FHFA’s Lockhart Teams with Wilbur Ross on Distressed Investments

Yet another housing official has found a new role in the financial market. James Lockhart III, chairman and CEO of the Oversight Board of the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA), will soon become vice chairman of WL Ross & Co., the distressed investment affiliate of Invesco (IVZ). He takes the role in September. “Our investment team will benefit from Jim’s unique insights into the US mortgage markets, which will help us expand the compelling investment opportunities we can offer our institutional and individual clients,” said Wilbur Ross, chairman of WL Ross & Co. and of Invesco Private Capital, in a statement on the appointment. WL Ross accomplished more than $200bn of workouts globally in the last 30 years. The firm has sponsored and managed more than $8bn of equity investments in distressed securities and closed a $4bn distressed private equity fund in 2007. Lockhart confirmed several weeks ago he would soon leave his post as overseer of mortgage giants Freddie Mac (FRE) and Fannie Mae (FNM). He held the post for more than a year, since the Housing and Economic Recovery Act set up the FHFA. His transition to WL Ross comes on the heels of several announcements of other former housing and mortgage officials moving on to form partnerships in the financial space. The former president and CEO of Ginnie Mae, Joseph Murin, and former Federal Housing Administration commissioner Brian Montgomery teamed up to form The Collingwood Group. The firm will provide advisory services to boards of directors and senior executives in financial services companies. Richard Stewart Jr., former vice chairman of Lehman Brothers, and Peter Monroe, former president of the Resolution Trust Corp Oversight Board and chief operating officer of the Federal Housing Administration, formed a $1.5bn joint venture to buy and sell distressed residential real estate-owned (REO) assets. Write to Diana Golobay. Disclaimer: The author held no relevant investments when this story was published.