The U.S. government should gradually hand Fannie Mae’s and Freddie Mac’s loan guarantee functions to private companies, a Wells Fargo Home Mortgage Inc. senior executive said Tuesday. In testimony prepared for a House Financial Services Committee hearing scheduled today, Michael Heid, co-president of West Des Moines-based Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, said “mortgage securities insurance companies” could eventually take over the loan guarantee function. New mortgage securities insurance companies wouldn’t be backed directly by the federal government, though the government would still regulate the industry and guarantee the payment of principal and interest to investors in mortgage-backed securities packaged by the new private companies. Heid spoke on behalf of the Financial Services Roundtable’s Housing Policy Council, which represents 30 leading national mortgage finance companies.