Federal loan servicer Freddie Mac has named Mark Grier as interim chief executive officer, the company announced on Tuesday. Grier will succeed former CEO David Brickman, who resigned from the company in November.
In the brief term between Brickman’s departure and Grier’s naming as interim CEO, Michael Hutchins headed the company as interim president. He has since been named president, and will remain in the role under Grier.
Having served as a board member for Freddie since February of 2020, Grier should be well-positioned to hit the ground running in his new role.
“As a member of the board of directors, Mark Grier is already an invaluable asset to Freddie Mac, bringing more than four decades of experience in finance, risk, markets and capital management,” Sara Mathew, non-executive chair of Freddie Mac’s board of directors, said in a statement. “He is ideally suited to lead the company as we continue a thorough search for a permanent CEO. I thank Mark for his leadership and look forward to working closely with him to continue serving the nation’s homeowners and renters.”
Prior to joining Freddie’s board about one year ago, Grier had a 20-plus year career at life insurer Prudential Financial where he started working in 1995 as chief financial officer, and ultimately earned positions as office of the chairman in 2002, and vice chairman in 2007. In his time at Prudential, Grier oversaw a variety of the company’s operations, highlights of which include leading the company’s global strategic initiatives, and playing a key role in Prudential’s $3 billion initial public offering in 2001, which at the time, was one of the largest IPOs in history. Grier retired from Prudential in 2019.
Brickman, who previously had served as Freddie Mac’s president, became CEO of the government sponsored entity in July 2019. In January 2021, he became CEO of a new commercial agency lending platform created jointly by commercial mortgage brokerage Meridian Capital Group and investment manager Barings.
