The Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (Farmer Mac; NYSE: AGM, AGM.A) has appointed Nader Pasdar as Executive Vice President and Chief Business Officer, effective August 17, 2026. Pasdar fills the seat left by Zachary N. Carpenter, who vacated the CBO post when he assumed the role of President and Chief Executive Officer on July 1. Pasdar will report directly to Carpenter.

The Hire

Pasdar brings more than 25 years of agricultural finance, lending, and capital markets experience to Farmer Mac's senior leadership table. His most recent roles were Chief Executive Officer of Rabo Securities and Managing Director, Head of Markets North America for Rabobank, where he oversaw capital markets, sales, trading, business development, and compliance activities across the continent. Over a career at Rabobank that spanned relationship management, debt capital markets, syndications, and wholesale banking, Pasdar helped build the institution into a prominent capital markets participant in the North American food and agribusiness sector — a segment that sits at the core of Farmer Mac's secondary-market mandate.

As a founding member of Rabobank's loan syndication team, Pasdar contributed to the lead arrangement of hundreds of financings and cultivated relationships throughout the agricultural finance sector and the Farm Credit System. That network is a strategic asset for Farmer Mac, which relies on strong institutional ties to place and source agricultural mortgage-backed securities and farm loan portfolios.

Why It Matters

Farmer Mac occupies a structurally important but narrowly understood corner of the agri-finance ecosystem. The government-sponsored enterprise provides secondary-market liquidity for agricultural real estate loans, rural infrastructure debt, and agribusiness lending — effectively functioning as the agricultural equivalent of Fannie Mae for farm country. Its counterparty base includes community banks, Farm Credit institutions, insurance companies, and corporate agribusinesses, many of which face ongoing pressure to manage balance-sheet risk and capital ratios as interest rates remain elevated.

The timing of the Pasdar appointment is notable. Farmer Mac has been actively expanding its product footprint beyond traditional agricultural mortgages into broadband infrastructure, rural power and utilities, and renewable energy finance — categories that require capital markets sophistication and buy-side relationships of the type Pasdar cultivated at Rabobank. His appointment signals that the Carpenter-led management team intends to accelerate that diversification strategy.

"Nader is a highly respected leader whose deep knowledge of agriculture, rural finance, and capital markets makes him an excellent fit for Farmer Mac and our mission," Carpenter said. "His strong relationships across the agricultural finance community, strategic perspective, and collaborative leadership style will help us build on our momentum and execute on our growth strategy."

Pasdar, for his part, framed the move in terms of institutional mission rather than personal advancement. "Farmer Mac plays a vital role in expanding access to capital and liquidity across these sectors," he said, "and I am excited to work alongside Zack and the leadership team to help advance that mission and support the next phase of Farmer Mac's growth."

Pasdar holds an M.B.A. in finance from Boston University's Questrom School of Business and a B.S. in economics from Temple University. For more on executive appointments shaping agricultural lending, see our coverage of leadership trends in agri-finance and the broader capital markets outlook for food and agriculture.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.