It’s been a family affair at Title Guaranty.
The state’s oldest and largest title and escrow company, which has been overseen by three generations of the Pietsch family, is preparing to showcase the 123-year-old firm in a new progressive light with a large invitation-only client event Dec. 2 at the
Pacific Club.
The company said it plans to share its vision for the future, reveal its new branding, and formally
announce the promotion of Mike B. Pietsch, 41, to president and chief operating officer. His previous
title was COO.
Title Guaranty also will show a video to the audience that both articulates the company’s past and how it is evolving for the future. The company said its partnership with Fidelity National Financial, which acquired a majority stake of Title Guaranty in 2017, will open many doors for it in the future, including advanced technology and cybercrime protection. Title Guaranty is still locally run and the Pietsch family continues to maintain a small ownership stake of the company.
Today, Title Guaranty has approximately 350 employees and 17 branches statewide.
“My father, when he started the abstract company, it was just a small service company and I don’t think he had any idea it would grow into such a large institution and play a role in Hawaii,” CEO Michael A. Pietsch, 73, said in the video. “Title Guaranty has been in business for over 120 years, and probably the reason we have been successful for those 120 years is the relationships we have built.”
Title Guaranty’s roots date back to 1896 with
Makinney &Company, an abstractor of land titles. In 1952, David T. Pietsch Sr. and Kenneth Makinney merged their companies
to form Title Guaranty.
David T. Pietsch Sr., now deceased, was the father to three sons — David T. Pietsch Jr. and James W.
Pietsch, both who are retired from Title Guaranty, and Michael A. Pietsch.
Michael A. Pietsch’s son is Mike B. Pietsch.
“Our clients are Realtors, lenders and they’re on the front line with their clients, and so they have to deliver a very simple, clear real
estate transaction process,” Mike B. Pietsch said in the video. “And a lot of that process is driven from our execution of title and
escrow work.”
Mike B. Pietsch said he expects the Hawaii real
estate market to remain
robust.
“Although we are currently at the tail end of
one of the longest real
estate cycles in history, the Hawaii real estate market has continued to be strong,” he said in an email. “We are projecting 2020 to be another strong year for Hawaii.”
Michael A. Pietsch said the partnership with Fidelity should help Title Guaranty evolve with the times.
“Where we’re going to
be in five years we don’t know, but what we want to do is be ready for it,” he said. “So every time there’s a change with technology or a change in the industry we’ve got to sort of be with it or get ahead of it. And if we can do that, then we’ll have a great future.”
