Boutique advisory services tailored to fit the needs of your business and delivered with deep subject matter expertise 

Types of Engagements

Strategic Advisory

  • Corporate Development/Strategic Partnerships

  • Market and Competitive Intelligence/Analysis

  • Business Planning and Scorecard Development

  • Board/Investor Presentations

  • Corporate Governance

M&A Support (Buy-and Sell-Side)

  • Offering Materials & Management Presentations

  • Financial Modeling

  • Transaction Management (Due Diligence & Virtual Data Room)

  • Term Sheet Review

  • Pre- and Post-closing Integration Planning

  • Pre-IPO Readiness

Financial/Operational Advisory

  • Mortgage Origination & Servicing

  • KPI Scorecards and Benchmarking

  • Process Optimization

  • Operational/Regulatory Reporting

  • Capital/Secondary Markets (pricing, hedging, trading)

  • Asset Purchase and Sale (whole loans, MSR, derivatives)

  • Loan Repurchase/Defect Meditation

Fractional Executive

  • C-Suite – COO, CFO, CLO

  • Financial Planning & Analysis (FP&A)

  • Joint Ventures & Partnerships

  • Capital Raising & Optimization

  • Large Scale Project Management

  • Audit/Compliance

    • Special Board Investigations

    • Regulatory Relations

Broad Sector Expertise Across Financial Services

Mortgage Banking

FinTech, PropTech & WealthTech

Title Insurance & Settlement Services

Banking (traditional, digital or neo)

Current Affiliations

Meet the Team

Robert J. Smith, Founder

  • Robert J. (Bob) Smith has enjoyed a diverse career in financial services, centered on the strategic and operational leadership of mortgage banks and affiliated businesses. His common sense approach balances service excellence, regulatory compliance and operational efficiency, while fostering a collaborative and engaging environment for his team.

    During his tenure in the financial services industry, Bob has held numerous senior level positions for some of the most respected companies including Merrill Lynch, PHH, Discover Financial Services and BNY Mellon. He most recently served as EVP, Corporate Development/Strategy for Real Matters (TSE:REAL), a Canadian-based fintech with affiliated businesses in the U.S., which included Solidifi Title & Closing, where Bob served as President since 2019. Bob began his career in public accounting with Deloitte, where he was recognized as a National Industry Specialist in the bank/thrift and real estate industries. He was a Senior Manager when left the firm after eight years to join one of his clients, Merrill Lynch.

    Bob has amassed vast subject matter expertise in U.S. housing finance, mortgage lending, capital markets, and regulatory matters. He has a proven track record of driving enterprise value through organic growth and inorganic strategies via small-medium scale M&A and strategic partnerships. He has operated with P&L responsibility in both bank and non-bank environments and led teams across multiple distribution/operating models.

    He currently sits on three boards – the Gator Bowl Association (a 501(c)(3) benefiting higher education) and AS Direct Mortgage Capital, a European mortgage bank and services company, and the Collateral Risk Network. From 2003-2011, he was a member of the Board of Directors of Atlantic Coast Bank (NASDAQ: ACFC), serving as Chairman of the Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committees.

    Bob is married with 6 children, enjoys travel, golf and is an avid snow skier. He and his wife Margaret split time between Atlanta and Steamboat Springs, CO.

  • Nicole Bruner is a seasoned financial services professional with experience across all aspects of mortgage banking. She is skilled in operations, risk management and leading strategic initiatives. Combining her business and technical expertise, she has loves to lead teams to envision, design, and implement complex mortgage solutions - bringing strategy to reality. She balances her collaborative, nurturing style with decisiveness and the ability to hold others accountable via clear and direct communication.

    Nicole began her mortgage career at Merrill Lynch and has held numerous leadership level positions for some of the most respected companies including PHH and PNC Bank.

    Nicole, her husband Todd, and son Jackson live in Jacksonville, Florida.

Nicole H. Bruner, Senior Advisor

Martin Foster, Senior Advisor

  • Martin (“Marty”) Foster has significant experience and success in building and transforming mortgage servicing platforms to grow profitability, while maintaining strong operational controls ensuring regulatory compliance. He has a talent in developing a vision for layering nimble technology over outdated systems and manual processes.

    Marty is known for being a passionate leader, with an innate ability to identify and develop exceptional operational leaders and driving a team approach across all areas of the business to clearly defined corporate goals and team performance standards. Over his 30+ years in managing mortgage servicing operations, he has developed and effectively leveraged strong outsourced partnerships across many aspects of mortgage servicing.

    Marty began his career at Shearson Lehman Mortgage running all of default and went on to Countrywide Home Loans in a similar role. He later went on to run all of mortgage servicing for PHH Mortgage for 20 years. He later consulted for a technology provider and assisted one of the largest sub-servicers to navigate the challenges of the COVID pandemic.

    Marty resides in South Jersey with his wife Tracy and their 3 dogs.

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