Fannie Mae promotes two longtime leaders to key positions

Fannie Mae announced two major promotions within its finance leadership team, naming Chryssa Halley executive vice president and chief financial officer to help guide the company’s increased social responsibility efforts. It also appointed Jim Holmberg senior vice president and controller.

Halley most recently held the title of senior vice president and controller at Fannie Mae. Since joining the company in 2006, she has served in several capacities on its finance team, including as deputy controller, assistant controller for capital markets and operations, vice president for tax, debt and derivatives and securities accounting and vice president for corporate tax. Halley takes over as Fannie Mae’s financial head from the company's president, David Benson, who had also been serving as CFO on an interim basis.

“She embodies our core values of listening, leading and strengthening, and brings a mission-first mindset to the CFO role as we work to become a leading ESG company,” Fannie Mae CEO Hugh Frater said in a press release.

Among its initiatives to help close the wealth and homeownership gap in the U.S., Fannie Mae announced it would begin to include rental-payment history in its underwriting appraisals. Last year, Fannie Mae also began issuing green single-family mortgage-backed securitizations to finance energy-efficient homes, an endeavor that has showed promise since introduced. The company has issued green multifamily bonds since 2019.

Holmberg takes over controller responsibilities from Halley after recently serving as vice president, loan accounting. His previous roles at Fannie Mae, which he joined in 2009, have included vice president, financial reporting, and acting vice president, securities accounting.

The new financial leadership appointments follow a strong third quarter, as Fannie Mae saw its net worth double from a year ago. While industry watchers do not see activity in 2022 matching this year’s volumes, both Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac recently predicted originations will show continued strength in the coming year.