American Advisors Group

American Advisors Group, In

Founded	Irvine, California, USA (2004)
Headquarters	3800 W. Chapman Avenue Orange, California 92868 United States
Key people	Reza Jahangiri, CEO/Founder
Employees	1000+ (2015)
Website	www.aag.com

American Advisors Group (AAG) is the top lender in the American reverse mortgage industry, licensed to operate in 48 states.^[1][2] The company provides government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loans and has 81 geographical areas approved for business by HUD.^[3]

History

American Advisors Group was founded in 2004 by Reza Jahangiri, president and chief executive officer.^[2][4]

In June 2009 the company received a capital-infusion commitment from private-equity firm JAM Equity Partners of El Segundo, California, an investment said to give AAG "the resources needed to compete on a national level with a celebrity spokesperson and [to] build a recognizable brand." At the same time, the company announced it had brought in "a new management team" from Liberty Reverse Mortgage/Genworth and the Senior Lending Network. Jahangiri told Reverse Mortgage Daily that the company would be "sticking with retail" rather than moving to other aspects of the business.^[5][6]

AAG completed its first Home Mortgage-Backed Security (HMBS) issuance in July 2013, after receiving approval from Ginnie Mae,^[7] in a program said to be "an essential financial solution for a growing number of senior citizens.".^[8] The company was named as the leading HMBS issuer for the first half of 2015, according to NewView Advisors, LLC.^[9]

Scope

AAG provides government-insured Home Equity Conversion Mortgage (HECM) loans and has 81 HUD-approved areas for business.^[3] The organization is headquartered in Orange County, California.^[10][11][12]

AAG launched its wholesale division in June 2012.^[13] It later named Kimberly Kerrigan Smith, who had been with Generation Mortgage, as senior vice president of wholesale lending.^[14]

Marketing

Spokespeople

In October 2009, AAG announced that film and television actor Peter Graves had been selected as the spokesperson for the second half of the company's national media campaign, which in its first phase had featured "personalized stories" of the way that reverse mortgages had affected homeowners. He remained spokesman until his death in March 2010.^[15]

Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson of Tennessee became the AAG spokesman in May 2010 until his death on November 1st, 2015. Thompson was an attorney, actor, author and commentator who was active in politics and hosted a nationally syndicated radio show.^[16][17]

Thompson was featured in AAG’s national TV campaign, its website, its customer information packets and DVDs. Thompson’s commercials also promoted the benefits of an AAG reverse mortgage for American seniors. The advertisements ran on cable and national networks.^[16]

AAG currently has an ad running that claims that a 4 legged stool is more stable than a 3 legged stool. This is geometrically incorrect. If you ask a mathematician they will tell you that it takes 3 points to make a plane. This means that no matter what three points you have, regardless of their position, they will make a plane. Four points can skew that plane. This is the reason that true milking stools will have three legs. Regardless of how level they are they will still be more steady. A fourth leg can cause the stool to wobble.

References