The senior executive exodus at Fannie Mae continues: the latest departure is Kimberly Johnson, the chief operating officer of the government sponsored enterprise.
Documents filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission this week show that Johnson’s resignation will be effective April 25.
Johnson, whose career with Fannie Mae spans for almost two decades, is currently responsible for leading the mortgage giant’s digital transformation, which includes overseeing Fannie Mae’s technology, data, enterprise models and operations.
During her 16-year stint at the government guarantor, Johnson held numerous titles, including vice president of capital markets from 2006 to 2012, senior vice president of multi-family from 2012 to 2013 and chief risk officer from 2015 to 2018.
Prior to joining Fannie Mae, Johnson worked for six years as a director of fixed income sales at Credit Suisse.
According to Johnson’s LinkedIn profile, she currently serves as a part-time director at Eli Lilly and Company, an American pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana.
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In June, HousingWire examined the executive-level brain drain at Fannie Mae in recent years. Observers said the string of executive walkouts is the result of a simple calculus: an experienced, talented executive can make far more money elsewhere. Others said the rigid structure of conservatorship under the FHFA creates a stifling environment, a rub for executives who don’t typically relish being subject to such strict oversight controls.
Andrew Bon Salle, one of the GSE’s most senior leaders and its head of single-family, left at the end of 2020 to join the parent company of wholesale lender Home Point Capital.
John Forlines, most recently Fannie Mae’s chief risk officer, and Noelle Lipscomb, Fannie Mae’s internal audit vice president, also left the mortgage giant in 2021 to join Home Point Capital.
Renee Schultz, Fannie’s senior vice president of capital markets, left the GSE in April 2021 after 22 years at the firm to serve on the board of directors for her alma mater, St. Mary’s College. PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust appointed Schultz to its board of trustees in May 2021.
Other senior executives that have departed in the past two years include: Desmond Smith, chief customer officer in Fannie Mae’s single-family business, who is now chief growth officer at United Wholesale Mortgage; Andrew Peters, Fannie Mae’s head of single-family strategy and insights, who’s now at Lenderworks; and Jeffrey Walker, most recently Fannie Mae’s single-family chief strategy officer, who now leads CredEvolv.
