Polly Partners with F9 Advisors to Deliver Institutional-Grade Mortgage Capital Markets Execution Through PollyOS
Polly, an AI-native, vertically integrated mortgage capital markets operating system, has announced a partnership with F9 Advisors, LLC (F9), a newly established capital markets execution and advisory firm led by experienced professionals in mortgage hedging. The collaboration is designed to give mortgage lenders access to institutional-grade capital markets execution, pipeline hedging and loan sales capabilities through PollyOS, helping them strengthen financial performance, manage risk and improve operational efficiency.
The partnership focuses on making sophisticated mortgage capital markets capabilities more accessible to lenders of different sizes. Historically, mortgage lenders seeking to execute mandatory loan deliveries, manage interest-rate exposure and optimize loan sales have often needed dedicated capital markets teams, specialized technology and extensive market expertise. These requirements can create significant operational and financial barriers for smaller institutions or lenders looking to expand their capabilities.
By combining Polly’s technology platform with F9’s execution expertise, the companies aim to help lenders access professional capital markets services without having to build an entire in-house operation before getting started. F9’s traders and analysts work within each lender’s PollyOS environment, allowing institutions to access execution support while retaining control over their data, platform configuration and investor and dealer relationships.
The partnership reflects Polly’s broader objective of making advanced mortgage pricing and capital markets technology available to lenders beyond the largest and most sophisticated institutions. It also provides F9 with a technology foundation through which its team can deliver execution and advisory services in an integrated operating environment.
Brandon Story, president of F9 Advisors, said Polly has long focused on democratizing mortgage pricing by helping lenders price loans with the precision associated with larger institutions. He explained that F9 extends the same principle to capital markets execution by providing a service that can adapt as a lender’s business strategy and internal capabilities evolve.
Under the partnership, lenders can engage F9 to manage execution over the long term or use the firm’s expertise while developing their own internal capital markets teams. This flexible arrangement is intended to allow institutions to adjust the level of external support they need without replacing their underlying technology systems.
Expanding Access to Mandatory Mortgage Execution
One of the central objectives of the Polly and F9 partnership is to make mandatory execution more accessible to mortgage lenders.
Mortgage lenders must determine how to sell the loans they originate and manage the financial risks associated with changes in interest rates and market conditions. Their choices can affect loan-sale proceeds, profitability and the stability of their financial results.
Under a best-efforts delivery arrangement, a lender generally agrees to deliver a mortgage loan to an investor if the loan closes, with the investor taking on certain risks associated with whether the loan is ultimately delivered. Mandatory delivery arrangements, by contrast, require the lender to deliver an agreed amount of loans under specified terms. These arrangements can provide opportunities to capture additional execution value, but they also require careful management of delivery obligations and market exposure.
Mandatory execution can therefore demand more sophisticated pipeline monitoring, hedging strategies, operational discipline and timely decision-making. Lenders must account for changes in interest rates, loan fallout, pricing movements and the relationship between their locked pipeline and the positions used to manage risk.
For institutions without a dedicated capital markets desk, building these capabilities internally can require investment in experienced personnel, technology infrastructure, operating procedures and risk controls. These requirements can make it difficult for smaller lenders to pursue more advanced execution strategies.
F9 is designed to help address this challenge by providing traders and analysts who can operate within a lender’s PollyOS environment. The firm can help institutions execute loans on a mandatory basis from the outset of an engagement, supported by professional oversight and established execution processes.
The objective is to make the capabilities associated with a fully staffed capital markets desk available to lenders that may not have the resources or immediate need to establish one independently.
However, mandatory execution is not without risk. Market movements, changes in the expected volume of closed loans and delivery shortfalls can affect financial results. Lenders must therefore evaluate the strategy in light of their operational capacity, pipeline characteristics, risk tolerance and investor agreements. F9’s execution services are intended to provide the expertise and day-to-day discipline needed to manage these activities.
PollyOS Provides a Unified View of Capital Markets Activity
The integration of F9’s services with PollyOS is a central element of the partnership. By working within the platform, F9 and its lender clients can access a shared, real-time view of locks, positions and trades.
This unified operating environment is intended to reduce the fragmentation that can arise when capital markets teams rely on separate systems, spreadsheets or exported data to manage their activities. When information is distributed across multiple tools, teams may encounter delays, reconciliation challenges or differences between the figures used by traders and those reviewed by senior management.
A common view of the relevant data can help improve visibility into a lender’s pipeline and trading activity. It also allows F9’s team to work with the same information that the lender’s leadership sees, supporting coordination between execution activities and broader business oversight.
The partnership’s operating model is designed to keep the capital markets function within the lender’s own environment. Lenders retain their investor and dealer relationships, while F9’s traders execute transactions on their behalf. F9 provides the people, expertise and operational discipline needed to support execution without taking ownership of the lender’s entire capital markets function.
This structure may be particularly useful for lenders seeking additional execution capabilities while maintaining existing relationships and internal governance arrangements. Rather than moving to an entirely separate operating system, institutions can use their existing PollyOS environment as the foundation for the service.
The integration also supports the possibility of changing the scope of the relationship over time. A lender can begin with a broader level of outsourced execution support and later reduce F9’s involvement as its internal capabilities develop. Alternatively, an institution can expand the firm’s responsibilities as its loan production, product mix or market strategy changes.
By separating the underlying technology environment from the level of advisory and execution support, the partnership aims to provide flexibility without requiring lenders to repeatedly change systems as their needs evolve.
Comprehensive Services Across Mortgage Capital Markets
F9 Advisors offers a range of services designed to address different stages of mortgage capital markets operations. Its capabilities include pipeline hedging, best execution and whole loan trading, as well as agency pooling and securitization.
Pipeline hedging is a critical activity for mortgage lenders because the value of mortgage loans and related commitments can change as interest rates and market pricing fluctuate. Effective hedging seeks to manage the impact of those changes while accounting for the characteristics of the lender’s loan pipeline.
A lender must evaluate the relationship between its expected loan production, interest-rate exposure and the positions used to offset market risk. This process requires ongoing monitoring, timely adjustments and a clear understanding of how changes in the pipeline can affect the effectiveness of the hedging strategy.
F9’s execution and advisory capabilities are intended to help lenders manage these activities with professional support.
Best execution is another important component of mortgage capital markets management. Lenders must evaluate available execution alternatives to determine how loans can be sold under competitive terms while accounting for relevant costs, operational requirements and risk considerations.
Whole loan trading provides another route for lenders to sell mortgage loans to investors rather than relying exclusively on securitization channels. The appropriate approach can vary according to loan characteristics, investor demand, market conditions and the lender’s broader strategy.
F9 also supports agency pooling and securitization activities. These functions involve preparing eligible loans for pooling and supporting processes associated with mortgage-backed securities. Such activities require attention to eligibility criteria, documentation, operational procedures and applicable investor or agency requirements.
In addition to these core services, F9 can provide Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) sourcing and execution, enterprise-level margin management and product strategy support. This broader service range extends beyond traditional execution advice and is designed to help institutions connect day-to-day capital markets activity with wider business objectives.
CRA-related services can be relevant to institutions seeking to support their community development and lending objectives while managing associated execution considerations. Enterprise-level margin management can help lenders examine profitability across products and business activities, while product strategy support can assist with evaluating how mortgage offerings fit market opportunities and institutional goals.
The range of services allows lenders to select support based on their existing capabilities, operating requirements and strategic priorities.
Flexible Support for Lenders With Existing Capital Markets Teams
The partnership is not limited to institutions that lack an internal capital markets desk. F9 also offers contingency coverage and advisory services for lenders that already operate their own teams.
Capital markets functions depend on specialized knowledge, consistent operational processes and the ability to respond to changing market conditions. Staff transitions, periods of rapid growth or unexpected resource constraints can place pressure on an institution’s ability to maintain uninterrupted operations.
F9’s contingency coverage is designed to help lenders maintain continuity during transitions or periods when additional expertise is needed. This can provide an alternative to relying solely on existing staff when operational demands increase or key personnel become unavailable.
The firm also offers advisory support covering strategy, platform configuration and audit readiness. These services can help institutions review their operating arrangements, align technology settings with their business objectives and prepare documentation for internal reviews or other oversight processes.
For lenders that want to strengthen their internal capabilities, an advisory relationship may provide support without requiring the institution to outsource its entire capital markets function. For others, F9 can take on a more substantial role in daily execution.
This flexibility reflects the partnership’s emphasis on adapting to a lender’s business rather than imposing a single operating model on every institution.
A lender’s requirements may change as loan production increases, new mortgage channels are introduced or market conditions shift. The ability to adjust the scope of services can help institutions respond to these developments while maintaining continuity in their technology environment.
Operational Monitoring, Reporting and Margin Management
F9’s engagements include platform connectivity, daily operational monitoring, mark-to-market and margin call handling, reporting, alerting and onboarding.
These operational capabilities are important because effective capital markets execution involves more than completing individual trades. Lenders also need ongoing visibility into positions, exposure and changes in market value, along with processes for identifying issues and responding to them.
Mark-to-market processes assess the current value of positions based on prevailing market conditions. Regular valuation can help a lender understand how its positions are performing and how changes in market prices may affect its risk exposure.
Margin call handling is also relevant where applicable agreements require additional collateral or settlement of amounts resulting from changes in the value of positions. Such obligations need to be monitored and managed within established procedures to help reduce operational disruptions and support compliance with contractual terms.
Daily monitoring and alerting can provide an additional layer of oversight by helping teams identify changes or exceptions that require attention. Reporting can give lenders a clearer picture of their capital markets activity and provide information for internal management, risk oversight and audit-related requirements.
Onboarding is another important element. Establishing an effective engagement requires alignment between the lender’s existing processes, technology configuration, relationships and F9’s responsibilities. Clear procedures can help define how information is shared, how execution decisions are made and how issues are escalated.
By including these functions within its engagements, F9 aims to provide a more comprehensive service model that covers both execution and the supporting operational activities.
Leadership Combines Mortgage Hedging and Advisory Experience
F9 Advisors is led by Brandon Story, president, and Virgil Caselli Jr., chief operating officer. Caselli previously served as managing director and partner at Compass Analytics.
Rob Kessel, founder and former chief executive officer of Compass Analytics and a veteran of mortgage capital markets, serves as an advisor to F9 through Panoramic Capital Academy and Consulting.
According to the company, its leadership team and advisors collectively bring decades of experience building and operating mortgage hedging platforms and advisory desks for lenders. That background forms part of the foundation for F9’s approach to providing execution services through a technology-enabled model.
The firm’s leadership has selected PollyOS as the operating platform for delivering its services. The decision reflects the importance of technology in supporting modern mortgage capital markets operations, where teams must coordinate pricing, pipeline management, hedging, trading and reporting activities.
Virgil Caselli Jr. said that technology had historically limited what capital markets desks could accomplish, even when the teams operating them had substantial expertise. He described PollyOS as a platform that removes some of those infrastructure constraints, allowing a team’s capabilities to be shaped more by its strategy and objectives than by the limitations of its systems.
F9 was established around this approach, combining experienced personnel with an integrated technology environment to make execution and advisory capabilities available to mortgage lenders.
The company operates independently and contracts directly with each client. This structure allows F9 to establish service arrangements according to the needs and requirements of individual institutions.
Advancing Technology-Enabled Mortgage Capital Markets
The Polly and F9 Advisors partnership reflects an effort to make sophisticated mortgage capital markets execution more accessible across the lending industry. By combining PollyOS with F9’s trading, hedging and advisory expertise, the companies aim to help lenders manage risk, evaluate loan-sale opportunities and improve the coordination of their capital markets operations.
The partnership offers a flexible model that can support lenders seeking fully managed execution, institutions developing internal teams and established desks requiring additional coverage or specialized advice. Its service range extends from pipeline hedging and loan sales to agency pooling, securitization, margin management and product strategy.
The shared technology environment is intended to improve visibility into locks, positions and trades while allowing lenders to retain their own investor and dealer relationships. The inclusion of operational monitoring, reporting, alerting and other support functions further broadens the offering beyond trade execution alone.
For mortgage lenders, the potential value of this model lies in combining experienced capital markets professionals with technology designed to support day-to-day decision-making. Institutions can choose the level of external assistance that fits their strategy and adjust that relationship as their operations change.
Source link: https://www.businesswire.com
