Fannie Mae's David Benson To Retire

Two high-level execs at Fannie Mae will retire in the next twelve months, leading to leadership changes, officials at the GSE announced.

Fannie Mae President David C. Benson is retiring in 2024, while Chief Administrative Officer Jeffery Hayward will step down at the end of this year.

“We’re deeply grateful to both Dave and Jeff for their leadership and decades of service,” said Michael Heid, Chair of Fannie Mae’s Board of Directors. “As they depart, we are implementing our succession plans and streamlining our leadership structure to continue advancing our strategy and our mission to serve homeowners, renters, and the housing market as a whole.”

Benson served for 21 years in various roles at Fannie Mae, including Interim CEO, CFO, EVP Capital Markets, and Treasurer.

Hayward devoted 36 years to the company, during which time he also served as head of Multifamily and its National Servicing Organization.

CEO Priscilla Almodovar will become president next year when Benson leaves. In her new role, she will oversee both Single-Family, led by EVP Malloy Evans, and Multifamily, led by EVP Michele Evans.

“I’m honored and I’m excited about the path forward,” Almodovar said. “Dave’s and Jeff’s achievements have left a lasting imprint on our company and our industry, and we are grateful for their leadership and contributions.”

Terry Theologides, current General Counsel, will take on the role of CAO when Hayward departs, while Danielle McCoy, current SVP Deputy General Counsel, will become GC.

Theologides has served as General Counsel for more than four years and previously held leadership roles at CoreLogic and Morgan Stanley.

The changes come at a difficult time in the housing market. Fannie Mae reported a “challenging” Q3, with a net income of $4.7 billion, down from $295 million from Q2. It attributed the decline to a decrease in benefits for credit losses.

The FHFA recently capped the GSEs’ multifamily loan purchases at $70 billion per company, for a combined total of $140 billion to support the multifamily market.