Norwest Unit Reassigns Finance Chief, Brings In Exec from Parent

Norwest Mortgage Inc. has named an executive from its parent company chief financial officer and has created a new position for his predecessor.

Robert Chapman, who most recently was a vice president and group controller for Norwest Corp., has been named executive vice president and chief financial officer of the Des Moines mortgage bank.

He joined Norwest Corp., Minneapolis, in 1993.As a vice president for strategic planning and acquisitions, he was responsible for supervising the merger activities of several Norwest units, including Norwest Mortgage.

Mr. Chapman "has provided critical support and guidance on our acquisition activities and on our strategic and annual operations reviews," said Mark Oman, Norwest Mortgage's president and chief executive officer.

According to a Norwest Mortgage spokesman, Mr. Chapman was "intimately involved in" engineering last year's acquisition of the assets of Prudential Home Mortgage. This transaction enabled Norwest to become the nation's largest originator and servicer of mortgages. He also assisted in Norwest Mortgage's 1995 purchases of Director's Mortgage Loan Corp. and the $15 billion servicing portfolio of Barclays American/Mortgage Corp.

Mr. Chapman succeeds Alta Jones, who was named executive vice president for strategic planning, a new position at Norwest. She will oversee the development of long-range plans for all of Norwest Mortgage's business units and the integration of these strategies with annual operating plans.

Ms. Jones had been vice president and chief financial officer of Norwest Mortgage since 1993. She will remain in Des Moines and continue to report to Mr. Oman.

"Her understanding of our diverse business units, in particular, is essential in our effort to prepare for the future with a single integrated effort," Mr. Oman said.

Separately, Experian, a real estate market research firm in Anaheim, Calif., reported that Norwest Mortgage was the top mortgage lender to home builders in 1996.

According to the Experian survey, Norwest's origination volume to home builders reached $2.5 billion during the first 11 months of 1996, more than twice 1995's production. Norwest's production volume was also double that of its nearest competitors.

"Our products are designed for builders, by staff who understand new home construction," said Dan Schmidt, director of Norwest Mortgage's national builder division. "We become a sales partner with our builders to sell more homes."

Mr. Schmidt added that final origination volume for 1996 was $4.1 billion. The Experian survey did not include December's origination volume and also omitted some of Norwest's regional markets.

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