Moving Forward Looking Into the New Year Macroeconomic Uncertainty Will Continue to Disrupt Our Marketplace By Steve Irwin, President, National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association “This present moment used to be the unimaginable future”—Stewart Brand AS I HAVE discussed before, the dawn of a new year brings self-reflection, both personally and professionally. Right on cue, we all get consumed with annual performance reviews and postelection debriefs and post- mortems. We continue to evaluate the seemingly ever-present headwinds that were adeptly navigated in 2022, and the land mines we were able to avoid. Were all those projects brought across the finish line on time, and on budget? Did we really achieve that work-life balance we promised ourselves at the start of the past year? As we look back, however, we must also be mindful of the need to lift our heads and pay close attention to what lies ahead. Macroeconomic uncertainty will continue to disrupt our marketplace. Administrative and regulatory adjustments may appear when we least expect them. The question then becomes how ready to adapt will we really be when facing the unanticipated changes that 2023 will present to all of us? A key driver of our industry’s ability to adapt to anticipated change will require an accelerated effort to embrace the lifeline that technology will offer. Cuttingedge technological advances in data sharing and delivery will help us to effectively dodge the land mines the coming year will inevitably put in our paths. Embracing technological advances in the reverse mortgage marketplace will enable our members’ organizations to operate more efficiently and become proactively responsive to their customers’ needs. Operational methods will have to change and embrace tomorrow’s technological advances. Our focus on technology will have to sharpen to broaden our products’ distribution and accessibility. Your association will do all it can to support and facilitate such technological advancement. A second determinant of our ability to properly manage the change that is heading our way will be to continually advocate for reverse mortgage product enhancements. Aging homeowners are not a monolith. The product offerings of our industry must be able to be more effectively designed to match the ever-evolving priorities of customers. By concentrating on expanding the available product offerings of our members, through data-driven recommendations, we can also expand the accessibility and distribution of products our nation’s older homeowners desperately need. Your association will do all it can to support and facilitate the continual improvement of the available product offerings. There is no doubt in my mind the reverse mortgage industry will continue to face challenges in the coming year. Those challenges will necessitate change. For us to successfully navigate these challenges and changes as an industry, we must collaborate, open chains of communication, try new approaches, and be bold with our technologies and products. I, for one, look forward to working with our members to bring the change we need. Steve Irwin REVERSE MORTGAGE / JANUARY–FEBRUARY 2023 5
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