UWM Now Has A Chief Client Officer

In a first at the nation's largest overall mortgage lender, United Wholesale Mortgage (UWM) announced today it has named Allen Beydoun its Chief Client Officer (CCO), a key new executive position. 

An 18-year veteran of the company, Beydoun, who has been serving as executive vice president of sales and now is focused specifically as CCO, brings to the new role a record “of building strong, lasting partnerships and delivering exceptional value to clients across the country,” UWM stated in a release. 

UWM noted the appointment “marks a strategic milestone in UWM’s ongoing commitment to delivering industry-leading service, innovation, and deep client partnerships.”

The company's clients "are at the heart of everything we’ve ever done at UWM and will continue to be the most important aspect of our business,” said Beydoun. “I look forward to amplifying their voices even further and helping catapult the future of our business through their lens.”

“He has helped build our client relationships from the ground floor, and there’s no one more qualified to step into this role. Our clients know and trust Allen." —Mat Ishbia, Chairman, President, and CEO, United Wholesale Mortgage, speaking of Allen Beydoun's years serving at the company

Beydoun will be responsible for aligning strategic initiatives with client needs, aiming to ensure the voice of the client “remains central to every decision the company makes” while elevating the client experience in all aspects of UWM’s business.

“Allen started at UWM when we were nowhere to be found on any top lender list, and for the last 18 years has had an unwavering commitment to our clients’ success,” said Mat Ishbia, UWM’s president and CEO. 

“He has helped build our client relationships from the ground floor,” Ishbia added, “and there’s no one more qualified to step into this role. Our clients know and trust Allen, and we’re excited to see how his leadership will continue to strengthen those relationships.”

Throughout his career, Beydoun has earned a reputation for deep industry knowledge and a client-first mindset, according to UWM. He is tasked with leading efforts to:

• Enhance the client experience; 
• Drive innovation based on real-world feedback; and 
• Ensure that every client feels heard, valued, and supported.

Looking Deeper

In Beydoun’s LinkedIn job experience, he describes working with brokers and loan originators to drive sales and communicate more effectively — all while pushing the package at UWM. 

“My goal is to initiate and coordinate development of action plans to penetrate new markets in the mortgage industry,” Beydoun explained his role as EVP of Sales. “I work with the UWM sales staff to build more effective communications with brokers across the United States. I have a strong understanding of UWM customer dynamics and proven leadership to help drive sales for originators.”

Sounds like the kind of drive it might take to be recognized professionally as UWM’s first Chief Client Officer. 

For more insight, let's turn the pages back a bit. National Mortgage Professional actually sat down for an interview with Beydoun — going on a decade ago now. 

Back in September 2016, we found out something that’s not in his LinkedIn info: how Beydoun spent the years between graduating from the University of Michigan - Dearborn and then joining UWM. 

“I was able to give my clients more options and provided them with a higher level of client service. I loved what I was doing — I was passionate about it.” —Allen Beydoun, Chief Client Officer, United Wholesale Mortgage, speaking of his days as a mortgage broker

Mortgage banking wasn’t his original career path, and he served as the branch manager of a bank in southeast Michigan. The bank had a working relationship with a mortgage company. 

“Our goal was to pass on leads to mortgage originators that worked inside of our branch offices,” Beydoun told NMP, “and I was personally referring five to seven clients to an originator in my office.”

He discovered being an LO can be a lucrative career and tried it out. “I started to work for a small broker shop and also worked a little bit in retail,” Beydoun said. 

And, for him at least, Beydoun found that being a broker was more rewarding than working for a retailer.

“I was able to give my clients more options and provided them with a higher level of client service,” he recalled. “I loved what I was doing — I was passionate about it.”

Transition To UWM

Beydoun didn’t find United Wholesale Mortgage; United Wholesale Mortgage found Beydoun. 

“Someone from UWM noticed my resume online and asked me to come in for an interview,” he said. “They obviously knew of my experience as a loan originator, but wanted to gauge my interest in working on the wholesale side of the business.”

And who, exactly, did Beydoun encounter at UWM? None other than Mat Ishbia himself, it turns out.  

In 2007 — the year the iPhone debuted — Beydoun would interview with Ishbia. “I spoke with this young guy named Mat Ishbia, current president and CEO of UWM.” And Ishbia was full of what you might call prophetical hopes and dreams for UWM’s big future.  

“Mat spoke about how UWM was going to be the number-one wholesale lender, and at the time, I wasn’t sure if he was kidding or not,” Beydoun told NMP. “He promised me that UWM was going to be something special, so I knew I had to give it a shot.”

And, one of the biggest things that set UWM apart, according to Beydoun, was, and is, its people: “You can have the best systems and the best technology, but if you don’t have good people, it just doesn’t work,” he contended. 

Wasn't Always Easy 

“My greatest challenge came in the early stages of my career at UWM when I was starting out as an account executive and our clients had never heard of UWM,” Beydoun noted. “That challenge was maintaining my mental toughness and drive when we were starting to grow our business.” 

Beydoun found he was able to help grow UWM, and grow people’s recognition of it. 

“Being in the weeds and constantly working at my craft gave me the confidence I needed to be effective on the phones and help bring UWM to where it is now,” he said in the interview. “That strong mindset is a major reason why I was able to take my business to the next level back then, and continues to do the same today.”