Career moves

Patricia L. Cook, a Wall Street veteran, has been named executive vice president of investments at Freddie Mac, and she will join the company on Aug. 2.Freddie Mac said Ms. Cook will be responsible for its approximately $630 billion retained mortgage portfolio and debt issuance, as well as risk management strategies for assets and liabilities. The position was formerly held by Gregory Parseghian, who in the wake of the company's accounting scandal was named chief executive officer of Freddie Mac but was later forced to resign. Ms. Cook was most recently managing director and chief investment officer for global fixed-income investments at JPMorgan Fleming Asset Management. She was also managing director and chief investment officer for fixed income at Prudential Investment Management, and she held management posts with Fisher Francis Trees & Watts and Salomon Brothers Inc.

Debra Still has been promoted from chief operating officer to president and chief executive officer of Pulte Mortgage Corp., a subsidiary of Pulte Homes Inc., Bloomfield Hills, Mich., and she will succeed Roger Pastore in those positions on Aug. 1.Mr. Pastore has announced plans to retire next year, and will continue to serve as an officer of the company until then, Pulte said. He joined the company in 1995 as chief financial officer and has served as CEO since 1997. Ms. Still joined the company as a branch manager in Maryland in 1983, and has since held posts as senior vice president for process re-engineering and SVP for operations, Pulte said. She has been COO since 1999. The company can be found online at http://www.pulte.com.

Ken Markison, an expert on the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act and a veteran of HUD, has been named senior director and regulatory counsel in the Government Affairs Department of the Mortgage Bankers Association.Mr. Markison is retiring from the federal government, having served for three decades at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, most recently as assistant general counsel for government-sponsored enterprises and RESPA. The MBA said Mr. Markison is one of the country's top experts on RESPA and that he personally developed several important RESPA rules and has played "a major role" in HUD's RESPA reform effort. He has also worked extensively on issues related to the housing government-sponsored enterprises, including developing legislation and regulations establishing affordable housing goals and fair-lending requirements, the MBA said. The association can be found online at http://www.mortgagebankers.org.

Stan Martin, who has served as interim general auditor of Freddie Mac since Feb. 9, has been named senior vice president and general auditor of the government-sponsored enterprise.Mr. Martin, who reports directly to the Audit Committee of Freddie Mac's board of directors, will be responsible for assessing risks, providing independent advice, and heading the GSE's internal audit organization. Before joining Freddie Mac, Mr. Martin was a consultant to HSBC Bank USA on integration and divestiture. The majority of his career of over 30 years was spent with the KPMG accounting firm, where he served as the Securities and Exchange Commission reviewing partner, Freddie Mac said. Mr. Martin's role as general auditor will be crucial as the company continues to play catch-up in its financial reporting due to a $5 billion accounting scandal. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

Mark S. Lee has been named senior vice president and director of marketing at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich.Mr. Lee will develop marketing strategies and initiatives for AAMG as well as oversee the marketing activities for each of AAMG's divisions, the company said. Before joining AAMG, Mr. Lee was head of marketing for the Auto Club Group/AAA Michigan in Dearborn, Mich.

Denis W. St. Marie has been named executive vice president of consumer finance at Webster Bank NA, Waterbury, Conn., where his responsibilities will include residential lending, mortgage banking, and secondary marketing.Mr. St. Marie was most recently president of KeyMortgage Services, where his duties included heading the company's mortgage operations center. Before that, he was executive vice president of secondary marketing for Bank One. Webster Bank, a subsidiary of Webster Financial Corp., can be found on the Web at http://www.websteronline.com.

Fran Clemens, senior vice president at ABN Amro Mortgage Group Inc., Ann Arbor, Mich., has been named to the newly created position of manager of emerging markets.Ms. Clemens will work to expand AAMG's primary target markets to include low- to moderate-income, ethnically diverse, and first-time homebuyers, the company said. She will work with all AAMG divisions, including Standard Federal Bank and LaSalle Bank Retail Lending, to develop strategies to attract first-time homebuyers. Ms. Clemens, a 25-year veteran of the mortgage industry, has served in various sales and management positions in retail and wholesale mortgage lending, including a stint as senior vice president of InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending.

Ken Alverson, executive vice president and chief administrative officer of American Home Mortgage Investment Corp., has left the company, MortgageWire has learned.American Home spokesman John Lovallo declined to comment on Mr. Alverson's departure, saying, "it's against public company policy to comment on personnel." No information was available on when Mr. Alverson joined the mortgage banker. Mr. Alverson could not be reached for immediate comment. Based in Melville, N.Y., American Home is the 22nd-largest residential lender in the U.S.

The Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank has named Charles A. Huston to serve as the acting president of the $95 billion cooperative bank while a search continues for a permanent replacement for Alex Pollock.On June 8, Mr. Pollock unexpectedly announced he would step down as president on June 30 to take a position as a resident fellow at a Washington think tank. Mr. Huston joined the Chicago FHLBank in 1991. He most recently served as executive vice president of membership relationship management, where he played a central role in the growth and success of the Mortgage Partnership Finance program. Meanwhile, Chicago FHLBank chairman Allen Koranda said a search committee has been formed to find a permanent replacement. "We have begun a search to identify the best candidate and will conduct it as quickly as possible, but there is no deadline for the completion of this process," Mr. Koranda said.

Moody's Investors Service has named Warren Kornfeld, a senior credit officer in the rating agency's residential mortgage-backed securities group, to be the new head of its mortgage servicer ratings.Mr. Kornfeld replaces Linda Stesney, who has been promoted to a position as co-head of the Moody's term asset-backed securities group. She is moving up because Michael Kanef, formerly co-head of term ABS, has been named group managing director for asset finance. Moody's can be found online at http://www.moodys.com.

Industry veteran Dale Kurland, a former managing director at Bear Stearns, has formed a new advisory firm, hoping to tap what could be a hot merger market for mortgage companies in the next few years."We anticipate a robust market for mergers, acquisitions, and overall consolidation in the mortgage business for the foreseeable future," said Ms. Kurland, who will serve as chief executive of her new firm, Classic Strategies Group LLC. The new company is based in New York. Prior to launching CSG, Ms. Kurland was a principal in DK Advisory Services. DKAS advised on several franchise-related deals, including the sale of First Town Mortgage, James Madison Mortgage, Knutson Mortgage, and others. In the early 1990s, Ms. Kurland was the head of mortgage banking M&A for Bear Stearns. CSG can be found online at http://www.classicsg.com.

Ted McGovern, chief executive of the EBS Building Society, has been named the new president of the International Union for Housing Finance.Mr. McGovern replaces Graham Hollick, group chief executive of Old Mutual Zimbabwe Ltd., who has presided over the group for the past year. The International Union for Housing Finance can be found on the Web at http://www.housingfinance.org.

The Mortgage Industry Standards Maintenance Organization, a not-for-profit subsidiary of the Mortgage Bankers Association, has announced the appointment of its inaugural board of directors.The MISMO board consists of five members selected from the real estate finance industry and one ex-officio member elected from the ranks of MISMO's Governance Committee. Specifically, the new board includes Edward Godycki of Countrywide Financial Corp., Simi Valley, Calif.; Michael Petree of First Franklin Financial Corp., Irvine, Calif.; Michael Bixby of LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., Norcross, Ga.; Joseph Beggins of GEMSA Loan Services LP, Houston; Niraj Patel of GMAC Commercial Mortgage, Horsham, Pa.; and Adam Hall of IndyMac Bank, Pasadena, Calif., who will serve as the ex-officio MISMO governance director. MISMO develops data-transfer protocols that reduce costs and increase investor confidence in mortgage transactions across the residential and commercial real estate finance industry. It can be found online at http://www.mismo.org.

Greg Jacobson has been named executive vice president and chief operating officer of KB Home Mortgage Co., a subsidiary of the Los Angeles-based homebuilder KB Home.A 20-year veteran of the mortgage industry, Mr. Jacobson was most recently chief executive officer of Closing Guard Inc., a multistate provider of real estate settlement services and mortgage-related software. He has also served as EVP/COO of Countrywide Warehouse Lending; president of Arlington Mortgage Investors; and managing director of Dryson Mortgage Finance Corp. KB Home can be found online at http://www.kbhome.com.

M. Wayne Lee, president of Argent Mortgage Co., has been named chief executive of corporate sibling Ameriquest Mortgage Co.Ameriquest Mortgage and Argent Mortgage are subsidiaries of Ameriquest Capital Corp., Orange, Calif. Ameriquest Mortgage is the retail unit, Argent the wholesale. Mr. Lee, who will remain as president of Argent, succeeds Kirk Langs. The company said Mr. Langs is retiring to spend more time with his family and pursue other interests. Mr. Lee became president of AMC Wholesale, the forerunner to Argent, in 2000. He has been with the Ameriquest organization for 20 years.

Manfred Schepers has been appointed senior managing director and head of The Bond Market Association International in London.Mr. Schepers, who has also been named an executive vice president of the association, was previously vice chairman of European Fixed Income, Rates & Currency at UBS. The Bond Market Association can be found online at http://www.bondmarkets.com.

Thomas S. Johnson, chairman and chief executive officer of GreenPoint Financial Corp., has been elected to the board of directors of Freddie Mac.Mr. Johnson has served as chairman and CEO of GreenPoint, a specialty mortgage lender and consumer banking company based in New York, since 1993. His banking career spans nearly 35 years, Freddie Mac said. Freddie Mac can be found online at http://www.freddiemac.com.

In a surprise move, Alex Pollock has resigned as president of the Chicago Federal Home Loan Bank to become a resident fellow at a Washington think tank.Under Mr. Pollock's leadership, the Chicago FHLBank broke with tradition in 1997 and began purchasing single-family loans to give its member banks and thrifts a secondary-market alternative to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Other FHLBanks have adopted his innovative Mortgage Partnership Finance program, which has generated $95 billion in mortgage originations. "I am exceptionally proud of the accomplishments of the Chicago FHLBank," Mr. Pollock said in a letter to employees. "However, it has been my plan for a long time, at this age (I am 61) to move to the broader area of national public policy issues." He is joining the American Enterprise Institute, which has held several seminars on privatizing Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The Chicago FHLBank plans to name his successor on June 30.

Richard F. Syron, Freddie Mac's chairman and chief executive officer, has been elected chairman of the board of the Freddie Mac Foundation.Two other new members of the board were also named: Michelle Engler, an attorney, a Freddie Mac board member, and a member of the board of managers of JNL Variable Funds Investment Cos.; and Dwight P. Robinson, Freddie Mac's senior vice president for corporate relations. Mr. Syron has previously served as chairman and CEO of the American Stock Exchange and president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston and the Federal Home Loan Bank of Boston.

Christina Seix has resigned from the board of directors of Freddie Mac to avoid a conflict of interest that could arise from a pending acquisition of her investment advisory firm.Freddie Mac said Ms. Seix's firm, Seix Investment Advisors Inc., is being acquired by SunTrust Banks Inc., a Freddie Mac customer. Ms. Seix is chairman and chief executive officer of the firm. She has been a member of Freddie's board since 1990. Freddie Mac can be found on the Web at http://www.freddiemac.com.