell.
In his new role, Middleman will focus on expanding Archwell’s existing operating companies and deploying capital across mortgage, insurance, commercial real estate, professional sports and other industries.
“Archwell Capital is an investment management company built by operators,” Middleman said. “People who have been in the guts of successful businesses and know how to grow them, enabling us to provide active capital to the companies we incubate, build and in which we invest.”
Middleman also co-founded Moder, a mortgage business intelligence and operations company owned by Archwell. He will remain Moder’s executive chairman. Moder combines artificial intelligence, business intelligence and mortgage operations services for lenders and financial institutions.
Earlier this year, Moder partnered with Palantir Technologies to introduce an AI-powered mortgage operations platform. Freedom Mortgage was identified as the platform’s first enterprise customer.
Middleman has also been involved in building BrightCover, Archwell’s insurance business. He holds bachelor’s degrees in finance and accounting from Hofstra University and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
Archwell announced several other additions to its executive team alongside Middleman’s appointment.
James Blanco was named chief operating officer after previously serving as a senior managing director in Guggenheim Partners’ financial services practice. He also held leadership positions at OneMain Financial and worked in debt capital markets and corporate finance at Barclays.
Raj Patel, who previously led Freedom Mortgage’s finance function, was named chief financial officer. He will oversee Archwell’s financial strategy, planning and reporting.
Matt Harbus was appointed chief strategy officer. Harbus previously served as an executive vice president at Freedom Mortgage, where he oversaw origination sales and a servicing contact center responsible for more than $650 billion in loans. He has also overseen Archwell’s technology work, including the partnership between Moder and Palantir.
Kristin McHale-Johnson was named chief artificial intelligence officer in the Office of the CEO. She will work with Archwell’s operating companies on technology plans and industry partnerships.
The company also named Kat Rugge chief people officer, Jordan Glick chief investment officer and Melissa Rubenstein general counsel.
Archwell was founded in 2013 and is headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. It recently opened a flagship office in Radnor, Pennsylvania. The company says its wholly owned businesses serve hundreds of corporate clients.
