Some familiar names finished 2017 atop the Home Equity Conversion Mortgage-backed securities (HMBS) leaderboard, and a newcomer claimed the sixth spot in its first year in the marketplace.

American Advisors Group issued 233 loan pools for a total of $2.3 billion in 2017, taking the crown with 21.9% market share according to the most recent stats from New View Advisors. 

Reverse Mortgage Funding came in second place with $2.1 billion and a market share of 19.9%, with third-place Finance of America Reverse logging $1.8 billion for 17.4%. Ocwen and Live Well Financial rounded out the top five.

Longbridge Financial, which made its initial loan pool offering in July after receiving Ginnie Mae approval in May, ended the year in sixth place with 33 pools totaling $605 million, good for a 5.75% share of the 16-issuer marketplace. 

The industry as a whole just missed besting the record amount of $10.7 billion in Issuance in 2010, combining to generate $10.5 billion in total HMBS issuance last year, the New York City-based New View noted in its analysis.

“Despite the month-to-month fluctuations in HECM endorsements, HMBS issuance remains robust, aided by growth in tail issuance and, in the fourth quarter, some issuance of highly seasoned pools,” New View observed. “While endorsement count is an OK proxy for new origination volume, it does not provide a comprehensive picture of overall industry growth or health.”

The secondary market accelerated on the whole during the last quarter of 2017, which saw nearly a third of total issuance for the year, according to New View — with $1.35 billion in December alone.

Check out the full year-end leaderboard at New View Advisors.

Written by Alex Spanko