Tag Archives: risk management

CUSP Risk & Audit Analytics Helps States Spot Risks Faster, Audit Smarter, and Elevate Program Integrity in Early Childhood

SEATTLE, Wash., Jan. 15, 2026 (SEND2PRESS NEWSWIRE) — Third Sector Intelligence (3Si) today highlighted its Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP) Risk & Audit Analytics solution, a purpose-built tool that helps state agencies spot risks faster, audit smarter, and strengthen program integrity and provider support across publicly funded early childhood programs. Released in 2024, the solution has become increasingly relevant as states refine their early childhood systems and look for practical ways to use data for oversight, planning, and continuous quality improvement.

Image caption: Third Sector Intelligence (3Si) today highlighted its Child Universal Success Platform (CUSP) Risk & Audit Analytics solution.

State program leaders, audit teams, and analysts often spend too much time chasing scattered clues across multiple systems instead of clearly seeing which providers present the highest compliance risk. CUSP Risk & Audit Analytics consolidates fragmented data into a single, interactive risk dashboard, applying standardized scoring to every provider across critical compliance scenarios so teams can see the full landscape at a glance and then drill down to individual providers when needed.

“States are being asked to do more with the same teams: manage risk, support providers, and show that public dollars are used wisely,” said Will McCoy, Vice President of Strategic Partnerships at Third Sector Intelligence (3Si). “With CUSP Risk & Audit Analytics, agencies can spot risks faster and audit smarter by replacing scattered clues and gut feelings with a single, defensible view of provider risk.”

With weekly, monthly, and annual views, the dashboard surfaces short-term spikes in risk while preserving long-term trends, helping teams distinguish between one-off anomalies and persistent patterns. Provider-level drilldowns show exactly what is driving each risk score—such as a surge in attendance spikes or payment anomalies—while embedded definitions and expanded provider attributes, including ages served, explain each metric at the point of review.

Objective, data-driven risk scores allow agencies to prioritize and defend audit selection, moving away from decisions based solely on complaints, history, or “gut feel.” Historical tracking and exportable evidence support transparent, defensible audit trails and post-action rationale, making it easier to demonstrate fairness and consistency in oversight.

Rich filtering options—by program, facility type, licensed capacity, location, risk tier, and more—help teams focus enforcement and technical assistance where it will have the most impact for children and families. Automated scoring, regular data refreshes, and downloadable datasets reduce manual work and free staff to concentrate on higher-value activities such as provider support, policy refinement, and strategic planning.

Because scoring logic, scenario definitions, and dashboard views can be aligned to each state’s data availability and audit policies, Risk & Audit Analytics fits within existing governance structures and does not prescribe a particular policy. The solution is designed to strengthen operational capacity and program integrity in a neutral, transparent way, regardless of how states structure or fund their early childhood systems.

Image caption: Third Sector Intelligence (3Si).

“As states invest in stronger data systems and more coordinated early childhood infrastructure, they need tools that translate data into everyday oversight decisions,” McCoy added. “Risk & Audit Analytics helps agencies work smarter—elevating program integrity while supporting providers and, ultimately, the children and families they serve.”

Learn more at: https://team3si.com/cusp/

About Third Sector Intelligence

Third Sector Intelligence (3Si) partners with state agencies to deliver integrated data platforms and analytics solutions that improve the effectiveness, accessibility and sustainability of early childhood systems. By bringing together information from across programs and turning it into context-rich, operational insights, 3Si helps public-sector teams manage risk, support providers, and strengthen outcomes for children and families.

For more information about CUSP Risk & Audit Analytics or to schedule a consultation, please contact:
Will McCoy, VP Strategic Partnerships
wmccoy@team3si.com

MULTIMEDIA:
IMAGE link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/26-0115-s2p-3si-risk-300dpi.webp

NEWS SOURCE: 3Si - Third Sector Intelligence

This press release was issued on behalf of the news source (3Si - Third Sector Intelligence), who is solely responsible for its accuracy, by Send2Press Newswire. Image, if any, was provided by the news source and not this website or the wire service. Information is believed accurate, as provided by the news source, but is not guaranteed.

To view the original story, visit: https://www.send2press.com/wire/cusp-risk-audit-analytics-helps-states-spot-risks-faster-audit-smarter-and-elevate-program-integrity-in-early-childhood/

BlueStone Advisors Announces Launch of its Lithium-Ion Battery Insurance Captive

CHICAGO, Ill. /ScoopCloud/ -- BlueStone Advisors, a specialty commercial insurance brokerage firm, announced today the launch of their BlueStone Lithium-Ion Battery Captive to help advanced battery companies manage their insurance costs and offer a broader policy with comprehensive and consistent coverage terms.

"We're excited to announce the launch of BlueStone's Lithium-Ion Battery Captive to the advanced battery ecosystem for employers who are adversely affected by rising insurance rates, limited capacity, and shrinking coverage terms offered in today's insurance and reinsurance marketplace," said Andy Royce, President of BlueStone Advisors.

We've seen reinsurance rates spike due to global economic uncertainty, geopolitical unrest, and increased catastrophic claims paid to international lithium-ion battery operators with inferior safety standards. The BlueStone Lithium-Ion Captive is for U.S. employers with sound risk management practices who want more control of their insurance costs, pricing stability, and coverage certainty.

With the BlueStone Lithium-Ion Captive, BlueStone Advisors continues its decade-long commitment to providing innovative insurance solutions designed to advance a sustainable circular economy.

About BlueStone Advisors:

BlueStone Advisors is a specialty commercial insurance broker that has provided insurance and risk management services to the lithium-ion battery industry for over ten years. BlueStone Advisors delivers advanced brokerage solutions that reduce the total cost of risk and insurance while leveraging best practices that strengthen an organization's risk profile.

Additional information can be found at: https://www.bluestoneadvisors.com/lithium-ion-battery-2/

MULTIMEDIA:

VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/N3lWUanAzdY

BlueStone Advisors, a specialty commercial insurance brokerage firm, announced today the launch of their BlueStone Lithium-Ion Battery Captive to help advanced battery companies manage their insurance costs and offer a broader policy with comprehensive and consistent coverage terms.

Related link: https://www.bluestoneadvisors.com/

New Energy Risk Publishes Sustainability Report, Adds Two Key Hires

AVON, Conn. /ScoopCloud/ -- New Energy Risk (NER), a wholly-owned division of Paragon Insurance Group, today announces the release of its annual Sustainability Report and two key hires to support its goal of "Underwriting a Greener Future."

The report details the climate, sustainability, and environmental impacts of NER's client portfolio, where innovations to reduce carbon intensity for fuels and power, as well as to promote the circular economy and curb wastefulness, have led to increased impact year-to-year, with some impact measures increasing more than 100%.

"I am proud of the tireless effort every member of our team has put in over the past year, and the Sustainability Report clearly lays out how our creative solutions continue to deliver real-world results," NER Chief Executive Officer Tom Dickson said.

Visit the New Energy Risk website to view the full report: https://newenergyrisk.com/ner-releases-its-2021-sustainability-report/

NER is adding Richard Riley as business development manager. He brings a wealth of experience in engineering, project management, EPR reactors and novel energy storage.

Krista Sutton also joins the company as principal engineer. She adds talent and depth to NER's technical diligence team where she has deep experience in chemical engineering and environmental engineering focused on biofuels.

"We are thrilled to bring talent like Richard and Krista aboard as we look to solidify NER as the market leader and take aim at the world's climate challenges," Dickson said.

About New Energy Risk:

New Energy Risk is a pioneer of large-scale, breakthrough technology performance insurance solutions. The company provides complex risk assessment and serves as a bridge between technology innovators, financiers, and insurers. Insurance policies are administered through New Energy Risk affiliate Complex Risk and Insurance Associates, LLC, CA License #0I24307. Learn more: https://newenergyrisk.com/.

About Paragon:

Paragon Insurance Holdings, LLC, formed in 2014, writes all commercial lines of insurance across more than 20 programs. Paragon's industry-specific and general underwriting facilities offer insureds, retail agents, carriers, reinsurers and service providers unique product, service, capability, and results. Learn more: https://www.paragoninsgroup.com/.

New Energy Risk (NER), a wholly-owned division of Paragon Insurance Group, today announces the release of its annual Sustainability Report and two key hires to support its goal of "Underwriting a Greener Future." The report details the climate, sustainability, and environmental impacts of NER's client portfolio.

Related link: https://newenergyrisk.com/

NER Announces Hire of George Schulz as Managing Director, Program Development

AVON, Conn. /ScoopCloud/ -- New Energy Risk (NER), a wholly-owned division of Paragon Insurance Group, today announced the hire of George Schulz as Managing Director, Program Development, in the latest confirmation of Paragon's commitment to continuing investment in the green technology space.

Schulz, who previously served as market leader in the Americas for Ariel Re's clean energy team, brings a depth of experience in using insurance to support the financing, customer adoption and achievement of scale of new technologies and the growth of the companies developing, manufacturing, managing, and deploying these technologies.

"We're excited to welcome George to our team," NER Chief Executive Officer Tom Dickson said. "He is well respected across the industry and will play a key part in NER's goal of 'Underwriting a Greener Future.'"

Prior to joining NER, Schulz held several positions on the forefront of technology performance risk products over his 25-year career, including his role as leader of Munich Re's Special Enterprise Risks team.

"I'm looking forward to joining Tom and the NER team at such a critical juncture in the company's growth trajectory," Schulz said.

About New Energy Risk:

New Energy Risk is a pioneer of large-scale, breakthrough technology performance insurance solutions. The company provides complex risk assessment and serves as a bridge between technology innovators, financiers, and insurers. Insurance policies are administered through New Energy Risk affiliate Complex Risk and Insurance Associates, LLC, CA License #0I24307.

About Paragon:

Paragon Insurance Holdings, LLC, formed in 2014, writes all commercial lines of insurance across more than 20 programs. Paragon's industry-specific and general underwriting facilities offer insureds, retail agents, carriers, reinsurers and service providers unique product, service, capability, and results. Visit: https://www.paragoninsgroup.com/.

New Energy Risk (NER), a wholly-owned division of Paragon Insurance Group, today announced the hire of George Schulz as Managing Director, Program Development, in the latest confirmation of Paragon's commitment to continuing investment in the green technology space.

ACES Quality Management Executives selected to speak at Mortgage Bankers Association’s 2022 RMQA Conference

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced Executive Vice President of Compliance Amanda Phillips and Executive Vice President of Operations Sharon Reichhardt have been selected to speak at the upcoming Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Risk Management, Quality Assurance and Fraud Prevention Forum (RMQA) taking place September 11-13 in Nashville, Tenn.

Phillips will moderate "Examining Trends in Fair Housing, Fair Lending and Fair Servicing Compliance" on Tuesday, Sept. 13, from 9:45 a.m. to 10:45 a.m. CT, which will focus on trends related to regulations across the industry to help lenders make the necessary adjustments and ensure compliance.

Reichhardt will also present on Tuesday from 11 a.m. to noon CT as part of the panel discussing "Using Data to Stop Today's Fraud Schemes." This session will focus on the data lenders should be examining, collection methods for obtaining that data and how to analyze the data to determine the best means of stopping today's fraud schemes.

"The ACES team is extremely proud to have two of our best and brightest internal experts speak at this year's RMQA," said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. "Amanda and Sharon are both highly regarded members of the ACES team and outstanding thought leaders, each possessing a wealth of knowledge in their respective fields. I look forward to hearing them share their insights and expertise with the mortgage industry's compliance and quality control professionals."

ACES is a Platinum sponsor for this year's RMQA conference. To learn more about ACES' suite of mortgage quality control and risk management tools, visit them at tabletop No. 5 during the conference or schedule time to meet with the team at sales@acesquality.com.

About ACES Quality Management:

ACES Quality Management is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control® Software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 4 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;

* 8 of the top 10 loan servicers;

* 11 of the top 30 banks; and

* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology®, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit https://www.acesquality.com/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management® (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced Executive Vice President of Compliance Amanda Phillips and Executive Vice President of Operations Sharon Reichhardt have been selected to speak at the upcoming Mortgage Bankers Association's (MBA) Risk Management, Quality Assurance and Fraud Prevention Forum (RMQA) taking place September 11-13 in Nashville, Tenn.

Related link: https://www.acesquality.com/

VALENTIS Enters into Agreements For IPO/Financial Advisory Services

PITTSBURGH, Pa. /ScoopCloud/ -- Valentis International Group, Inc. has entered into agreements for investment consultancy and advisory services related to expansion and moving the company towards an initial public offering (IPO) public listing on a major exchange or trading medium.

The new advisors to Valentis will expand on a current, successful relationship with OGGI Equity, a global consulting group launched from Milan, Italy, since 2017. OGGI has and will continue to provide various advisory and market related services to Valentis.

Valentis has executed an investment advisory/consulting contract with MD Global Partners, a leading boutique advisory firm based in New York, established in 2006. MDG is a registered FINRA broker-dealer. The Principal has had a Wall Street presence since the early 90s. MDG will be providing strategic advisory services in anticipation of further capital raises and forward progress towards a targeted IPO listing and trading currently forecasted to be a NASDAQ public listing.

To facilitate its growth through mergers and acquisitions, Valentis has tapped Murphy Business and Financial Corporation, based in Clearwater, Florida. Murphy is a leading, trusted, and experienced advisor that has closed over $2 billion in transactions. Murphy Business and Financial Corp. will be primarily responsible for representing the interest of Valentis to target acquisitions.

Marnie Sutch, CEO of Valentis, said, "We are delighted to be working with MD Global Partners and Murphy Business and Financial Group, on our strategic growth. We are laser focused on increasing our revenues and valuation both organically and through targeted acquisitions. These partnerships substantially expand our opportunities and help facilitate our evolving relationship with OGGI Equity. The current social, political and media environment focused on public and facilities safety, makes us poised for expansion and high valuation."

About Valentis:

Valentis is a fully operational security logistics and risk management solution for a variety of clients and security concerns. We are growing domestically, and envision global ventures, with services and products under development to create a network of global affiliates, lead through branding, and expand our clients; financial institutions, governments, religious facilities, maritime, cybersecurity, combined with specially developed training, software and telecommunication consultancy, and more. We are mindful and committed and care about our clients, team, and shareholders.

CONTACT: Martha Hunter

mhunter@valentisinc.com

About OGGI Equity:

OGGI Equity is a Private Equity and Consultancy firm with offices in Europe, Middle East and the USA. OGGI guides and takes positions in emerging companies and projects operating in diversified sectors and assists these entities in multiple advisory areas including infrastructure, business strategy, strategic relationships, both business and political, as well as capital raising and financial market services.

CONTACT:

enquire@oggiequity.org

About MD Global Partners:

MD Global Partners is a leading Manhattan-based investment bank, partner & advisory that serves small & mid-cap companies. We assist our clients in achieving their strategic and financial goals by offering comprehensive advisory and financial services across all major industry sectors.

CONTACT:

info@mdgpartners.com

About Murphy Business and Financial Corporation:

Murphy Business is one of the largest and most successful business brokerage firms in North America. Murphy represents both buyers and sellers with conveniently located offices throughout the United States and Canada to provide business broker expertise that accommodates the diverse needs of clientele in many business sectors.

Contact: William E. Ilgenfritz

W.ilgenfritz@murphybusiness.com

Forward-Looking Statements:

This press release contains forward-looking information about future events and/or financial results that are forward-looking in nature and subject to risks and uncertainties. That includes the possibility that the business outlined in this press release cannot be concluded for some reason. Such forward-looking statements by definition involve risks, uncertainties, and other factors, which may cause the actual results, performance or achievements to vary. We make no undertaking, by this informative document, to achieve these or to update statements as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Nothing herein is an offer or solicitation of an offer for the sale of any security.

Valentis International Group, Inc. has entered into agreements for investment consultancy and advisory services related to expansion and moving the company towards an initial public offering (IPO) public listing on a major exchange or trading medium.

Related link: https://valentisinternational.com/

EPIC Welcomes Shelley Yim

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants is pleased to welcome Shelley Yim who will partner with EPIC's leadership to focus on continuing to grow the firm's footprint with large complex Risk Management clients along with helping lead EPIC's burgeoning Winery Practice. Shelley will also support EPIC's Diversity & Inclusion strategy in her role on the EPIC Inclusion Council, focusing on supporting clients with their inclusion objectives.

Shelley brings over thirty-five years of experience in the global risk and insurance segment. She most recently led Aon's West Region Middle Market brokerage teams while handling several large, complex multi-national clients in the West in several industry segments. While Shelley is known for her large client expertise, her focus on coaching, mentoring, and developing diverse teams has been her passion for the past decade.

Recently named as a 2021 Business Insurance Women to Watch award recipient, Shelley acknowledged the importance of coaches and mentors to help develop strong teams to grow our businesses for the future.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome Shelley to EPIC," said Steve Denton, EPIC CEO. "Her experience and industry-specific expertise align perfectly with our focus on delivering complex risk solutions with a deep understanding of our clients' businesses."

"We're fortunate to add Shelley to our team of experts," said Marc Kunney, EPIC's President, Risk Management and National Specialties. "Our clients will benefit instantly from her perspective and expertise, particularly in today's challenging and dynamic marketplace." Shelley will work from the firm's San Francisco office.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants:

EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, a retail insurance brokerage, has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to clients. EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S.

Learn more: https://epicbrokers.com/

EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants is pleased to welcome Shelley Yim who will partner with EPIC's leadership to focus on continuing to grow the firm's footprint with large complex Risk Management clients along with helping lead EPIC's burgeoning Winery Practice.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

EPIC Adds Joseph Freeman – Will Lead West Region Loss Control Team

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Joseph Freeman has joined the firm as Managing Principal. He will be based in Los Angeles.

In his new position, Freeman will lead the West Region Loss Control team to assist EPIC clients in managing and reducing risks before losses occur. He will work with the team to understand and improve the measurable outcomes of complex safety management systems, act as advocates for clients, and coordinate the services provided by insurer loss control personnel.

Freeman joins EPIC from Beecher Carlson where he served as Director of Risk Control. In this role, he led a national team responsible for assisting clients in risk reduction strategies. His areas of industry expertise include transportation, hospitality, healthcare, retail, energy, and manufacturing. He helped clients identify cost-drivers associated with their casualty risk management programs, and then helped develop and implement processes to minimize those costs.

This included services in a broad range of areas, including cost allocation and performance measurement, risk management programs and procedures, client-specific training modules, risk management program auditing, site safety evaluations, ergonomic assessments, driver safety, and others. Freeman joined the insurance industry in 2002 as a risk control consultant with Liberty Mutual Insurance, where he held a variety of risk control positions.

"We are pleased to welcome Joey to EPIC as we continue to grow the West Region and provide valuable loss prevention resources on behalf of our clients," said EPIC West Region President, KJ Wagner. "Joey's extensive background in loss control brings a wealth of knowledge and rich industry experience to the team."

Freeman earned a Bachelor of Science, Occupational Safety & Health from Murray State University. He holds the professional designations of Certified Safety Professional through the Board of Certified Safety Professionals and Certified Driver Trainer through the North American Transportation Management Institute.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, a retail insurance brokerage, has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to clients. EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. https://www.epicbrokers.com/

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Joseph Freeman has joined the firm as Managing Principal. He will be based in Los Angeles.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

Certa Partners with Comply Exchange, Digitizes Third Party Tax Journey

SARATOGA, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Certa, the leading no-code third party risk management platform today announced its integration with Comply Exchange, a global leader in tax compliance.

Certa is the only platform that digitizes, orchestrates, and automates the entire third-party journey across procurement, compliance, IT, legal, finance, and other groups. Thanks to Certa's flexible platform-which allows clients to build customizable workflows without any code-companies are able to onboard third parties up to 5 times faster. Moreover, they have global governance, full control, and accountability over the end-to-end process.

Comply Exchange provides automated and intuitive tax solutions and compliance software that allows clients across all industries, such as AP departments, financial institutions, digital asset companies, and private equity firms, to keep up with the strict and rapidly changing tax regulatory requirements that are otherwise impossible to navigate. With a focus on risk mitigation and providing a seamless customer experience, the Comply Exchange applications can be configured and customized to meet each client's specific needs, all with real-time validation and leveraging the latest IRS guidelines.

This partnership allows Certa's current and future clients to benefit from Comply Exchange's extensive knowledge and experience related to tax regulation. Through Comply Exchange, Certa automates IRS Form W9/W8 collection and validation, and provides enhanced tax reporting and visibility to ensure clients are fully complying with IRS regulations and requirements.

"This partnership enables enterprises to collect 100% accurate tax information through Comply Exchange while automating the entire journey of third parties through Certa," said Certa Founder and CEO Jag Lamba.

"Automating the collection and validation of documentation through the account opening process significantly improves the user experience, whilst mitigating the risks associated with non-compliance of our customers. Our partnership with Certa now enables us to offer the very best of both worlds in a seamless end to end experience, something the industry has unsuccessfully strived towards for years. Now it's here!" says David Marley, CEO and Founder of Comply Exchange.

About Certa:

Certa is the fastest growing supplier management platform. Founded in 2015, Certa makes third-party risk management fast, easy, and modern. Using 80+ no-code integrations with trusted data sources, Certa helps companies onboard third-parties 5x faster while mitigating risk and improving compliance controls. Certa's clients include several Fortune 100, and top consulting and digital native firms. Certa is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For more information or to schedule a demo visit our website, Twitter, and LinkedIn. https://www.getcerta.com/

About ComplyExchange:

Comply Exchange provides automated and intuitive tax solutions and compliance software that helps financial institutions, private equity companies and accounts payable departments conform with the stringent and ever-changing tax regulatory requirements. To learn more about ComplyExchange and its services, visit their website at https://www.complyexchange.com or LinkedIn.

Certa, the leading no-code third party risk management platform today announced its integration with Comply Exchange, a global leader in tax compliance. Certa is the only platform that digitizes, orchestrates, and automates the entire third-party journey across procurement, compliance, IT, legal, finance, and other groups.

Related link: https://www.getcerta.com/

Industry-Leading No-Code Platform Certa Signs Agreement with supplier.io to Provide Diversity Analytics to Clients

PALO ALTO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Certa, the leading no-code platform for procurement, risk and compliance, and supplier.io, a pioneer in the field of supplier diversity solutions, announced a strategic partnership to bring Certa's clients supplier.io's best-in-class supplier diversity analytics.

Supplier diversity programs benefit corporations and procurement organizations by strengthening their supply chains and helping them meet the needs of government contracting regulations. supplier.io's advanced analytics identifies suppliers that are led by or owned by various disadvantaged or under-represented groups, such as minorities, women, veterans, LGBT, or the disabled.

Certa is the only platform that can digitize the end-to-end journey of suppliers, across information security, privacy, compliance, legal, etc. With this partnership, Certa's clients can find diverse firms and validate credentials.

This new strategic partnership will allow Certa's impressive and expanding client list access to supplier.io's innovative and effective diversity solutions.

Certa Founder and CEO Jag Lamba commented, "The importance of quality diversity data cannot be overstated. I'm thrilled that Certa is able to offer our clients supplier.io's comprehensive diversity data to help them grow their diversity programs."

Neeraj Shah, Founder of supplier.io said, "Our mission is to help companies make an impact by increasing their purchases from diverse businesses. We are excited to offer Certa's clients our unparalleled data intelligence to help them strengthen their supplier diversity programs."

About supplier.io

Supplier.io was founded in 2011 and has rapidly become a prominent provider of supplier diversity solutions to leading corporations. One in five Fortune 50 companies relies on supplier.io for their supplier diversity needs. They currently support customers in automotive, healthcare, insurance, retail, manufacturing, education, and banking. For more info visit https://supplier.io/.

About Certa

Certa was founded in 2015 and is the fastest growing supplier management platform. Certa makes third-party risk management fast, easy, and modern. Using 80+ no-code integrations with trusted data sources, Certa helps companies onboard third-parties 3x faster while improving risk and compliance controls. Certa's clients include several Fortune 50 retailers and a Top 3 consulting firm. Certa is headquartered in the San Francisco Bay Area.

For more information or to schedule a demo visit https://www.getcerta.com/.

Contact:
Dudley Brundige
dudley@getcerta.com
646-248-9190

Certa, the leading no-code platform for procurement, risk and compliance, and supplier.io, a pioneer in the field of supplier diversity solutions, announced a strategic partnership to bring Certa's clients supplier.io's best-in-class supplier diversity analytics.

Related link: https://www.getcerta.com/

ACES Quality Management Launches ACES CONNECT While Also Integrating 30 New Vendors to Its Core Platform

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Quality Management™ (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, today announced the launch of ACES CONNECT™, as well as the addition of 30 integrated vendor partners into ACES Quality Management & Control™ software as part of its spring product release.

Designed to give senior management at mortgage lenders and third-party providers on-demand access to key reporting data, ACES CONNECT provides users with the ability to self-remediate audit findings, access reporting and trending data, review audit documents and manage corrective action plans in coordination with their organization's risk department. In addition, ACES CONNECT allows users to have access to the ACES QC reporting to provide easy to view reporting for senior management along with any designated third parties. ACES CONNECT will enhance productivity and boost collaboration in resolving defects, requesting or supplying additional documentation and answering questions and concerns with trackable communications.

"The changing market dynamics of the last year has underscored the need for secure and efficient internal communication and collaboration, especially when viewed through the lens of the ever-shifting financial regulatory and compliance landscape," said ACES CEO Trevor Gauthier. "ACES CONNECT not only provides lenders and financial institutions with a critical viewing window into exactly what's going on in their respective businesses from a quality and compliance standpoint, but it also creates a centralized access point for quick and easy defect identification, remediation and resolution tracking to effectively mitigate risk and maintain quality."

Along with the launch of ACES CONNECT, the company has also significantly expanded its network of integrated vendors, allowing users to order, track and receive re-verification documents and data directly within ACES core platform. With these additions, ACES now supports an additional thirty vendors across five categories: Credit, SSN, Asset, 4506-C and Field Reviews. By leveraging ACES integrations, third party orders are sent and received securely, leveraging existing ACES data, ultimately reducing the time and labor associated with each transaction. ACES has also expanded its relationship with MeridianLink to add support for instant verification of employment and income from The Work Number through MeridianLink's network of resellers.

"Integrations have been available within ACES for several years, and over the last year in particular, we've put tremendous effort into expanding our integration framework to bring added efficiency to our users' quality control audit process and eliminate the manual re-work that often introduces unnecessary errors," Gauthier added. "By dramatically increasing the number of available vendors, we've provided ACES users with even more options for best-of-breed re-verification partners to help support their loan quality and risk management efforts."

ACES' newest upgrades were spearheaded by client requests collected during its annual client survey, the results of which drive and validate much of the company's product roadmap.

"At ACES, we believe in being proactive, not reactive, when it comes to product development and enhancements, and our clients play a critical role in that process by providing us 'boots on the ground' intelligence regarding the challenges they face in maintaining loan quality and mitigating risk," Gauthier explained. "Our annual survey and User Summit, which we've elected to take virtual this year, are two of the many ways in which we actively seek input from our users to ensure our technology continues to meet their needs."

About ACES Quality Management

ACES Quality Management, formerly known as ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Quality Management & Control™ software to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:

* 3 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;
* 7 of the top 10 loan servicers;
* 11 of the top 30 banks; and
* 1 of the top 3 credit unions in the USA.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ACES clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit https://www.acesquality.com/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Quality Management™ (ACES), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, today announced the launch of ACES CONNECT™, as well as the addition of 30 integrated vendor partners into ACES Quality Management & Control™ software as part of its spring product release.

Related link: https://www.acesquality.com/

AMI Expeditionary Healthcare to partner with Pennsylvania to disseminate 94,600 COVID-19 vaccines to schoolteachers

HARRISBURG, Pa. /ScoopCloud/ -- AMI Expeditionary Healthcare announces its partnership with the state of Pennsylvania and for its special initiative to help vaccinate all schoolteachers, child-care worker and school staff. Pennsylvania expects to receive an initial allocation of 94,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) single-dose vaccine this week and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will begin vaccinating on March 10.

"This is an extraordinary opportunity to be able to help Pennsylvania open the doors to school children from Pre-K to 12 across the state of Pennsylvania," said Dr. Michael Wilson, Medical Director, Vaccine and Testing Programs for AMI Expeditionary Healthcare. "We are relying on a proven track record of being on the ground across the country and globe to help Pennsylvania execute this very ambitious plan."

Constellis, an integrated risk management leader and provider of essential mission support services to government and commercial customers worldwide is partnering with AMI. Constellis delivers comprehensive COVID-19 response mobilization and operations at all levels of government and its vaccine services program ensures rapid, compliant execution of state and federal COVID-19 vaccination plans.

The Wolf Administration is collaborating with Intermediate Units (IUs) and other education partners to equitably vaccinate all school employees and contracted staff as quickly as possible.

"The approval of the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine provides a great opportunity to launch this special initiative to vaccinate all teachers, child care workers and school staff without interrupting the flow of vaccine local providers have already administered to more than 1.8 million Pennsylvanians," said Acting Secretary of Health Alison Beam.

Allocations received by Pennsylvania from the federal government will be distributed to each IU based on the proportion of Pre-K to 12 public and non-public school employees and contracted staff in each IU's region.

Child care workers will be contacted by one of the local Retail Pharmacy Program partners - Rite Aid, Topco and Walmart - to schedule vaccinations using the additional, separate allocations of Johnson & Johnson vaccine they will receive from the federal government.

The rollout begins Wednesday in two locations with scores of others opening over the next few days. The sites will likely support up to 500 doses a day, with some of the sites being able to administer up to 1,000 doses a day. The full operation should take between eight and 10 days.

"I am grateful to Governor Wolf and the Legislative Task Force for making educators a priority for the Johnson and Johnson vaccine," said Acting Secretary of Education Noe Ortega. "After a year of unprecedented educational shifts and tensions, we are closer to relieving some constraints and increasing access to in-person learning opportunities, services, programs, and supports that will positively impact entire communities."

It's important to note that Philadelphia is not included in these allocations, because Philadelphia County is a separate vaccine jurisdiction.

There will be at least one vaccination site per IU region. School staff will be directed to the vaccination site in the region within which their school is located. The Pennsylvania National Guard (PANG) and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare, LLC, a health organization contracted by PEMA for planning and staffing assistance at commonwealth-established vaccine sites, will direct operations and administer doses at these sites. Vaccination sites are expected to begin operations between March 10 and 13 with daily operational hours.

For media inquiries please call +1-571-375-8366, or email info@ami.health.

Learn more at: https://ami.health/

AMI Expeditionary Healthcare announces its partnership with the state of Pennsylvania and for its special initiative to help vaccinate all schoolteachers, child-care worker and school staff. Pennsylvania expects to receive an initial allocation of 94,600 doses of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) single-dose vaccine this week and AMI Expeditionary Healthcare will begin vaccinating on March 10.

Related link: https://ami.health/

Valentis Announces New Vice President of Strategy, Martha Hunter

PITTSBURGH, Pa. /ScoopCloud/ -- Valentis today announced that Martha Hunter will become the company's first-ever Vice President of Strategy, effective March 2021. She fills a new position helping the company meet growing demand for expansion. Valentis is committed to an aggressive plan that focuses on messaging and education to advance its security solution, supply chain, and risk management consulting services worldwide.

Martha Hunter comes from the marketing industry where she was a Business Development Executive for six years. Hunter's new position will be responsible for developing and implementing the strategic growth initiatives for Valentis using her experience and resolve to meet objectives to Valentis.

"Valentis already has a reputation for breaking the mold in the security and investigations industry. I have spent my career challenging people and companies to think differently and ask the question 'Why not us? Valentis's culture, values and leadership style embodies that spirit," says V.P. of Strategy Hunter.

She adds, "Strategy development is not a once-a-year thing anymore, it's ongoing and needs to come with recommendations and actions and the company needs to be willing to act. I'm honored to have the opportunity to play a role in the execution piece of strategy, and I'm thrilled to join a women-owned, purpose driven company and look forward to driving new possibilities for our people, our customers and our stakeholders."

Marnie Sutch, CEO, of Valentis welcomed Martha to her new position, stating, "The addition of Martha to our team is about her ability to bring innovation and change to Valentis. The ability to deliver a professional service that delivers a driven result for our clients is a team effort and having Martha strengthens our team."

About Valentis:

Valentis is a fully operational security logistics and risk management solution for a variety of clients and security concerns. We are growing domestically, and envision global ventures, with services and products under development to create a network of global affiliates, lead through branding, and expand our clients; financial institutions, governments, religious facilities, maritime, cybersecurity, combined with specially developed training, software and telecommunication consultancy, and more. We are mindful and committed and care about our clients, team, and shareholders.

More information:

https://www.valentissecurity.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthahunter/

CONTACT: Shannon Wright, info@valentissecurity.com

Valentis today announced that Martha Hunter will become the company's first-ever Vice President of Strategy, effective March 2021. She fills a new position helping the company meet growing demand for expansion.

Related link: https://valentisinternational.com/

EPIC Welcomes John Prentis and Larry Bowlus to Executive Risk and Cyber Practice

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants is pleased to welcome John Prentis and Larry Bowlus to its Executive Risk and Cyber practice. Joining from a global broker, Prentis and Bowlus will focus on large public, technology, and financial institution executive liability coverages, including Directors & Officers Liability as well as Errors & Omissions, General Partnership Liability, Employment Practices Liability, Fiduciary, Crime, and Kidnap & Ransom.

The senior team of Prentis and Bowlus brings a combined experience of 50 years in the industry. Prentis most recently co-led Aon's Financial Services Group in San Francisco, providing advisory and placement services for a variety of executive lines. Bowlus served as senior vice president and team leader within the same group, specializing in D&O and management liability insurance programs for public and private companies. Both bring a breadth of experience across industry groups, with deep experience handling executive risks for technology, life science companies and financial institutions, among many others in the public and private sectors.

"We are extremely pleased to welcome John and Larry to EPIC," said Steve Denton, EPIC CEO. "Their experience serving large publicly traded clients and deep expertise in the technology sector fits perfectly with our deep resources currently deployed in the large account risk management sector. In fact, they will work closely with our Policy Response Unit focused on complex shareholder claims and our Analytics practice where we perform risk modeling and benchmarking analysis."

Prentis and Bowlus will lend significant expertise to EPIC's Executive Risk and Cyber practice, which emphasizes a holistic approach to identifying, understanding and managing risks.

"We're fortunate to add two senior risk advisors and brokers in John and Larry to our team of experts," said Kelly Geary, EPIC National Practice Leader, Executive Risk and Cyber. "Our clients will benefit instantly from their perspective and expertise, particularly in today's challenging and dynamic marketplace."

Prentis and Bowlus will work from the firm's San Francisco office.

John Prentis
john.prentis@epicbrokers.com
Cell: 415.238.4575

Larry Bowlus
larry.bowlus@epicbrokers.com
Cell: 415.254.5918

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients. For more information on EPIC, visit: https://epicbrokers.com/.

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EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants is pleased to welcome John Prentis and Larry Bowlus to its Executive Risk and Cyber practice. Joining from a global broker, Prentis and Bowlus will focus on large public, technology, and financial institution executive liability coverages, including Directors & Officers Liability.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

Pulsar Global Solutions acquires Blueshield Security and Investigations

WARRENTON, Va. /ScoopCloud/ -- Pulsar Global Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Valentis, a defense and risk management firm, announces the acquisition of Blueshield Security and Investigations, LLC based in Warrenton, VA. The acquisition by Pulsar Global brings to realization the investigation unit of Valentis Security.

Pulsar Global Solutions is a new concept developed by Valentis that will provide investigative and intelligence services to commercial and government clients as well as individuals.

Blueshield Security & Investigations, LLC has been serving Fauquier and surrounding counties since 2006. Blueshield provides a full service private investigative business that specializes in domestic cases with a very high success rate. Case expertise include suspect cold case murder investigations, white collar crime, fraud, missing persons, accident investigations, and background investigations.

"It is with a happy heart and a desire to expand the business that I have decided to hand the business over to a new owner. Valentis Security has the experience and manpower to both take Blueshield into new directions, while continuing to service businesses and citizens with private investigative needs. The new staff at Blueshield will continue to 'Find the Truth' by doing the right thing for the right reasons, as we always have, said Elizabeth Kurtz, President of Blueshield.

"I guarantee you will find that under this new ownership, more can be accomplished. My thanks to all past and present clientele for allowing us to be there for you when you needed us. I have every confidence that you will continue to share your future needs with the new owners," said Kurtz.

"Today we added a new piece to the puzzle with Blue Shield Security and Investigations LLC. This new piece brings Pulsar Global to market and helps our parent company, Valentis Security, grow stronger with more concepts to service clients," said Daniel Ries, Executive Director of Pulsar Global Solutions.

Pulsar Global will operate as Blueshield until the State of Virginia finalizes the registration paperwork. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

About Valentis:

Valentis is a fully operational security logistics and risk management solution for a variety of clients and security concerns. We are growing domestically, and envision global ventures, with services and products under development to create a network of global affiliates, lead through branding, and expand our clients; financial institutions, governments, religious facilities, maritime, cybersecurity, combined with specially developed training, software and telecommunication consultancy, and more. We are mindful and committed and care about our clients, team, and shareholders.

Pulsar Global Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Valentis, a defense and risk management firm, announces the acquisition of Blueshield Security and Investigations, LLC based in Warrenton, VA. The acquisition by Pulsar Global brings to realization the investigation unit of Valentis Security.

Related link: https://valentisinternational.com/

No-Code Platform Certa Hires Senior Talent From D&B and GLG

PALO ALTO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Certa, the leading no-code platform for cross-enterprise solutions including supplier risk management, KYC/AML and credit and insurance applications, has significantly boosted its leadership strength with key hires of senior talent, as well as other leadership moves. These moves will allow Certa to continue building on strong growth over the last two years.

The following executives were added to the senior management team:

* Jared Ezzell as Chief Customer Officer. Jared was previously with D&B, where he helped start the Compliance group and served as the head of sales for that line of business.

* Dudley Brundige as CFO and Head of Partnerships. Dudley was most recently the SVP of Sales at GLG and previously served as VP of Finance at American Express.

Jared brings nearly 20 years of leadership experience in the Third Party and Credit Risk Management space. He has spent the past decade heavily focused on regulatory compliance risk controls covering Anti-bribery (FCPA, UK Bribery), Anti-money laundering (KYC, FinCEN, AMLD), Fraud, Sanctions (OFAC 50), and Food Safety (FSMA/FSVP). A former collegiate wrestler, Jared brings the competitive drive he developed on the mat and applies it to helping his clients succeed.

Regarding his move from D&B to Certa Jared said, "I had the benefit of being introduced to Certa a few years ago while D&B was vetting the marketplace for technology partners that could significantly enhance our client offerings. Certa's open-API, ridiculously configurable no-code workflow automation solution is a disruptive game changer. My clients have enjoyed much success with Certa to date and I am very excited about joining the team directly and what the future holds."

Dudley was with GLG (Gerson Lehrman Group) for over 10 yrs. He was the SVP, Industrials and Technology, Corporate Markets. Prior to that Dudley spent 8 years with American Express as Vice President, structuring bank deals and investments for Global Network Services across the Americas. Dudley graduated from the University of Virginia with his BA in Economics and later earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania - Wharton. As an avid runner, Dudley is always looking for continual improvement. He applies this same pursuit to his position at Certa.

Says Dudley, "I'm thrilled to join the Certa team. The opportunity to bring a no-code platform to the enterprise market is unparalleled and Certa is well-positioned to win the market."

Among other leadership moves, Certa promoted Vatsal Juneja as Head of Technology early last year. Vatsal has over a decade of experience building and growing platforms enabling enterprises to embrace technology. Vatsal earned his Master's in Applied Mathematics from IIT. As an engineer and a technology evangelist, he's always finding innovative ways to keep the Certa platform cutting-edge.

Surrounded by all of this top talent, company founder Jag Lamba says, "I am lucky to have started the firm, otherwise I am not sure I would have managed to get hired into this all-star team. With this team, I can go back to focusing on things that I love - building the most powerful and the simplest product for enterprise digitization."

Always looking to improve, the company is now seeking leaders for Marketing and Product functions.

About Certa

Founded in 2015 and headquartered in Silicon Valley, Certa's mission is to connect companies safely and efficiently. Certa offers an industry-leading lightweight workflow platform for onboarding, risk management, monitoring and contracting, custom configured to each client's rules and risks. The no-code platform enables seamless integration and development of sophisticated mission critical enterprise applications without writing any code. With Certa, enterprises can digitize externally facing mission critical workflows quickly without spending time on integrations or managing process changes. Certa clients include a Top 3 consulting firm, a ride-sharing tech giant and several Fortune 50 retailers.

For more information or to schedule a demo visit https://www.getcerta.com/ or call +1-646-207-3000.

Press contact:
Dudley Brundige
dudley@getcerta.com

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Certa, the leading no-code platform for cross-enterprise solutions including supplier risk management, KYC/AML and credit and insurance applications, has significantly boosted its leadership strength with key hires of senior talent, as well as other leadership moves.

Related link: https://www.getcerta.com/

PayneWest Insurance, a Top 100 National Insurance Brokerage, selects TrustLayer Compliance and Certificate Management Software to leverage next generation technology in their leading Compliance Service Practice

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- PayneWest Insurance, a leading insurance brokerage in the Pacific Northwest, today announced partnering with TrustLayer, Inc., the next generation solution for compliance tracking. PayneWest will leverage TrustLayer to expand value added services within their many Specialty Practices - specifically their Insurance Compliance Service offering to its Construction customers. PayneWest is the leading brokerage in the region to roll out this suite of additional consulting services at scale.

Legacy certificate tracking software systems are often cumbersome and expensive. Industry pioneer TrustLayer provides an innovative risk management system that enables immediate vendor coverage verification. Using a unique robotic process automation (RPA) and AI to automate this manual process allows companies to automatically verify the insurance and licenses of their partners. With TrustLayer, PayneWest is able to elevate and expand its risk consulting services to many more of its customers.

"Small and medium businesses often cannot justify a full-time Risk Manager. TrustLayer gives our brokerage an ability to offer additional risk consulting services to our clients. Most importantly, it helps us better protect our clients from insurance claims caused by their vendors," said Isabel Barichievich, Specialty Practice Project Manager.

Barichievich added, "TrustLayer provides a collaborative risk management platform that allows us to help review and track certificates of insurance (COIs) to make sure our clients' vendors have the correct insurance coverage."

"With the current state of the economy, many vendors are not carrying the right commercial insurance coverage," said John Fohr, Chief Executive Officer of TrustLayer. "By using TrustLayer, PayneWest will be able to automate the traditionally manual process of tracking insurance coverage for their customers, enabling the agency to reduce inefficiency, increase revenue and retain its customer base."

About TrustLayer

TrustLayer is a collaborative risk management application that helps reduce friction between businesses. The company allows their business partners' users to automate the verification of insurance, licenses, and compliance documents (i.e., vendors, subcontractors, suppliers, borrowers, tenants, ridesharing and franchisees). TrustLayer's solution is recognized by the industry and is a member of BrokerTech Ventures (BTV) accelerator, BrushCreek Tech Insurance accelerator, winner of the 2019 R3 CordaCon Insurtech Challenge, and received top honors at The Institutes 2020 annual convention.

Learn more at: https://www.trustlayer.io/

PayneWest Insurance, a leading insurance brokerage in the Pacific Northwest, today announced partnering with TrustLayer, Inc., the next generation solution for compliance tracking. PayneWest will leverage TrustLayer to expand value added services within their many Specialty Practices.

Related link: https://www.trustlayer.io/

ARMCO Executive Joins QC-Focused Panel for Mortgage Bankers Association’s Virtual Risk Management Conference

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced that Executive Vice President of Operations, Sharon Reichhardt has been selected to speak on the topic of quality control during the MBA Live - Risk Management, QA and Fraud Prevention Forum 2020, hosted virtually September 15 - 16, 2020 by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

On Tuesday, September 15, Reichhardt will join the panel session "Underwriting & QA: How to Make QC a Profit Center" from 3 - 3:50 p.m. ET.

The panel will be moderated by Steve Spies, a consultant with SWS Risk Advisory LLC, and Jason Emory, Senior Vice President of Quality Control at PrimeLending will join Sharon as a panelist. The session will feature a discussion on how lenders mitigate the significant revenue and personnel resources devoted to QC by leveraging enhancements in technology, real-time data validation and outsourcing strategies.

"The MBA has put together a remarkable group of industry veterans for this panel, and I am honored to participate," said Reichhardt. "The COVID pandemic has placed a greater spotlight on new ways in which lenders can alleviate costs without sacrificing quality and I look forward to exploring those options on this panel."

In addition to Reichhardt's panel, ARMCO is also serving as the sole presenting sponsor for this year's virtual event.

"The MBA's RMQA Forum has always been the industry's premier event for mortgage quality control and risk management professionals, but the current economic uncertainty lends extra weight to the purpose of this year's event," said ARMCO CEO Trevor Gauthier. "In the spirit of facilitating the exchange of ideas and best practices for maintaining loan quality, ensuring compliance and mitigating risk, ARMCO is proud to be this year's presenting sponsor for RMQA, and we look forward to yet another first-rate MBA event."

For information regarding the virtual conference, visit https://www.mba.org/conferences-and-education/event-mini-sites/mba-live.

About ARMCO

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO) is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. The nation's most prominent lenders, servicers and financial institutions rely on ACES Audit Technology(tm) to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs, including:
* 3 of the top 5 and more than 50% of the top 50 independent mortgage lenders;
* 2 of the top 5 loan servicers; and
* 2 of the top 5 depository institutions.

Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ARMCO clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment. For more information, visit https://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry, announced that Executive Vice President of Operations, Sharon Reichhardt has been selected to speak on the topic of quality control during the MBA Live - Risk Management, QA and Fraud Prevention Forum 2020, hosted virtually September 15 - 16, 2020 by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA).

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

ARMCO Launches ACESXPRESS for Early Payment Defaults

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the lending industry, announced the release of ACESXPRESS(TM) for Early Payment Defaults (EPDs) to bolster lenders' existing audit programs in light of the recent increases in required monthly EPD audit volume.

"With unemployment figures on the rise due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the industry is bracing itself for a sharp increase in the number of EPDs on recently originated loans. Furthermore, EPDs are one of the strongest indicators of possible mortgage fraud, the likelihood of which also increases as borrowers feel a greater sense of urgency to secure financing for their home purchase," ARMCO CEO Trevor Gauthier said. "ACESXPRESS for EPDs provides a turnkey platform for managing sudden volume spikes in EPD audits while maintaining compliance with audit requirements. Because the system can be implemented within a week, ACESXPRESS for EPDs also minimizes the burden typically placed on existing staff when onboarding a new system, thus enabling lenders to begin realizing its benefits sooner."

Originally launched in 2016, ACESXPRESS delivers the power of the ACES Audit Technology(TM) platform in an easy-to-implement format for small and mid-sized lenders. Recognizing the need for a similar platform designed specifically for EPD audits, ARMCO refined the functionality of ACESXPRESS to deliver needed EPD audit support with a streamlined implementation timeframe. ACESXPRESS for EPDs includes:

* Minimal setup requirements and the ability to configure within a week;
* Full product support from ARMCO;
* Pre-configured audits, including ACES IQ for conducting EPD reviews; and
* A library of standard report templates.

"Responsiveness is key to managing loan quality," said Gauthier. "As economic and market conditions change, ARMCO is committed to delivering technology that supports lenders' audit needs and helps mitigate lending risk."

About ARMCO

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO) is the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the financial services industry. More than half of the top 25 mortgage lenders, a third of the top 150 lenders and servicers and two of the top five U.S. commercial banks rely on ACES Audit Technology(TM) to improve audit throughput and quality while controlling costs. Unlike other quality control platforms, only ACES delivers Flexible Audit Technology, which gives independent mortgage lenders and financial institutions the ability to easily manage and customize ACES to meet their business needs without having to rely on IT or other outside resources. Using a customer-centric approach, ARMCO clients get responsive support and access to our experts to maximize their investment.

For more information, visit www.armco.us or call 1-800-858-1598.

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ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise quality management and control software for the lending industry, announced the release of ACESXPRESS for Early Payment Defaults (EPDs) to bolster lenders' existing audit programs in light of the recent increases in required monthly EPD audit volume.

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

Jordan Etem Networks Tackles Global Challenges Head-On with a Convergence of Innovations

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- Jordan Etem Networks is a global leader in technological convergence for more adaptive and intelligent systems. Risks are around us all the time, says founder Jordan Etem. We are warned of risk all the time. Science is a reliable indicator of risk.

"When risk materializes, it can cause a convergence of problems to occur," says Etem. "It is vital to address the convergence of problems that are occurring. In order for solutions to work as intended, leading to breakthrough progress, solutions must be sustainable for enduring effectiveness. Jordan Etem Networks leads on convergence, leads on sustainability, and is able to dynamically address converging problems for enduring improvement."

What are the main converging problems emerging now? Healthcare systems needing stronger foundations, economies of scale dealing with major supply chain vulnerabilities, fiscal challenges impacting the labor market and government sustainability, an education system that is struggling to meet the needs of students, food shortages and humanitarian challenges that threaten the livelihoods of millions of people in developing countries. Technology and financial markets running away from the labor market. A real estate market in crisis because human behavior has radically changed during the pandemic.

Jordan Etem Networks is dedicated to accelerating improvements to solve converging problems that adversely impact every business, every community, every system worldwide. Through convergence, Jordan Etem Networks has the ability to streamline breakthrough solutions, factoring in every foundational system for inclusion and rapid progress. With a strong presence in 23 cities and regions worldwide, Jordan Etem Networks leverages computer science, advanced machine learning and artificial intelligence to unify and strengthen neural networks for breakthrough innovation and stronger communities. Jordan Etem Networks goes beyond theoretical application and has a strong and central presence for enduring and long-lasting systemic improvements.

"The rate of change due to technological progress has accelerated past what standard modes of operation can manage effectively. Vision and leadership is needed for personalization, for rapid decision making, and breakthrough development. Empowering leadership that can build more adaptive communities is needed now more than ever before," says Etem.

Collective Intelligence is now a matter of national security and economic prosperity. Collaborative systems, collaborative strategies, and collaborative leadership that can improve collective intelligence in real time is capable of dramatically improving people's lives and strengthening the economic engine for the long-term. Jordan Etem Networks is paving the way for radical improvements to digital and physical infrastructure worldwide bringing on-board the most trusted technology companies, leadership in the public and private sector, to build converging solutions that fit the new market realities for economic resilience and strength.

About Jordan Etem Networks:

Jordan Etem Networks is globally connected, reaching millions of people worldwide, with strong platform leadership that can deliver multi-faceted solutions to address the convergence of problems threatening global stability worldwide. Jordan Etem Networks shape markets for greater inclusion, for enhanced vision and improved personalization so systems emerge stronger from the ground up.

Learn more at: https://www.jordanjamesetem.com/

*VIDEO (YouTube): https://youtu.be/wPbSh2RffdA

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*Photo caption: Jordan Etem leads the way on convergence.

Jordan Etem Networks is a global leader in technological convergence for more adaptive and intelligent systems. Risks are around us all the time, says founder J

Related link: https://www.jordanjamesetem.com/

Aclaró A.I. Announces Artificial Intelligence Platforms: SAM Sales and SAM Service – Helping Dealers Increase Sales and Lower Marketing Costs

CHICAGO, Ill. /ScoopCloud/ -- Aclaró AI, the game-changing Fintech built on sophisticated artificial intelligence technology, recently announced SAM (Sales AI multiplier) Sales and SAM Service products for its dealers and retail partners. These new tools let Aclaró A.I. dealer clients better retain customers, increase service revenue, and maximize sales. These tools are yet another example of how Aclaró A.I. has removed many of the key frictions and obstacles of applying Artificial Intelligence within the retail industry.

"SAM Sales and SAM Service represent the next step in helping our clients maximize sales opportunities with buyers at a lower cost of acquisition," said Aclaró A.I. CEO Carlos Galarce. "We are tremendously excited that SAM Sales and SAM Service let our clients leverage the power of artificial intelligence to sell, retain, and increase satisfaction of their customers. The initial installs are focused on the CDK DMS with fully integrated DMS installations including Fortellis completed in under 48 hours. Dealers can expect positive ROI within 30 days of installation."

"We and 20 group partners have been tracking Aclaró A.I.'s products and disruptive technology progress and I am extremely impressed by their AI applications and the ease of use of their technology, including DMS data and workflow integration using their GCP2 platform which Pohanka has in place with other applications. Their ability to implement new AI Engines and their know-how of the DMS data models and how to co-exist with the dealer workflow make us incredibly confident that their product set will positively affect the bottom line of Pohanka and that of any dealer who installs the Aclaró A.I. suite of products and disruptive technology solutions. Being up and running in 48 hours and delivering ROI in under 30 days is proof of the technology," said Andrew Carrington, CTO of Pohanka Automotive Group.

SAM Sales and SAM Service: Increasing Dealership Profitability...That Much Easier

SAM Sales and SAM Service is part of Aclaró A.I.'s state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence platform which enables its clients to quickly deploy sophisticated risk management strategies. In turn, Aclaró A.I. clients can mitigate their risk, close more deals, optimize revenue, and increase return on investment.

SAM works by providing advanced AI computing power trained in retail automotive. Sophisticated automation lets you drastically reduce time-consuming manual processes required to analyze and predict customer demand and the inventory necessary to fill such demand. Intelligent marketing and sales programs can be implemented in mere seconds, putting the power of "Know Your Customer" at the fingertips of your Sales workforce. SAM Service has AI engines built-in to predict Defectors and help create programs to reduce defection and convert back to happy Customers.

SAM Service also lets Aclaró A.I. clients obtain more information about each service customer, offering personalized and attractive products to customers waiting in the service area. Ultimately, SAM Sales and SAM Service help Aclaró A.I. clients be more profitable while achieving stellar customer service ranking and increasing service revenue/ROI.

NADA/ATD Conference

The Aclaró A.I. team will be at the upcoming National Automobile Dealers Association ("NADA") Show in Las Vegas. From February 14 through February 17, the NADA Show brings dealers, industry leaders, manufacturers, exhibitors, and other key players together to learn about the latest tools and industry trends. If you would like to learn more about Aclaró A.I. and how it is disrupting the retail ecosystem, feel free to visit their booth at 516 Westgate Hall at the NADA/ATD Show. More information: https://show.nada.org/

About Aclaró A.I.

Aclaró A.I. is a technology company that builds customer-centric software for franchised dealerships. Through cutting-edge artificial intelligence technology, Aclaró A.I. customers can grow their auto and service sales, mitigate their customer attrition risk, and obtain higher return on investment. Visit Aclaró AI's website for more information about how Aclaró A.I. can help your auto dealership too. Learn more: https://aclaro.ai/

Aclaró AI, the game-changing Fintech built on sophisticated artificial intelligence technology, recently announced SAM (Sales AI multiplier) Sales and SAM Service products for its dealers and retail partners. These new tools let Aclaró A.I. dealer clients better retain customers, increase service revenue, and maximize sales.

Related link: https://aclaro.io/

EPIC Adds Blake Chauvin as Vice President – Will Further Expand EPIC’s Risk Management Capabilities

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Blake Chauvin has joined the firm as a Producer in their Concord, California office.

Chauvin, will be responsible for risk management consulting and the design, placement and management of property and casualty insurance programs. He will primarily focus on Private Equity and M&A clients and their unique needs.

Chauvin brings over 20 years of experience in risk management and business consulting. He has a wealth of knowledge in working with clients in technology, energy, and healthcare, large retail and real estate. Prior to joining EPIC, Chauvin held positions with Alliant Insurance Services, Zurich North America and CNA Insurance.

Chauvin earned a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering and an MBA in Finance from California State University, East Bay where he graduated Cum Laude. He is a licensed property & casualty underwriter and holds an Associate in Risk Management designation.

"We are excited to have Blake join our firm, he will be able to bring significant expertise to our clients in the private equity and M&A space," said Curt Perata, Regional President, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, Concord, CA.

Blake Chauvin can be reached at blake.chauvin@epicbrokers.com or (925) 915.6620.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Holdings, Inc. is the corporate parent overseeing investments across the entire EPIC platform. The firm's core retail insurance brokerage business, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, now has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence. EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Blake Chauvin has joined the firm as a Producer in their Concord, California office.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

Latest ARMCO QC Trends Report Draws Correlation Between Lenders’ Profitability and Adaptability to Market

DENVER, Colo. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers second quarter (Q2) 2019 and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology™.

In Q2 2019, the overall critical defect rate declined for two consecutive quarters for the first time since Q3 2016, falling 5.5% to 1.72%. The industry's two-quarter decline in critical defects coincides with two consecutive quarters of strong but steady loan volume and a three-year high in lender profitability, according to the most recent Quarterly Performance Report issued by the Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA). In October 2019, the MBA Economic Forecast predicted 2019 origination volume to reach $2.06 trillion, its highest level since 2007.

The report's noteworthy findings include:
* Loan quality trends are positive: the overall critical defect rate in Q2 2019 fell 5.5% from the preceding quarter, with a 9.0% decline from the 2018 peak rate of 1.93% (Q4 2018)
* In Q2 2019, defects in Income/Employment and Credit, both core underwriting functions, declined 32.0% and 22.0% respectively, from the preceding quarter
* Interest rates in Q2 2019 were roughly a full point lower than Q2 2018 (3.3% vs 4.2%), which fueled a high refi-to-purchase ratio
* In Q2 2019, refinances comprised a higher percentage of all loans reviewed when compared to previous quarters, and were a driver in the quarter's lower critical defect rates
* In Q2 2019, critical defects on FHA loans underperformed conventional loans by a greater percentage than previous quarters

According to Nick Volpe, chief strategy officer at ARMCO, volume fluctuations like those seen in the quarters prior to Q1 2019 and Q2 2019 cause challenges for lenders, which often respond to sudden spikes and dips by adjusting their labor forces through layoffs, downsizing, re-allocating staff and hiring.

"These changes upset the status quo and usually result in more defects, because staff instability increases errors and oversights," he said. "When lenders adapt, usually when the market steadies, defects decrease. It is therefore safe to say that when lenders use technology that improves their scalability, they increase profitability faster than those who rely on manual processes."

"The positive benefits of technology like ACES go way beyond the immediate boost to speed and accuracy," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "As the data reveals, they have a real impact on the speed to which lenders can return to heightened profitability. It's extremely satisfying to know that we're enabling our customers to not just reduce costs, but also to proactively increase profits."

ARMCO's Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company's ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.armco.us/learn/reports.

About ARMCO
Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO's product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology™, has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing. ARMCO's consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers second quarter (Q2) 2019 and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology.

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

David Thoke joins EPIC in Los Angeles

LOS ANGELES, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that David Thoke has joined the firm as Managing Principal of the firm's Southwest Risk Management Practice.

Thoke will be based in Los Angeles, California and report to KJ Wagner, President of EPIC's Southwest Region. In his new position, Thoke is responsible for new business development and the design, placement and management of property and casualty insurance programs, providing risk management strategies and solutions for mid-market and large clients.

Thoke joins EPIC from Willis Towers Watson, where he spent the last 15 years of his career. At Willis, he was serving as Executive Vice President of Willis North America, and prior to that, he spent 25 years with Marsh.

"We are thrilled to continue the growth of our Risk Management operations in the Southwest Region," said EPIC's KJ Wagner. "David's extensive background brings a wealth of knowledge and rich industry experience to the team. I could not be more excited to have David join us."

"EPIC's operations in the Southwest continue to grow by welcoming power houses like David," said Jim Gillette, Regional President, Pacific South. "This is exciting for all of us, and I look forward to officially welcoming his expertise and watching our clients benefit from our ongoing growth and collaboration across the organization."

David Thoke can be reached at david.thoke@epicbrokers.com or 626-297-5551.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Holdings, Inc. is the corporate parent overseeing investments across the entire EPIC platform. The firm's core retail insurance brokerage business, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, now has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence. EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that David Thoke has joined the firm as Managing Principal of the firm's Southwest Risk Management Practice.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

EPIC Adds Sheryl Marshall in Napa, California

NAPA, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Sheryl Marshall has joined the firm as Principal within the firm's Moving & Storage Practice.

Marshall will be based in Napa, California and report to John Sames, Senior Vice President. In her new position, Marshall is responsible for new business development and the design, placement and management of property and casualty insurance programs, providing risk management strategies and solutions for mid-market and large clients.

Marshall joins EPIC from Paul Hanson Partners, where she spent the last 19 years of her career. While with Paul Hanson Partners, Marshall served as a Senior Vice President, providing strategic risk solutions to her clients within the Moving & Storage Industry, primarily on the West Coast.

"We are thrilled to continue the growth of our Risk Management operations in Napa," said EPIC's John Sames. "Sheryl is a well-respected, highly strategic, and consultative risk management professional who will deliver great value to our clients and to other EPIC team members. I could not be more excited to have Sheryl join our Moving & Storage team, headed by Lou Hefter."

Sheryl Marshall can be reached at sheryl.marshall@epicbrokers.com or (707) 666-1477.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Holdings, Inc. is the corporate parent overseeing investments across the entire EPIC platform. The firm's core retail insurance brokerage business, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, now has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence. EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Sheryl Marshall has joined the firm as Principal within the firm's Moving & Storage Practice.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

EPIC Adds Scott Weiss as Principal – Addition Further Strengthens EPIC’s Risk Management Operations in California

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Scott Weiss has joined the firm as a Principal in their Risk Management Practice.

Weiss will be based in Concord, California and report to Curt Perata, Regional President. In his new position, Weiss is responsible for new business development and the design, placement and management of property and casualty insurance programs, providing risk management strategies and solutions for mid-market and large clients.

Weiss brings over 27 years of experience to his role with EPIC. He has a strong background in leading regional teams in the design and implementation of complex risk management programs in real estate, food systems, manufacturing, wholesale and consumer products. In addition to his work in these industries, he has focused on mergers & acquisitions due diligence.

Weiss comes to EPIC from USI Insurance Services and previously held positions with Marsh, Aon, Willis and AJ Gallagher.

"We are excited to continue the growth of our Risk Management operations in California," said Curt Perata, Regional President. "Scott's broad industry knowledge and risk management experience will add to our already strong Risk Management Practice. I could not be more excited to have Scott join the team."

Scott Weiss can be reached at scott.weiss@epicbrokers.com or (925) 989-6632.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC Holdings, Inc. is the corporate parent overseeing investments across the entire EPIC platform. The firm's core retail insurance brokerage business, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, now has more than 2,600 team members operating from more than 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs, and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence. EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country.

For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

*PHOTO link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/19-1202s2p-epic-Scott-Weiss-300dpi.jpg

*Photo caption: Scott Weiss has joined EPIC as a Principal in its Risk Management Practice.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a retail property and casualty insurance brokerage and employee benefits consultant, announced today that Scott Weiss has joined the firm as a Principal in their Risk Management Practice.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

EPIC’s Kamran Khaliq Recognized as 2019 ‘Young Gun’ by Insurance Business America

NEW YORK, N.Y. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a unique and innovative national retail insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firm, announced today that Kamran Khaliq, Vice President, Private Equity and M&A, has been named a 2019 Insurance Industry "Young Gun" by Insurance Business America (IBA).

According to IBA, this recognition represents, "an annual look at the young insurance professionals who are inspiring their peers with their expertise and passion for the industry - individuals who have managed to stand out in a competitive pool of talent, some with only a few years' experience in the business." All those being recognized are under the age of 35.

Khaliq began his insurance industry career in 2014, following his graduation from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey-New Brunswick, where he earned a Bachelor's Degree, Cum Laude, with a Double Major in Economics and Political Science and a Minor in Sociology.

Said Marc Kunney, President, Risk Management for EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, "Kamran has been an absolute standout since joining our firm in 2017 and we are both pleased and proud to see him recognized by IBA in this way. His expertise and passion for our business are motivating to all he works with, other EPIC team members and our clients, alike."

Kamran Khaliq can be reached in New York at (212) 295-5590 or kamran.khaliq@epicbrokers.com.

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants

EPIC is a unique and innovative retail property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm. EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence.

EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC now has more than 2,000 team members operating from more than 70 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

With run rate revenues greater than $600 million, EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

*PHOTO link for media: https://www.Send2Press.com/300dpi/19-1014s2p-Kamran Khaliq-300dpi.jpg

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants, a unique and innovative national retail insurance brokerage and employee benefits consulting firm, announced today that Kamran Khaliq, Vice President, Private Equity and M&A, has been named a 2019 Insurance Industry "Young Gun" by Insurance Business America (IBA).

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

ARMCO QC Trends Report: Loan Quality Corrects with Market’s Upturn

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers first quarter (Q1) 2019 and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM).

"Q1 2019 revealed the loan quality correction we anticipated after Q4 2018, but while there are many positives related to the overall market's upturn, we saw an increase in defects related to key underwriting and eligibility functions," said Nick Volpe, chief strategy officer for ARMCO. "This continues a trend that persisted the entirety of 2019. Lenders shouldn't take this lightly."

The report's noteworthy findings include:
* The critical defect rate fell 6%, from 1.93% in Q4 2018 to 1.82% in Q1 2019
* Defects related to core underwriting and eligibility functions continued to increase, with more defects attributed to Income/Employment than any other category
* Critical defects attributed to missing, expired and/or incorrect documentation continued to be volatile (24% in Q3 2018, 16% in Q4 2018, and 24% in Q1 2019) and noted a substantial increase from the prior quarter
* Compliance-related critical defects fell to their lowest level since Q1 2016, likely the result of greater lender investment in compliance technologies
* Defects related to Property and Appraisal increased noticeably from the previous quarter but remained low overall
* Government-insured loans accounted for a slightly higher share of all loans in the benchmark with FHA, VA and USDA loans comprising 41% of all loans reviewed

The Q1 2019 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company's ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

"Refi-dominant markets can have a positive impact on defect rates," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "But when volume goes up, individual workloads increase, turn times extend and mistakes tend to increase. Lenders who leverage technology wisely scale much better and expose themselves to fewer losses as a result."

ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.armco.us/learn/reports.

About ARMCO
Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO's product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing.

ARMCO's consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers first quarter (Q1) 2019 and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM).

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

Integro USA Inc. Completes Transition to EPIC Brand

NEW YORK, N.Y. /ScoopCloud/ -- Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, which operates as EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants (EPIC), announced today that Integro USA, Inc. (Integro USA), acquired by EPIC in January 2019, has completed their adoption of the EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants name and brand.

The Integro USA brand will now be retired and the 400 former Integro USA associates working from 22 U.S locations will now do business as EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants.

The acquisition and rebranding to EPIC adds significant resources and expertise that highly complement EPIC's diverse insurance distribution platform and broad offerings.

Areas of deepened expertise include:

Entertainment & Sports: focusing on music & events; theatre & venues; film, TV & media; athletes, sports associations, sports teams, amateur sports; and equine insurance.

Specialty: leading provider of insurance brokerage services to Professional Services Firms (accountants, lawyers, hedge funds, asset managers, architects & engineers, consulting firms) and Transportation & Logistics businesses.

Risk Management/Complex Accounts: deep technical resources and services for the Fortune 500 and complex risk accounts. Specific industry expertise includes Healthcare, Real Estate, Financial Institutions, Industrial/Manufacturing, and Retail/Consumer.

Reinsurance: expertise in Specialty Accident & Health, Property & Casualty, and Professional Liability.

Middle Market Accounts: property/casualty, employee benefits, and private client services for small to medium sized companies and individuals

Employee Benefits Consulting: added expertise for mid to large employer groups as well as unique services for the private equity sector.

Said Marc Kunney, formerly President of North America Operations for Integro USA and now EPIC's President, Risk Management, "Joining forces under the EPIC brand allows us to continue offering our collective client base the highest level of service and expertise, while providing depth and scale to further invest in our combined capabilities."

Pete Garvey, EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants CEO and a founder and former CEO of Integro Ltd., noted, "I know firsthand what a high quality group we have added to EPIC. We can't be more delighted to have Integro's U.S. team onboard to make us one larger, fully integrated, more successful EPIC."

Steve Denton, President of EPIC Holdings Inc., added, "We have spent the last several months combining the large account and specialty businesses of Integro with EPIC's existing capabilities. The complementary strengths and resources match up perfectly. We are very excited to introduce our combined capabilities under a united banner."

About EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants:

EPIC is a unique and innovative retail property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm. EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence.

EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC now has more than 2,000 team members operating from more than 70 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

With run rate revenues greater than $600 million, EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

Edgewood Partners Insurance Center, which operates as EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants (EPIC), announced today that Integro USA, Inc. (Integro USA), acquired by EPIC in January 2019, has completed their adoption of the EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants name and brand.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

Lemme, a division of EPIC, Welcomes Owen Bailitz to Professional Services Firms Practice

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill. /ScoopCloud/ -- Lemme, a division of EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, announce today the addition of Owen Bailitz as a Principal within the firm's Professional Services Firms Practice. He will be based in Lemme's Arlington Heights, Illinois offices.

In his new role, Bailitz will work closely with Jay Moroney, Managing Principal, to continue driving the expansion of Lemme's risk management consulting services business. He will also provide Lemme's Professional Services clients with industry insights and advice on evaluating and responding to risk events and areas of emerging risk.

Bailitz brings multidisciplinary expertise and diverse industry experience in client service, firm operations, and risk management leadership roles, gained over a successful 20-year public accounting career.

Prior to joining Lemme, Bailitz was a Risk Management Partner in the National Office of RSM US LLP, the nation's fifth largest public accounting firm, where he led numerous risk management and quality control initiatives and directed the firm's response to significant risk events involving the firm's audit clients.

After leaving RSM, he founded Bailitz LLC to provide smaller national, regional and local public accounting firms with a level of risk management, quality control, and compliance expertise typically found in the national offices of Big 4 and other large international firms.

"I have a passion for risk management and enjoy working with firms of all sizes to address risk and quality challenges and to navigate difficult and unusual situations," said Bailitz. "Joining Lemme, a recognized leader in Professional Liability Insurance and Risk Management Consulting services, was an easy decision given our shared beliefs and values and mutual commitment to providing superior products and services to firms in this space."

Bailitz is a licensed Certified Public Accountant (CPA), as well as a Certified Fraud Examiner (CFE) and Chartered Global Management Accountant (CGMA).

Said Jay Moroney, "The Professional Services Industry is facing significant change and disruption at present. More than ever, Law firms and Accounting firms are in need of knowledgeable, dependable, forward-thinking counsel to successfully understand and navigate a radically different risk environment. Owen will play a very important role in providing this advice and counsel to Lemme clients."

"We are excited to have Owen join our team to further expand and strengthen the Risk Management Consulting services and solutions provided by our Professional Services Firms Practice," said Mario Lemme. "He will be a tremendous resource to our clients and our entire team, both at Lemme and across the larger EPIC organization."

For further information please contact Jay Moroney at jay.moroney@lemme.com or (847) 385-6803.

About EPIC

EPIC is a unique and innovative retail property and casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm. EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence.

EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC now has more than 1,800 team members operating from 80 offices across the U.S., providing Property and Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs and Private Client solutions to EPIC clients.

With run rate revenues greater than $575 million, EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the U.S. Backed and sponsored by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country. Learn more: https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

Lemme, a division of EPIC Insurance Brokers & Consultants, announce today the addition of Owen Bailitz as a Principal within the firm's Professional Services Firms Practice. He will be based in Lemme's Arlington Heights, Illinois offices.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/

ARMCO QC Trends Report: Defects Related to Loan Package Documentation Doubled from 2017 to 2018

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers both the fourth quarter (Q4) and the calendar year (CY) 2018, and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM).

"Critical defects in 2018 reflect the market's rising interest rates and continued escalation of property values," said Nick Volpe, chief strategy officer for ARMCO. "Fewer highly qualified borrowers transact mortgages when rates increase, which fills the market with more marginal borrowers who tend to require more documentation. It makes sense that defects related to loan package documentation more than doubled from 2017 to 2018."

The report's noteworthy findings include:
* In Q4 2018, the critical defect rate increased just over 2%, reaching 1.93% from the previous quarters rate of 1.89%
* In CY 2018, the critical defect rate increased almost 8% over the previous year, jumping from 1.68% in CY 2017 to 1.81% in CY 2018
* Defects related to Income and Employment are on the rise:
o In Q4 2018, Income and Employment related defects increased 63% over Q3 2018
o In Q4 2018, Income and Employment related defects comprised a greater percentage of total defects for both CY 2018 and CY 2017
* Defects attributed to Loan Package Documentation more than doubled between CY 2017 and CY 2018.
* In Q4 2018, defects attributed to categories related to Underwriting / Eligibility continued to dominate overall quality issues, comprising over 65% of all critical defects.
* In Q4 2018, the top three categories that increased over Q3 2018 were all key qualification categories: Income and Employment, representing 20.39% of all critical defects in the benchmark. This category was followed by Credit at 18.45% and Loan Package Documentation at 15.53%.
* In CY 2018, FHA loans accounted for roughly 31% of the loans reviewed but represented approximately 41% of loans containing critical defects.

The Q4/CY 2018 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company's ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

"As the market fluctuates, so do the distribution and frequency of defects, and if lenders aren't prepared, that can end up costing them a lot in price adjustments, fees, investor delays and even buybacks," said Phil McCall, president of ARMCO. "Analytical QC technologies enable lenders to catch the defects and proactively prevent them so they can protect their profits. In shifting markets, where defects are like moving targets, that's more important than ever."

ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.armco.us/learn/reports.

About ARMCO:
Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO's product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing. ARMCO's consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit http://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers both the fourth quarter (Q4) and the calendar year (CY) 2018, and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology.

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

OpenClose and Vice Capital Markets Integrate for Enhanced Hedging Automation

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. /ScoopCloud/ -- OpenClose(R), an industry-leading multi-channel loan origination system (LOS) and digital mortgage fintech provider, announced the completion of an integration with Vice Capital Markets Inc., an established mortgage hedge advisory firm. Focused on maximizing hedging efficiencies, the new interface reduces the time to prepare and deliver loan data and eliminates the manual intervention that occurs today, automating an ongoing seamless delivery of data. In addition, loan sale data is directly boarded back to OpenClose, automating the final loan reconciliation and expected versus actual variance analysis.

The integration takes loan-level lock data from OpenClose's LenderAssist(TM) LOS and securely transmits it directly to Vice Capital's hedging platform. This eliminates multiple manual steps and potential "break-points" in the overall process thus saving time, reducing errors, and increasing visibility that results in optimized position management.

"Our customer success is dependent on speed and accuracy, especially as it relates to effective hedging and trade management strategies," said Vince Furey, CRO at OpenClose. OpenClose is pleased to partner with Vice Capital in order to help our mutual customers maximize profitability and minimize risk in the secondary market. Using this integration, our customers are able to operate more efficiently in a fast-moving, tech-driven lending landscape."

"The less work our customers have to do, the better it is for all parties involved," says Chris Bennett, principal at Vice Capital Markets Inc. "When lenders perform a physical allocation of their loans, all of that data is now pulled straight from OpenClose's LOS, which accompanies a number of efficiencies that make the entire process quicker, easier and more accurate."

About OpenClose:

Founded in 1999 and headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, OpenClose(R) is a leading enterprise-class, multi-channel loan origination system (LOS), POS digital mortgage and fintech provider that cost effectively delivers its digital platform on a software-as-a-service (SaaS) basis. The company provides a variety of innovative, 100 percent web-based solutions for lenders, banks, credit unions, and conduit aggregators. OpenClose's core solution, LenderAssist(TM), is comprehensive loan origination software that is completely engineered by OpenClose using the same code base from the ground up. The company offers a RESTful API suite that standardizes system-to-system integrations, making them easier to develop, quicker to implement and more cost effective. OpenClose provides lending organizations with full control of their data and creates a truly seamless workflow for complete automation and compliance adherence. For more information, visit https://www.openclose.com/ or call (561) 655-6418.

About Vice Capital Markets:

Entering its 20th year in business, Vice Capital Markets offers complete hedge advisory, reporting, and trading services to banks and mortgage companies throughout the country. Trading over $70 billion annually, Vice Capital's proprietary risk-management models and complex investor and agency best execution platform have consistently yielded safe and effective profit maximization for its clients. Learn more at https://www.vicecapitalmarkets.com/ or call (248) 869-8100.

Media Contact:
Joe Bowerbank
Profundity Communications, Inc.
949-378-9685
jbowerbank@profunditymarketing.com

Twitter: @openclosesocial #OpenClose #ViceCapitalMarkets #SecondaryMarketingAutomation #WesternSecondary

OpenClose(R), an industry-leading multi-channel loan origination system (LOS) and digital mortgage fintech provider, announced the completion of an integration with Vice Capital Markets Inc., an established mortgage hedge advisory firm. Focused on maximizing hedging efficiencies, the new interface reduces the time to prepare and deliver loan data and eliminates the manual intervention that occurs today, automating an ongoing seamless delivery of data.

Related link: https://www.openclose.com/

FormFree Partners with FundingShield to Deliver Enhanced Wire Fraud Protection to FormFree’s Network of More than 1,000 Mortgage Lenders

ATLANTA, Ga. /ScoopCloud/ -- FormFree(R) today announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with FundingShield, a fintech firm that safeguards homebuyers, mortgage lenders and title insurance underwriters from wire fraud.

FundingShield's loan-level verification services assure closing funds transferred at the end of a mortgage loan transaction go to verified bank accounts belonging to authorized recipients. FormFree will integrate FundingShield's Wire Account Verification Service (WAVS) into its Passport(R) all-in-one verification solution as a value-added service available to more than 1,000 mortgage lenders and their customers, including those who use Passport through one of FormFree's more than 100 integrations and reseller partnerships.

"FundingShield creates a more secure closing experience for all parties involved in a loan, from the borrower to the investor and all the service providers in-between," said Ike Suri, Chairman & CEO of FundingShield. "By partnering with FormFree, we'll be able to put that protection directly in the hands of mortgage lenders, loan officers and applicants, reducing their risk of lost funds and delayed closings due to fraud."

"Passport by FormFree is the secure, digital version of a consumer's financial ID that contains everything creditors need to know about a loan applicant," said FormFree Founder and CEO Brent Chandler. "Our alliance with FundingShield, which gives Passport users access to industry-leading wire fraud protection, is a perfect fit for FormFree's focus on making lending more secure and transparent."

About FormFree(R):

FormFree is a fintech company whose market-leading AccountChek(R) Asset Reports are used by lenders nationwide to verify borrower assets, employment and income in minutes. To date, more than 1,000 U.S. lenders have ordered over 1.25 million AccountChek Asset Reports, delighting their customers with a paperless experience and reducing origination timelines by up to 20 days. FormFree offers automated analysis and standardized delivery to lenders and their investors using a secure ReIssueKey(TM). A HousingWire TECH100(TM) company for four consecutive years, FormFree is based in Athens, Georgia.

For more information, visit https://www.formfree.com/ or follow FormFree on LinkedIn.

About FundingShield

FundingShield is a leading provider of risk management, fraud prevention and regulatory compliance technology solutions protecting the mortgage, real estate, title and legal industries. FundingShield's award winning FinTech solutions deliver the highest level of control and risk mitigation against wire fraud, settlement risk, third-party vendors and cyber fraud while improving the bottom line. The firm's proprietary database of title and settlement parties is the largest in the industry with live, verified and vetted data. FundingShield's services deliver actionable intelligence at the transaction level with coverage up to $5 million per transaction leveraging the firm's cognitive AI and machine learning tools. These user-centric solutions are plug'n play, scalable, pay as you go, secure, cloud-based and integrate easily through its APIs. FundingShield is a HousingWire Tech100(TM) company for the year 2019.

For more information on FundingShield or to speak with the sales or product team, email sales@fundingshield.com, call 800-295-0135 ext. 2 or visit https://www.fundingshield.com/.

Twitter: @RealFormFree #FundingShield #AccountChek #Mortgagebot #digitalmortgage #mortgagelending #WireFraud #RiskManagement #FinTech #MortgageTech #RegTech

FormFree(R) today announced that it has entered into a strategic alliance with FundingShield, a fintech firm that safeguards homebuyers, mortgage lenders and title insurance underwriters from wire fraud.

Related link: https://www.formfree.com/

ARMCO Q3 2018 QC Trends Report: Defect Trends Reflect Lower Volume, Hyper-Competitive Market

POMPANO BEACH, Fla. /ScoopCloud/ -- ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM).

"You can tell a lot about a market from the percentage and distribution of critical defects," said Phil McCall, president and COO of ARMCO. "In Q3 2018, defect activity indicates that lenders are still dealing with the quality issues that result from downsizing. We also see how lower volume markets can impact the quality of their loans."

The report's noteworthy findings include:
* In Q3 2018, the critical defect rate reached 1.89%, its second highest level since the TRID rule went into effect in October 2015, increasing roughly 11% from the previous quarter's rate of 1.71%.
* In Q3 2018, critical defects attributed to Loan Package Documentation spiked nearly 23% over the previous quarter, making Q3 2018 the fourth consecutive quarter to see a significant increase in this category.
* In Q3 2018, the number of defects attributed to the Income/Employment category dropped almost in half, from 22.73% in the previous quarter to 12.50%.
* In Q3 2018, FHA loans accounted for a disproportionate number of critical defects, comprising 28.20% of originated loans in the benchmark, but accounting for 49.55% of loans with critical defects.

"Downsizing can leave lenders with a less qualified workforce, which in turn leads to more errors, particularly with complex transactions and usually with loan documentation," said McCall.

The Q3 2018 Trends Report revealed that the categories of Credit and Liabilities each increased moderately, and the percentage of Property Appraisal-related defects reached its highest point of the year. "This aligns with lower overall production and compressed margins, two key components of a hyper-competitive market," explained McCall. "In an effort to win market share, investors often become more aggressive by expanding eligibility guidelines, while originators try to make up for declining volume by submitting loans of lower than usual quality."

The Q3 2018 ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report is based on nationwide post-closing quality control loan data from over 90,000 unique loans selected for random full-file reviews, as was captured by the company's ACES Analytics benchmarking software. Defects listed in the report are categorized using the Fannie Mae loan defect taxonomy.

"Analytics in quality control is vital in contracting markets," said McCall. "Lenders that don't use analytical technology will see more defects typical in lower volume, hyper-competitive markets, as well as the delays, fees, fines and even buybacks that can come with them."

ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Reports are available for download, free of charge, at https://www.armco.us/learn/reports.

About ARMCO:
Over half of the top 20 mortgage lenders in the U.S. choose ARMCO as their provider of risk management software. ARMCO's product line includes loan quality enterprise software, services, data and analytics. Its flagship product, ACES Audit Technology(TM), has set the bar for user definability in its category. It is used at virtually every point in the mortgage lifecycle, as well as for a wide range of risk-prone business operations outside traditional mortgage origination and servicing.

ARMCO's consultative approach to customer relationships leverages 25 years of mortgage risk intel, assuring that its clients are using the most effective risk mitigation strategies, and are using the fastest, most reliable, most efficient means for preventing risk-related loss. ARMCO distributes the ARMCO Mortgage QC Industry Trends Report, a free quarterly analysis of industry-wide mortgage loan quality. For more information, visit https://www.armco.us/ or call 1-800-858-1598.

ACES Risk Management (ARMCO), the leading provider of enterprise financial risk management solutions, announced the release of the quarterly ARMCO Mortgage QC Trends Report. The latest report covers the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, and provides loan quality findings for mortgages reviewed by ACES Audit Technology(TM).

Related link: https://www.armco.us/

EPIC Insurance Brokers Adds Blake Kirk as a Principal in San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. /ScoopCloud/ -- EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants announced today that risk management and insurance professional Blake Kirk has joined the firm's operations in Northern California as a Senior Vice President and Principal.

Kirk will be based in EPIC's San Francisco headquarters and work closely with EPIC Principal Joe Vineis on a number of key risk management, business development and client service initiatives. Kirk will report to Curt Perata, EPIC's Pacific North Region President.

Kirk joins EPIC from broker Beecher Carlson in San Francisco, where he spent more than 13 years, most recently as managing director working with large, complex risk management accounts in the retail, healthcare, financial services and hospitality industries.

Prior to joining Beecher Carlson, Kirk served as vice president with Aon Risk Services, where he worked exclusively in the Healthcare industry with a focus on HMO reinsurance and provider excess of loss coverage.

Kirk began his career working for a large Management Service Organization (MSO) in Northern California owned by Sutter Health. He has years of managed care contracting experience, both hospital and physician.

Kirk holds a Master's Degree in Healthcare Administration from the College of Notre Dame and a Bachelor of Sciences Degree in Political Science and Government from California State University, Chico.

"We are excited to further expand and enhance EPIC's operations in Northern California and across the country with Blake's addition," said Curt Perata. "He is well known for his expertise and professionalism, particularly in Healthcare circles; has a tremendous network; and is highly respected for building strong, positive relationships and providing exceptional service to his clients. He is another top flight addition to our EPIC team."

Blake Kirk can be reached at blake.kirk@epicbrokers.com or 415-356-3916.

About EPIC:

EPIC is a unique and innovative retail property & casualty and employee benefits insurance brokerage and consulting firm. EPIC has created a values-based, client-focused culture that attracts and retains top talent, fosters employee satisfaction and loyalty and sustains a high level of customer service excellence.

EPIC team members have consistently recognized their company as a "Best Place to Work" in multiple regions and as a "Best Place to Work in the Insurance Industry" nationally.

EPIC now has more than 1,400 team members operating from 50 offices across the U.S., providing Property & Casualty, Employee Benefits, Specialty Programs and Private Client solutions to more than 20,000 clients.

With run rate revenues of more than $400 million, EPIC ranks among the top 15 retail insurance brokers in the United States. Backed by Oak Hill Capital Partners, the company continues to expand organically and through strategic acquisitions across the country.

For additional information, please visit https://www.epicbrokers.com/.

EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants announced today that risk management and insurance professional Blake Kirk has joined the firm's operations in Northern California as a Senior Vice President and Principal.

Related link: https://www.epicbrokers.com/