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Guy Arnold has been named president of Dividend Capital Total Realty Trust Inc., a Denver-based real estate investment trust.Mr. Arnold replaces Jim Giuliano, who had been serving as president on an interim basis. In addition, John Biallas has resigned as chief operating officer and been named chief financial officer. Before joining Dividend Capital, Mr. Arnold was a partner and managing director of Cherokee Investment Partners and co-managed the firm's Denver office. He was previously vice president of Colorado & Santa Fe Land Co., a commercial real estate company.

Former mortgage bond executive Jeff Kronthal has returned to Merrill Lynch as a consultant, the company has confirmed.Mr. Kronthal will be advising the firm on issues that include portfolios in the subprime mortgage and collateralized debt obligation areas, a spokeswoman said. He left the company in 2006 in the wake of subprime mortgage concerns.

Larry Goldstone, president and chief operating officer of Thornburg Mortgage Inc., has been promoted to president and chief executive officer.Garrett Thornburg, previously chairman and CEO of Thornburg Mortgage, will remain chairman of the board and continue to be actively involved in the company, Thornburg Mortgage said. Before co-founding Thornburg Mortgage, the 53-year-old Mr. Goldstone was senior vice president and treasurer of Downey Savings and Loan. He previously held a variety of positions at Great American Bank, including senior vice president. Thornburg Mortgage, a real estate investment trust that focuses mainly on the jumbo segment of the adjustable-rate mortgage market, can be found online at http://www.thornburg.com.

Cassius Cade IV has been named senior vice president and western regional sales manager for Capital Markets Cooperative, a provider of consulting and risk reduction services based in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.Mr. Cade will be responsible for opening up the U.S. West Coast to CMC, the company said. Mr. Cade has more than 20 years of mortgage banking and capital markets experience. He served for six years as vice president and regional sales director for ABN Amro Mortgage Capital Markets Group. From 1998 to 2000, Mr. Cade was regional sales director for Tuttle & Co., and from 1994 to 1998, he served as first vice president in institutional sales for Principal Financial Securities Inc., according to CMC.

Irwin Financial Corp., a mortgage banker and home equity lender based in Columbus, Ind., has announced that it will eliminate the position of executive vice president held by 31-year company veteran Thomas D. Washburn as of Dec. 30.As of that date, the 60-year-old Mr. Washburn will assume the title of vice chairman to help the company shift his responsibilities to others by June 30, 2008, Irwin said. His current direct responsibilities as chairman of the company's three lines of business will be transferred on Dec. 30 to Irwin chairman and chief executive William I. Miller. The company said Mr. Washburn's separation agreement includes payment to him of approximately two times his current base salary and target bonus, among other things, and is expected to cost the company approximately $1.1 million. The company can be found online at http://www.irwinfinancial.com.

CapLease Inc., a New York-based real estate investment trust, has announced the retirement of mortgage industry veteran Lewis Ranieri as its chairman, citing "family circumstances."Paul McDowell has been elected chairman and will continue as CapLease's chief executive officer, the REIT reported. Mr. Ranieri, widely viewed as the father of the mortgage-backed security, will continue as a senior adviser to the company. He had been chairman of the company and its predecessor entities since 1995.

John Fisk has been named chief executive officer of the FHLBanks Office of Finance, the debt issuance facility of the Federal Home Loan Banks, effective Jan. 1.Mr. Fisk has served as the No. 2 executive in the Office of Finance since May 2004, and is currently responsible for managing all day-to-day functions. He will succeed CEO and managing director John K. Darr, who has led the Office of Finance since 1992 and plans to retire on Dec. 31. Mr. Fisk will also become chief operating officer and president of both the Financing Corp. and the Resolution Funding Corp. on Jan. 1. Before joining the Office of Finance, Mr. Fisk was executive vice president of strategic planning at MGIC, and he previously held various capital market and mortgage positions over 17 years at Freddie Mac. By the time he left in 2000, he was executive vice president for the single-family mortgage business.

The Mortgage Bankers Association has announced the promotion of Steve O'Connor to senior vice president of government affairs, the post previously held by Kurt Pfotenhauer, who is leaving the MBA to become chief executive officer of the American Land Title Association.Mr. O'Connor will be responsible for managing the public policy and advocacy efforts of the association. He was previously senior vice president of public policy. Mr. Pfotenhauer will take the reins at ALTA on Jan. 7. The organizations can be found on the Web at http://www.mortgagebankers.org and http://www.alta.org.

Metrocities Mortgage LLC, a mortgage lender based in Sherman Oaks, Calif., has announced that its founder and chief executive officer, Paul Wylie, will step down.Dick Loeffler, chief operating officer of Prospect Mortgage Co., will serve as interim CEO upon Mr. Wylie's departure, and executives Lynette Hale-Lee, Virginia Martinez, Anna Ruotolo, and Harry Tomlinson will collectively manage the sales organization, Metrocities said. Mr. Wylie founded Metrocities in 1989. The company said he was instrumental in arranging the strategic investment in Metrocities by Sterling Partners, a private equity fund based in Chicago and Baltimore, which recapitalized the company and gave a majority interest to Prospect Mortgage, a portfolio company of Sterling. Metrocities can be found online at http://www.metrocities.com.

Renan Levy has been named president and chief operating officer of Intellidyn Corp., a Boston-based provider of direct response marketing and multichannel database marketing systems.Intellidyn said Mr. Levy worked most recently with n2N Commerce developing advanced electronic commerce systems for large e-retailers including The Limited. He was previously a partner at Halo Group International, and COO and chief executive officer of KaBloom. Intellidyn CEO Peter Harvey touted Mr. Levy's "strong background in business analytics and intelligence practices, and vast experience within the retail, e-commerce, online services, and multichannel contact center industries." The company can be found on the Web at http://www.intellidyn.com.