PHH Corporation has announced that Smriti Laxman Popenoe, executive vice president and chief risk officer, has been named interim president of PHH Mortgage. Popenoe succeeds Luke Hayden, who has resigned to pursue other interests, as president of PHH Mortgage. The company has commenced a search for a permanent replacement. The company also announced that Richard J. Bradfield, senior VP of capital markets for PHH Mortgage, has been named senior VP and treasurer of PHH Corporation. Bradfield succeeds Mark Johnson, who has resigned to pursue other interests. Both appointments are effective immediately.
“Smriti’s experience and in-depth knowledge of PHH and our mortgage business will help us to continue our focus on disciplined growth in our mortgage franchise platforms, private label solutions and our realogy relationship," said Glen Messina, president and CEO of PHH Corporation. "We will maintain our unwavering commitment to customer service and operational excellence throughout this transition. Rich is the right person to take the helm of our Treasury organization as we prioritize liquidity and cash flow generation to form a sound and stable financial foundation from which to execute our business strategies. I want to thank Luke and Mark for their service to PHH and wish them all the best in their future endeavors."
Popenoe, now interim president, also serves as PHH Corporation’s chief risk officer, responsible for the design and implementation of an enterprise-wide risk framework. Popenoe has a strong background in financial services and the mortgage industry. Prior to joining PHH, she was a principal at TriSim Inc., a financial advisory firm focused on REITS, banks and fixed income markets. She served as senior vice president, balance sheet management at Wachovia (now Wells Fargo) where, among other things, she was responsible for the bank’s mortgage investment portfolio of over $100 billion, as well as securitization programs for the banks retail residential loan originations. Prior to joining Wachovia, Popenoe established Sunset Financial, a publicly traded mortgage REIT, where she was responsible for whole loan investments, securitization, hedging and portfolio management for three years. Earlier, Popenoe oversaw investment programs across the $400 billion fixed-rate MBS and residential whole loan portfolio at Freddie Mac, where she worked for nine years. Popenoe began her career at NASD/Nasdaq, now known as FINRA. She earned her bachelor's degree in chemistry and environmental science from St. Joseph's College in Bangalore, India; a Masters-level French Diploma from Alliance Francaise and an MBA from the University of Rochester. Popenoe is also a chartered financial analyst.
Bradfield, now SVP and treasurer of PHH Corporation, is responsible for the company’s funding needs, including the funding of the company’s fleet leasing and mortgage warehousing requirements. Bradfield is also responsible for managing relations with banks, rating agencies and bondholders. Additionally, Bradfield serves as SVP of capital markets of PHH Mortgage and is responsible for pricing, pipeline and mortgage servicing rights (MSR) risk management, as well as all mortgage asset sales and securitizations. At PHH Mortgage, Bradfield is also responsible for balance sheet management, product development and managing relations with the government-sponsored enterprises (GSEs), mortgage insurance (MI) companies and investors. Bradfield has held a variety of positions during his 20-year career at PHH. Earlier in his career at PHH Mortgage, he was vice president of risk management, directly overseeing pipeline risk management and all conforming asset sales and securitizations. Bradfield earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration and finance from Drexel University and his MBA from Temple University.
