Career moves

Richard Winter, founder of The Winter Group, which ran a modest-sized trading desk that specialized in home equity loans, has left the organization, MortgageWire has learned. At deadline time, neither the company nor Mr. Winter could be reached for comment. The firm is based in New York. TWG, owned by Shinsei Bank of Japan, also operates a specialty servicer based in Colorado. That business, according to servicing brokers, is now being shopped around to potential buyers. One broker said its portfolio could total upwards of $8 billion (including subservicing contracts), but could not say for sure.

Bobby Tesney, a director of Cavalier Homes Inc., Addison, Ala., has been named interim president and chief executive officer of the company. Mr. Tesney succeeds David Roberson, who voluntarily resigned as president, CEO, and director of Cavalier as of Aug. 15. Barry Mixon, a division president of Cavalier at the time of his retirement on Dec. 31, 2007, has agreed to return to the company as executive vice president, Cavalier said. The company's board of directors will engage in a search for a permanent president and CEO.

Stephen C. Dominiak, a veteran of 20 years in the real estate industry, has been named executive vice president and chief investment officer of BRE Properties Inc., San Francisco, effective Sept. 2. Mr. Dominiak, 44, will manage a 57-member team of development, acquisition, and construction professionals in Southern California, Northern California, and Seattle, BRE Properties said. Before joining BRE, his most recent position was divisional president and managing partner for JPI's western division. He also served as group vice president for Archstone-Smith Trust in Southern California and as division vice president for BRE in Southern California. BRE, a real estate investment trust that specializes in developing, acquiring, and managing apartments in the Western states, can be found online at http://www.breproperties.com.

David Jacob has been named executive managing director and head of structured finance ratings at Standard & Poor's Ratings Services. Mr. Jacob replaces Vickie Tillman, who has been acting head since January when Joanne Rose became executive managing director for risk and quality policy at S&P. The rating agency termed Mr. Jacob "a pioneer in the securitization industry" with 25 years of experience in fixed-income investment analysis and the structured finance markets. Most recently a principal with Adelson & Jacob Consulting, he previously led the Structuring Department at Nomura Securities International and was later managing director and head of international fixed-income research. He was managing director and head of fixed-income research at JPMorgan, and served as vice president and head of quantitative analytics at Morgan Stanley. S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

James A. Kirchmeyer has been named president of Zaio Corp., a real estate database and technology provider based in Scottsdale, Ariz., and he will also serve as a member of the board of directors. Mr. Kirchmeyer founded Kirchmeyer & Associates, a real estate appraisal company, in 1994 and Real Info Inc., a real estate valuation and data company specializing in automated valuation models, in 1995. Zaio acquired both companies in June 2007.

Platinum Home Mortgage Corp., a residential mortgage lender based in Rolling Meadows, Ill., has announced that H.A. Tony Davis has been appointed senior executive vice president of the company's Midwest Expansion Division. Mr. Davis, who will be responsible for residential origination and operations, is a former president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers and has over 24 years of experience in residential mortgage originations and operations, the company said. Before joining Platinum Home Mortgage, he owned and operated Preferred Mortgage Associates, an independent mortgage broker in Illinois, and later held senior positions with Countrywide Home Loans and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. Platinum Home Mortgage can be found online at http://www.platinumhomemortgage.com.

Ben M. Cornish has been named senior vice president and chief operating officer for China at AMB Property Corp., a new position at the San Francisco-based global developer and owner of industrial real estate. Mr. Cornish, 39, was most recently president of GMS China, a developer of retail properties throughout China. He was previously in charge of China real estate development for Wal-Mart International for five years, and he also served as managing director for Southeast Asia at Koll Development and developed warehouses for Trammell Crow in both the United States and China. AMB Property can be found online at http://www.amb.com.

MountainView Capital Holdings LLC, a Denver-based provider of analytic and trading services to institutional investors in the mortgage industry, has announced the hiring of Brent Giese as a managing director. Mr. Giese will join MountainView's whole loan sales and trading unit. He will be located in New York, and will help expand MountainView's coverage of institutional accounts in the Northeast, the company said. Before joining MountainView, Mr. Giese spent more than 10 years at Bear Stearns in New York, where he was most recently a managing director, co-head of the New York mortgage origination sales group, and producing manager of the Bear/EMC correspondent sales team. MountainView can be found on the Web at http://www.mvcg.com.

Kevin Kaltenbach has been named executive vice president and director of corporate development for Senior Financial Corp., a privately held reverse mortgage company with corporate offices in Rocklin, Calif., and Renton, Wash. Mr. Kaltenbach, who has also been appointed to Senior Financial's board of directors, entered the reverse mortgage industry in 2001. Before joining Senior Financial, he was executive vice president and board member of Southern California-based American Senior Funding, according to Senior Financial.

GE Real Estate, Norwalk, Conn., has named Michael Rowan president of its Americas Equity unit, which sources and manages global investments in office, multifamily, industrial, retail, and parking asset classes. Mr. Rowan has been managing director of GERE's United Kingdom region, where he increased assets for both debt and equity from about $2 billion to more than $8 billion, according to the company. In his new position, he will be responsible for leading all GERE's equity investing operations, which include venture investments, direct investments, the Arden and InterPark operating platforms, its Canadian and Mexican equity investment portfolios, and emerging markets equity investing in South America.

Michael A. Ernst has been named executive vice president of finance of Harvard Property Trust LLC and for both Behringer Advisors LLC (the adviser for Behringer Harvard REIT I Inc.) and HPT Management Services LP (the property manager for the REIT). Mr. Ernst was most recently executive vice president and chief financial officer of UDR Inc., a publicly traded real estate investment trust. Before joining UDR, Mr. Ernst was executive vice president and CFO of Prentiss Properties Trust. Behringer Harvard, an Addison, Texas-based commercial real estate company, can be found on the Web at http://www.behringerharvard.com.

Michael N. Loukas has been named executive vice president of the securities division at Thompson National Properties LLC, Irvine, Calif. Mr. Loukas was previously regional vice president at Security Benefit Group. He previously held various positions with Maya Capital Advisors LLC, the Kelmoore Investment Co., and CIBC Oppenheimer. Thompson National provides value-added real estate investment opportunities and asset management to high-net-worth investors.

Great Florida Bank, Coral Gables, Fla., has announced an expansion of its residential lending division with the hiring of three new managing directors. The new directors are Chris Buttafuoco, Todd Roderiquez, and Ed Wilburn, all of whom were previously managing partners at Capital Mortgage LLC. Mr. Roderiquez was also that company's chief financial officer. The expansion of Great Florida's residential lending will also bring the addition of new programs to the bank's product lineup, including fixed- and adjustable-rate first-lien conforming loans, Federal Housing Administration loans, and other loans designed for low- and moderate-income borrowers, the bank said. The bank can be found on the Web at http://www.greatfloridabank.com.

Mortgage lender TCF Financial Corp., Wayzata, Minn., says William Cooper will be returning to the company as its chief executive officer. Mr. Cooper holds the chairman title, but he had been the lender's CEO from 1985 to 2005. He will continue as chairman of the board, in addition to filling the new CEO position. Current CEO Lynn Nagorske is retiring. He had succeeded Mr. Cooper as CEO in 2006. According to one analyst, Mr. Cooper made it clear that no one had been asked to leave. As at many financial institutions, the stock price at TCF has been hit hard during the nation's mortgage crisis. The company can be found online at http://www.tcfbank.com.

Brian R. DiDonato has been named a senior partner at Sorin Capital Management LLC, an independent investment firm based in Stamford, Conn., where he will be responsible for commercial real estate debt, among other things. Mr. DiDonato will also be responsible for equity and special situation investments and will be a member of the Investment Committee, Sorin said. Mr. DiDonato was most recently president and chief investment officer of Capmark Investments LP, a global real estate fund manager. He was previously an executive director at Morgan Stanley in the Securitized Products Group and a vice president at UBS Securities in the Fixed Income Division.

Patrick Carey, a former executive at Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, has been named chief executive officer of Titanium Holdings Inc., the Salt Lake City-based parent company of Titanium Solutions Inc., a provider of homeowner contacting and consulting services. Titanium Holdings also announced the promotions of Todd Sibley to chairman and Spencer Erekson, a co-founder of Titanium Solutions, to president. Mr. Carey was most recently executive vice president of default and retention operations for Wells Fargo Home Mortgage. He previously held executive positions at UNUM Life Insurance Company of America, First Card Corp., and JPMorgan Chase. Titanium can be found on the Web at http://www.titaniuminc.com.

Thomas J. Wurtz will step down as chief financial officer of Wachovia Corp., Charlotte, N.C., after a successor has been named, according to the company. Wachovia said it will immediately launch a search for a replacement. The reason for Mr. Wurtz's decision to step down was not disclosed. He served as the company's treasurer for seven years before becoming CFO two-and-a-half years ago, Wachovia said. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.

Joseph A. Pensabene has been named executive vice president and chief servicing officer at Residential Capital LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of GMAC Financial Services. Mr. Pensabene, who will operate from Fort Washington, Pa., has been with ResCap and its predecessor companies for 12 years. He previously served in various executive positions in corporate finance, servicing, and lending, most recently as a senior vice president and managing director of consumer services operations, the company said. Before joining ResCap, Mr. Pensabene held senior positions at Alliance Bank and Deloitte & Touche LLP.

James Jones has been named executive vice president of operations at Grubb & Ellis Co., a real estate services and investment firm based in Santa Ana, Calif. The company said Mr. Jones will be responsible for its merger integration efforts, operations, research, and the Grubb & Ellis Affiliate Program. Mr. Jones was most recently with CB Richard Ellis, where he held the same title and was responsible for strategic planning, operations and financial management, process enhancement, and facilities. Before joining CBRE in 2004, Mr. Jones spent nine years at Gateway Corp. and Western Digital Corp. in a number of operations and marketing roles, Grubb & Ellis said.

RealtyTrac, an online foreclosure marketplace based in Irvine, Calif., has announced the promotion of Michael Keane, its chief technology officer for the past three years, to fill the newly created post of chief product officer. Mr. Keane will focus entirely on feasibility analysis, development, and implementation of new products for RealtyTrac, the company said. A search for a new CTO is under way. Since the company's inception in 1996, Mr. Keane and his team have delivered first-in-the-industry innovations such as a patent-pending integration of aerial photography into the company website, RealtyTrac said. The company can be found online at http://www.realtytrac.com.