Joel Hand

I grew up in an era when family, friendships and life was much less complicated. I was taught to be a good person and respect others. I learned early in life how to conduct myself in business by watching my father’s work habits. He went to work six days each week, worked long hours, returned every telephone call and never left his job until he had finished. These little childhood experiences shaped my life and molded me into the type of person I believe I should be. I went to college from 1957-61 at the University of Bridgeport and majored in Business Administration. I met my wife, Francine, in my senior year, and we were married in 1963. We are still married today, 43 years later. We made our marriage work. We have two children (Rebecca…doctor, and Aaron…mortgage broker). And four grandchildren (Eliot, Lilah, Dylan and Cameron) and spend a great deal of time together. After college I chose Wall Street as a career and bounced around from job to job for fifteen years. I moved to Long Island and bought a home. I actually moved away from Westchester. In 1977 I started a small private mortgage company with my wife and slowly expanded it. In 1984 I became licenses by the NYS Banking Department as a licensed mortgage banker and started originating loans and selling then to banks and other institutions. I also joined in with several Wall Street brokerage firms and banks in the starting of “securitization of mortgages.” I then decided to expand the business into other states. During the following 18 years the business grew dramatically. I opened offices throughout the country, lending in 42 states, becoming the largest private mortgage company in the U.S. In January, 2000 I successfully sold the company and retired to a life of managing investments and trading stocks and bonds. I achieved and exceeded all goals I had set for myself. I now live in Manhattan in the winter, East Hampton in the summer and travel extensively. I also spend lots of time with my family.