Expect big changes at New Vista Asset Management as the San Diego-based REO asset management firm shifts its focus from default services to originations.
The firm’s co-founder and CEO Gary Acosta told HousingWire change is definitely afoot with New Vista’s executive team seeing the once hurried default space that drove them into business five years ago chipping away.
The company’s move into originations has yet to be fully revealed, but Acosta told HousingWire New Vista aspires to offer lender services—essentially becoming a resource for the mortgage originations space.
“The reality is the outsourced asset management business is a rapidly shrinking business,” Acosta told HousingWire. “The prospects for growth within that sector are next to zero unless you can get a HUD contract.”
Acosta said the firm feels blessed by its successful run over the course of the past five years, but the tide is clearly turning and carrying default-centric companies in a different direction.
“The one thing Jim Park (co-founder) and I have been good at is anticipating where the puck is going, and this is not where the puck is going,” Acosta said of the asset management space. “We think there is a lot of opportunity in originations.”
Looking at the marketplace, Acosta is optimistic about current projections for new homebuyers.
New Vista is not publicly revealing its internal restructuring plan, but definitely acknowledges the asset management space is in flux, forcing New Vista to explore new directions.
Signs of a coming sea change are not surprising, especially after five long years in the market, Acosta said.
New Vista Asset Management announced the planned departure of president and COO Brian Hurley earlier this year. A statement announcing Hurley’s exit noted his “departure follows the completion of a multi-month update of the firms strategic plan amidst ongoing declines in default-market inventory and new designs for New Vista’s multicultural real estate networks.”
