Associated Banc-Corp., Green Bay, Wis., plans to become a national warehouse lender, breaking out of its two-state-only business model. Also, Perrin & Associates, Irvine, Calif., has inked a deal to screen nondepository warehouse applicants for an unidentified bank whose goal is to have $1.8 billion in commitments by yearend.
Michele Perrin, who heads the company that bears her name, said she could not name the bank at this time but noted that it will fund both retail and wholesale production.
"I'm very excited about this," she said. "This lender, however, will not be buying the loans it warehouses." The bank, she added, also will provide credit on a leverage basis of 20-to-1.
She also has a Michigan bank client that is looking to make 30 new warehouse facilities this year. Both her clients are relatively new to the warehouse business.
As for Associated, at press time, details about its expansion plans were not known. (Advisors close to the bank confirmed the news about its efforts.)
Currently, the bank makes warehouse lines of credit available to nondepositories in Illinois and Wisconsin only. Matt Wolfe, an officer at the bank's office in Chicago, has been put in charge of the national effort.
The move into national lending by Associated is being extended into other product sectors as well, including the insurance sector. The publicly traded bank is also one of the largest residential lenders in Wisconsin.
