Career moves

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.

The Florida State Legislature has no mortgage brokers as members, but five members of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers hope to change that with their candidacies. Four of the five candidates spoke at the group's annual convention in Kissimmee, Fla. Nancy Detert, who had been term-limited out of the state House of Representatives and ran second in a Republican primary for an open seat in Congress, is seeking election to the state Senate. She proposed using state affordable housing trust fund money as a soft second mortgage to help "work force people" qualify for a mortgage. The other four broker candidates are seeking seats in the state House, including D. Ritch Workman, the current FAMB president. Mr. Workman said he is running as a small businessman who is fed up with intrusions into business by federal and state legislators and regulators. The other candidates are Debbie Mayfield, Rafael Perez, and Terry Lynn Sanchez.

Real estate industry veteran Robert Hellman has been named managing director of real estate at David Landau & Associates, a consulting firm based in Fairfield, N.J. Mr. Hellman was most recently managing director with The Ackman-Ziff Real Estate Group, a real estate capital advisory firm. He was previously a principal with Newmark Capital Group, where his responsibilities included investment sales, restructuring, and M&A services. Before joining Newmark, Mr. Hellman spent 16 years at Lehman Brothers, where he served as president or chief executive officer for several public real estate funds.

R&G Financial Corp., a bank holding company based in San Juan, Puerto Rico, has announced the resignation of Andres I. Perez, executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective Aug. 1. Melba Acosta, R&G Financial's executive vice president for corporate risk management, will act as interim CFO while the company undertakes a search for a new one. Ms. Acosta will also continue in her current position, which she has held since 2006. She was previously senior vice president and chief administrative officer of the company from 2004 to 2005. Before joining R&G Financial, Ms. Acosta served from 2001 to 2004 as executive director and chief information officer at the Office of Management and Budget of the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.rgonline.com.

Advantus Capital Management, St. Paul, Minn., has announced the launch of a high-yield mortgage investment strategy and the hiring of Dean Di Bias as the portfolio manager to oversee it. Mr. Di Bias was most recently with GMAC-RFC in Bloomington, Minn., where he was managing director and senior vice president of credit portfolio management. "The timing to enter this market is excellent because spreads have widened substantially on residential and commercial mortgage securities rated AAA to BB-minus," said Chris Sebald, executive vice president and chief investment officer at Advantus. "Yield spreads on many mortgage securities are very wide, creating substantial value." Advantus said the securitization markets have been so damaged by fallout from the housing downturn that the company believes premiums to invest in the sector "will remain attractive for some time to come." Advantus can be found online at http://www.advantuscapital.com.

Justin Ailes has been named director of government affairs at the American Land Title Association. Mr. Ailes will focus on enhancing the association's partnership with state land title associations, serve as liaison between the title industry and state government, and assist ALTA's senior management at the federal level. Before joining ALTA, Mr. Ailes was deputy federal representative for Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels. He formerly served as a staff member for U.S. Sen. Richard G. Lugar, R-Ind., and legislative assistant in the Indiana State Senate.

Ernst & Young has announced that 30-year real estate industry veteran Howard Roth has been named E&Y's global and Americas director of real estate. Mr. Roth, who previously headed the Northeast real estate practice of Ernst & Young US, will coordinate a network of 5,000 real estate professionals around the world from the organization's Global Real Estate Center offices in New York. He replaces Dale Anne Reiss, who retired on June 30. Mr. Roth said the Global Real Estate Center will focus on worldwide infrastructure development and privatization, sustainability and responsible property investing, and the credit slowdown, among other things. Ernst & Young can be found on the Web at http://www.ey.com.