Sprout Mortgage [1] has appointed Michael R. Johnston to the newly created position of Head of Distributed Retail. A long-time Wells Fargo home mortgage executive, Johnston will play a key role in expanding Sprout's consumer and retail sales channel, reporting to Sprout President Shea Pallante.
"We are excited to welcome Michael to the Sprout leadership team," said Pallante. "Michael will help drive our commitment to significantly build out Sprout's retail sales channel through direct-to-consumer outreach, brick-and-mortar retail facilities, and strategic joint ventures—all designed to help Sprout better serve our end-user clients with high-quality financial solutions for home ownership and investment properties."
Johnston comes to Sprout after a two-decade-plus career at Wells Fargo in home mortgages. Most recently, he served as Southeast Division Manager, leading a team of 800 to drive market share, boost profitability, and expand the enterprise customer base. Prior to that, he served as Wells Fargo VP–Regional Sales Manager, in the Miami and Philadelphia regions. Prior to his time at Wells Fargo, Michael was a Sales Manager for PNC Bank in Princeton, N.J.
"Sprout is the most innovative and exciting platform in the non-QM residential mortgage industry and I'm proud to be part of the company's ongoing growth as we bring the Sprout brand, sterling reputation, and client-focused mortgage solutions to a nationwide audience," said Johnston.
This is the latest move by Sprout to strengthen its hold in the market, as the company recently announced the addition of Henry Santos [2] as its new EVP and CIO, responsible for the strategy, execution, and performance of the Sprout enterprise technology ecosystem. In addition to Santos, Laura C. LaRaia was named by Sprout [3] to the role of EVP, General Counsel, and Chief Compliance Officer, overseeing all legal and regulatory compliance functions, and serve as the firm's general counsel.
In addition to the new hires, Sprout has expanded its product offerings over the past few months through its “BROKER AdvantEDGE” program [4], a series of operational improvements that will help brokers enhance the borrower experience and expand their business.