Contact Information: Contact Rosemary Ostmann Rose Communications 201-656-7178, ext. 201 201-615-7751 cell
Mortgage Harmony Corp. Appoints Shane Chalke as President
Financial Industry Veteran to Lead Introduction of Reform Mortgage Products
| Source: Mortgage Harmony
TYSONS CORNER, VA--(Marketwire - September 9, 2009) - Mortgage Harmony Corp., a provider of
innovative residential mortgage products, today announced the appointment
of Shane Chalke as president. Prior to joining the company, Chalke founded
and recently sold Finetre Corp., an electronic platform for buying and
selling annuities that transformed the delivery of annuity products.
Mortgage Harmony's core product, Harmony Loan™, is a consumer-initiated
interest rate-resetting mortgage with a patented recurring compensation
structure to the loan officer. It is designed to realign the economic
incentives among all participants of a mortgage transaction and bring
long-term stability to the housing finance industry. As president, Chalke
will oversee the commercialization of the company's products.
"The residential mortgage model in this country is severely flawed and we
believe our product is a harbinger of much-needed change," said Keith
Kelly, founder and CEO of Mortgage Harmony. "Shane's track record of
changing the way industries do business is precisely what we need to be
successful."
An actuary by training, Chalke founded AnnuityNet in 1997 to reengineer the
variable annuity market by automating the sales process and stripping the
steep broker commissions from the equation. In 2000, he renamed the
company Finetre and evolved the business model to become a
business-to-business exchange, which ultimately handled more than $80
billion in annuity transactions for the nation's largest brokerage firms.
"After sitting on the advisory board of this start-up for six months, I was
compelled to accept their offer to guide the company as its president,"
said Chalke. "I was impressed by the financial engineering that went into
the development of the Harmony Loan as well as its potential to realign the
financial incentives in the mortgage business and create more durable
mortgage products."
Chalke created his first business in the early '80s at the age of 25.
Chalke Incorporated developed risk management software quickly adopted by
the larger players in the insurance industry. Chalke holds a degree in
mathematics from Worcester Polytechnic Institute.
"We're ready for a transition in the mortgage business analogous to that in
the brokerage industry where brokers moved from transaction- to asset-based
compensation," said Chalke. "We're working with banks looking for a higher
value loan for their portfolio, while at the same time offering a
dramatically better value proposition to the consumer. It's not often that
a new product is better for everyone in the value chain -- this is
exciting."
About Mortgage Harmony Corp.
Mortgage Harmony Corp. designs, develops and distributes innovative
residential mortgage products for credit unions, mid-size and large banks,
and mortgage companies. Its mission is to create products and services
that properly align the economic incentives of all participants of a
mortgage transaction and bring long-term stability to the housing finance
industry. For more information on Mortgage Harmony and the Harmony
Loan™, please visit www.mortgageharmony.com.