Career moves

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.

Martin F. Wood has been named to the newly created position of senior vice president of international business development by Mortgage Guaranty Insurance Corp., Milwaukee.Mr. Wood will be responsible for determining what international markets are strategically important to MGIC and implementing a global business plan, the company said. "International markets are becoming more sophisticated, which makes this the right time for MGIC to revisit international business opportunities," said Curt Culver, president and chief executive officer of MGIC. Mr. Wood was most recently international business development leader at Genworth Financial Mortgage Insurance Division in Raleigh, N.C. Before that, he held various posts at Genworth, including international chief financial officer. Mr. Wood also spent 12 years with Price Waterhouse. MGIC can be found online at http://www.mgic.com.

Ronald J. Cathcart has been named executive vice president and chief enterprise risk officer of Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle, effective Dec. 1.Mr. Cathcart, 53, joins WaMu from the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce, where he served as executive vice president of retail risk management. He has had more than 23 years of experience in risk management policy and governance, WaMu said. Mr. Cathcart replaces the retiring chief enterprise risk officer, James Vanasek, who will remain with the company through the end of the year. WaMu can be found online at http://www.wamu.com.

Ronald R. Maudsley has been named president and chief executive officer of United General Title Insurance Co., a Denver-based subsidiary of First American Title Insurance Co.Before joining United General, Mr. Maudsley spent 17 years with an unnamed large national title insurer, United General said. The company can be found online at http://www.ugtic.com.

Smith Barney has hired Prudential official Bradley Ball to be its new mortgage equities analyst, replacing the departing Matt Vetto.Mr. Ball worked for Prudential Securities as recently as late September. As an analyst there, he covered Freddie Mac and other stocks. An official at Citigroup said Mr. Vetto, who could not be reached for comment, went to work for a hedge fund. Mr. Vetto's coverage universe included Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, and Countrywide Financial.

Freddie Mac's senior vice president and corporate controller, John Woods, has resigned, accepting a position with lending giant Washington Mutual Inc., Seattle.The resignation is effective Oct. 28. Mr. Woods also held the title of principal accounting officer. He will become WaMu's corporate controller. Martin Baumann, Freddie Mac's executive vice president of finance, credited Mr. Woods with helping the government-sponsored enterprise bolster its accounting talent. Damaged by a $5 billion earnings restatement scandal that erupted nearly three years ago, Freddie is almost current again on its financial reporting. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Joseph Stanganelli has been named national broker sales executive for the recently established broker origination channel of Thornburg Mortgage Inc., Santa Fe, N.M.The company said Mr. Stanganelli's primary responsibility will be the development of the broker sales channel. Mr. Stanganelli comes to Thornburg from Bank of America, where he held senior vice president positions in BoA's National Wholesale Affinity Group and its Northeast and Eastern wholesale divisions. Among his previous employers in his 24 years in the mortgage industry were Fleet Mortgage and Plaza Home Mortgage, Thornburg said.

Tommy Orr has been named chief operating officer of Network Funding LP, a Houston-based wholesale mortgage lender.Mr. Orr has been head of branch development and support for Network Funding since joining the company in 2004. Before that, Mr. Orr served as senior vice president for Harbor Financial Mortgage Corp., America's Lending Center Inc., and FundAmerica Mortgage LLP, and he owned his own mortgage company, Texas United Mortgage, from 2001 to 2004. He is a past director of the Texas Mortgage Bankers Association. Network Funding can be found online at http://www.networkfundingusa.com.

Bruce Paradis has been named chief executive officer of Residential Capital Corp., Minneapolis, and David Applegate has been named chief operating officer of ResCap and president of the company's U.S. Residential Finance Group.Mr. Paradis, who has more than 30 years of experience in the real estate finance industry, has served as GMAC-RFC's CEO since 1994. (ResCap is the recently formed parent company of GMAC Mortgage and Residential Funding Corp., also known as GMAC-RFC.) ResCap said Mr. Applegate, who previously shared CEO duties with Mr. Paradis, will have direct responsibility for the company's U.S. residential real estate finance segments: the Residential Capital Group and GMAC Residential.

Brian Hurley has been named president of Stewart Title of California, San Diego, a subsidiary of Houston-based Stewart Information Services Corp.Stewart Title of California said Mr. Hurley will take over as president on Jan. 1, succeeding Allan Wasserman, who will continue in his role as group president of Stewart Title Co. and regional manager for Stewart Title Guaranty Co. Mr. Hurley was a founder and is currently president and chief executive officer of InterCity Capital Corp. and InterCity Escrow Services, two Stewart companies specializing in timeshare escrow, title, deed-in-lieu, foreclosure, portfolio management, and development consulting services. The parent company can be found on the Web at http://www.stewart.com.

The PMI Group Inc. has named Lincoln Rees the head of customer management for its Australian subsidiary.Mr. Rees was previously head of sales and service at PMI Mortgage Insurance Ltd. (PMI Australia). His new responsibilities will include developing strategic partnerships and customer alliances, and overseeing sales relationships, marketing, underwriting, and claims services, the company said.

Simone Lagomarsino has been named chief financial officer and chief administration officer at Metrocities Mortgage LLC, Sherman Oaks, Calif.Ms. Lagomarsino was most recently managing director for diversification, planning, and deployment at Countrywide Bank NA, a subsidiary of Countrywide Financial Corp. She was previously president and chief executive officer of Hawthorne Savings and executive vice president and CFO at First Plus Bank, Metrocities said. Ms. Lagomarsino also held senior-level positions with Imperial Financial Group, Ventura County National Bank, Prudential Securities, Premier Bank, and City National Bank. Metrocities Mortgage can be found on the Web at http://www.metrocitiesmtg.com.

John Bollman has been named executive vice president and manager of the Retail Production Division of National City Mortgage, Miamisburg, Ohio.Mr. Bollman replaces Buck Bibb, who was named chief executive officer of the company earlier this year. Mr. Bollman joined National City Corp. in 1996 as a result of the Integra Mortgage acquisition, where he was senior vice president of secondary marketing. He has held various positions at the vice president and senior vice president levels since then, National City said. Since 2004, Mr. Bollman has held the position of executive vice president of the NCM Advantage, a major loan origination initiative. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.nationalcitymortgage.com.

Shelby Sherard has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of Grubb & Ellis Co., a provider of real estate services based in Northbrook, Ill.Ms. Sherard, 35, was most recently CFO of SiteStuff Inc., a Web-based procurement company focused on the real estate industry. Grubb & Ellis also announced the promotions of Jean Kennedy to senior vice president and chief accounting officer and Donald Olinger to senior vice president for finance and treasury. The company can be found on the Web at http://www.grubb-ellis.com.

Debbie Ferruzzi has been promoted to executive vice president for corporate strategy at Equity Office Properties Trust, a Chicago-based real estate investment trust.Ms. Ferruzzi, 45, has more than 23 years of commercial real estate experience. She was most recently senior vice president for corporate strategy. She joined Equity Office in 1998 as executive adviser to the chief executive officer. Before that, she was senior vice president in the Capital Markets Group for Equity Group Investments. Equity Office can be found online at http://www.equityoffice.com.

J. Brian King has been named practice manager for the consumer lending and mortgage banking practice of BenchMark Consulting International, Atlanta.Mr. King was most recently a national sales manager at a division of Wolters Kluwer Financial Services. Before that, he served as senior vice president of sales and business development at Info-One/VARDS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wachovia Corp. Mr. King was previously senior vice president of business development at Wachovia Bank, and director of product development and marketing at Home Equity USA, a division of FleetBoston Financial. BenchMark can be found online at http://www.benchmarkinternational.com.

Brad Copeland has been named senior executive vice president and chief credit officer at Umpqua Bank, Roseburg, Ore., where he has overseen the bank's mortgage, credit quality, and special assets divisions since 2000.Mr. Copeland was most recently executive vice president and chief credit officer at the bank, which is a subsidiary of Umpqua Holdings Corp. Before joining Umpqua, he was EVP and credit administrator of VRB Bancorp and Valley of the Rogue Bank from 1998 until their merger with Umpqua in 2000, the bank said. Umpqua can be found online at http://www.umpquaholdingscorp.com.