Executive Moves is an occasional feature on ROI-NJ.com describing some of the important personnel changes in the New Jersey business community. Reports are based on news releases, edited for content, clarity and style.
Thomas E. Didio Jr., JLL Capital Markets
JLL Capital Markets announced that Thomas E. Didio Jr. has joined the firm as a director in its New Jersey office. Didio will work alongside his father, Thomas Didio Sr., in the JLL Capital Markets New Jersey debt and equity placement group led by Senior Managing Director Michael Klein.
Didio has nearly 10 years of experience in commercial real estate finance and joins JLL from a capital markets firm in Saddle Brook. Prior to entering the debt and equity brokerage space, he worked for four years at Freddie Mac Multifamily, where he developed a keen knowledge of the multihousing and agency finance space, and four years on the buy-side in New York, where he structured joint-venture and preferred equity transactions across the asset spectrum for a boutique real estate private equity firm.
“Tom comes to us with an abundance of excellent relationships and a deep knowledge of the debt and equity financing landscape,” Klein said. “He has led several large debt and equity transactions in the multifamily space over the past few years, and we are excited to have him continue this momentum here at JLL.”
Laurene Farynyk, Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Realtors
Joseph Franchi, sales leader of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach, Realtors Brick Office, welcomes Laurene Farynyk as a sales associate. Licensed since 2010, Farynyk was formerly with Crossroads Realty.
“I joined Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Fox & Roach because of the name recognition,” Farynyk said.
Farynyk is a member of the Monmouth Ocean Regional Realtors and she specializes in working with waterfront and adult community properties. She serves Southern Monmouth County and all of Ocean County. She resides in Lakewood and has two daughters.
Shaleen Mahtani, Guaranteed Rate
Guaranteed Rate, one of the largest retail mortgage lenders in the country, has named Shaleen Mahtani as a senior vice president of mortgage lending in Parsippany.
“Shaleen has worked really hard over the years to earn the reputation as one of the top originators in the North Jersey market,” said Joe Moschella, a regional manager of mortgage lending for Guaranteed Rate’s New Jersey region. “We are thrilled to have her join Guaranteed Rate as senior vice president of lending and it will be exciting to watch her career and business grow even further now that she has joined our team.”
Mahtani joins Guaranteed Rate with over two decades of mortgage industry experience and has consistently ranked within the Top 1% of mortgage originators at her previous companies, while maintaining high levels of customer satisfaction and retention. Her experience in the industry and in-depth knowledge of products and guidelines enable her to build lifelong relationships with clients and referral partners while educating them during every step of the mortgage process.
Toorak Capital Partners
Toorak Capital Partners Inc., the largest capital provider to the residential bridge real estate lending industry, announced that Carole Mortensen and Ketan Parekh have joined the firm as managing directors and head of credit and head of business development and capital markets, respectively.
“This is a remarkable growth period for Toorak,” said John Beacham, CEO of Toorak Capital Partners. “Carole is a proven business builder who will help shape Toorak’s ability to further institutionalize this space, and Ketan’s senior-level insight and proven ability to build strong relationships will be invaluable assets to our growing firm. I look forward to working with Carole and Ketan, and I am certain Toorak will significantly benefit from their leadership.”
Over the course of her 20-year career, Mortensen has managed over $30 billion in transactions. She joins Toorak from M1 Strategic Advisors, a consulting firm that supports specialty finance companies, where she served as managing principal. Parekh is joining Toorak from Invictus Capital Partners, a Washington, D.C.-based alternative mortgage credit fund, where he served as managing director and led the firm’s business-purpose loan operations, overseeing loan sourcing, managing credit, operations and portfolio, and asset management.
David Dickason, RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc.
RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc., a leader in the discovery and development of innovative and revolutionary treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, is pleased to announce the appointment of David Dickason as senior vice president, pre-clinical product development.
Dickason is a highly experienced senior executive with a proven and outstanding track record in the pharmaceutical industry. A seasoned pharmaceutical development professional with over 30 years of experience and nine approved new drug applications, he has specialized expertise in drug product development using innovative technologies for both existing and new chemical entities.
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Joe Fitzgerald, Visual Lease
Visual Lease, the leader in lease accounting and management software, announced the appointment of Joe Fitzgerald as senior vice president, lease market strategy. In his role, Fitzgerald will be responsible for informing product innovation, deepening strategic partnerships and supporting go-to-market thought leadership.
Fitzgerald comes to Visual Lease from Ernst & Young (EY), where he spent the past five-plus years as the firm’s lease technology leader, assisting enterprise clients navigate the challenges related to operations, technology and data management to comply with the latest lease accounting standards. Prior to EY, Fitzgerald spent more than 20 years serving in senior finance and operations roles for organizations in the health care, business services, real estate and leasing sectors.
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Carsten Henke, WCG
WCG, the world’s leading provider of solutions that measurably improve the quality and efficiency of clinical trials, announced that Carsten Henke has joined the company as senior vice president, Europe, and managing director, Germany.
Reporting to WCG’s chief operating officer, Dr. Jeffrey S. Litwin, Henke will head up all operational functions in the region from Germany, where he will be based, and play an integral role in advancing the company’s growth strategy in Europe.
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Travis McCready, JLL
JLL announced Travis McCready as executive director and national practice leader in the firm’s Life Sciences industry practice. McCready will focus on partnering with local market teams to intensify JLL’s Life Sciences strategy across the U.S., while serving as a trusted adviser to clients and providing the full spectrum of JLL’s Life Sciences real estate services.
“JLL’s industries are part of a singular ecosystem, and life sciences is an integral piece of the connective tissue holding them together,” said David Houck, executive managing director, industries, JLL. “Health care, higher education, government and life sciences practitioners are increasingly clustering together to form innovation districts that are becoming the backbone of communities around the country. Travis will play a crucial role as a visionary, driving growth for life sciences across the nation.”
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Robert Vivo, Spencer Savings Bank
Spencer Savings Bank is pleased to welcome Robert Vivo as senior vice president and director of retail sales/service. Vivo will be responsible for leading and overseeing the Retail Financial Center Network, Retail Training and the Customer Service Center.
A seasoned senior executive with 30 years of retail banking experience, Vivo has decades of experience in leading, coaching and mentoring teams toward achieving success. Most recently, he was the regional director/senior vice president at Provident Bank and has also held management positions at Sovereign Bank and Independence Community Bank. He has a history of developing strong relationships with internal and external business line partners as well as within the communities he serves. Vivo graduated cum laude from John Jay College of Criminal Justice and is a resident of Old Bridge, where he lives with his family.
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