Hi everyone!!
My name is Adam Quinones.
I began my career in mortgage finance at the ripe old age of 18 licking envelopes for a top producing loan officer at RBC Mortgage just outside Washington DC. My introduction to mortgage world was humble to say the least, but by the end of my first summer I had managed to latch myself onto the head of the secondary marketing department. There was just something interesting to me about those charts he had on the computer behind his desk. I was so intrigued that I annoyed him to the point where he offered me an internship the next summer...
I was pretty much a gopher...I sorted HUDs, checked locks, searched guidelines, picked up lunches, carried heavy things, and blah blah blah you get the point . More importantly I began to learn the inter-workings of the secondary mortgage market.....right about the time when Wall Street financial innovators discovered some interesting derivative products. At the end of that summer I went back to school with a feeling of accomplishment...even if I was just a fly on the wall I was listening to everything that was going on around me.
The next summer I had an internship with LPL Financial....more gophering and "honey do" list type work. I filed paper work mostly, occasionally I was allowed to sit in on client meetings but I had to be invisible....pretty much if I opened my mouth for anything beside water or air it would have been filled with a stack of manila file folders and I would have been relegated back to brainless activity. Can't say I blame them...I was just a wet behind the ears economics undergrad at the time.
The real turn in my career came the next summer when RBC asked me to come back for another summer internship. This is where my learning curve got steep! To say the least I learned the intricate pricing strategies of every major lender and how to sell loans to them. On top of that my brain was beginning to fully understand the advanced economics courses I had taken the previous semesters. The light bulbs were going off in my head left and right...that summer was the foundation of my professional career development.
After my 8th semester at Penn State I was planning on doing absolutely nothing but hang around with my buddies, lift weights, and participate in other college age activities.Unfortunately those plans never came to fruition, the real world came calling in the form of a J-O-B. The branch of RBC that I had worked two internships needed a new secondary manager, the person I had learned so much from decided to move onto new things. They had tried a few people but no one ever really worked out for them, but they remembered me and decided to say what the heck lets see give him a shot at it! At this point the operation had shrunk considerably, it was a mere shadow of what it once was...but this turned out to be a good environment for me to get comfortable/confident before facing a mad rush of ornery originators. I was 22 years old and manning the lock desk, setting rate sheets, and establishing relationships with our business counter parties. (Admittedly I was a puppet for about 6 months before the water wings came off) But to be honest I was terrified. I was unsure of everything. But what was I gonna do? Concede? No way! I put my nose in a book and hounded anyone who would coach me through my inefficiencies and insecurities. I spent all my free time researching lenders, studying financial markets, and memorizing guidelines. Yeah total geek I know...but it paid off. I have learned every role from application to securitization, from envelope sealer to budget healer, from lock taker to rate sheet maker, from paper pusher to paper trader.
I am a proud graduate of Dematha High School (yes... proud enough to list my high school in my professional bio!), I hold an Economics degree from the Smeal College of Business at the Pennsylvania State University, and I am currently a candidate for the Chartered Financial Analyst Designation. My family means the world to me, my friends are irreplaceable, and my memories selective. My sense of humor is broad, my personality is open, and my feelings are not easily hurt. I know what I want in life and I have the ambition to get it.
"Tentative efforts lead to tentative outcomes. Therefore, give yourself fully to your endeavors. Decide to construct your character through excellent actions and determine to pay the price of a worthy goal. The trials you encounter will introduce you to your strengths. Remain steadfast...and one day you will build something that endures, something worthy of your potential." -Epictetus
"Learn something new everyday, let your brain appreciate with time" - Me
NTAC