Deephaven Mortgage Names New Chief Operating Officer

Aaron Drago has joined Non-QM lender Deephaven Mortgage as chief operating officer. Most recently, he was chief operations officer for the Southeast and Mountain West divisions of Guaranteed Rate.

In his new role, Drago is responsible for the continuous optimization and performance of Deephaven’s daily operations, focusing on the twin goals of driving long-term, sustainable growth and maximizing the satisfaction of the company's wholesale customers and correspondent partners, the company said.

“Deephaven already differentiates itself through its agility and highly responsive service," Drago said. "In nautical terms, we’re a yacht rather than a cruise ship, with the flexibility to make changes that cater to customers’ emerging needs. I’m excited to help us innovate our operations and leverage technologies to build on that advantage — and ultimately empower brokers and correspondents to serve more Non-QM borrowers."

“Aaron combines a depth of operational experience with a focused and disciplined approach to process optimization,” said John Keratsis, president and CEO, Deephaven. "This will serve Deephaven well as we scale operations to meet strong demand for our products."

According to Drago’s LinkedIn profile, he was with Guaranteed Rate from May 2021 to December 2022. Prior to that, he spent almost five years at Wells Fargo in senior vice president roles.

Drago's predecessor Lisa Heitzmann has taken an executive consulting role exclusively with Deephaven, according to a company spokesperson.

Drago holds a B.S. in industrial engineering from Lehigh University.