Career moves

Amy Brandt, who was the chief executive officer of WMC Mortgage Co. during that alternative-A lender's salad days, has returned to the industry by buying two servicers and an Internet originator. Vantium Capital Inc., her private-equity firm, was planning to announce that it has acquired the assets of Strategic Recovery Group LLC, a Plano, Texas-based company that collects on defaulted and charged-off debts; its Acqura Loan Services LLC, which manages subprime portfolios; and Strategic Recovery's online-only lending business, which uses the brand name Go Financial Solutions. Vantium, a New York company, would not make executives available for interviews. In a press release, Ms. Brandt said, "We will use these companies as a platform to develop, or acquire, new businesses that will serve the financial and investment markets." The firm did not say how much it paid for any of the assets. It has financial backing from Leon Black's Apollo Global Management LLC, the New York private-equity firm that sold WMC Mortgage to General Electric Co. in 2004. Acqura is to service assets bought by a Vantium fund managed by Michael Commaroto, the former head of private-label mortgage-backed securities at Deutsche Bank AG, Vantium said.

Bank of America late Monday fired Drew Gissinger, a top production executive at Countrywide Home Loans who was in charge of retail, wholesale, and correspondent lending, according to company officials. Also let go were: Brian Hale, president of retail; Charlie Rogers, managing director of Countrywide's nationwide retail network; and Tom Hunt, managing director of the western U.S. retail branch network. Mr. Gissinger once carried the title of president and chief operating officer of Countrywide Home Loans. Meanwhile, BoA named Craig Buffie the top executive in charge of sales and fulfillment, overseeing 14,000 employees in the mortgage group. BoA bought Countrywide on July 1.

Daniel Farr has been named chief financial officer of CBRE Realty Finance Inc., Hartford, Conn. Mr. Farr, currently manager of financial planning and analysis at the company, will succeed Michael A. Angerthal, who resigned to become CFO of Phoenix Investment Partners. Mr. Farr, 34, was previously employed by General Electric Capital Corp. and Deloitte & Touche LLP. CBRE Realty Finance also announced the appointment of Ryan Murray as chief accounting officer. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.cbrerealtyfinance.com.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency has appointed John A. Koskinen the new chairman of Freddie Mac and Philip Laskawy the chairman of Fannie Mae. "Good corporate governance at the enterprises is especially important right now, and I appreciate the willingness of both of these men to provide board leadership during these challenging times," FHFA Director James Lockhart said. The GSE regulator dismissed the chairmen and boards of directors of Fannie and Freddie when the government-sponsored enterprises were placed in conservatorship Sept. 7. Mr. Koskinen was president of the Palmieri Co., which specialized in restructuring troubled companies and provided management services for the Resolution Trust Corp. He also served at the Office of Management and Budget as deputy director. Mr. Laskawy was chairman and chief executive of Ernst & Young until he retired in 2001. "Both of these individuals have the types of skills and experience needed to ensure a healthy financial future for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac," Mr. Lockhart said.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted Francis Creighton to be the trade group's chief lobbyist. He replaces Erick Gustafson, who is leaving the MBA to head the government relations department of a multinational company. The new vice president and chief lobbyist will be responsible for leading the federal and state legislative activities of the association, according to MBA senior vice president Steve O'Connor. "His background and leadership skills are an ideal fit for managing the day-to-day responsibilities of our legislative and political teams," Mr. O'Connor said. On Capitol Hill, Mr. Creighton previously worked for Rep. Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and the late Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan, D-N.Y.

Zack Boyers has been named chairman and chief executive officer of St. Louis-based U.S. Bancorp Community Development Corp., an investor in affordable housing developments. Mr. Boyers, who has 14 years of tax credit investment and banking experience, will be responsible for providing strategic direction and leadership to USBCDC's community development team. He started his banking career with Mark Twain Bank, now part of U.S. Bank, and later took a position as a specialist on affordable housing and historic tax credits with the organization in 1998. Since 2003, Mr. Boyers has served in a senior management role with the Historic and New Markets Tax Credit Investments product division. USBCDC is a subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, which can be found on the Web at http://www.usbank.com.

James J. LeKachman has been named executive vice president of National City Corp., Cleveland, with responsibility for liquidating assets remaining from mortgage-related and other businesses exited by National City. Mr. LeKachman was most recently global risk analytics leader at GE Money, and he was previously employed by Bank One Card Services, Sapient Corp., and American Management Systems, among other companies. National City announced in January that it would exit all "broker-based" mortgage lending and shut down its wholesale unit. The company said its $20 billion in liquidating portfolios include First Franklin-linked subprime loans, broker-originated National Home Equity portfolios, construction loans formerly originated by National City Mortgage, and mortgages related to other discontinued origination channels, as well as indirect automotive and recreation finance assets. The company can be found online at http://www.nationalcity.com.

Kerry Killinger, who built Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, into the nation's largest thrift and one of the nation's largest mortgage lenders, has been removed as chief executive officer of the company. The new CEO is Alan H. Fishman, formerly president and chief operating officer of Sovereign Bank, Philadelphia, and before that, president and CEO of Independence Community Bank, Brooklyn, N.Y., which is now part of Sovereign. WaMu has entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Office of Thrift Supervision covering several areas of risk management, including its Bank Secrecy Act compliance program. WaMu will also provide the OTS with an updated, multiyear business plan and forecasts for its earnings, asset quality, capital, and business segment performance. However, WaMu said it is not being required to raise capital. Mr. Killinger was removed as WaMu's chairman in June and replaced by Stephen E. Frank. WaMu was the nation's fifth-largest mortgage servicer at the end of the second quarter.

UBS and Wachovia Securities have separately named new global heads for their fixed-income units, whose responsibilities include mortgage-related securities. UBS has named Carsten Kengeter as global head of fixed income, currencies, and commodities within its investment bank, and Wachovia has named Craig Overlander as managing director and global head of fixed income. (Mr. Overlander will assume his post on Sept. 15.) Mr. Kengeter was previously a partner and co-head of Goldman Sachs' securities division for Asia ex-Japan, with responsibility for all FICC products. Mr. Overlander was previously managing director and co-head of fixed income at Bear Stearns.

Michael Nierenberg from JP Morgan will be joining New York-based Merrill Lynch & Co. to head global mortgages and securitized products businesses, and James De Mare from Citigroup will also be joining to run the company's mortgage trading operations. Mr. Nierenberg will report directly to Thomas K. Montag, head of global sales and trading, and Mr. De Mare will report to Mr. Nierenberg. Mr. Nierenberg was most recently JP Morgan's head of global securitized products, a position he held after moving to that firm following its purchase of Bear Stearns earlier this year. Mr. Nierenberg joined Bear Stearns in 1994, moving quickly through the ranks to hold positions such as head of interest rate and foreign exchange trading operations, co-head of structured products and co-head of mortgage-backed securities trading. Before Bear Stearns, Mr. Nierenberg spent seven years at Lehman Brothers, where he was instrumental in building up that firm's adjustable rate mortgage business. Mr. De Mare was with Citigroup for 11 years, having most recently served as the global head of mortgage trading, which included the trading of all securitized products in Citigroup's fixed income currencies and commodities group. He joined Salomon Brothers in 1997 to run its adjustable rate trading business. Prior to joining Salomon in 1997, Mr. De Mare traded agency and non-agency adjustable rate mortgages at Bear Stearns and Prudential Securities.

RBS Greenwich Capital, Greenwich, Conn., has announced an expansion of its mortgage business via the addition of 16 professionals to its mortgage-backed securities team, 15 of them from Bear, Stearns & Co. Leading the new hires is Scott Eichel, who will co-head asset-backed and mortgage trading with RBS veteran David Cannon. The other 15 new employees include seven traders and eight salespeople who join RBS's institutional MBS sales team, the company said. RBS, a wholly owned subsidiary of The Royal Bank of Scotland, can be found online at http://www.rbsgc.com.

Wells Fargo executive vice president Mark Oman -- who made the bank into the mortgage powerhouse it is today -- says he will retire from the company by the end of 2009. Mr. Oman oversees four business groups, including mortgages and card services, which will continue to report to him for the time being. Wells is the nation's second-largest residential lender and servicer, second only to Bank of America/Countrywide, according to figures compiled by the Quarterly Data Report. Over the past 15 years Wells has grown rapidly in mortgages by purchasing nonbank residential firms and merging with other depositories. Under Mr. Oman, Wells also ventured into subprime lending -- once ranking first in that niche -- but has yet to suffer the traumatic losses experienced by other firms. Mr. Oman joined Wells' predecessor bank, Norwest, in 1979 and was named mortgage chief in 1985. Wells Fargo can be found on the Web at http://www.wellsfargo.com.

A management shakeup at Fannie Mae has placed Peter Niculescu in charge of the single-family business and capital markets and named David Hisey the new chief financial officer. Fannie president and chief executive Daniel Mudd said the restructuring is needed to meet the company's goals of conserving capital and controlling credit losses. Mr. Niculescu, executive vice president for capital markets, will replace company veteran and chief business officer Robert Levin, who is retiring. Mr. Hisey will replace CFO Stephen Swad, and Michael Shaw will be the new credit risk officer, replacing Enrico Dallavecchia. "Rob, Steve, and Enrico have all offered to advise and provide any assistance possible to their successors and teams as we put this restructuring in place," Mr. Mudd said. Fannie can be found on the Web at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Frederick B. "Bart" Harvey III, a leader in promoting affordable housing, has been elected to the board of directors of Fannie Mae. Mr. Harvey, 59, retired as chairman of Enterprise Community Partners in March after 24 years with the foundation, of which he was chief executive officer from 1994 to 2007. Fannie Mae said Mr. Harvey worked with Congress to help create the Low Income Housing Tax Credit. "Bart is a perfect addition to Fannie Mae's board -- his life's work represents everything our mission is about: harnessing private enterprise to expand affordable, sustainable housing opportunities," said Daniel H. Mudd, Fannie's president and CEO. Fannie can be found online at http://www.fanniemae.com.

Five X Securities Inc., Oakton, Va., has been formed to provide what it terms "high-quality real estate opportunities to individual investors," and Daniel Young has been appointed as principal and chief executive officer. The independent broker-dealer said it will initially focus on the apartment sector, as well as seek out opportunities in the industrial and office sectors. "We fully intend to identify investment opportunities and craft institutional-quality deals of the type previously unavailable to individuals," Mr. Young said. "These deals will feature low fees and an alignment of interest between the sponsor and the investor. And it is our intent to distribute to high-net-worth individuals." Mr. Young, 41, had been president and CEO of NFP Securities, Austin, Texas, since 2007, and he previously spent eight years with New York Life Insurance Co. as president and CEO of NY Life Securities and Eagle Strategies, both in New York City.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has promoted Jay Brinkmann to be the trade group's chief economist and senior vice president for research and economics. Mr. Brinkmann joined the MBA in 2001, and the economist has been in charge of research for much of that time. He previously worked at Fannie Mae in the portfolio strategy and credit pricing areas. He replaces Douglas Duncan, who left the MBA in February to be Fannie's chief economist. Mr. Brinkmann has a Ph.D. in finance from Purdue University and a master of business administration from Tulane University.

Loan officer Yale Bertolucci says he is owed $5,650 by Central Pacific Mortgage of Folsom, Calif., a defunct mortgage firm controlled and managed by incoming Mortgage Bankers Association president John Courson. In a recent interview with National Mortgage News, Mr. Bertolucci said he has a state-sanctioned judgment against the company for unpaid wages, adding that he is none too happy that Mr. Courson (who closed CPM in early 2007 after it couldn't handle loan buyback requests from investors) is now in charge of the nation's large mortgage trade group. "He left thousands of employees without their last paychecks," said Mr. Bertolucci, who has yet to collect on his judgment. Mr. Courson declined to comment directly on the judgment. A spokeswoman for the MBA said, "John was trying to sell the company [CPM]. When the sale didn't happen, he was forced to close it. He was unable to make the last payroll." She said there are at least eight judgments against CPM. "I don't know the amounts," the spokeswoman said. "The judgments are against CPM, not John."

Frank Pallotta, a former Morgan Stanley mortgage origination executive, has become chief executive officer and owner of his own company, Steel Curtain Capital Group LLC, Mahwah, N.J. Mr. Pallotta was previously a managing director in Morgan Stanley's fixed-income division. He said his new company specializes in distressed/real estate-owned assets.

Lisa Schreiber has been named chief strategy officer of NetMore America Inc., a regional mortgage lender based in Walla Walla, Wash.The company said Ms. Schreiber will be responsible for defining and implementing a strategy to build NetMore into "the next-generation mortgage banker." Ms. Schreiber has more than 22 years of mortgage industry experience in retail operations and sales, wholesale operations, mortgage insurance, and secondary marketing. Most recently, she founded LSK Consultants LLC. She was previously executive vice president of American Brokers Conduit, a wholesale mortgage lender, and regional vice president at Bank of America Mortgage. NetMore can be found online at http://www.netmoreamerica.com.

Ted Janulis, global head of mortgage capital and a longtime executive at Lehman Brothers, is said to be retiring. A Lehman Brothers spokesman would not comment on the departure, and Mr. Janulis, 49, could not be reached for comment. But sources said that market conditions that have caused the Wall Street firm and some of its peers largely to withdraw from the global origination business have led to an amicable split between the executive and the company. He has been with the company for 23 years and started out in the mortgage business at the firm, but he was also involved in investment management from 2002 to 2006 before shifting back into the mortgage area.