Pretium, a specialized investment management company focused on real estate, mortgage finance and corporate credit, announced John Keratsis will succeed Matt Nichols as president and CEO of its Deephaven mortgage platform.

Keratsis, an accomplished business leader in the mortgage lender services industry, brings to Deephaven nearly two decades of experience and expertise.

In his new role, Keratsis will be responsible for leading the next phase of Deephaven’s strategic growth and partner closely with Nichols, who will continue to serve as executive board chair of Deephaven. The leadership transition enables Nichols to spend his time focusing on his role as co-head of Pretium’s residential credit business, the company said.

Prior to joining Pretium and Deephaven, Keratsis served as senior managing director at Incenter where his responsibilities included oversight of several mortgage services and specialty lending business units and over 800 employees. 

“We are excited to welcome John to the Deephaven team. He is a committed entrepreneur with a proven track record of building successful businesses that combine a client-centric operating approach with a commitment to providing world-class service,” Nichols, founder of Deephaven, said in a release. “His depth and breadth of experience and expertise will be instrumental as we continue to scale our platform and look to capitalize on a broad array of strategic business opportunities.”

Deephaven was acquired by Pretium in June 2019 and has continued to build out its platform. Over the last 7 years, Deephaven has created more than $8 billion in non-agency loans.

“I am thrilled to be joining Deephaven during a time of considerable expansion in the non-agency credit space,” Keratsis said. “Pretium’s willingness to invest in intelligent technologies will allow Deephaven to grow and offer creative products to borrowers, which is an exciting opportunity for someone with my experience.”