According to a pre-pandemic projection from the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the number of self-employed people was set to reach 10.3 million by 2026, although more recent data from the Pew Research Center has placed the current number much higher, at 14.9 million for the second quarter this year.
To meet its growing ambitions in the non-QM space, Angel Oak recently revealed that it had approved 522 new accounts with brokers in the last six months.
And in October, the firm appointed David Raju as group chief information officer to oversee the development of technology, aimed at improving the company’s digital transformation.
Raju’s appointment coincided with Angel Oak’s acquisition of his company, Covience, an advisory services and banking-as-a-service platform. Prior to that, the non-QM specialist also made a “strategic investment” into Asset Class, a financial technology firm based in Dublin, Ireland.
In the Press statement announcing Raju’s appointment, Angel Oak acknowledged that it was seeking to improve its technological capabilities by “partnering with existing plug-and-play solutions”.
