Ginnie Mae President Alanna McCargo has announced that she is stepping down from her role as head of the public office, effective May 3, 2024. Ginnie Mae Principal EVP Sam I. Valverde will serve as the Acting President upon President McCargo’s departure.
McCargo has served in the Biden-Harris Administration since January 2021, first as the Senior Advisor for Housing Finance in the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development (HUD) for former Secretary Marcia L. Fudge, and was later nominated by President Biden to lead Ginnie Mae. McCargo’s confirmation, with bipartisan support by the U.S. Senate, made history as she became the first woman and woman of color at the helm of this U.S. government corporation.
Preserving equitable housing for all
“The past 3.5 years in public service with the Biden-Harris Administration has been the most important and fulfilling work of my 25-year career in housing finance, and I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to serve my country and advance a bold housing agenda across the globe as President of Ginnie Mae,” McCargo said. “I am incredibly proud of what we have accomplished together and grateful for the housing leadership this Administration and agency have demonstrated since our first day in office. This has been a deeply personal decision to return to private life.”
Prior to joining the Biden-Harris Administration, McCargo served as VP of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute, where she led and developed evidence-based research and analysis on the U.S housing market. She also served as Executive Director of the Mortgage Servicing Collaborative, a cross-sector initiative that identified and developed policy recommendations for mortgage servicing and securitization reforms to enable stability for the housing finance system through all economic cycles.
McCargo held roles as VP and Head of Government Solutions with CoreLogic, and was VP with JP Morgan Chase’s Home Lending Division. She worked for Fannie Mae from 2002-2012 on secondary mortgage market and policy development and programs. While at the GSE, McCargo worked in partnership with the U.S. Treasury Department at the height of the Great Recession and housing crisis in 2008, executing on the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, including implementation of new housing and mortgage programs to promote mortgage servicing reforms, foreclosure prevention, and loss mitigation solutions.
“I am most proud of the team of career public servants at Ginnie Mae that I have had the privilege of working alongside since my confirmation,” added McCargo. “The talent, commitment, and dedication of the Ginnie Mae team are breathtaking, and the enormity of responsibility they carry out each day in our complex $2.5 trillion guarantee business is remarkable. I am pleased with the progress and accomplishments Ginnie Mae has achieved during my tenure, the precision with which the team executes on our obligations and authorities, and the groundwork that we have laid for Ginnie Mae to grow and build the capacity needed to meet its crucial affordable housing and capital markets mission on behalf of the United States Government.”
Prior to joining public service, McCargo served in her personal and professional capacity on nonprofit boards focused on housing security and affordability efforts including Doorways for Women and Families, Women in Housing and Finance Foundation, and in advisory roles with the Aspen Institute’s Expanding Prosperity Impact Collaborative (EPIC) for housing, and with Habitat for Humanity of Washington, D.C.
“I thank President McCargo for her service to our country and at HUD. In her time at the agency, she has been a zealous advocate for housing affordability and ensuring a more equitable housing finance system,” said HUD Acting Secretary Adrianne Todman. “As President of Ginnie Mae, Alanna has helped expand Ginnie Mae’s reach in serving historically underserved communities and has been a champion for advancing market-driven initiatives that support mortgage programs across the Government. It has been a joy to work with President McCargo. I am proud to say that she has left Ginnie Mae stronger than when she arrived, and her tenure sets a high standard for servant leadership.”
Welcoming a new Acting President
Valverde has served with McCargo for the past two years, leading the agency through numerous critical initiatives and spearheading work in the global investment community to expand the value proposition of Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities program. Ginnie Mae Senior Advisor for Strategic Operations and Interim Chief Operating Officer Laura M. Kenney will assume additional responsibilities as part of the McCargo-Valverde leadership transition.
“I have complete confidence in Sam and Laura and the entire career executive leadership team to continue to provide leadership continuity and to execute the ongoing priorities that Ginnie Mae has worked on during my tenure,” McCargo said.
Valverde began his tenure at Ginnie Mae in March 2022 as EVP and COO, and in January 2023, he was appointed to serve as Principal EVP. He brings more than 15 years of housing finance, policy, and legal experience to Ginnie Mae. Across his career in public service, he has worked to develop market-based solutions to improve economic outcomes for all Americans.
Prior to joining Ginnie Mae, Valverde was Supervisory Attorney Advisor at the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) in the Division of Conservatorship Oversight and Readiness where he led agency-wide projects intended to support greater access to mortgage credit and affordable rental opportunities for working families. In addition, Valverde led successful efforts to transition Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (GSEs) away from utilizing LIBOR for a range of variable rate product offerings. He also coordinated efforts to develop a post-conservatorship regulatory framework for the GSEs and provided technical assistance on a variety of housing finance legislation.
Prior to joining the FHFA, Valverde served as a Counselor for Domestic Finance at the U.S. Department of the Treasury, focusing on housing and consumer finance issues. While at Treasury, he worked on issues related to the conservatorships of the GSEs and implementation of the housing programs under the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008. Prior to joining public service, Valverde began his career as a Securities Lawyer at Davis Polk & Wardell LLP.
Earlier this week, Valverde took part in the 14th Annual Five Star Government Forum, where, along with Five Star Global Chairman Emeritus Ed Delgado, took part in a Fireside Chat, discussing current priorities and initiatives in the housing finance space, including counterparty liquidity, sustainable investment, and cybersecurity.
Strength and growth under McCargo’s leadership
“We commend President McCargo and her staff for their contributions on numerous issues, including supporting mortgage servicers in their commitment to helping struggling homeowners enter and exit COVID-19 forbearance programs, investing in technology to improve the experience for issuers, and enhancing liquidity for Ginnie Mae mortgage-backed securities,” said Mortgage Bankers Association (MBA) President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB. “MBA will continue its work with Sam Valverde as he becomes Acting President and with Ginnie Mae and HUD leadership and staff on policies and programs that increase mortgage market liquidity and support affordable homeownership and rental housing throughout the country.”
It was recently announced that Ginnie Mae’s mortgage-backed securities (MBS) portfolio outstanding grew to $2.56 trillion in March 2024, including $32.4 billion of total MBS issuance, marking $12.5 billion in net growth. March’s new MBS issuance supported the financing of more than 101,000 households, including more than 45,000 first-time homebuyers. Approximately 68% of the March MBS issuance reflected new mortgages that support home purchases because refinance activity remained low due to higher interest rates. For the 2024 calendar year to date, Ginnie Mae has supported the pooling and securitization of more than 137,000 first-time homebuyer loans.
Ginnie Mae also recently assembled more than 150 senior government officials and industry leaders from 13 countries at its inaugural U.S.-Latin America Investor Roundtable at the offices of HUD in Washington, D.C. to discuss housing finance. The event, held both in-person and virtually, featured panel discussions on the expansion of housing finance availability through the use of portfolio lending or capital markets funding, government’s role in promoting social and sustainable lending, innovation in housing finance, and more affordable and environmentally friendly housing.
“Housing affordability and community development is a central part of the many policy and economic priorities we share across the Americas,” said McCargo of the inaugural U.S.-Latin America Investor Roundtable. “Our collaboration with the Inter-American Development Bank and the organizations that participated in the roundtable is a start of collective work to pursue avenues to increase the affordable housing supply and help more households access safe and affordable rental and homeownership opportunities.”
