Career moves

The Bond Market Association has appointed Robbin Conner as its new staff advisor to the association's mortgage-backed securities and securitized products division.Mr. Conner, who will hold the title of vice president and assistant general counsel, "has extensive business and legal experience in the securitization markets, including [collateralized debt obligations] and other key areas of focus for the MBS and securitized products division," according to the association's associate general counsel, Lynnette Hotchkiss. Mortgage-related areas at the association that Mr. Conner will oversee include MBS fails and nontraditional mortgage products. The Bond Market Association can be found on the Web at http://www.bondmarkets.com.

Fifth Third Bancorp has hired James "Jim" Tew to lead an expansion of its mortgage unit.Mr. Tew, who previously directed wholesale production for First Horizon's East region, plans to hire 30 new mortgage originators to expand the company's efforts. Fifth Third can be found online at http://www.53.com.

Julian E. "Jay" Whitehurst has been named president and chief operating officer of National Retail Properties Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Orlando, Fla.Mr. Whitehurst was most recently the company's executive vice president and COO. National Retail Properties said he joined the company in 2003 as EVP and general counsel after serving as its general counsel and lead real estate attorney while at Lowndes, Drosdick, Doster, Kantor and Reed PA, an Orlando-based law firm. National Retail Properties can be found online at http://www.nnnreit.com.

Community Bank of the Bay, Oakland, Calif., has launched a new commercial real estate lending program and appointed Thomas Mitchell to head it up.Mr. Mitchell was most recently a vice president of commercial real estate finance with KeyBank Real Estate Capital in Walnut Creek, Calif., Community Bank said, and has over 20 years of experience in the commercial real estate market. The program will offer "a comprehensive and competitive choice of permanent, bridge and construction financing for commercial, industrial and multifamily residential properties," Mr. Mitchell said. He added that Community Bank's ability to place loans in the secondary market allows it to offer "a variety of rates and terms to accommodate almost any kind of borrower." The bank can be found online at http://www.communitybankbay.com.

Mark E. Yale has been named executive vice president, chief financial officer, and treasurer of Glimcher Realty Trust, a real estate investment trust based in Columbus, Ohio.Mr. Yale, 40, was most recently senior vice president and CFO of the retail REIT. Before joining Glimcher, he was manager of finance and CFO of Storage USA. The REIT can be found on the Web at http://www.glimcher.com.

J. Christopher Clifton has been named senior vice president, general counsel, and chief compliance officer of Opteum Inc., a Vero Beach, Fla.-based real estate investment trust.Mr. Clifton was most recently an attorney with PPG Industries. Opteum, which invests in residential mortgage-backed securities and originates loans through a taxable REIT subsidiary, can be found on the Web at http://www.opteum.com.

Serene Rosenberg has been named chief operating officer of HomeView Lending Inc., an Orange County, Calif.-based lender serving the nonprime, alternative-A, and option adjustable-rate mortgage markets.Ms. Rosenberg was most recently COO of Acoustic Home Loans, a nonprime wholesale lending affiliate of MetroCities Mortgage. She was previously a senior vice president and corporate credit officer at New Century Mortgage Corp. HomeView can be found on the Web at http://www.homeviewlending.com.

Mary Wetterlin has been hired as general manager of TopLine Federal Credit Union to develop a first-mortgage division at its Maple Grove, Minn., headquarters.Ms. Wetterlin will be responsible for building "leading-edge" first-mortgage lending options and developing business relationships with Realtors, builders, and mortgage brokers, TopLine said. Ms. Wetterlin has 13 years of experience in mortgage banking and real estate, and was most recently branch manager of the new-construction office at CTX Mortgage Co. She was previously a branch manager at Countrywide Home Loans. Michael Edwards, TopLine's chief lending officer, said the CU's move was related to its recent expansion of membership eligibility to include everyone who lives, works, worships, volunteers, or attends school in the seven-county Minneapolis-St. Paul metropolitan area. The CU can be found on the Web at http://www.toplinecu.com.

Residential Capital Corp.'s chief financial officer Davee Olson has accepted a new position leading the company's warehouse lending business.ResCap said it has already begun a search for a new CFO and that Mr. Olson will continue to serve as acting CFO until a replacement can be found. Bruce Paradis, ResCap's chief executive officer, noted that Mr. Olson "played a key role in acquiring the warehouse lending business for GMAC-RFC more than 15 years ago and has always maintained strong ties to the business." Mr. Olson said the new position gives him the opportunity to "take on an operational role," something he said he has "wanted to do for a long time." ResCap can be found online at http://www.rescapholdings.com.

Richard J. Johnson, formerly executive vice president and chief financial officer of Impac Mortgage Holdings Inc., has been named EVP and chief operating officer of the Newport Beach, Calif.-based real estate investment trust.The previous COO, William S. Ashmore, will remain as president and director of the REIT, the company said. Gretchen D. Verdugo, formerly IMH's EVP and chief accounting officer, has been named EVP and CFO. IMH can be found online at http://www.impaccompanies.com.

Credit Suisse, Zurich, has hired Claudio Rudolf as a director in charge of acquisition and sales for its real estate management business.Mr. Rudolf was previously UBS Fund Management (Switzerland) AG's head of acquisition and disposition. Credit Suisse can be found on the Web at http://www.creditsuisse.com.

Chris Lau and Kin Lee have been named to co-head the commercial mortgage-backed securities secondary trading desk of RBS Greenwich Capital, Greenwich, Conn.Mr. Lau is a veteran of the firm's CMBS desk, while Mr. Lee is a veteran trader who was most recently a CMBS secondary trader with CSFB. Both will hold the titled of managing director and co-head of CMBS secondary trading. They will report to Chris McCormack, the head of CMBS trading for RBS Greenwich Capital. The company can be found online at http://www.rbsgc.com.

Doug Lee has been named head of correspondent lending at Macquarie Mortgages USA, Memphis.Mr. Lee was most recently head of broker sales for Macquarie Mortgages Australia, which received the top ranking in the 2005 Brokers on Banks Survey by Mortgage Professional Australia magazine, Macquarie reported. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.macquariemortgages.com.

D. Keith Johnson, formerly president and chief executive officer of Long Beach Mortgage, has been named president and chief operating officer of Clayton Holdings Inc., a Shelton, Conn.-based information and analytics company serving lenders, servicers, and the debt markets.Mr. Johnson was president and CEO of Long Beach, a subprime lending subsidiary of Washington Mutual Inc., from 2003 until March of this year, Clayton said. He was previously executive vice president and COO of WaMu's commercial group and chief financial officer of Bank United's mortgage division. Clayton CEO Frank Filipps said Mr. Johnson brings "a deep understanding of the dynamics of both origination and securitization, and the skills and track record to improve the efficiency of our clients' operations and our own." The company can be found online at http://www.clayton.com.

Jerry Schiano, president and chief executive officer of Wilmington Finance, Plymouth Meeting, Pa., has left the company, industry sources have confirmed to MortgageWire.Neither Mr. Schiano nor Wilmington Finance could be reached for comment by deadline time. A subprime lender, Wilmington Finance is a subsidiary of insurance giant American International Group. A receptionist at Wilmington Finance had no information on Mr. Schiano, but said the new CEO is George Roach.

Tony Meola, the production chief for Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, has resigned from the company, accepting a position with competitor New Century Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif.A spokeswoman for WaMu, the nation's third-largest residential lender, confirmed his departure to MortgageWire on Friday. Mr. Meola, who served as executive vice president of WaMu's home loan production unit, will hold a similar title at New Century, the nation's second-largest subprime funder. New Century released a statement on Monday saying it had hired Mr. Meola. The executive will be charged with expanding the company's national production franchise and broadening its product menu. "He's known as a problem solver," said one executive familiar with his career.

Alexander Gordon Jardin has been named chief executive officer of Franklin Credit Management Corp., a New York-based company that specializes in buying, managing, and selling subprime residential mortgage assets.Mr. Jardin, a member of the company's board, was most recently a consultant to start-up life and health reinsurance companies, Franklin said. From 2000 to 2004, he was president and chief operating officer of General USA Life Reassurance Co. and senior vice president for reinsurance at Business Men's Assurance Co., both wholly owned subsidiaries of Assicurazioni SpA, a global insurer based in Italy. Franklin can be found online at http://www.franklincredit.com.

President Bush is expected to appoint James B. Lockhart III as acting director of the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight, which supervises Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, according to sources.Mr. Lockhart is currently the second-ranking official at the Social Security Administration, and the White House wants him to take over OFHEO immediately and replace acting director Steven Blumenthal. The timing may be important because OFHEO is expected to release its long-awaited report on Fannie's $10.8 billion accounting scandal soon. Recent news reports indicate that OFHEO may release a report in a few weeks, but an OFHEO spokeswoman declined to specify a timeframe when asked by MortgageWire. Mr. Lockhart was a co-founder and managing director of NetRisk, a risk management software firm, before joining the SSA. During his career, he was a senior vice president at Nation Re (1996) and a managing director at Smith Barney (1993-95).

Russell E. Johnson has been hired as senior vice president for loss management at Radian Guaranty Inc., a Philadelphia-based provider of mortgage insurance.Radian said Mr. Johnson was most recently senior vice president and director of servicing operations for American Residential Equities Inc. He was previously vice president and national servicing manager at Washington Mutual Bank, Radian said. Mr. Johnson also spent nine years at Wells Fargo, where he created and directed a subprime mortgage servicing platform. Radian, a subsidiary of global credit risk management company Radian Group Inc., can be found online at http://www.radian.biz.

ING Real Estate has appointed Michiel Rang as senior managing director for international real estate finance and a member of the management board of ING Real Estate Finance.Mr. Rang was previously managing director for international property finance and was responsible for business in continental Europe. When he assumes his new title on May 1, he will be responsible for ING Real Estate Finance's business outside the Netherlands.