Glenn Costello, a structured finance veteran cited through the years in the pages of the Asset Securitization Report for his sharp analysis, particularly of residential mortgage-backeds, passed away on April 4.
He was 53.
The cause of death was cancer, according to a release from Kroll Bond Rating Agency, where he was a senior managing director.
“Glenn was a friend and colleague for 25 years,” said Jim Nadler, president and COO of KBRA by e-mail. “His intellect, vision, and dedication won him many fans over his career. I, however, will remember him most for his humanity and sense of humor in the face of adversity.”
Before KBRA, which Costello joined in April 2011, he was at managing director at trading firm BTIG, according to his LinkedIn profile.
But perhaps he’s best known to ASR readers for his insightful commentary on mortgage-related matters during the bubble years and subsequent subprime collapse, a heady time during which he worked for Fitch Ratings. At the agency, he headed up RMBS ratings from 2005 until 2008, when he was promoted to a position of portfolio risk officer of the structured finance group.
The purpose of that position was to provide “enhanced analytical oversight” to different assets in the structured finance business.
In a sign of the challenges facing Costello and his colleagues at that time, private label mortgage securitization dried up in 2008. Only three years earlier, it was running at about $90 billion a month. The rating agencies had already been under intense criticism from various quarters for giving triple-As to deals backed by subprime mortgages and other less-than-pristine mortgages.
“Before and during the economic crisis, Glenn was a great go-to source for what was happening with RMBS,” said former ASR editor Karen Sibayan. “He was always very precise.”
Visitation will be held at Van Emburgh-Sneider-Pernice Funeral Home, 109 Darlington Avenue, Ramsey, New Jersey on Tuesday, April 7th, from 2-4 and 6-9pm. The funeral will be held at the funeral home on Wednesday, April 8th, at 10am.
