Secondary Marketing and Lock Desk Analyst Recruiters

You need a practitioner who handles daily pipeline hedging and rate locks without manual errors. The work involves moving loans into pools, managing fallout, and fixing trade discrepancies. If they miss a tick on the hedge, your margin disappears quickly.

We look for analysts who have performed daily best execution analysis. They must understand the delta between trade prices and loan level pricing. Can they explain how they handle a locked loan that goes to fall-out after the commitment is made?

Ask them how they resolve discrepancies in Encompass trade mappings. We also ask what specific criteria they use to decide between cash sales and MBS executions. They need to show they know the math behind the hedge as well as the system inputs.

Define the exact responsibilities of this analyst role before we start screening. Ask candidates to walk you through a specific instance where their trade execution led to a significant gain or loss in margin. Push them to explain the mechanics of how they adjust their position when the pipeline moves unexpectedly during market hours. You need to know if they perform the calculation in a spreadsheet or rely solely on a black box system. Ask them to describe their process for handling a break in trade confirmation with an investor. Listen for whether they check the LOS data against the investor portal manually or depend entirely on automated alerts. If they cannot explain why a specific pool coupon was chosen over another to optimize execution, they do not possess the depth required for this position. Ask how they track hedge effectiveness at the end of the day. A candidate who lacks a granular understanding of hedge slippage will miss errors that compound over time. Inquire about their experience with specific loan types that typically require special handling or unique lock terms. Check if they have handled the reconciliation of trade settlements. Ask what they do when they identify a discrepancy between the expected hedge result and the actual trade outcome. Require them to outline their workflow for identifying and fixing data errors in the LOS that impact lock pricing. If they suggest that the system catches all errors, disqualify them immediately. A competent analyst assumes the system will fail and builds verification into every step of the process. Discuss how they manage the trade pipeline when volume spikes. You want an analyst who prioritizes tasks by hedge risk rather than just clearing the queue. If they focus on volume over accuracy, the desk will suffer. Ask if they can troubleshoot trade mapping issues without outside support.