The former president and chief executive officer of the Government National Mortgage Association (Ginnie Mae) Joseph Murin and former Federal Housing Administration (FHA) Commissioner Brian Montgomery have announced the formation of The Collingwood Group LLC. The firm will provide business advisory services to boards of directors and senior executives of companies in the financial services industry.
In launching the new company, the two former government officials also announced the immediate merger of the new company with Capital Financial Solutions LLC (CFS), a consulting firm co-founded by Brian O'Reilly and Tim Rood.
Established in 2007, CFS has provided services to companies in the financial services industry, including those requiring strategic business development, business and risk management, and business and technology systems design and development services.
"There has never been a time more important for the financial services industry to work hand-in-hand with the federal government to help restore stability and liquidity to the markets," Murin said. "We will advise our clients on how they operate strategically in this environment, as markets continue to shift and the regulatory landscape inevitably changes."
"Our purpose is to help new clients and existing CFS clients to continue to grow their business and to effectively navigate the business and public policy environment in some of the most challenging economic conditions the nation has ever known," said Montgomery.
"With the immediate addition of the Capital Financial Solutions team, we are able to enhance our new firm's depth and range of services for clients, particularly in the areas of strategic business development, and in business and technology planning and design," Murin said.
"Tim Rood and I are proud to join forces with Joe Murin and Brian Montgomery to launch The Collingwood Group," O'Reilly said. "Our long-term clients know that under the CFS name we have been committed to help them capitalize on new market opportunities, improve their operating capabilities and risk posture, and help them achieve distinct competitive advantages in a unique market environment. We intend to expand our ability to accomplish these objectives for all our clients through this new endeavor."
O'Reilly and Rood will serve as managing directors and members of the management committee in The Collingwood Group.
"Through this merger, we will expand services available to existing CFS clients, particularly in the areas of fraud risk management, risk management analytics, mortgage fulfillment services, and REO management and disposition and loan modification management," Montgomery said.
Murin added, "The opportunity to deliver a unique range of capabilities to new clients and existing CFS clients made the decision to merge with Capital Financial Solutions a simple one." The Collingwood Group will be engaged in the areas of domestic and international secondary and capital market activities; risk and loss management; mortgage servicing; all elements of property management and disposition; and business and technology planning and development.
According to Murin, the firm will focus on serving clients' business development needs in the federal government arena. "Americans are looking to Congress and the Administration to provide strong leadership and innovative solutions to the financial crisis," Murin said. "To be a successful enterprise in the financial services industry will require the ability to work collaboratively with policymakers."
Montgomery said while the financial services industry faces complex challenges, the new firm's approach will be simple.
"We call it The Collingwood Model and it boils down to three things: Bring integrity and talent to the table; find opportunities for clients to grow and become more competitive; create value for clients and the people they serve. That's how we look at our mission," he said.
Murin was appointed CEO of Ginnie Mae in 2008. Prior he served as CEO of Lender Services Inc. He also served as CEO for Basis100, a Toronto-based publicly traded technology company. Earlier he served as president of Century Mortgage Company.
Montgomery was Assistant Secretary for Housing-Federal Housing Commissioner from 2005 to 2009. He served as Acting HUD Secretary earlier this year. He joined the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from the Executive Office of the President, where he served as Deputy Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary.
Deeply involved in financial market policies and housing regulation, both Montgomery and Murin headed up their respective agencies at a pivotal time in the nation's economic history. Before co-founding CFS, O'Reilly was director of automated underwriting and risk management solutions at Fannie Mae where he managed the business of many of the company's customer-facing technologies. O'Reilly also served as executive vice president and general counsel to Mortgage Capital Investors Inc., and prior to that as an attorney in private practice in Washington D.C. Immediately prior to co-founding CFS, co-founder Rood was vice president at First American, where he successfully lead the company's professional services group tasked with creating business solutions for the top 10 lenders in the country. Rood also served as director and principal of Fannie Mae's eBusiness division.
