Each month, LuxeSF.com profiles a member of The Luxury Marketing Council of San Francisco. This month we talk with George Rosenfield, President and Co-founder of Triton Funding Group, a highly respected mortgage company that has grown from a small group of seven professionals in 1998 to an organization of over 70 professionals today. Headquartered in San Francisco, Triton Funding Group has closed over $7 billion in mortgage loans since its inception.

LUXESF: Could you provide some background on Triton Funding Group?

ROSENFIELD: We went into business in 1998, my partner Dorian Sarris and I, primarily specializing in residential real estate lending. We started out at that time with one office. We now have three offices, San Francisco, Marin County, Sonoma County, and employ approximately 72 people.

LUXESF: Size of total mortgage portfolio?

ROSENFIELD: The way we measure volume or size is in terms of loans funded. Last year we funded about $853 million in new loans. This year we’ll probably break a billion. We’re probably pushing about $6-7 billion in total volume since inception.

LUXESF: Any average size of home loan? What's the sweet spot for you, size wise?

ROSENFIELD: Low point $400,000. I think the largest one we've done is about $6 million. Our sweet spot is in that $1 to $3 million range. Most of our clients are professional, with multi-income households. We love to do "wild and crazy" transactions, such as TIC's (tenancy-in-common), where you've got several different borrowers that need to all qualify together. We're starting to do a lot of cutting edge financing with new fractional loans. We're one of the first brokerages in San Francisco to have loans specifically targeted at these fractional properties like the new Ritz-Carlton Residences on Market Street . The Fairmont has a new fractional project about to be launched in partnership with Sotheby's International Reality. Ditto with Calistoga Ranch. Again all of these are really focused at the high-end luxury second home buyer. You know, many people don't want the upkeep and the hassle of owning a second home 365 days a year, so these very luxury high end projects sell an interest in that luxury home, whether it be a quarter interest or a ninth interest, or some fraction of a year. Owners can then use it at their discretion.

LUXESF: And that's quite new, in the mortgage business?

ROSENFIELD: Absolutely, because what used to be timeshare ownership has now become fractional ownership. The whole financing structure around it previously was set up along regular consumer credit lines. Now we actually have deeds of trusts and loans that are secured by the property interest, so they're a lot more tradable. They're supposed to be easier to sell and more marketable. They'll be listed on the MLS by realtors as opposed to be given to a timeshare distributor.

LUXESF: Your background?

ROSENFIELD: I was at Peat Marwick and decided to make the move over into mortgage banking. Most of my clients at Peat were real estate-related. When I left Peat, I went to work for one of our clients who was a syndicater/developer and builder of apartment complexes for senior citizens. I worked in their asset management group on the accounting side and that's what really exposed me to the whole development side of the business. From there, I moved over to the operations side of the business and made the move out of the accounting. I then went to work for a small entrepreneurial group which was buying commercial portfolios of loans from the RTC. I found myself in San Francisco in 95, and got into the mortgage business.

LUXESF: What's your funding base?

ROSENFIELD: Well, we operate as a bank, and a brokerage. The bank is a new aspect of our lending group, and we represent about 150 or more banks, financial institutions, insurance companies and investment houses like Merrill Lynch. So we represent and distribute all of their products in addition to Triton Funding Group's bank which has the ability to lend its own money. So we do both.

LUXESF: What separates TFG from the rest of the herd?

ROSENFIELD: It's always been the people. We attract and maintain a really high level of professionalism in our support staff. That's what customers appreciate.

LUXESF: But every company says that. It's a cliché.

ROSENFIELD: We're different ...

LUXESF: Where's the difference?

ROSENFIELD: Triton's been named as one of the best companies to work for in the Bay area. We were voted the best company in 2005 by GGBA. A lot of people might give lip service, but we actually deliver. We give back to the community; our people are actively involved in different organizations.

LUXESF: But how does that relate to the customer?

ROSENFIELD: The customer feels good about the experience because they know that they're getting service from a person who is top notch. The referral rate for our business, from past clients, is almost 70%. So our clients really respect the work that we do for them, otherwise they wouldn't refer us as much as they do

LUXESF: Are you personally on the firing line ... are you out there closing deals?

ROSENFIELD: Every day. I maintain my own personal book of business, and I have a team that supports me here with all of our clients. We have about 700 past clients that continue to do business with us.

LUXESF: Primary marketing strategy? What is it for the firm?

ROSENFIELD: It's interesting. I learned a lot from that seminar that you just had last week, particularly the fact that word-of-mouth marketing is still the best tactic in luxury marketing. And in analyzing our own business and looking at where most of our business comes from, what we've decided to do, as a company and me personally, is really get back to our clients ... adding value to them in terms of continually providing them with information once they've closed their loan; reviewing market strategies; keeping in touch with them by reaching out to them at various times throughout the year; having different events that bring them back into the fold.

LUXESF: Such as?

ROSENFIELD: Last month we had a museum cocktail party. The month before that, we took a hundred people to a ball game. We're in the midst of planning a mystery bus ride in September for a lot of our past clients. So re-engaging them allows us to chat with them, catch up with them and remain a part of their lives. And that in turn, really is the source of the referral business. It keeps us forefront in their minds

LUXESF: You mentioned before that you were rated the # 1 company in the Bay Area by GGBA last year. How dominant are you in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Trans-gender) sector?

ROSENFIELD: We're a big part of it. We're a gay owned business, and so, giving back to that community is very important to us. However, as a company, we look like the population of San Francisco at large. So we are not a predominantly gay company any longer. Our business now is really focused on the marketplace at large. Everyone is a potential client.

LUXESF: Then you're also mainstream as well?

ROSENFIELD: Oh, absolutely.

LUXESF: Triton, ten years down the road, what does it look like?

ROSENFIELD: It's going to be a lot bigger than it is today.

LUXESF: You're doing a billion a year

ROSENFIELD: I would love to be doing five times that.

LUXESF: Do you see yourself as an acquisition candidate?

ROSENFIELD: There's a huge consolidation happening in the financial arena, and I think that anyone who is not looking for partnership opportunities is foolish. One of the reasons we launched the bank was to give us a marketing edge over a lot of the other brokerage shops. That I believe will make us more marketable down the road to different banks and financial institutions. So, yes, we're probably an acquisition candidate eventually.

LUXESF: What about a geographical expansion? Still primarily California? Still primarily Bay Area?

ROSENFIELD: Definitely, headquarter in San Francisco , California is a wide open territory, and if you look at the bulk of where home loans are done, it's on the two coasts. I think it would be difficult for us in our current format to take on a bigger geographical territory than California. We do lend in multiple states ...

LUXESF: Second homes?

ROSENFIELD: Exactly, so we do lend outside of California.

LUXESF: Can you preserve the Triton culture as you grow?

ROSENFIELD: Absolutely. We're in the midst of a huge recruiting campaign right now, and part of that process is maintaining the culture, maintaining the identity, looking for people who fit what we believe Triton Funding is all about. We don't open our doors to everybody. We're very selective, and the people who are attracted to us, and who we end up bringing in, embody our spirit and culture.

LUXESF: If I was to say to you, give me descriptive attributes or words that would describe the culture of the organization, what would they be?

ROSENFIELD: Definitely "caring". This is a business all about helping people. It's very daunting for people to finance a home. We're talking about multi-million dollar purchases that in many cases they just can't fathom. And it's often the biggest and most important purchase they'll ever make. So there is the care, the empathy, the actual financial acuity that you have to provide to help them through the process. The best thing someone can say to us is "you changed my life". When someone says that, it's the best compliment you can get.

LUXESF: If there was a message you wanted to send to the real estate community, what would your message be?

ROSENFIELD: One of the things that Triton is best at is partnering with people. We have the ability and the desire to help our partners grow their businesses, and, in turn, be one of the biggest funding groups in San Francisco.

LUXESF: Do you do business with all the major real estate firms?

ROSENFIELD: Yes, and 60% of our business is purchase business, which is huge, especially given that much of the real estate loan transaction business has been refinance-driven. I think that's what sets us apart. People see us as a purchase business.

LUXESF: Predictions for Bay Area real estate market. Take us three years out.

ROSENFIELD: I think real estate, as with anything, is going to have its ups and downs. I think we're seeing a huge saturation affect right now. Some of the product South of Market is selling between $1200-1600 a foot, which is just ludicrous in terms of "net price per square foot" standards for this type of product. Yet, as soon as they deliver a building, it's probably sold out.

LUXESF: Why do you think that is?

ROSENFIELD: Well, San Francisco is San Francisco. There's only so much space in San Francisco. So many people want to be part of it; people dream of moving here; as people make their money elsewhere around the world, they somehow want to get here, and difficult to quantify in the day- to-day dealings that we do. I see it continuing to grow; I see huge opportunities when you look at all the biotech that's getting build beyond the ball park. And even though office vacancy rates still haven't fully recovered from the dotcom fallout, what will it mean as new businesses and new industries form in San Francisco? Obviously that will attract additional people and more bodies, and more places to live. I just see the market as a huge continuum moving forward. It'll be interesting to see in the next ten years what happens with Treasure Island . It's funny to think back ten years ago. There was no light rail along the Embarcadero. There was no ball park. There was no South of Market really beyond this building right here (pointing to Rincon Tower). And look at what ten years has brought. Take it another ten years out. Look at the renaissance taking place ... multiple buildings coming down and new high rise towers going up ... mixed use type structures coming in. Downtown is becoming "Manhattanised".

LUXESF: The Luxury Marketing Council. Any impressions at this early stage?

ROSENFIELD: Yes. One of the things I’ve been most impressed with and one of the things that I want to really try and get out of it, is how can we work together? I think that the real marketing power of companies like Triton and or companies associated with this group is how can we leverage each other's capabilities and strengths. We share the same clientele. We all have the same people buying our brands. How then can we share that brand loyalty, really help each other to increase sales and increase customer buying. I think that's what the power of this group can be, if people embrace it.