CEO of Canada’s leading reverse mortgage lender announces retirement

HomeEquity Bank, the leading reverse mortgage lender in Canada and a Schedule I federal bank in the country, announced on Wednesday that its longtime president and CEO Steven Ranson will retire effective June 30.

“We have achieved what I set out to achieve many years ago; to establish reverse mortgages and HomeEquity Bank as a respected choice for older Canadians,” Ranson said in a statement. “I feel confident that this is the right time to pass the torch to a new leader who will continue to build on our long track record of success.”

Ranson, who first joined the company in 1997 as its CFO, will be succeeded by Katherine “Katie” Dudtschak as the new president and CEO. She is described as an experienced senior executive, having recently left as EVP of Regional Banking at the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).

HomeEquity Bank is Canada’s reverse mortgage market leader, overseeing a burgeoning space that includes competitors like Equitable Bank and Bloom Financial. Ranson has been a key player in the expansion of the company’s market share and relating the product’s potential, co-authoring a book titled “Home Run: The Reverse Mortgage Advantage,” with fellow company executive Yvonne Ziomecki in 2021 and overseeing milestones including surpassing $1 billion CAD in originations in 2022.

Ranson and Ziomecki also made an appearance at the 2019 National Reverse Mortgage Lenders Association (NRMLA) Annual Meeting and Expo held in Nashville, sharing its approach to reverse mortgage advertising with their American counterparts.

The novel and humorous approach to the company’s advertising was reported on by RMD on multiple occasions, including a campaign enlisting former scammer-turned-security consultant Frank Abagnale, Jr. for a campaign designed to inform people about bad actors targeting seniors.