Clayton to Combine Forces with Murrayhill.(Clayton Holdings)(Clayton Services)

Shelton, CT -- Clayton Services and the Murrayhill Co. have united under a newly formed holding company, Clayton Holdings, to combine their front-end and back-end mortgage analytic businesses.

And in a related coup for Clayton Holdings, Frank Filipps, currently head of Radian Guaranty, is slated to become chairman and CEO of Clayton Holdings upon his pending retirement from Radian.

Mr. Filipps, who last year said he would retire from Radian this June, said he had planned to take some time off after leaving the CEO post at Radian after 10 years. That was until representatives from Clayton contacted him.

"We talked about the future of their businesses and where those opportunities could be going, and I saw that there were two very strong, very solid businesses. Both Clayton and Murrayhill have pretty strong, if not dominant, positions in their industry segments," Mr. Filipps told Mortgage Servicing News. "It was a wonderful picture for me to insert myself into."

He said that putting together the platforms from the two firms allows each to expand its mortgage services related to due diligence, surveillance and mortgage analytics. Clayton Services is a provider of integrated loan and portfolio analysis, operations and support, and consulting services to the primary, capital and investor markets. Murrayhill is a Denver-based pioneer in the area of securities surveillance and credit risk management services.

Mr. Filipps said the combined Clayton Holdings has the "intellectual and technology resources to significantly advance the nonconforming lending and securities industries."

Steve Lamando, founder and CEO of Clayton Services, has been named president of Clayton Holdings. He said Clayton has already established itself as the industry leader in the loan and portfolio analysis field, focusing most of its services on processes leading up to securitization. Only recently has Clayton moved toward working with performance data and credit risk management after that stage in the loan lifecycle.