This will be the last week in which Walter Investment Management Corp.’s (NYSE: WAC) Mark O’Brien will lead the company in his role as chief executive officer, the company announced Monday.

Effective October 10, O’Brien will retire from the position of CEO, but will continue as chairman of Walter’s Board of Directors through year-end.

“We respect Mark’s decision to retire and are grateful for his service and leadership during the significant growth and transformation of Walter Investment over the last six years,” said Mike Tokarz, lead independent director on the Walter Board.

Assuming the role of CEO following O’Brien’s retirement will be Denmar Dixon, Walter’s current vice chairman of the board, chief investment officer and executive vice president.

Dixon, who joined Walter five years ago, has worked side-by-side with O’Brien and is proven to be a critical player in the transformation of Walter Investment’s business and corporate vision, Tokarz said.

“It is an exciting time to be leading the Walter Investment team and I greatly appreciate the trust and confidence that the Board has placed in me,” Dixon said in a written statement. “We have a significant amount of work ahead to realize the full value and potential of our platform, and our team will remain highly focused on delivering shareholder value as we continue to execute on our strategic initiatives.”

“I am pleased that Denmar agreed to join me on this journey in 2010 and believe he is ideally positioned to lead Walter Investment in its future success,” O’Brien said in a statement. “I will miss the wonderful people throughout the Company, but low that they will work well with Denmar to continue to build on the strong record of achievements we have delivered through the transformation of Walter Investment.”

Walter Investment Management Corp. is the parent company of top-10 reverse mortgage lenders RMS and Security One Lending.

Written by Jason Oliva