Freddie Mac Taps Longtime PNC Real Estate Exec As CEO

Diana Reid has taken the helm of Freddie Mac, stepping in as its new CEO. 

Reid, who led PNC Financial Services Group’s real estate business division for nearly 12 years, immediately replaces interim CEO Michael Hutchins, the government-backed lender announced Tuesday. Hutchins will remain as the company’s president.

Prior to her role at PNC, Reid founded Beekman Advisors, a consulting firm for real estate companies and investors. 

She also spent nearly 20 years at the investment bank formerly known as Credit Suisse First Boston, which later was reorganized and merged into Credit Suisse. There, she specialized in mortgage trading, debt capital markets and financial institutions advisory.   

Last year, Michael DeVito retired as Freddie Mac's CEO after taking over the role in 2021.

“I look forward to working with the Board, management and my colleagues at Freddie Mac to continue and expand the company’s contributions in providing liquidity, stability and affordability for housing in communities across the country, and to ensure the company’s safety and soundness for the next generation,” Reid said in a statement.

Freddie Mac and its sister organization, Fannie Mae, have been at the center of a series of scandals recently, as reports of falsified financial documentation in multifamily mortgages has risen. As a result, both have stepped up scrutiny of lenders and brokers.

For Freddie Mac, that has included adding requirements on first-time borrowers, adjusting its due diligence and Know Your Customer requirements, and heightening its standards for appraiser independence. It has also been investigating Meridian Capital Group after some brokers allegedly fabricated numbers to secure larger loans for their clients. 

The crackdown on fraud has led to multiple high-profile guilty pleas, and three appraisal firms have been blacklisted from performing valuation work on multifamily properties seeking loans from Freddie or Fannie.