Page 8 - General Recruiting Booklet

REZA JAHANGIRI, FOUNDER AND CEO AMERICAN ADVISORS
GROUP, OUTSIDE ITS EIGHT-STORY HEADQUARTERS NEAR THE
OUTLETS AT ORANGE SHOPPING CENTER.

BY JEFF COLINS
AUGUST 31, 2017

How Tom Selleck Helped
a Reverse Mortgage Lender

Rise to the Top

He’s not a celebrity. You’ve never heard his name; you’ve probably
never heard of his company.

But if you watch late-night TV you’ve seen his company’s ads. They’re the spots
that feature Tom Selleck, the mustachioed star of “Blue Bloods” and, long-ago,
“Magnum P.I.,” as the pitchman for reverse mortgages.
Reza Jahangiri knows the power of celebrity. He’s used it to push his Orange-
based company — reverse mortgage lender American Advisors Group — to No. 1
in the nation.

In recent years, revenue at AAG has more than tripled, from $63 million in 2012
to $216 million last year. The number of jobs he’s created has jumped even faster,
from 300 five years ago to more than 1,200 today. A new batch of recruits joins
AAG every two weeks. Two-year veterans say they feel like old timers.
But those reassuring Tom Selleck ads are just one reason AAG originates one
fourth of the nation’s reverse mortgages.

Jahangiri — the skateboarding, guitar-playing son of Iranian refugees — is
another.

“I think Reza has tremendous vision, and he sees where his company and the
entire industry can go,” said Jim Mahoney, a long-time industry leader and
chairman of Celink, a reverse-mortgage servicer.

“He brought in the best talent possible to build a first-class organization. … He’s a
person who rolls up his sleeves on any topic and finds the best solutions.”

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