Executive Team

Phillip J. Kardis II is our President, Chief Executive Officer and one of our Class II Directors. Mr. Kardis was appointed Chief Executive Officer in December 2022 and President in March 2024.. He was elected as one of our Class III Directors on December 10, 2022 and then as a Class II Director on June 10, 2025. Prior to becoming Chief Executive Officer and President, Mr. Kardis served as the Company’s Chief Legal Officer and Secretary from September 2015 to December 2022. During his tenure as the Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Mr. Kardis has been actively involved in leadership of the Company, its operations, and its strategic initiatives since its founding in 2007, and has played a key role in structuring the Company’s securitization, financing, and investment transactions. Mr. Kardis has been immersed in all aspects of the Company’s strategic planning, policies, and transactions, including serving on the Valuation Committee and Investment Committee. Mr. Kardis has recognized expertise in mortgage REITs and structured transactions. Prior to joining the Company in September 2015, Mr. Kardis was a partner with the law firm of K&L Gates LLP where he represented mortgage REITs and other companies and funds that acquire, originate, service and finance residential mortgage loans, mortgage servicing rights and mortgage-backed securities, including the Company. Prior to joining K&L Gates LLP in 2004, Mr. Kardis practiced corporate and securities law at several law firms. In addition, Mr. Kardis has held positions at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Rockwell International, the U.S. Senate Committee on the Budget and Analytic Services, Inc. Mr. Kardis has a BA degree from George Washington University, an MA from George Washington University, an MA from George Mason University, and a JD from the Georgetown University Law Center.

Subramaniam Viswanathan is our Chief Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer. Prior to becoming our Chief Financial Officer in July 2021, Mr. Viswanathan most recently served as the Managing Director, Chief Operating Officer – Global Mortgages and Securitized Products and Global Rates since 2012 and served in other roles at Bank of America Merrill Lynch since 2007. Mr. Viswanathan previously served as the Senior Vice President, Business Area Controller – Cash and Synthetic CDOs, Securitization and Correlation Desks at Citigroup, Corporate and Investment Banking. Mr. Viswanathan earned his degree in economics from the University of Madras in Chennai, India and his MBA from University of Hartford.

Jack Macdowell is our Chief Investment Officer.  Mr. Macdowell became the Company’s Chief Investment Officer upon the Company’s acquisition of The Palisades Group (“Palisades”) in December 2024. In 2012, Mr. Macdowell co-founded Palisades and served as the Managing Member and Chief Investment Officer, in which role he was responsible for leading Palisades’ investment activities, including research, asset allocation, and risk management functions. Prior to founding Palisades in 2012, Mr. Macdowell served as the Chief Investment Officer of Carrington Capital Management, where he oversaw the teams responsible for investment strategies, quantitative analysis, mortgage credit analytics, trading, and risk management. Prior to Carrington, Mr. Macdowell served as Senior Portfolio Manager at Old Hill Partners where he was responsible for the Firm’s investments in mortgage- and asset-backed securities. Mr. Macdowell held various investment banking titles in the Asset Securitization Group at both RBC Capital Markets and Credit Suisse First Boston, where his primary focus was on non-agency mortgage and manufactured housing-related securitizations. Mr. Macdowell was formerly on the Board of Trustees for Vertical Capital Income Fund (VCIF), a NYSE listed closed-end fund. He is also a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charterholder, a member of the CFA Institute and formerly served on the Board of CFA Society Austin. Mr. Macdowell earned his BBA from The University of Texas at Austin, and he is a member of the Executive Council of the Texas McCombs Real Estate Center at the McCombs School of Business at The University of Texas at Austin.

Miyun Sung is our Chief Legal Officer and Corporate Secretary. Prior to joining the Company in November 2023, Ms. Sung was Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Urstadt Biddle Properties Inc., a NYSE-listed real estate investment trust (REIT) that owned and operated retail shopping centers. She was with Urstadt Biddle Properties from May 2016 until August 2023 when the company merged with Regency Centers Corporation, a Nasdaq-listed REIT. From August to September 2023, Ms. Sung provided advisory services to the newly merged company on transition matters. Earlier in her career, Ms. Sung’s roles included Counsel at Hogan Lovells LLP, a Washington D.C.-based law firm, and Senior Counsel at MicroStrategy, a Nasdaq-listed business intelligence software company. Ms. Sung received a BA in Government from Cornell University in 1997 and a JD from Harvard Law School in 2000.