Meet Our Team

Victor F. Ciardelli, III

President & CEO

Victor Ciardelli III, CEO and president of Guaranteed Rate is a mortgage banking innovator. In 1987, Victor headed a traditional mortgage company. Not satisfied with the existing model for mortgage companies, Ciardelli put his ideas for a modern, streamlined operation to the test and founded Guaranteed Rate in June of 2000. By offering consumers the lowest competitive rates and fees, and the ability to evaluate the total cost of a home loan, Guaranteed Rate became Chicago’s largest independent mortgage lender.

With its continued growth, Guaranteed Rate is one of the fastest growing mortgage companies in the country and exceeded 3 billion in annual volume in 2006.

In addition to Guaranteed Rate’s consumer advocate approach to mortgage banking, their ability to partner with top producing real estate agents nationwide has contributed to their light speed success in the mortgage industry.

As he continues to grow Guaranteed Rate; Victor is an active member of the Hinsdale community with his wife Paula and four children ranging from age 2 to 10.

Ted Ahern

Chief Financial Officer

Ted Ahern is Guaranteed Rate’s Chief Financial Officer and oversees the Company’s treasury, accounting and secondary marketing functions. Before joining Guaranteed Rate, Ted held executive positions with the Royal Bank of Canada’s and ABN AMRO’s US mortgage subsidiaries. Prior to entering the mortgage industry Ted was floor trader on the Chicago Board of Trade and Mercantile Exchanges for several years where he gained extensive capital markets experience which he has continued to utilize in his mortgage career. Ted holds an MBA in Finance from the University of Chicago and is also an Adjunct Professor of Economics at Lake Forest College where he teaches undergraduate classes in Derivatives and Forecasting. Ted lives in Lake Bluff, IL with his wife Katy and two children Jack and Ally.

Russell Hossain

National Sales Director of Retail - Managing Director of Wholesale

Russell Hossain is Guaranteed Rate's National Sales Director for the Retail Division and the Director of the Wholesale Division. Russell's main focus is to grow Guaranteed Rate's originations and to help make Guaranteed Rate one of the largest Lenders in the United States. Russell takes great satisfaction in helping the Branches, Branch Managers and VP's in Retail and Wholesale grow their business. Russell's primary talents are dealing with people, recruiting, solving problems, negotiating and creating new mortgage products.

Russell Hossain has over 15 years experience in the mortgage industry and has held many positions in Operations, Secondary Marketing and Sales giving him a unique understanding and overall appreciation of the entire mortgage process. Russell's knowledge of the Secondary Market as well as his contacts throughout the industry will help GRI continue to grow in the coming years. Throughout his career, Russell has received many awards including RBC Mortgage Customer Service Award and Managers Choice Award and Suntrust Mortgage People Award and Customer Service Award for the entire country. Russell currently resides in Chicago with his wife Nahia and their 3 children Arman, Mikail and Tarik.

Todd Jones

Managing Director - Guaranteed Rate Direct and Web Direct

Todd Jones joined Guaranteed Rate in the summer of ’03 tasked with building a centralized sales team focused on the booming internet mortgage business. 4 years later Guaranteed Rate Direct boasts 75 originators producing over 500 million in annual volume and growing. Todd brings 8 years of mortgage and finance experience to the management team at Guaranteed Rate.

Prior to Guaranteed Rate, Todd spent 4 years at Household / HSBC where he completed their industry renowned General Management Training Program, and had successful tenure in multiple branch and sales management positions, most recently as National Sales Manager for Household Direct.

Prior to his civilian career, Todd graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point) in 1994, and served as a Field Artillery Officer for 5 years, with two tours in Bosnia, achieving numerous awards and reaching the rank of Captain.

Todd currently resides in Chicago with his wife Deborah and their two children Tatum and Hunter.

Catherine Cain

Director of Operations

With twenty-five years of management and underwriting experience in the real estate lending industry, including fifteen years at the officer level, Catherine Cain has proven herself to be a skilled communicator, leader, planner and implementer of successful programs. She has been with Guaranteed Rate for the past 3 years as a manager in charge of servicing and compliance as well as the executive vice president of operations.

While employed with Sears/PNC Mortgage Corporation, Catherine wrote the company’s first underwriting manual and was instrumental in the development of numerous special programs, including credit and risk scoring. She was ultimately responsible for a staff of nineteen over the forty-branch network at the Lomas & Nettleton Company as the second vice president and regional manager, underwriting. Catherine has been a member of Fannie Mae’s risk management advisory council for 9 years at the regional level and 3 years at the national level. She holds all key certifications including FHA approval.

Cheryl Cepuran

Director of Marketing

Cheryl is the head of Guaranteed Rate's marketing department and is in charge of developing new programs and managing marketing operations for the company's Retail and Wholesale divisions. As a seasoned marketing executive, Cheryl's experience includes developing and managing the strategy and implementation of multiple cross-functional marketing programs for a broad range of businesses, from start-ups to large multinational corporations. Her experience encompasses all areas of marketing, including strategic planning, business development, marketing communications, market research, and sales support.

Prior to joining Guaranteed Rate, Cheryl was the Vice President and Marketing Development Officer for the Central Division at Bank of America and Fleet Boston Financial. Cheryl has previously served as a senior project manager and management consultant to the banking, manufacturing and healthcare industries. She has also worked abroad for a leading multinational company in several international markets and led a research initiative for the University of Toronto in the European Parliament.