JPMorgan Chase has appointed Bhavesh Patel to lead client management for the bank’s correspondent lending channel.

As director of client management, Patel will focus on improving the client experience and driving future growth for the business, which is growing at a faster rate than the bank’s more traditional retail arm. He will report to Terry Lindsey, head of correspondent lending for Chase, and is based in Houston, the bank said Thursday.

Prior to his appointment, Patel was managing director on the corporate client banking mortgage finance team, where he covered nonbank mortgage originators, mortgage REITs and mortgage servicers across the country. He was responsible for delivering credit, treasury services, investment banking, asset management and home lending products to his clients. He joined JPMorgan Chase in 2003.

Chase, the nation’s largest depository bank, increased mortgage origination volume to $32.5 billion in the fourth quarter, a 12% gain from the prior quarter. Those gains came primarily from its correspondent lending arm. Its retail originations actually fell slightly in the fourth quarter, likely due to a rise in coronavirus cases across the country (see page 15).

Overall, retail originations declined to $20.1 billion in the fourth quarter from $20.7 billion in the third quarter, according to the bank’s earnings statement. Correspondent volume increased to $12.4 billion, way above the prior quarter’s $8.3 billion in volume.

As of the fourth quarter, Chase still wasn’t back to its pre-pandemic origination volumes. Like other big depository banks, it has ceded market share to a slew of nonbank lenders, including Rocket Companies, United Wholesale Mortgage, Guaranteed Rate, LoanDepot, Homepoint.

JPMorgan Chase is slated to have its first quarter earnings call on April 14.