Sanjiv Das, former CEO of Caliber Home Loans, has joined the board of directors at Two Harbors Investment Corp, a Minnesota-based real estate investment trust that expects to launch a mortgage originations platform in the second quarter of 2024. 

“Sanjiv’s depth of experience in mortgage finance, consumer understanding and thought leadership will serve our company well as we continue to grow and evolve our business strategy and operational platform,” Stephen G. Kasnet, chairman of Two Harbors, said in a statement. 

A mortgage industry veteran, Das has served since October 2023 as the president of tech company Pagaya Technologies Ltd., which offers artificial intelligence infrastructure for the financial ecosystem. He oversees the strategy and growth of Pagaya’s commercial business – including its single-family rental business and its subsidiary Darwin Homes. 

Before joining Pagaya, Das was CEO of Caliber Home Loans. He stepped down in January 2022, less than one year after Newrez acquired the mortgage lender and servicer. 

The executive also held previous leadership and senior positions at First Data Corp., a KKR-owned company; Citibank’s mortgage division; Morgan Stanley; American Express; and Bank of America.  

Das is joining Two Harbors as the company is set to launch a mortgage originations division, which is part of its strategy to retain borrowers from its servicing portfolio when interest rates drop.

Regarding the platform, Two Harbors President and CEO Bill Greenberg told HousingWire recently that the company has “this opportunity, given where our portfolio is and where interest rates are, to build something from scratch, and we can make it entirely custom fit to our business.”

“We don’t have to buy something that other people have made that doesn’t fit very well and that’s upside down on costs,” Greenberg added. 

Two Harbors’ originations business will hedge its servicing portfolio of $216 billion in unpaid principal balance (UPB) as of Dec. 31, 2023. The company has hired industry veteran Kyle Kilpatrick to lead the newly created division.