Career moves

Morgan Stanley said John Klopp is joining the company as head of Americas real estate investing and global real estate debt, investing effective February 1. Mr. Klopp is a 30-year veteran of the real estate industry, recently serving as CEO of the investment management and real estate finance firm he co-founded, Capital Trust. During his career he was also a founder and managing partner of private merchant banking boutique Victor Capital Group, a specialist in workouts and distressed debt.

The American Securitization Forum has ended its administrative relationship with the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association and said its acting executive director will now permanently assume that post. "The ASF has been self-funded and self-governed since its inception in 2002 but has utilized certain operational resources of SIFMA," the former trade group said. "That relationship has ended and the ASF will now independently serve the securitization markets to restore credit flow to Main Street." The group has been particularly focused on setting industry guidelines aimed at restoring new issuance in the residential mortgage-backed securities market. The ASF's board unanimously chose Tom Deutsch to permanently serve as the group's executive director. Previous to serving as acting executive director, Mr. Deutsch had been deputy executive director. Executive director George Miller resigned in December, saying he planned to remain professionally connected to the business but in a different capacity.

Mortgage Cadence Inc., Denver, has hired John Levonick as its chief legal and compliance officer. In his previous positions, he worked with creditors, servicers, secondary market participants and technology vendors to provide guidance on compliance with various laws and regulations that affect the industry. At Mortgage Cadence, Mr. Levonick will work closely with clients to identify and manage compliance risk, help interpret compliance requirements, develop risk mitigation strategies and implement the requisite controls in the company's technology platform.

Chuck Greener, Fannie Mae senior vice president of communications, has left the GSE to take a position with Walgreen Co. in Chicago. He joined Fannie Mae in 2001 as senior vice president of communications. During his tenure, he also had served as chief of staff to the chief executive officer. A spokeswoman for the GSE said she does not know whether he will be replaced.

Amalgamated Bank, New York, named James T. Freel to the position of senior vice president and chief real estate officer in its institutional asset management and custody division. Prior to joining Amalgamated Bank, Mr. Freel was a senior vice president in KeyBank's asset recovery group. While at KeyBank, he also served as senior vice president/income property group.

Ronald Barnett joined Mortgage Access Corp., Morris Plains, N.J., as vice president and area manager. He is responsible for developing and managing loan originations in the New Jersey region. Most recently, Mr. Barnett was an area manager for JPMorgan Chase's home lending group and he also worked in a similar capacity for Washington Mutual and Bank of America.

Guild Mortgage, Seattle, appointed Dan Rivisto as district manager, Northwest region. Prior to joining Guild, Mr. Rivisto was a district manager for W.J. Bradley and an area manager for JPMorgan Chase. In 2002, he joined Countrywide Home Loans as an area builder manager for the greater Puget Sound area and was later promoted to first vice president regional builder manager for a four-state region in the Northwest.

Senate Banking Committee chairman Christopher Dodd, D-Conn. said he is not running for re-election in November and wants to spend his last year in office working toward passage of health care reform and financial services regulatory reform. "A year from this week our state will have a new United States Senator. In the meantime we have important work to do," Sen. Dodd said at a press conference. His decision to give up re-election makes its easier for the Connecticut senator to move to the center on regulatory reform issues. It also makes it easier for Republicans to compromise, since passage of a bill to regulate Wall Street and restructure the federal banking agencies will not be viewed as a victory for Sen. Dodd that could boost his re-election chances. One of Dodd's priorities is creating a new federal agency that is charged with protecting consumers from predatory lending and abusive financial products. Senate Banking Committee members are working on a bipartisan proposal that they want to unveil later this month. Sources indicated members are close to an agreement on a consumer protection agency that would have rulemaking authority, but leave enforcement powers with the banking regulators.

Anthony Hsieh, an entrepreneur who previously created and sold LoansDirect and Home Loan Center, has started a new online mortgage company, loanDepot.com which is based in Irvine, Calif. The backers for loanDepot include San Francisco-based private equity company Parthenon Capital Partners. Mr. Hsieh has ambitious plans for the company, projecting the creation of over 1,000 jobs by 2013. Right now it is licensed in 18 states, with plans to be approved nationwide by the end of this year. In support of its business plan, loanDepot cites two studies, including one from National Mortgage News that shows 80% or more of all mortgages originated have touched the Internet at some point in their process. It also pointed to Deloitte Consulting research which found 93% of those who applied for a loan online started their research online, 71% of telephone applicants started their research online and 60% of face-to-face applicants started their research online. The company has already been approved by the Federal Housing Administration as a non-supervised lender.

In lieu of cash bonuses for 2009, the board of Wells Fargo & Co., San Francisco, Calif., has approved multimillion-dollar retention performance shares for three key executives, including the head of Wells Fargo Home and Consumer Finance, Mark Oman. Mr. Oman, a senior executive vice president, and Howard Atkins, also a senior EVP as well as well as the company's chief financial officer, both got approved for a target of 189,800 shares having a current value of about $5 million. The board approved for John Stumpf, president and chief executive officer, a target of 379,600 shares having a current value of about $10 million. "These retention performance shares, which are not a form of cash compensation or annual incentive bonus, are forfeited if the executive receiving the shares leaves the company to work for a competitor," Wells said. The shares will vest after three years of service only if the company meets specified performance goals. A portion of all shares earned by executives as compensation must be held for as long as they remain employed by the company. Steve Sanger, chair of the board's human resources committee and retired chairman and CEO of General Mills Inc., said the executives receiving the compensation have been "leading the company through the largest merger integration in U.S. banking history and they have played key roles in generating record profits in the first three quarters of 2009, despite the challenging economy." Commenting on the rationale behind the performance shares, he noted that given those accomplishments and "the current challenges impacting the banking industry, Wells Fargo executives, at all levels, are being increasingly and aggressively recruited by competitors."

Dorado Corp., San Mateo, Calif., said that Dave Parker has been promoted to vice president, business development. In his new role, Mr. Parker will oversee all aspects of Dorado's business development efforts including technology and value-added reseller partnerships. He previously served as director of business development. In prior roles, he has served as director, sales platform development at Wells Fargo and chief executive officer at Praxis Technology Group. Before Wells Fargo, Mr. Parker served as chief operating officer at MortgageHub.

Barbara Alexander, one of three Freddie Mac directors the Federal Housing Finance Agency left in place after the company was placed into a conservatorship, will step down from the GSE's board once her term ends in March. She is currently chairwoman of the business and risk committee and serves on the compensation and executive committees. Since 2004, Ms. Alexander has been an independent consultant. Before that, she was a senior advisor at UBS Warburg LLC and managing director of the North American construction and furnishing group in the corporate finance department at UBS. She is also an executive fellow at the Joint Center for Housing Studies at Harvard University.

Loan Value Group LLC, Rumson, N.J., has named a chairman and, separately, a managing partner. Richard Santulli, former founder and chairman/chief executive officer of Woodbridge, NJ.-based fractional aircraft ownership firm NetJets Inc., has joined the company's board as chairman. In addition, Michael Goodman, former CEO of structured settlement and annuity payments purchaser J.G. Wentworth and founding partner of Corridor Quadrant, has joined the board through CQ's ownership position in the company. Mr. Goodman also has been named managing partner at LVG. LVG is working with owners of mortgage risk and servicers to influence consumer behavior to help reduce the risk of borrowers choosing to default on their loans because of negative equity.

Marc Savitt, the recent past president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, has launched a new trade group and hopes to have 100,000 new members signed up within a year. "I'm only charging $50 a year membership dues," he said in an interview with National Mortgage News. Mr. Savitt, who owns and operates his own loan brokerage in West Virginia, stressed that he will not be competing against NAMB (he continues to head its HVCC task force) but will gear the efforts of the upstart National Association of Independent Housing Professionals strictly toward government affairs and lobbying outreach. He plans to officially launch the NAIHP next week and already has "a few hundred" committed members. "This organization will be run like a business," he said. Mr. Savitt has been a vocal critic of the Home Valuation Code of Conduct and is pushing for immediate changes to how lenders and brokers order and manage appraisals.

Orange County police have arrested three men for suspicion of breaking into the Newport Coast mansion of former subprime high-flyer Daniel Sadek. According to a report in The Orange County Register, Mr. Sadek founded and managed Quick Loan Funding, which originated roughly $4 billion in subprime mortgages before collapsing in 2007. The newspaper reported that three people at Mr. Sadek's home suffered head injuries during the home invasion, and one of them was taken to the hospital. No word yet on whether Mr. Sadek was present or if he was hurt. The former mortgage chief bought the Newport Coast mansion, a fleet of exotic cars, and enjoyed a little gambling. Court records list cash advances taken out on his credit card at casinos from Hawaiian Gardens to Lebanon, the OCR said.

The president and chief executive of Republic Mortgage Insurance Co., Christopher S. Nard, will become president and chief operating officer of parent company Old Republic International Corp., Chicago. He will keep his current titles at RMIC as well as add the title of chairman. William Simpson, RMIC's most recent chairman, and Jimmy Dew, who was vice chairman, will continue as consultants to ORI's senior management and remain on the boards of ORI and RMIC. Ronald W. Buck will become chief administrative officer at the mortgage insurance subsidiary. In addition, Mark A. Bilbrey was appointed president of Old Republic's title companies. Rande K. Yeager will remain as chairman and chief executive. Being added to the title insurance segment's office of the chief executive are Cheryl A. Jones, executive vice president - human resources and communications, and Charles J. Kovaleski, executive vice president of Old Republic National Title Insurance Co. and president of the Attorneys Title division. This is part of a realignment of reporting responsibilities at ORI, said its chairman and CEO Aldo Zucaro. Most of the changes go into effect on July 1, 2010, he added, although he was unable to supply further specifics.

Mark Hammond, the former president and chief executive of Flagstar Bancorp Inc., Troy, Mich., has cut all of his ties with the company by resigning as vice chairman and as a member of the board of directors of both the holding company and its thrift subsidiary. "I believe that the time is right to focus all of my attention on my future endeavors," said Mr. Hammond in a statement issued by Flagstar. On Oct. 1, Mr. Hammond resigned his president and CEO posts. Joseph P. Campanelli replaced him. Mr. Campanelli later added the chairman's title after the resignation of Thomas Hammond, Mark Hammond's father. Flagstar was the 12th largest residential originator in the third quarter.

ViewPoint Bank, Plano, Texas, has hired former Chase Mortgage executive Ed Bratton to lead its mortgage subsidiary, ViewPoint Bankers Mortgage. Mr. Bratton, who has more than 25 years of mortgage banking experience, will carry the official title of president and CEO. He worked for Chase Mortgage for the past 20 years, recently serving as regional vice president for Texas and other western states. He is also a past president of the Dallas Mortgage Bankers Association. ViewPoint Bankers Mortgage operates 16 loan production offices throughout Texas.

Willie Newman, the former executive vice president of ABN Amro Mortgage Group, has been hired to head up the newly created residential mortgage origination unit at Cole Taylor Bank, Rosemont, Ill. The new affiliate will have offices in several states and source loans from established relationships with mortgage brokers, remote retail origination sites and the bank's retail branches. Cole Taylor Bank said it does not plan to hold the originations in its portfolio but will sell them in the secondary market. "We expect that the addition of this new line of business will be an important new source of fee income for our organization and will provide additional earnings diversification," said Bruce W. Taylor, chairman of Taylor Capital Group Inc., the bank's parent company. "We believe that this is a significant opportunity for us, and we are fortunate to be able to attract an industry leader like Willie Newman for this new line of business." The company expects to start originating mortgage loans in the first quarter of 2010. During his time at AAMG, Mr. Newman also had the title of president of InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending. At Cole Taylor, he will report to Randy Conte, Taylor Capital's chief financial and chief operating officer. Mr. Conte at one time was COO at AAMG.

NetMore America, Walla Walla, Wash., has hired John Cassell as senior vice president of retail production, a newly created position. In his new role, Mr. Cassell is responsible with managing and growing NetMore's Professional Branch System, which it currently has 18 of and that are generating approximately 40% of production. Most recently, he was vice president, division operations manager, wholesale mortgage channel at Wells Fargo & Co. Previously, he worked for Central Pacific Mortgage Co. For the 12-month period ended on Sept. 30, 2009, NetMore's production exceeded $1 billion.