As EVP of Strategic Growth Initiatives, Neil Armstrong, AMP, is responsible for driving strategic vision for Indecomm and and its clients. Leveraging his 28 years of experience leading large-scale business transformation initiatives and applying Indecomm’s unique mix of automation, SaaS, and expert services, Neil helps clients adapt and thrive in any mortgage market. His extensive background in sales, client relations, mortgage operations, and technology enables him to solve clients’ problems by identifying the most effective solutions to improve business scale, optimize operations, reduce costs, and mitigate risk.
Neil brings deep knowledge of emerging mortgage business trends, digital transformation, cost management, and customer experience, which enable him to drive growth and expansion for Indecomm through untapped markets, strategic partnerships, and technological innovations. Neil earned his Accredited Mortgage Professionals, AMP from the Mortgage Bankers Association and has a bachelor’s degree in management and organizational development.
Samuel Bjelac serves as Senior Vice President of TPO at Carrington Mortgage Services, his primary areas of responsibility include aligning the Wholesale and Correspondent Sales organizations with Carrington’s overall objectives. Prior to CMS, Samuel honed his non-QM expertise as Executive Vice President of National Sales at Sprout Mortgage, while also leading the third-party origination teams at CoreVest Finance and LendingOne. His current responsibilities include building on CMS’ existing non-QM foundation to expand its footprint and grow the company’s non-QM business, which is a critical part of the ongoing Lending business strategy at Carrington.
Samuel has over 20 years of experience in the residential/commercial mortgage and financial services industries in both production and management capacities and has also held key roles at Flagstar Bank, First Magnus Financial and Prudential Financial. Samuel has earned an M.B.A. from the University of Baltimore, a B.S. from West Virginia University and has been a featured speaker at national conferences and industry events throughout the United States. He resides with his family in Annapolis, MD.
Alex Boand, Chief Correspondent Production Officer and Senior Managing Director at Pennymac, brings nearly two decades of financial industry expertise to his role. His impressive tenure with Pennymac, exceeding ten years, speaks to his consistent leadership and valuable contributions to the company's success. Since 2022, Boand has played an instrumental role in maintaining the #1 Correspondent Investor ranking in the market.
In his role, Boand leads a highly experienced team of Regional Sales Managers, serving over 800 clients across the industry. He is directly responsible for all correspondent service levels, revenue optimization, risk mitigation and client engagement.
In 2023, Boand was named a HousingWire Rising Star, which recognizes emerging leaders in the housing industry who have reached significant milestones in their careers before the age of 40.
Before becoming the Senior Managing Director of Correspondent Group Sales at Pennymac in 2025, Boand's career trajectory has been one of consistent growth. His tenure began with Pennymac in 2013 as a Correspondent Group Regional Sales Manager focused on building strong client relationships, driving sales in his Pacific Northwest and West Coast territories. By 2017, this success earned him a promotion to Senior Vice President of Regional Correspondent Group Sales, where he led regional sales strategies and fostered high-performing teams. His leadership continued to be recognized, culminating in his appointment as Executive Vice President of Pennymac Correspondent Group Sales in 2021 and Managing Director in 2022. During this time, he oversaw the broader sales organization and ensured alignment with company-wide objectives. Prior to his role at Pennymac, he served as an Account Executive at Bank of America.
Beyond his sales accomplishments, Boand also has a passion for developing future leaders. He actively participates in the company’s mentorship program, cultivating a thriving environment for talent growth and advancement. Additionally, he routinely conducts educational sessions for his sales team where he provides valuable insights on the market, as well as the initiatives and overall strategy at Pennymac.
Boand earned a B.A, in marketing and management from Loyola Marymount University.
As a seasoned mortgage professional with 20+ years of key industry leadership experience, Chris King joined Mr. Cooper in 2012, and leads Business Development and B2B initiatives through Correspondent, Co-Issue, Bulk MSR, Subservicing, and Strategic Institutional Partnerships.
Chris holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from George Mason University and a Master’s Degree from the University of Maryland. Prior to joining the Mr. Cooper family, Chris served as SVP of Business Development for Morgan Stanley/ Saxon, as well as held other senior management roles at GMAC-RFC, Fannie Mae, and KPMG.
His intuitive insight into mortgage lending, capital markets, and servicing functions from his career accomplishments are integral to the demonstrated success of Mr. Cooper.
Marcus Lam has two decades of extensive experience in the mortgage capital markets vertical, having served as a key contributor at many high-profile IMBs. During his tenure with Absolute Mortgage Banking, Opes Advisors, Inc. (eventually acquired by Flagstar Bank), and Homepoint, Marcus specialized in trading, hedging, managing the lock desk, analytics reporting, product development, scenario desk, and identifying new investor opportunities. He also played a pivotal role in managing the product and pricing engine.
In 2024, Marcus parlayed his unique blend of capital markets and IMB knowledge into the financial technology sector, joining Polly as Head of Solutions Engineering.
Mr. Lemieux is the Managing Director, Correspondent Lending. Prior to joining Acra, Mr. Lemieux was the CFO and COO of Isles Ranch Partners a real estate investment firm focused on residential acquisition, development and construction investments throughout the U.S. Prior to joining Isles Ranch, Mr. Lemieux was a Senior Vice President at Bayview Asset Management, an investment firm focused on investments in mortgage credit, including correspondent and wholesale mortgage originations.
Mr. Lemieux has worked as a Senior Vice President with Ally Bank (formerly GMAC), responsible for correspondent lending and fee-based servicing. Preceding his tenure at GMAC, Mr. Lemieux was a Senior Vice President with Cerberus Capital responsible for overseeing investments in lending institutions, prospective acquisition diligence and mortgage-backed trading. Mr. Lemieux received his BA from the University of Arizona and has an MBA, Finance, from the University of San Francisco.
Christopher McEntee is responsible for mortgage-related M&A\Corporate Development, and several product lines at Intercontinental Exchange. He started at ICE in 2011 as a Senior Director of Corporate Development. Prior to joining ICE, Chris was a senior executive at the Federal Home Loan Bank of Atlanta and marketed wholesale lending products, supported product development as well as the affordable housing grant program. He began his career as a financial journalist at The Bond Buyer and was the National Editor there until 1999.
Chris earned a BA from St. Michael’s College and an MBA from Georgia State University, where he was an adjunct professor at the J. Mack Robinson College of Business. He has served as the Vice Chairman of the Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization (MISMO) and currently serves on the MERSCORP Holdings, Inc. board.
Kim Nichols is the Chief TPO Production Officer and Senior Managing Director, where she leads a team that drives strategy and revenue within the wholesale channel. Under her leadership, Pennymac TPO quickly became one of the top wholesale lenders in the country.
Nichols joined Pennymac in 2011 as part of the core leadership team charged with building the foundation for what is now the largest correspondent investor in the country. She has been recognized for her expertise in the mortgage industry throughout the years.
Nichols consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership and industry expertise. In 2025, the Broker Action Coalition (BAC) appointed Nichols to its Board of Directors, recognizing her leadership and expertise within Pennymac TPO as highly beneficial to advocating for the broker and wholesale channel within the industry. In 2024, Nichols was selected to join the Forbes Advisory Board to offer insightful mortgage content that aligns with the current industry and help empower readers to navigate the home buying process. In 2023, Nichols joined the inaugural Corporate Board of Governors for the National Association of Mortgage Brokers (NAMB), an organization committed to promoting the highest degree of professionalism and ethical standards for mortgage professionals. She also is a Board Member for the California Mortgage Bankers Association (CMBA), to help support its mission in representing the residential and commercial real estate finance industry before all government and regulatory agencies. In 2022, Mortgage Professional America Magazine included Nichols in its Mortgage Global 100 list, which highlights renowned industry leaders driving forward innovations to carry the mortgage sector into a new era. Her exceptional leadership also earned her a spot as a 2020 Women of Influence by HousingWire. As one of the 100 most highly-regarded women in housing finance, Nichols showcases her expertise in mentoring, leading teams and driving technical advances.
Prior to joining Pennymac, Nichols spent the beginning of her career in secondary marketing and capital markets, followed by a decade within the mortgage insurance space.
Shashank Shekhar is the founder and CEO of InstaMortgage and InstaAI. He is the winner of the 2025 Entrepreneur of the Year Stevie Award and RIS Media's "Newsmaker of the Year".
After starting his company as a recent immigrant during the worst financial crisis of 2008, with no connections and a $1900 investment, Shashank has led the company to become the fastest-growing mortgage company in the Americas.
Shashank is an avid blogger, a bestselling author, a sought-after keynote speaker, and a podcast host. His articles have been published in Forbes, Entrepreneur, Inc., HousingWire, and The Huffington Post. He has been named one of the “most connected” and “most influential” mortgage professionals in America.
Leah Sommerville is DocMagic’s Director of Sales, responsible for leading our sales team with nearly a decade of experience in the eMortgage industry. She is a thought leader and frequent speaker on managing digital-mortgage transformation, sharing her passion about empowering the mortgage industry towards the future of lending.
Leah has been honored with numerous industry awards, including Mortgage Professional America’s 50 Elite Women in Mortgage, Mortgage Professional Association’s Elite Women Award, National Mortgage Professional’s 40 Under 40 Influential Mortgage Professionals, Progress in Lending Association’s NextGen Leader Award, and Progress in Lending’s Trailblazer Award.
Prior to DocMagic, she held sales executive and director of marketing positions in the mortgage technology industry. Leah holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Arlington.
