Career moves

John K. Darr, chief executive officer and managing director of the Federal Home Loan Bank System's Office of Finance, has been named to the board of directors of MortgageIT Holdings Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust.The appointment brings the board's membership to nine, eight of whom are independent of management, MortgageIT said. Mr. Darr, who will also serve as a member of MortgageIT board's audit committee, has held the FHLBank System post since 1992. He was previously a manager of mortgage finance at a Wall Street investment bank, chief financial officer of major financial institutions on both coasts, and treasurer of the FHLBank of San Francisco. MortgageIT can be found online at http://www.mortgageitholdings.com.

New Century Financial Corp., a real estate investment trust based in Irvine, Calif., has announced that Patrick J. Flanagan, executive vice president of the REIT and president of New Century Mortgage Corp., will take a personal leave of up to six months and then serve as a consultant to the company.Brad A. Morrice, vice chairman, president, and chief operating officer of New Century Financial and chief executive officer of New Century Mortgage, will assume Mr. Flanagan's responsibilities, the REIT reported. Mr. Flanagan joined New Century Mortgage in 1996 as regional vice president of Midwest wholesale and retail operations. The company can be found online at http://www.ncen.com.

Gloria Aviotti, a group managing director at Fitch Ratings, has been named to head the rating agency's U.S. Structured Finance group.Ms. Aviotti will assume management responsibilities for all U.S.-based structured finance rating groups. She will also lead a longer-term initiative to improve analytical models across all securitization products, Fitch said. The rating agency can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com.

Saiyid T. Naqvi, chief executive officer of online home equity lender DeepGreen Financial, has been elected to the board of directors of Genworth Financial Inc., a mortgage insurer based in Richmond, Va.Before joining DeepGreen early this year, Mr. Naqvi held CEO positions at PNC Mortgage and Setara Corp. Before that, he was chief operating officer of Sears Mortgage Securities Corp., which was acquired by PNC in 1993. Michael D. Fraizer, Genworth's chairman and CEO, termed Mr. Naqvi "a mortgage industry visionary," citing his expertise in business and technology. Genworth Financial can be found online at http://www.genworth.com.

Jeff Walker has been named managing director of the Correspondent Lending division of St. Louis-based CitiMortgage.Mr. Walker has more than 15 years of mortgage banking experience, most recently at Wells Fargo, where he had significant roles in correspondent sales and revenue strategies, CitiMortgage said. Before that, he spent 12 years at Freddie Mac in various capacities, including regional sales director. CitiMortgage can be found on the Web at http://www.citimortgage.com.

Steven Lessack has been named the new chief executive officer of Stewart Title Ltd., the European underwriting subsidiary of Stewart Title Guaranty Co.Stewart promoted Mr. Lessack to the post from his previous position of executive vice president and director of international title operations, according to a company spokesman. In addition to serving as Stewart Title Ltd.'s CEO, Mr. Lessack will also continue to serve as president of the Canadian division of Stewart Title Guaranty, the spokesman said. Stewart can be found online at http://www.stewart.com.

Nolan Willis has been named director of technology at Stewart Default Solutions, Houston.Mr. Willis joins SDS from REIData Inc., where he was a senior project manager for its real estate information portal. Both companies are subsidiaries of Stewart Mortgage Information, a wholly owned subsidiary of Stewart Information Services Corp. Before joining REIData, Mr. Willis held various planning and development posts in the financial services, health care, and transportation industries, SDS said. The company can be found online at http://www.stewartdefaultsolutions.com

Stephen J. Benedetti has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of Dynex Capital Inc., a real estate investment trust based in Glen Allen, Va.Mr. Benedetti was formerly the REIT's EVP/chief financial officer. Dynex said Jeffrey L. Childress, the controller, will assume the role of principal accounting officer. The REIT can be found on the Web at http://www.dynexcapital.com.

Larry Jackson has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president of secondary marketing at DeepGreen Financial, a Cleveland-based online home equity lender.Mr. Jackson joins DeepGreen from Shore Mortgage, Birmingham, Mich., where he was chief financial officer. He was previously senior vice president for secondary marketing products and consulting at MortgageFlex Systems. At DeepGreen, he will manage the company's product offering, pricing, and investor relations and supervise its hedging and sales activities, the company said. DeepGreen can be found on the Web at http://www.deepgreenfinancial.com.

John R. Price has been named president and chief executive officer of the Federal Home Loan Bank of Pittsburgh effective Jan. 2.Mr. Price, 66, will succeed James D. Roy, who will retire at the end of the year. Since 2001, Mr. Price has been senior adviser to the Institute of International Finance, a Washington, D.C.-based global organization with approximately 340 banks and central banks as members, according to the FHLBank. He is also president and chief executive officer of the International Financial Development Corp. Mr. Price previously spent 29 years at what is now J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., beginning in 1972 with Manufacturers Hanover. He spent his last years with the company running government relations worldwide at Chase Manhattan. The Pittsburgh FHLBank can be found online at http://www.fhlb-pgh.com.

Mark A. Casale has been named executive vice president for mortgage insurance at Radian Group Inc., a Philadelphia-based provider of credit risk management products and services.Mr. Casale, 41, will be responsible for the company's mortgage insurance business in the United States. Mr. Casale was most recently Radian's senior vice president for capital markets, and was responsible for developing credit enhancement solutions for nonprime mortgage originators and securities firms. Before joining Radian in 2001, Mr. Casale held several executive positions in Advanta Corp.'s mortgage group. Radian can be found on the Web at http://www.radian.biz.

Timothy Bitsberger, a former senior Treasury Department official and a Wall Street veteran, has been named treasurer and senior vice president for funding and investor relations at Freddie Mac.Mr. Bitsberger, who will join the company in January, served until recently as assistant secretary for financial markets at the Department of the Treasury. He advised the undersecretary for domestic finance on policy regarding federal debt management and financial market oversight, among other things. Mr. Bitsberger also served as a board representative to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., and he worked on Wall Street for more than 15 years, most recently as a senior vice president of investments at Salomon Smith Barney.

Frank L. Raiter has been named to the board of directors of Clayton Holdings Inc., a Shelton, Conn.-based provider of integrated analytic and consulting services to the mortgage industry.Mr. Raiter was managing director of the Residential Mortgage Ratings Group at Standard & Poor's before retiring earlier this year. He was previously chief investment officer of Caliber Bank and chief financial officer of Jefferson Savings and Loan, Clayton Holdings said. Mr. Raiter was also the assistant director of the Office of Securities Transactions for the Resolution Trust Corp. Clayton Holdings can be found online at http://www.clayton.com.

Robert N. Pruett has been named executive vice president and outsourcing relationship manager at EMC Mortgage Corp., Irving, Texas.Mr. Pruett was most recently vice president of international initiatives, business process outsourcing, and global mortgage origination services at Ocwen Financial Corp. Before that, he was managing director at RP Consulting in Scottsdale, Ariz., executive vice president and chief operating officer of Commac Inc. in Phoenix, and president/chief executive officer/chief financial officer of Matrix Financial Services in Phoenix. In related news, EMC also announced the appointment of Charles E. "Rick" Russell as senior vice president and chief litigation counsel. Mr. Russell was formerly deputy general counsel for regulatory and compliance matters for American General Finance Inc. and senior vice president in charge of litigation for Associates Financial Services Co.

The American Financial Services Association has announced that Thomas B. Hallman, vice chairman of CIT Group Inc., will serve a second term as AFSA's chairman.Mr. Hallman's continued involvement "is intended to help provide continuity and a smooth leadership transition as AFSA president and chief executive officer Randy Lively prepares to retire in 2006," the association said. Mr. Hallman's career spans more than 30 years in the financial services industry, during which he has led national and international organizations engaged in consumer and commercial lending and leasing, AFSA said. In addition to being CIT Group's vice chairman, Mr. Hallman serves as chairman of CIT Bank.

Robert W. Lee has been named senior vice president in the capital markets group of Mortgage Industry Advisory Co., a New York-based provider of risk management services.Mr. Lee is joining MIAC after a seven-year tenure at Lehman Brothers, which purchased Cohane Rafferty LLC in 2002. He was previously employed by Bayview Financial, where he was responsible for overall mortgage servicing analytics, transactions, and merger-and-acquisition assignments, MIAC said. Mr. Lee also spent seven years at PaineWebber. MIAC can be found online at http://www.servicing.com.

CoreStar Financial Group, a Timonium, Md.-based mortgage banking company focused on the subprime market, has named Kurt Kabula to lead the expansion of its national wholesale division in the Southeast.CoreStar said its rapid growth in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the Carolinas is expected to result in a 200% increase in its geographically dispersed employee base by the end of the year. Because Mr. Kabula's immediate focus will be on developing sales in Florida, he will be based in Ft. Lauderdale, but will spend an equal amount of time in Timonium, CoreStar said. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.corestar.com.

Fiserv Inc., Brookfield, Wis., has named Jeffery W. Yabuki president, chief executive officer, and a member of the board of directors effective on or before Dec. 1.Mr. Yabuki will succeed Leslie M. Muma, who is retiring as president and CEO but will continue in a consulting capacity to the company until June 30, 2006, and as a director until the 2006 Fiserv annual meeting. Mr. Yabuki joins Fiserv from H&R Block Inc., where he spent six years and served as executive vice president and chief operating officer since 2002. In that role he had oversight of the domestic and international tax businesses, e-commerce activities, and the financial services business units operating under the H&R Block brand, as well as marketing, information technology, compliance, and corporate development. He also served on H&R Block's Planning & Policy Committee. Fiserv can be found on the Web at http://www.fiserv.com.

Stuart J. Boesky will step down Nov. 15 as chief executive officer of CharterMac, New York, and American Mortgage Acceptance Co., a New York-based real estate investment trust of which CharterMac is the external adviser, the companies have announced.In addition to his CEO role, Mr. Boesky is also stepping down as a member of CharterMac's board of trustees and as chairman and president of AMAC. CharterMac chairman Stephen M. Ross, who will become interim CEO of the company, lavished praise on Mr. Boesky for his nearly 20 years at CharterMac and said he will stay on as a consultant to both companies for a year. Jeff T. Blau, president of The Related Cos. and a member of CharterMac's board, has been named interim chairman and CEO of AMAC, and CharterMac president Marc D. Schnitzer has been named president of AMAC. "I felt it was the right time in my career for me to tackle some new challenges and opportunities," Mr. Boesky said. CharterMac is a real estate finance company that focuses on multifamily financing. The companies can be found online at http://www.chartermac.com and http://www.americanmortgageco.com.

Jeffrey M. Peek, chairman and chief executive officer of CIT Group Inc., has been elected to Freddie Mac's board of directors, effective Jan. 1.A 30-year veteran of the financial services industry, Mr. Peek has served as CEO of CIT, a commercial and consumer finance company, since July 2004 and as chairman since January 2005. He was previously president and chief operating officer of the company. Before that, he served as vice chairman of Credit Suisse First Boston LLC, and he spent nearly 20 years, from 1983 to 2002, at Merrill Lynch. Mr. Peek will serve on the Finance and Capital Deployment Committee and the Mission and Sourcing Committee of Freddie Mac's board. He will fill the director seat now held by Joan Donoghue, who is resigning effective Dec. 31. Ms. Donoghue is counselor to the chairman of Freddie Mac, and previously served as its general counsel.