Brett D. Nicholas
Portfolio Manager, Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Operating Officer, has three decades of experience in executive management building operational and investment businesses . His background includes mortgage lending, structured finance, fixed-income portfolio management, capital markets, and operations.
And from 2020 to 2022 he was Managing Partner at HALO Home Access LLC, a single family residential lease-to-own business. Brett was previously President of Redwood Trust, Inc., a publicly traded mortgage REIT. During his 20 years at Redwood, the company’s market capitalization grew from $70 million to over $2 billion and Redwood produced annual revenues exceeding $100 million, resulting in a return on equity ranging from 12% to 40%. Additionally, Brett co-directed all corporate financing, including common equity and debt issuance, raising over $1 billion. In his capacity as Redwood’s President, he met with current and prospective shareholders, presented at institutional equity conferences, and met with key government constituencies in Washington DC on housing finance reform.
Brett developed and drove execution of investment and operating strategies for Redwood’s residential and commercial real estate capital market businesses and managed its $5 billion mortgage and structured products investment portfolio. At Redwood, he built one of the nation’s leading private-label mortgage securitization programs, and Redwood issued over $30 billion in securities in approximately 80 transactions during that time. Prior to Redwood, Brett ran a secondary marketing division for both California Federal Bank and Union Security Mortgage; in this capacity, he was responsible for daily pipeline risk management, mortgage credit risk management, portfolio securitizations and sales, and investor relations.
Brett serves on the board of the University of Colorado Foundation. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a graduate of the Executive Program at Stanford University.
And from 2020 to 2022 he was Managing Partner at HALO Home Access LLC, a single family residential lease-to-own business. Brett was previously President of Redwood Trust, Inc., a publicly traded mortgage REIT. During his 20 years at Redwood, the company’s market capitalization grew from $70 million to over $2 billion and Redwood produced annual revenues exceeding $100 million, resulting in a return on equity ranging from 12% to 40%. Additionally, Brett co-directed all corporate financing, including common equity and debt issuance, raising over $1 billion. In his capacity as Redwood’s President, he met with current and prospective shareholders, presented at institutional equity conferences, and met with key government constituencies in Washington DC on housing finance reform.
Brett developed and drove execution of investment and operating strategies for Redwood’s residential and commercial real estate capital market businesses and managed its $5 billion mortgage and structured products investment portfolio. At Redwood, he built one of the nation’s leading private-label mortgage securitization programs, and Redwood issued over $30 billion in securities in approximately 80 transactions during that time. Prior to Redwood, Brett ran a secondary marketing division for both California Federal Bank and Union Security Mortgage; in this capacity, he was responsible for daily pipeline risk management, mortgage credit risk management, portfolio securitizations and sales, and investor relations.
Brett serves on the board of the University of Colorado Foundation. He has a BA in Economics from the University of Colorado, Boulder, and is a graduate of the Executive Program at Stanford University.