Senior Management Team Expansion Continues Recent Trend of Hiring Top-Tier Mortgage Industry Talent
 

Austin, TX – March 2, 2009 – Amherst Holdings, LLC, a leading advisor to businesses focused on the mortgage sector, today announced it has hired Joseph Walsh as President and Ramon de Castro as Chief Risk Officer to help oversee the company’s ongoing expansion in its core residential mortgage-backed securities (RMBS) business and growth into new securitized product offerings.  Messrs. Walsh and de Castro, who join Amherst after distinguished careers in the investment and asset management industries, will be based out of the company’s New York City and McLean, VA offices, respectively.  They are among six new senior-level hires announced recently as Amherst continues to attract top talent across the securities industry.

 

Sean Dobson, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Amherst Holdings, said: “I am very pleased to welcome Joe and Ramon to Amherst.  They will be an indispensible part of our team as we continue to expand our franchise in the single-family space and strategically enter new product areas.  Their extensive experience in the mortgage and capital markets will accelerate our efforts to provide new and innovative solutions for our clients in these difficult areas.  Last fall we raised a significant amount of new capital from a consortium of investors led by Stone Point Capital.  Since then we have selectively added a number of senior executives to help Amherst and its clients take advantage of the growing opportunities.”

 

“I am extremely pleased to be working alongside Sean and the many talented professionals at Amherst,” Mr. Walsh said. “Amherst is ideally positioned with its strong credit focus, superior analytics and track record of helping clients navigate through good and bad markets.  I have closely followed Amherst’s success over the past several years and I look forward to helping the company continue to grow and prosper.”

 

“In a market defined by instability and risk, Amherst has become a model of consistency that made my decision to join the firm a very easy one,” Mr. de Castro said.  “Not only does the firm’s structure enable its executives to respond to clients’ needs efficiently, but its industry-leading analysis of risk will give us the ability to expand into other product areas to take advantage of emerging market trends.”

 

Mr. Walsh, who previously served as a Managing Director in the private equity business at Fortress Investment Group, will be President of Amherst Holdings and its subsidiaries, including Amherst Securities Group.  He will work alongside Mr. Dobson to co-manage the business and operations of the Amherst Companies.  Mr. Walsh’s primary responsibility will be to develop and execute strategies for new business lines and opportunities.  Prior to working at Fortress, Mr. Walsh spent nine years at RBS Greenwich Capital, where he was a Managing Director and Head of Mortgage and Asset-Backed Origination, Finance and Trading.  While there, he was responsible for day-to-day management of U.S. residential mortgage and asset-backed businesses.  He graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Biology.

 

As Chief Risk Officer of Amherst Holdings, LLC and Subsidiaries, Mr. de Castro’s primary focus will be to manage the day-to-day risks encountered by Amherst Securities in the conduct of its business.  He is also responsible for credit and fraud risk management.  Mr. de Castro spent the past 18 years at Fannie Mae, where he most recently worked as Senior Vice President of Capital Markets.  At that position, he led the trading and investment activity of all mortgage assets for Fannie Mae's retained portfolio, including asset selection, relative value and risk analysis, trade execution, and coordination of hedges in the agency and derivatives markets.  Mr. de Castro received his MBA from the University of Chicago and his B.A. from Johns Hopkins University. 

 

Earlier this month, Amherst hired four senior mortgage professionals, broadening its securitization expertise in both collateralized mortgage obligations (CMOs) and asset-backed securities (ABS).  Daniel Farrell and Mark Castiglione joined in the Structured Products Group while Andrew Beal and Kenneth Dinovo are working in Agency CMO trading.  The new additions to the firm are a testament to Amherst’s ability to attract the leading mortgage experts as it expands its already strong base.

 

 

 

Amherst Holdings is the holding company for several companies dedicated to assisting institutional investors in the US residential mortgage markets.  The firm’s principal subsidiary, Amherst Securities Group, L.P., is a specialist broker-dealer with more than 15 years experience analyzing and trading residential mortgage-backed securities. Amherst’s experienced professional staff utilizes proprietary analytical tools to provide actionable intelligence to institutional clients that are seeking to understand and profit from the complexities and risks of the mortgage securities market.  More information about Amherst can be found on www.amherstholdings.com.

 

Tom Johnson/Amy Robinson

The Abernathy MacGregor Group

(212) 371-5999