Career moves

Wachovia Securities, Charlotte, N.C., has announced the appointment of four managing directors to head up its newly integrated commercial real estate platform, which consists of two business lines: Real Estate Americas and Real Estate Asset Management.Lawrence Gray and Robert Verrone have been named co-heads of Real Estate Americas, Leslie Fairbanks has been named co-head of Real Estate Asset Management, and Dan Sullivan has been named interim co-head, effective Oct. 1, of Real Estate Asset Management. Real Estate Americas includes coverage teams for all domestic real estate clients, commercial mortgage-backed securities, structured finance, real estate corporate banking, tax credit and agency finance, real estate syndications, and sales and trading of real estate collateralized debt obligations, the company said. Real Estate Asset Management includes CMBS servicing, construction loan underwriting, and construction loan portfolio management. Wachovia Securities can be found on the Web at http://www.wachovia.com.

Donna Brandin, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Equity Residential, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust, has resigned effective Sept. 14.The company said Ms. Brandin is resigning "to pursue other professional and personal interests, not as a result of any disagreement with the company regarding financial or accounting practices." John G. Lennox, 53, a senior vice president of financial planning and analysis, will serve as interim CFO, and the company said it will immediately conduct a search for a replacement CFO. Mr. Lennox has held various positions in more than 23 years at Equity Residential and its predecessor companies, the company said. The REIT can be found online at http://www.equityresidential.com.

Jess Lederman has been named chief risk officer of Countrywide Financial Corp., Calabasas, Calif., filling a post recently vacated by John P. McMurray, who was named chief risk officer at Washington Mutual Inc.Mr. Lederman joined Countrywide in 2005 and served as Countrywide's managing director of products and pricing before being named to his new role, the company said. In his new role, Mr. Lederman will lead Countrywide's credit and counterparty risk management efforts and have oversight responsibility for market and operational risks. In addition, Mr. Lederman will be responsible for all mortgage insurance and credit enhancement relationships, and the company's model validation process. A 27-year industry veteran, Mr. Lederman began his career in the financial services industry in senior positions with Sears Mortgage Securities Corp. and Bear Stearns, where he co-founded two of the first private-sector counterparts to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. He later built the mortgage banking business of Ohio Savings Bank.

Enterprise lending software vendor Mortgage Cadence Inc., Denver, has added Michael Hammond to its executive team as chief marketing officer.Mr. Hammond has nearly 15 years of experience in brand building, product launches, and developing marketing and sales strategies. Before joining Mortgage Cadence, he worked as vice president of business strategy for Martopia, a mortgage marketing and public relations firm. Mr. Hammond previously worked for nine years as director of sales and marketing for loan origination system vendor Dynatek. In addition, Mr. Hammond is one of only 50 individuals to earn the Certified Mortgage Technologist designation from the Mortgage Bankers Association. Mortgage Cadence can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagecadence.com.

The Department of Veterans Affairs has quietly promoted Keith Pedigo and appointed his former deputy Judy Caden to be the new director of the VA home loan program.Mr. Pedigo served as director of the VA Loan Guarantee Service for 20 years, and he said in an interview that he appreciated the industry's support for his efforts to improve the VA loan program. In his new position as associate deputy under secretary for policy and program management, Mr. Pedigo is responsible for coordinating the activities of VA benefit programs, including the home loan program. Ms. Caden was deputy director of the home loan program until she left in 2000 to be the director of education benefits and later the director of vocational rehabilitation and employment services. "When the opportunity to return to loan guarantee came up, I grabbed it," she said.

The American Land Title Association has reported that its top executive, James Maher, is retiring after 23 years of service to the title industry."It has been my privilege to serve as executive vice president, and I look forward to serving in a consulting capacity," Mr. Maher said. He joined ALTA after working as a Department of Housing and Urban Development attorney, and he was a fierce critic of HUD's 2002 proposal to reform the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act to allow the bundling of title and other settlement services. HUD later withdrew the proposal. ALTA's board of directors has formed a search committee to find a new EVP. The association can be found on the Web at http://www.alta.org.

The McGraw-Hill Cos. replaced the head of its Standard & Poor's unit on Thursday as criticism continued to mount that S&P (and other rating agencies) did not closely scrutinize the underlying subprime loans in the bonds it rated.Leaving S&P as its president is Kathleen Corbet. She will be replaced by Deven Sharma. A spokesman for McGraw-Hill denied that Ms. Corbet's departure is tied to criticism faced by S&P on its subprime MBS ratings. (When mortgage lenders securitize subprime loans, they pay the rating agencies to review and grade the bonds.) One mortgage insurance executive told MortgageWire that the rating agencies "have a lot to explain for their role in the subprime crisis." He added: "If you were a rating agency and wanted the business of a certain subprime lender, would you give them a bad grade?" S&P can be found online at http://www.standardandpoors.com.

Donna Burge has been named president of Baird & Warner Financial Services, a Chicago-based mortgage company that bills itself as the oldest residential real estate brokerage in the nation.Ms. Burge, 55, was most recently the company's chief operating officer. She has been a mortgage banker since 1977, the company said. Baird & Warner can be found on the Web at http://www.bairdwarner.com.

GMAC Financial Services has named Alvaro G. de Molina to the newly created position of chief operating officer.Mr. Molina will be responsible for GMAC’s real estate finance and commercial finance businesses, and for all of GMAC’s global finance and risk functions. Mr. de Molina previously worked for Cerberus Capital Management, the company that led a team of investors to buy 51% of GMAC Financial Services in late 2006. Previous to joining Cerberus in June 2007, Mr. de Molina was chief financial officer at Bank of America.

Monte N. Redman, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Astoria Financial Corp., the Lake Success, N.Y.-based holding company for Astoria Federal Savings and Loan Association, has been named president and chief operating officer of the company.Mr. Redman, 56, has been employed by Astoria Federal for more than 30 years. Astoria also announced the promotion of Frank E. Fusco, 44, from senior vice president and treasurer to executive vice president, treasurer, and CFO. George L. Engelke Jr., 68, will yield the title of president to Mr. Redman while retaining his titles as chairman and chief executive officer, Astoria said. The holding company said identical corporate title changes were also made at Astoria Federal. The company also reported that its board of directors has rescinded the mandatory retirement policy for executive officers, which had previously required the retirement of any executive reaching the age of 70. The company can be found online at http://www.astoriafederal.com.

Susan Leone-Pomfret has been named director of the Reverse Mortgage Division of Boston-based Summit Mortgage.Ms. Leone-Pomfret began her career in the mortgage industry with the Rhode Island Housing and Mortgage Finance Corp. and began originating reverse mortgages in Rhode Island in 1989, Summit said.

Jan Sternin has been named senior vice president of commercial/multifamily at the Mortgage Bankers Association.Ms. Sternin will manage the association's Commercial/Multifamily Group and will be responsible for the development and implementation of regulatory policy, best practices, and industry standards for the commercial/multifamily sector, the MBA said. Ms. Sternin has over 25 years of experience in banking, finance, real estate, and loan servicing. She previously served as senior vice president of Midland Loan Services Inc. and has worked with numerous governmental agencies in the valuation, restructuring, and liquidation of troubled assets and insolvent institutions, the MBA said. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Mike Perlman has been named executive vice president for operations and technology at Freddie Mac.Mr. Perlman will be responsible for managing the largest segment of Freddie Mac's business operations, including all its mortgage origination and servicing, investment and capital markets operations, and information systems divisions. He was most recently a managing director at Morgan Stanley and developed the operations and technology infrastructure supporting its Fixed Income and Global Operations divisions, Freddie Mac said. Before joining Morgan Stanley in 1997, Mr. Perlman had been a founding partner at AT&T Solutions' Financial Services Group and a partner in the Washington, D.C. and New York offices of Deloitte & Touche.

Bob Chapman has been named chief operating officer of Duke Realty Corp., Indianapolis.Mr. Chapman has been Duke's executive vice president of real estate operations since 2003. He joined the company in 1997 as executive vice president of acquisitions, and became regional executive vice president for Duke's Southeast Region in 1999, the company said. Duke can be found on the Web at http://www.dukerealty.com.

Todd Moncrief has joined Advectis Inc., an Atlanta-based electronic collaboration and workflow vendor, as vice president of business development.Mr. Moncrief has more than 14 years of experience in mortgage lending and technology systems. In his new position, Mr. Moncrief will be responsible for the development and management of Advectis' BlitzDocs networked provider and partner relationships, as well as creating product strategy for BlitzDocs Collaboration Suite and Advectis' electronic mortgage initiatives. Mr. Moncrief is coming to Advectis from Fiserv Lending Solutions, where he was the national sales executive for electronic lending. Prior to Fiserv, he was vice president of sales and business development at SwiftView, which was acquired by eLynx. Advectis can be found on the Web at http://www.advectis.com.

Mary Salinas Durón has been appointed executive vice president of Community Reinvestment Act and community development lending at Countrywide Bank FSB, Thousand Oaks, Calif.Ms. Durón joined Countrywide in 1998 and served most recently as executive vice president of the National Multicultural Sales Division of Countrywide Home Loans Inc., the company said. She also directed Countrywide's HouseAmerica initiatives, which include affordable housing and community partnership programs. Before joining Countrywide, Ms. Durón was senior vice president and manager of the Community Development Department at Sumitomo Bank of California. Countrywide can be found online at http://www.countrywide.com.

Bear Stearns co-president and co-chief operating officer Warren Spector resigned Aug. 5 in the wake of a costly collapse of two Bear-sponsored hedge funds that invested in risky subprime-related assets.The two funds -- once valued at more than $40 billion -- filed for bankruptcy protection early last week. Bear told investors in the funds that one was worthless, and the other had lost 90% of its value. The two funds were housed in an asset management group that Mr. Spector oversaw. Alan Schwartz, who had been Bear Stearns' other co-president and co-COO, was named sole president. "In light of the recent events concerning [Bear Stearns Asset Management's] High Grade and Enhanced Leverage funds, we have determined to make changes in our leadership structure," Bear chairman and chief executive James Cayne said. "I have every confidence in this team to continue Bear Stearns' 84-year legacy of success and profitable growth." Spector, 49, had spent his entire career at Bear Stearns since joining the firm as a trader in 1983. Bear Stearns can be found at http://www.bearstearns.com.

William R. Dodds Jr. has been appointed to fill a vacant elective director seat on the board of directors of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Chicago.Mr. Dodds is executive vice president and treasurer of The Northern Trust Co., Chicago, and will complete the term of a former director that ends Dec. 31, 2008, the FHLBank said. He has been appointed to the board's Risk Management and Personnel and Compensation Committees.

Angel Mas has been named president of Genworth Financial Inc.'s European mortgage insurance business, the London-based Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Ltd.Mr. Mas was formerly managing director and commercial leader of Genworth's Payment Protection Insurance business. He has 15 years of financial services experience, working in the areas of business development, risk and capital management, finance and controllership, and mergers and acquisitions. Mr. Mas has helped establish Genworth businesses in 24 countries, the company said. Genworth can be found on the Web at http://www.genworth.com.

Wolters Kluwer Financial Services, Minneapolis, has named Ken Newton executive vice president of banking content.Mr. Newton will be responsible for the company's overall growth in the banking, credit union, indirect lending, and mortgage markets. Prior to this promotion, Mr. Newton served as the vice president and chief operations officer for WKFS, where he led the operational aspects of the organization's manufacturing, customer support, product distribution, and enterprise systems. He also led the implementation of Lean Six Sigma across the company. WKFS can be found on the Web at http://www.wolterskluwerfs.com.