Special Session: Market Outlook

Sabitha Thomas

Director, Mortgage and Capital Markets, FICO

Sabitha Thomas is a Director for the Mortgage and Capital Markets team in FICO’s Scores division. Sabitha works closely with the investor community, serving as a key liaison with Wall Street investors, rating agencies, asset managers, and mortgage insurers to help drive the adoption of all FICO’s products including FICO 10T. She spent more than 10 years at Fannie Mae, where she held various leadership roles in Capital Markets, gaining extensive knowledge of the mortgage industry and market dynamics. At Cardinal Financial, she successfully managed both the Non-Agency and Loss Mitigation Portfolios. Prior to that, she spent nearly seven years at S and P, managing various cash flow modeling teams. Sabitha holds undergraduate degrees in both Economics and Information Systems from University of Maryland and a master's degree in Economics and Finance from the University of Bristol in the UK.

Mike Fratantoni, Ph.D.

Chief Economist, Senior Vice President, Research and Business Development, Mortgage Bankers Association

Mike Fratantoni, Ph.D. is MBA’s Chief Economist and Senior Vice President of Research and Industry Technology. In this role, he is responsible for overseeing MBA’s industry surveys, benchmarking studies, economic and mortgage originations forecasts, industry technology efforts and policy development research for both single-family and commercial/multifamily markets. Additionally, Fratantoni is president and member of the Board of Directors of MISMO and serves on the CSP’s Industry Advisory Group and the membership committee of MERS. Prior to joining MBA, Fratantoni worked in the industry in risk management and senior economist roles at Washington Mutual and Fannie Mae.

Joel Kan, CMB

Vice President, Deputy Chief Economist, Mortgage Bankers Association

Joel Kan serves as Vice President, Deputy Chief Economist for the Mortgage Bankers Association. In this role, he is responsible for MBA's macroeconomic and housing market forecasts. He oversees the production of MBA's industry surveys, including the Weekly Mortgage Applications Survey, Builder Applications Survey, and Mortgage Credit Availability Index - three of the association's high-profile surveys. Mr. Kan regularly presents on the economy and housing market at MBA and industry events and is frequently interviewed and quoted in national, local, and industry media outlets. Prior to joining the MBA, he worked in Ernst & Young's Quantitative Economics and Statistics (QUEST) group. He holds a B.Sc. in Economics and Statistics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.