{"id":47885,"date":"2026-03-26T00:20:43","date_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:20:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/former-fannie-mae-ceo-hugh-frater-joins-better-board\/"},"modified":"2026-03-26T00:20:43","modified_gmt":"2026-03-25T21:20:43","slug":"former-fannie-mae-ceo-hugh-frater-joins-better-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/former-fannie-mae-ceo-hugh-frater-joins-better-board\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Fannie Mae CEO Hugh Frater joins Better board"},"content":{"rendered":"

Better Home & Finance Holding Co.<\/strong> announced Wednesday that it has appointed Hugh Frater<\/a>, a founding partner of BlackRock<\/strong> and former CEO of Fannie Mae<\/strong>, to its board of directors as the company leans further into its Tinman<\/a> AI mortgage platform.<\/p>\n

Frater, whose role became effective March 23, brings experience spanning mortgage-backed securities<\/a> (MBS), agency finance and commercial real estate lending at a time when nonbank lenders are racing to modernize underwriting and secondary market execution with automation and AI.<\/p>\n

\u201cHugh has helped shape the modern housing finance system from the ground up. He\u2019s exactly the kind of leader you want in the room when you\u2019re rebuilding housing finance,\u201d said Vishal Garg<\/a>, CEO and founder of Better.<\/p>\n

Garg pointed to Frater\u2019s roles in helping build BlackRock<\/a>\u2019s fixed-income and mortgage-backed securities businesses, leading Berkadia Commercial Mortgage LLC <\/strong>and steering Fannie Mae<\/a> through \u201cone of the most complex periods in mortgage history,\u201d a reference to the COVID-19 pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs we use AI to make the mortgage experience faster, easier, and cheaper for Americans through Better\u2019s AI-native Tinman Platform, Hugh\u2019s experience will be critical at the board level in guiding our long-term strategy,\u201d Garg added.<\/p>\n

Frater, a founding partner of BlackRock, helped to expand the firm from a fixed-income and MBS specialist into what is now the world\u2019s largest asset manager. <\/p>\n

He later served as CEO and board member at Fannie Mae from 2018 to 2022, a period that covered the COVID-19 boom-and-bust cycle in mortgage rates<\/a>, record levels of refinance<\/a> volume, and rapid swings in credit and servicing risk across the agency market.<\/p>\n

Prior to Fannie Mae, Frater was CEO and chairman of Berkadia, an agency and commercial real estate lending and investment sales platform that services multifamily<\/a> and other income-producing properties.<\/p>\n

Frater currently serves on the boards of Hippo Holdings Inc.<\/strong>, Vessel Technologies<\/strong>, Findigs<\/strong> and the Bipartisan Policy Center<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mortgage banking industry has long been ready for innovation, modern consumers are demanding it and Vishal and Better have consistently pursued that vision,\u201d Frater said in a statement. \u201cTo tackle the housing affordability<\/a> crisis, we need a transparent system that connects capital with a variety of housing needs and does so at the best practical cost to consumers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Frater said Better\u2019s Tinman AI platform \u201cprovides a thoughtful approach to delivering more housing\u201d and added that he aims to support the board as the company rolls out the technology to lenders, banks and fintechs nationwide.<\/p>\n

Frater\u2019s appointment comes as Better is emphasizing Tinman as its core growth engine \u2014 and as investor and regulatory scrutiny<\/a> of AI in underwriting and pricing intensifies. The company, which trades on Nasdaq<\/strong> under the ticker BETR, has been positioning Tinman as an \u201cAI-native\u201d platform that automates data intake, decisioning and capital markets execution across the mortgage process.<\/p>\n

Better reported that in the fourth quarter of 2025<\/a>, its funded loan volume grew 56% year over year. The company also reported that Tinman funded loan volume of $646 million in Q4 2025, up 34% quarter over quarter.<\/p>\n

Harit Talwar, chairman of Better\u2019s board, said Frater\u2019s experience aligns with the company\u2019s goal of overhauling the traditional mortgage process while generating returns for shareholders.<\/p>\n

\u201cBetter is well-positioned to redesign the traditional mortgage process and deliver a superior customer experience as well as attractive returns to shareholders with its AI-native platform, Tinman,\u201d Talwar said. \u201cHugh\u2019s experience, insights and judgment will be invaluable along the company\u2019s journey.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was generated using HousingWire Automation and reviewed by a HousingWire editor before publication. The system helps convert company announcements and industry data into HousingWire-style news coverage.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Better Home & Finance Holding Co. announced Wednesday that it has appointed Hugh Frater, a founding partner of BlackRock and former CEO of Fannie Mae, to its board of directors as the company leans further into its Tinman AI mortgage platform. Frater, whose role became effective March 23, brings experience spanning mortgage-backed securities (MBS), agency…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47885"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47885"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47885\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mk.gen.tr\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}