Key facts
- ABL Asset Based Lending was built on lessons learned from the 2008 financial crisis.
- Culture, discipline, and avoiding overreliance on superstar desks were key to surviving the 2008 crisis.
- ABL provides loans for new construction, fix and flip, and DSCR loans.
- Rodman discussed ABL's growth from a 2010 startup to a national platform.
- AI is reshaping the mortgage factory, according to Rodman.
- The lenders who win in the next decade will combine durable capital with modern technology and an ownership culture.
Kevin Rodman, who spent 24 years at Morgan Stanley navigating the firm through the 2008 financial crisis, has applied the lessons of culture and discipline to build ABL Asset Based Lending into a billion-dollar private lending platform. Rodman, now a co-founder of ABL, highlighted that surviving the 2008 downturn required a refusal to let any single desk dictate the firm's direction. ABL focuses on loans for new construction, fix and flip projects, and DSCR (Debt Service Coverage Ratio) loans. He shared insights into ABL's journey from its founding in 2010 as a post-crash startup to its current status as a national provider for builders. Rodman also touched upon the impact of artificial intelligence on mortgage operations and predicted that future success in lending will hinge on the integration of stable capital, advanced technology, and an employee culture that fosters ownership thinking.