loanDepot Announces Strategic Partnership With Orchard Platform

IRVINE, Calif., Feb. 29, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- loanDepot, America's lender, today announced a new partnership with Orchard Platform, the leading technology and data provider for marketplace lending. Under the agreement, loanDepot will integrate its industry-leading performance data into the Orchard U.S. Consumer Marketplace Lending Index and Market Data products. Through this partnership, the U.S. investment community will gain deeper insights into the strong performance of loanDepot personal loan products relative to other marketplace lenders and the industry as a whole.

"As online lending continues to grow in size and importance, access to transparent and unbiased, benchmarked data will become more important to investors as they evaluate opportunities," said Brian Biglin, chief risk officer at loanDepot, LLC. "Our personal loan product continues to perform very well, attracting a larger mix of high quality, more responsible borrowers as compared to many online lenders. We're excited to showcase our portfolio on the Orchard platform as an attractive option to investors interested in specific loan types, borrower profiles and risk and return potential."

In May 2015, loanDepot moved beyond mortgages and into marketplace lending with the launch of its unsecured personal loan product. Within the first eight months of loan availability, loanDepot has funded more than $400 million in personal loans to approximately 26,000 consumers across the nation. Nearly 80 percent of loanDepot personal loan borrowers are homeowners who tend to be higher FICO-profile borrowers and more conservative in how they manage credit. Purpose-built for efficient cross-selling of multiple loan types, today the loanDepot tech-enabled lending platform delivers personal loans, purchase and refinance, and home equity loan products.

"Institutional investor adoption of marketplace lending continues to occur at a rapid rate, and access to transparent, standardized data will act as a catalyst for continued growth," said Matt Burton, chief executive officer and co-founder of Orchard. "We're excited to partner with a category leader like loanDepot and have their data available on our platform and included in the U.S. Marketplace Lending Consumer Index. Through our proprietary approach to data standardization, loanDepot's data will be made available to institutional investors and facilitate further participation in their purchase programs."

The Orchard Index, which is distributed via Bloomberg Professional service, measures the overall performance of U.S. consumer marketplace loans. It provides investors with a useful and widely accepted benchmark to evaluate the relative performance of these loans. Data from the Index is available to subscribers in Orchard's Monthly Industry Report, which provides a comprehensive view into trends within major marketplace lending asset classes. 

This agreement with Orchard Platform is the latest step loanDepot has taken in its mission to be America's lender and employer of choice. Since 2010, the company has experienced 400 percent annual market share growth, today employing more than 5,000 employees, including 1,500+ licensed loan officers offering responsible borrowers nationwide personal loans, refinance and purchase home loans and home equity loans. 

ABOUT LOANDEPOT, LLC
loanDepot, America's lender, matches borrowers through technology and high-touch customer care with the credit they need to fuel their lives. As a fast-growing national marketplace lender, the loanDepot platform is disrupting finance by dissolving the lines between mortgage and nonmortgage credit. The company has funded over $60 billion in loans since inception. loanDepot is passionate about emerging financial technology and dynamic product delivery supported by excellent customer service to empower consumers. Headquartered in Southern California, loanDepot employs 5,000+ people across the country including 1,500+ licensed loan officers, and operates 140+ loan stores nationwide. The company operates under the brand names loanDepot, imortgage, Mortgage Master, LDWholesale and LDEscrow. NMLS # 174457

ABOUT ORCHARD
Orchard is the leading provider of technology and data to the marketplace lending industry, powering the interaction between institutional investors and loan originators.  Founded in New York City in 2013, Orchard's mission is to build the systems and standardize the data that will allow marketplace lending to efficiently grow into a global financial market. Orchard provides products and services to investors that enable them to understand, access, and execute marketplace lending investments, including Market Data & Research, a powerful Order Management System, and detailed Reporting & Analytics.  Orchard offers originators access to a diverse group of institutional investors who use Orchard to purchase marketplace lending assets.  A single integration using Orchard's proprietary approach to data standardization enables end-to-end marketplace support covering Investor Awareness, data-driven Market Insights and seamless Data Management. Orchard has been named to Forbes Next Billion Dollar Startups list, produces the Orchard US Consumer Marketplace Lending Index — the only industry wide benchmark distributed on the Bloomberg Professional service — and is recognized for its technical and analytical thought leadership as explored on its blog.

Contact:
Ginny Walker | loanDepot, LLC
[email protected] | 949.595.7133
Nadia Gonzalez | Orchard Platform
[email protected] | 917.656.5945

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SOURCE loanDepot