South Street Capital Management Team

We have an experienced management team with extensive experience in Capital Markets, Fixed Income Sales and Trading, Asset/Liability & Portfolio Management, and Mortgage Banking.

Ben Hough
CEO and President

Ben was a co-founder and President of ACM Financial Trust in 1999. He co-founded Atlantic Capital Advisors in 2007, which became the external manager of ACM Financial Trust and Hatteras Financial Corp. At ACM and Hatteras he held titles of President & COO and Director and was responsible for all operational facets of the REITs and their subsidiaries. Prior to ACM and Hatteras, he was Vice President of institutional fixed income sales and trading for BB&T Capital Markets and head of their Winston Salem, N.C. office; Vice President of fixed income trading and sales for First National Bank of Maryland; and Vice President of NationsBanc Capital Markets trading and sales in Washington DC. Ben holds a B.A. degree in economics from UNC Chapel Hill.

Brian Snyder
CIO

In addition to responsibilites at SSCM Brian is also head of MBS trading at South Street Securities, and brings almost 20 years of MBS trading experience to SSCM. Prior to joining South Street in 2016, he was a Director at Société Générale, responsible for trading Agency ARMs and Specified Pools. Brian joined Société Générale to start their Agency MBS trading desk, after spending 14 years as a Vice President and Mortgage Trader at Goldman, Sachs and Co. During his career at Goldman Sachs, he was responsible for trading a variety of MBS, including extensive work in Agency ARMs and Specified pools, as well as MBS Derivatives, TBA’s, and Non-Agency RMBS. Brian graduated from The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Science in Economics.

Ben Watson
Portfolio Manager

Ben joined AC Advisors as an analyst in June 2015. Mr. Watson’s responsibilities include portfolio risk monitoring and reporting as well as the day-to-day operations of the agency ARM acquisition program. Ben passed the CFA Level II Exam in June 2018 and is currently a CFA Level III Candidate. Ben graduated from UNC Chapel Hill with a Bachelor of Arts in Economics.

Gina Howard
Controller

Gina is the controller of ACM Financial Trust and has over 25 years of accounting experience having work in public accounting, corporate and non-profit sectors. Gina joined ACM Financial Trust and Hatteras Financial Corporation in 2008. Currently, Gina oversees the financial reporting and tax compliance for the REIT. Prior to joining ACM, Gina worked in financial planning for Wake Forest University and Sara Lee Corporation. Gina earned a Masters of Accounting and a B.S. degree in Business Administration from the Kenan Flagler Business School at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dewey Johnson
Director of Operations/Repo Trader

Dewey is responsible for all back-office operations and repo trading. He previously served as Director of Operations for AC Advisors, who managed a private REIT as well as Hatteras Financial Corp from 2012-2016. Prior to joining AC Advisors, he worked at Wells Fargo Bank in their Investment Manager Relations group in Minneapolis and brings 13 years of REIT operational experience to SSCM. Dewey holds a B.A. degree in Entrepreneurship from the University of St. Thomas (MN).

Ken Lard
Chief Compliance Officer

Mr. Lard has been with ACM since 2012 where he has focused on many efforts including marketing, capital raising, compliance and other strategic efforts. Prior to joining ACM, Mr. Lard was CEO of Bradford Mortgage Company (formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of ACM). Mr. Lard also spent time at Triad Guaranty Insurance Corporation where he was Executive Vice President, Sales and Operations. Mr. Lard served as Vice President of Signet Bank in several capacities, first as Vice President Fixed Income Sales and Trading for their Baltimore office and later as Vice President Secondary Marketing for Signet Mortgage Corporation. Mr. Lard held Financial Sales and Management positions at FNB Maryland and Suburban Bank. Mr. Lard holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business Administration from Towson University.