
Leighton A. Hunley
Leighton Hunley is a principal and financial consultant with the Milwaukee office of Milliman. He joined the firm in 2002.
Experience
Leighton is highly experienced in credit risk consulting, including mortgage, auto, and student loan exposures, state housing programs, mortgage insurance, and loan defect insurance. With extensive expertise in mortgage market analytics and financial modeling for lenders and start-ups, Leighton has successfully led projects for mortgage insurers, reinsurers, property and casualty insurers, tenant default insurers, and top-tier financial institutions, including state housing finance agencies, credit unions, venture capitalists, and government entities.
Leighton stands out in creating innovative solutions for clients, offering comprehensive consulting services that address critical challenges in the credit and insurance industries. His skills extend to down payment assistance loan modeling, state housing finance agency consulting, mortgage loan loss reserves, and the development of mortgage surveillance and reporting systems. In his recent work, Leighton designed and implemented advanced mortgage performance dashboards, enabling clients to monitor and improve portfolio performance.
He also spearheaded the development of a cutting-edge modeling framework that integrates climate change impacts on mortgages with catastrophe and credit risk models, providing invaluable insights to mortgage investors and key stakeholders. Leighton’s work is grounded in a commitment to delivering actionable insights through sophisticated data visualizations, making him a trusted advisor in financial modeling and risk management for the mortgage and broader financial sectors.
Leighton has authored many essays and articles on topics, including mortgage credit risk, auto lending, student lending, and climate change. Examples of Leighton’s publications include the following:
- Milliman Mortgage Default Index (Quarterly).
- Milliman Mortgage Repurchase Index (Quarterly).
- Uncharted Roads: Navigating the new reality of auto lending. October 2025.
- A Pathway to Homeownership: Housing finance agencies and down payment assistance programs. September 2025.
- Climate Change: Challenges for Insurance and Housing Markets. Research Institute for Housing America, MBA, March 2023.
- Climate Risk Assessment and Scenario Analysis. Society of Actuaries, February 2023.
- The new normal: Fundamental changes in the mortgage market and the rise of non-QM loans. November 2022.
- Unpriced Cost of Flooding: An Emerging Risk for Homeowners and Lenders. Milliman Insight, January 2022.
- Student loans and regulation: A bumpy ride for borrowers. Milliman Insight, February 2019.
- Current Expected Credit Loss: Implementation and Implications. MBA Member White Paper Program, April 2014.
- MBA, Focus in Financial Strategy, University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee
- BBA, Finance, Investments and Banking, University of Wisconsin–Madison
- BBA, Risk Management and Insurance, University of Wisconsin–Madison