Mortgage giant names new CEO

TAMPA — Denmar Dixon, chief investment officer and vice chairman of the board at Walter Investment Management Corp., has been promoted to president and CEO at the $1.49 billion mortgage firm.

Dixon will assume his new role at the Tampa-based company Oct. 10, according to a statement. He will replace Mark O'Brien, chairman and CEO, who plans to retire. O'Brien will continue as chairman of the board through the end of the year and the company expects him to continue to serve as a director after that, the statement adds.

Dixon is also a managing partner and founder at Blue Flame Capital LLC, a consulting, financial advisory and investment firm. He previously spent 23 years with Banc of America Securities LLC in various positions, including managing director in the corporate and investment banking group and global head of the basic industries group. During his career at Banc of America, he completed mergers and acquisitions, equity and debt capital and financial restructuring transactions that totaled more than $75 billion.

“We are fortunate that Mark selected Denmar to join the company five years ago, as he has worked side-by-side with Mark and proven to be a critical player in the transformation of Walter Investment's business and the execution of its corporate vision,” Mike Tokarz, the company's lead independent director, says in a press release.

Walter Investment (symbol: WAC; recent price: $15.59) focuses primarily on servicing and originating residential loans. It has about 6,000 employees. The company placed 19th in the 2015 Gulf Coast 500, a ranking of the largest companies by revenue in the region.