Freddie Mac names new CFO

Chris Lown was previously CFO at Navient Corp.

Published June 3, 2020 by Richard Foster

Tysons-based Freddie Mac announced that Christian M. Lown will become the Fortune 500 company’s executive vice president and chief financial officer, effective June 15.

Previously the executive vice president and CFO for Navient Corp., Lown succeeds interim CFO Donald F. Kish, who will continue serving as Freddie Mac’s senior vice president, corporate controller and principal accounting officer.

“We welcome Chris Lown to Freddie Mac. His demonstrated success as a chief financial officer and strong background in the debt and equity capital markets and in mergers and acquisitions will be invaluable as we prepare our company to exit conservatorship,” said Freddie Mac CEO David Brickman in a statement. “I want to thank Donnie Kish for his steady and selfless leadership of our finance function during this transition.”

Lown said, “I am excited to join Freddie Mac as the company prepares for its next chapter and I look forward to working with such a talented management team and innovative company.”

Prior to joining Navient in 2017, Lown was managing director, financial institutions group at Morgan Stanley, where he co-led the Global FinTech and North America Banks and Diversified Finance investment banking practices. Lown holds an MBA from The University of Virginia’s Darden Graduate School of Business Administration, and a bachelor’s degree from Lynchburg College.

Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corp., better known as Freddie Mac, is a federal government-sponsored enterprise designed to expand the secondary market for mortages by purchasing mortgages from lenders, pooling them and selling them as motgage-backed securities to investors.