Impac Mortgage completes CFO transition
Impac Mortgage Holdings, Inc. has promoted Paul Licon, the company’s Chief Accounting Officer & Controller, to Chief Financial Officer, as part of a planned transition.
Former CFO Brian Kuelbs stepped down effective April 30, 2020, in advance of the May 14, 2020 expiration of his contract term, “to pursue other professional opportunities,” the Irvine, Calif. based mortgage lender said.
Licon has been with Impac since April 2016. Prior, the 39-year old served as a Senior Manager and as a Principal with the accounting firms KPMG and Squar Milner. He became a Certified Public Accountant in 2008 and earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business.
Impac began transitioning the CFO responsibilities to Licon when he was appointed Chief Accounting Officer, on May 1, 2019.
“We are pleased to announce that Paul Licon will be formally taking on the role of Chief Financial Officer after years of dedicated service and carrying various roles within the organization, including serving as Chief Accounting Officer and Controller,” said George A. Mangiaracina, Impac’s Chairman and CEO. “We value the contributions of our loyal and skilled employees to help guide us through these unprecedented times.”
Quontic appoints its first Chief People Officer
Privately held digital community bank, Quontic, has hired Mike Lantz as Chief People Officer, a newly created position designed to foster a culture “where people can grow and develop professionally,” as part of a team that strives to advance banking innovation, the company said.
The talent development veteran brings to the role 25 years of recruiting and training experience. He joins the New York based, Quontic to attract the best and brightest talent while the bank expands its digital footprint nationally.
Lantz spent nearly eight years as the Chief Learning Officer for DEFENDERS, where he led recruiting, training, compensation and benefits’ teams. He also is the founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based ML Talent Strategies, which was the 17th top training company in the world in 2016, according to Training Magazine.
His professional experiences include the ten-year ownership and operation of LQ Performance Strategies, a full-service talent strategy firm that provided sales and leadership, employee development solutions, to over 250 companies in 31 industries. He also served as Vice President of Training & Development at real estate company, F.C. Tucker, and as Director of Public Relations for USA Baseball.
“Quontic has made significant strides envisioning what a community bank could be and where the brand wanted to go next,” said Steve Schnall, Founder, and CEO of Quontic. “This started for us by hiring a Chief Innovation Officer about 18 months ago, which is a rare position in community banks, and fueled a rapid period of growth and expansion on the national level.”
Quontic is as good as our team, Schnall said, under Mike’s leadership the company will double down on its culture and people, he is a natural fit with Quontic’s innovative culture. “We are confident that he will elevate the work experience for every member of our Quontic team and attract a new generation of talent.”
Quontic is executing on major growth initiatives, so putting the right people on the front lines will determine their overall success, explained Lantz. “In today’s competitive marketplace, a company’s best resource and strategic advantage is its people,” Quontic understands that investing in the success of its people is the best pathway to drive business success.
According to the company website, Quontic summarizes its culture in four tenets: Be positive, smile and encourage others; Adapt, be open to new ideas and unafraid to embrace change; Progress is what matters, do not let a desire for perfection prevent progress; Be intentional to understand what the needed outcome is, measure and beat it.
Colony Credit names real estate finance expert as CEO & President
Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. announced Michael J. Mazzei is the company’s new Chief Executive Officer and President exclusively focused on business and operations effective April 1, 2020. Interim CEO and President, Andrew E. Witt transitions to Chief Operating Officer.
Before joining Colony Credit, Mazzei stepped down from the board of directors of Ladder Capital Corp, where he served as a member since 2017. Previously, Mazzei was President of Ladder from 2012 through 2017.
Mazzei brings to Colony Credit more than 35 years of experience, knowledge of navigating through cycles, and strong executive leadership in the commercial real estate (CRE) finance and mortgage REIT (real estate investment trust) business, said Thomas J. Barrack, Jr., Executive Chairman of Colony Capital, Inc., the company’s external manager.
Mazzei served as Global Head of the CMBS and Bank Loan Syndication Group at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Co-Head of CMBS and Commercial Real Estate Debt Markets at Barclays Capital. Prior, he spent 20 years at Lehman Brothers, including 18 years in CRE financing roles.
He started his career in commercial mortgage trading in 1984, before taking on other CMBS leadership positions in 1991, such as head of Global Real Estate Investment Banking and the following years. He holds a B.S. from Baruch College, J.D. from St. John’s University School of Law, and is a graduate of the New York University Real Estate Institute.
In light of the COVID-19 pandemic and uncertainty in the global markets, Mazzei will join management’s “daily efforts to preserve financial flexibility, take precautionary measures to support the balance sheet and business, and support our government and regulators as they navigate solutions to support the American economy,” Barrack said.
Colony Credit has taken precautionary measures to manage its CRE mortgage backed securities risk exposure, he added, and currently holds approximately $325 million of available liquidity between cash on hand and the company’s corporate revolving credit facility.
Mazzei will lead operations, including investment and credit risk, capital raising and relationship management activities among stockholders, clients, partners, financing counterparties, research analysts and rating agencies.
Investment banking vet elected to Wells Fargo Board of Directors
The Wells Fargo & Company Board of Directors has elected to the board Steven D. Black, an industry veteran with more than 45-years of financial services experience who also serves on the board of Nasdaq, Inc.
“Our board and management team are working with a sense of urgency to drive important cultural and structural changes at Wells Fargo, and I look forward to working with Steve and the other directors to continue the transformation of our company,” said Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf in a release. “We are fortunate to be able to add Steve to the board.”
Black has served as co-CEO of Bregal Investments, a private equity firm, since September 2012.
His decades of experience include various investment banking leadership positions at JPMorgan Chase & Co., such as Vice Chairman of JPMorgan Chase from March 2010 to February 2011, and member of the company’s Operating and Executive Committees.
He also served as Investment Bank Executive Chairman from 2009 to 2010; co-CEO of the Investment Bank from 2004 to 2009; Investment Bank deputy co-CEO from 2003 to 2004; and head of the Investment Bank’s Global Equities business from 2000 to 2003.
Before joining JPMorgan Chase, Black worked at Citigroup Inc. and its predecessor companies.
“Steve’s deep knowledge of the financial services industry and financial markets, as well as his expertise in strategy and solving problems gained from advising clients all over the world, will bring valuable insight to our board,” said Charles Noski, Wells Fargo’s board chair.
Amilda is a journalist and branding consultant interested in how entrepreneurs turn brilliant ideas into products and services that advance business acumen and improve people’s lives in unprecedented ways. She has covered mortgage finance for over 15 years.
