The Performance Group Hosts Fifth Annual Technology Roundtable Dinner; Open Forum Enables...

Business Editors

MBA's National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo

CONCORD, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 22, 2004

The Performance Group (TPG), a consulting firm specifically for the mortgage banking industry, hosted its Fifth Annual Technology Roundtable Dinner

in conjunction with the MBA's National Technology in Mortgage Banking Conference and Expo held in Phoenix, Arizona, March 15-17, 2004. Forty-one mortgage industry leaders participated in the roundtable discussion dinner, which took place on Monday evening at Morton's of Chicago steakhouse restaurant.

The purpose of the roundtable discussion was to offer participants an opportunity to talk about pertinent technological issues facing the industry. Participants included lenders, vendors, consultants and investors from companies such as Chase, Household, Charter One, VMP, Liberty Bank, Flagstar, Fidelity, Countrywide, 3t Systems, HSBC, Dorado, Waterfield Mortgage and Fiserv. During the roundtable, participants were able to voice their own opinions, as well as hear the opinions of their peers within the industry.

"The Performance Group's roundtable discussion is one of my favorite events at the MBA Technology Conference," said Tim Anderson, a twenty-five year mortgage industry veteran with Dexma Inc., a mortgage technology company. "This year's event was no exception as the unique interactive format enables participants to candidly discuss current mortgage industry issues and leads to some very lively discussions. Since the TPG dinner encourages open dialogue among the participants, there is an abundance of great information shared that is beneficial to my continued knowledge in the industry. Participation in the discussions is the key."

During the TPG roundtable discussion, participants are assigned to one of six tables. Each table received one of the following six questions to discuss during dinner:

1)  Many times technology does not keep up with the hype. However,
    with the outstanding work on standards by MISMO driving new
    development from many vendors, the promise of plug and play
    application components sitting on a services oriented architecture
    is apparently coming sooner than later. What's your opinion - is
    Web services in mortgage banking the wave of the present instead
    of the future?

2)  In this election year, the issue of offshoring of application
    development and various back office tasks has really become quite
    the political football. With respect to investing for
    productivity, many think that offshoring competes directly with
    the upgrading of traditional mortgage applications or the move to
    e-mortgage technology. How does offshoring compete with or
    complement the implementation of new technology?

3)  The eMortgage Alliance has projected that the full implementation
    of an e-mortgage process can save a lender $1,500 in his/her
    origination costs. Despite such a huge upside, the adoption of
    e-mortgage technology by lenders has proceeded at a snail's pace.
    Will e-mortgage adoption accelerate in 2004 and, if so, why? If
    not, what is needed to spur the adoption rate?

4)  Since the appearance of Linux open systems initiative during the
    dot com boom, the IT industry now has a well-accepted Web server,
    office suite and RDBMS that is supported by the open systems
    community. According to a recent article in Fortune magazine,
    there are thousands of other open source projects underway
    targeting everything from Web components to business applications.
    If mortgage lenders or vendors were to start an open source
    application initiative, what application should they target?

5)  Each year mortgage bankers spend a great deal of money on
    technology. And, each year there are many projects that struggle
    with achieving the desired implementation dates, much less a true,
    measurable ROI. Besides the implementation struggles, many lenders
    found it difficult to adopt new technologies during the last 2-3
    years, yet, they made it through the "mother of all refinance
    booms." So, should lenders focus on leveraging old technology that
    is already in place or develop better methods for choosing,
    evaluating benefits and risks and implementing new technology?

6)  A recent study by American Express cites the top three factors for
    consumers when choosing a mortgage provider as low rates, customer
    service and brand name. Can technology help create a strategic
    advantage for a lender in any of these three factors, and if so
    how?

After dinner, TPG invited a spokesperson from each table to share the table's question and the different perspectives table members discussed in response to the question. At this time, participants at other tables were permitted to comment and ask questions regarding the question's topic.

"I really enjoyed the TPG roundtable as a valuable extension of the MBA conference," said first-time attendee Ron Charmoy, vice president, business systems for Household. "I thought it was very professionally done. I met new people, made contacts and enjoyed the healthy debate at the end of dinner."

The participants at the TPG roundtable discussion received a few surprise visits from high-profile members of the MBA, including the organization's economist, Doug Duncan and Gabe Minton of MISMO. Participants were eager to hear Duncan's economic outlook with regard to some of the topics, particularly offshoring.

"Every year we strive to deliver an entertaining and educational roundtable discussion dinner at the Mortgage Technology Conference," Larry Bonifant, president of The Performance Group, said. "By gathering a diverse group of individuals (from the mortgage industry), we are all able to learn from the different perspectives shared during the discussions. Our roundtable discussion has grown in popularity at the Mortgage Technology Conference. Year after year we find that more mortgage professionals are seeking us out to participate in the roundtable discussion."

About The Performance Group

The Performance Group, based in Concord, N.H. and founded in 1990, is a leading consulting firm specializing in the mortgage banking industry. The Performance Group offers a variety of consulting services designed to increase productivity, improve customer service, reduce costs and encourage continuous innovation. A unique approach, The Performance Group offers a comprehensive program based on a pyramid model that incorporates all components of the work hierarchy including: vision, organization, systems, functions and tasks.

The Performance Group is a member of the Association of Management Consulting Firms (AMCF) and is also the only consultant participating in the e-mortgage alliance. It is also a member of the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) and the Mortgage Industry Standard Maintenance Organization (MISMO). For more information visit the company's Web site at www.tpgltd.com.