Mortgage industry veteran Sean Becketti has joined Freddie Mac as vice president and chief economist.
Previously, Becketti was senior vice president and head of modeling and analytics for Flagstar Bank. Earlier, he headed up Fannie Mae's applied research function, where he led a 70-person team of modelers, analysts and developers.
Becketti's experience also includes senior executive roles with Washington Mutual and Wells Fargo in which he led research functions focused on mortgage markets and capital markets. He also worked at Freddie Mac from 1996 to 2001 in several senior financial and analytical roles. Earlier in his career, he served as senior economist with the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City and as an assistant professor of economics at UCLA.
As chief economist, Becketti will lead a team that forecasts mortgage and housing market trends and conducts analysis and research on economic and policy issues affecting the company.