A.W. Pickel III, chief executive officer and director of Pewaukee-based Waterstone Mortgage Corp., has been terminated, after less than seven months in the position, the company confirmed today.
Pickel was dismissed on March 25, the company said. Pickel joined Waterstone Mortgage as president in June, and then succeeded Waterstone Mortgage founder Eric Egenhoefer as CEO in September.
Egenhoefer has now founded a new company, Waukesha-based Panorama Mortgage Ventures.
Pickel was previously president of the Midwest division at AmCap Mortgage Ltd. from 2016 to 2018. Before that, he founded and grew mortgage brokerage LeaderOne Financial Corp. into a mortgage bank, and sold it in 2016. He has more than 30 years of mortgage lending and real estate finance experience.
Waterstone Mortgage is a subsidiary of Wauwatosa-based WaterStone Bank SSB, which is part of Waterstone Financial Inc.
Waterstone Financial’s executive committee will take on Pickel’s duties in the near-term, and has launched a national search for a new CEO.
“Over the years, we have built an experienced executive team that will continue to strategically guide Waterstone Mortgage while we seek a successor chief executive officer,” said Douglas Gordon, CEO of Waterstone Financial. “WaterStone Bank will provide any support necessary as we move into our busy origination season.”
Waterstone Financial leaders did not immediately return calls seeking additional information.
