McRoberts Joins Prudential Mortgage, Latest in String of GSE Departures

By Barbra Murray, Contributing Editor

Prudential Mortgage Capital Co. is bringing a former Freddie Mac executive on board. The latest in a string of departures from the government-sponsored enterprises as the entities await congressional progress on determining their future structure, Michael McRoberts, who had served as vice president & national head of sales and production with Freddie, will spearhead Prudential’s Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac lending business as managing director.

The job seems a natural fit for McRoberts. At Freddie Mac, his home for two decades, he oversaw the lender’s conventional multi-family business and structured transactions as well as managing the seniors housing teams, the national Freddie Mac Program Plus network and four regional production offices. In his new role at Prudential, McRoberts will be responsible for the market-rate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac portfolio teams and agency production team.

“Mike is an industry leader respected for his deep and broad knowledge of multi-family finance that will be a catalyst for continued growth in our already strong agency lending platform,” David Durning, senior managing director of Prudential Mortgage, noted in a prepared statement. “The last few years have brought tremendous change for all participants in the agency lending business. Adding Mike to Prudential Mortgage Capital’s leadership team highlights our strong commitment to agency lending.”

In addition to his long history with Freddie Mac, where he also once held the position of national head of underwriting and credit for the lender’s multi-family division, McRoberts brings to the table industry experience garnered from his time with First Maryland Mortgage Corp. and First Interstate Mortgage Corp. He will officially join Prudential on Dec. 5.

The departures from the GSEs are producing significant concern among real estate’s financiers, who worry that by the time a decision is made regarding changes to their structures, they will have lost the key talent and relationships that have produced so many successful deals. Others who have bid adieu to positions with Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae since severe financial troubles prompted the government to seize control of the GSEs in 2008. Recent departures have included Michael May, longtime head of multi-family at Freddie Mac; Frank Lutz, vice president for customer management in Fannie Mae’s northeast business center and head of secondary markets; Mitch Kiffe, Freddie Mac’s head of multi-family loan production; and Phil Weber, who headed Fannie Mae’s multi-family business.

For more on the GSE brain drain, including commentary from industry heavyhitters Eduardo Padilla, Shekar Narasimhan and Richard Green, click here to access CPE’s Special Focus: Changes at the GSEs.