EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1437071
Filing Year: 2025
Filename: 1437071_10-K_2025_0001437071-25-000007.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Item 1. Business.
Our Company
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. (the “Company” or “we”) is a Maryland corporation primarily focused on investing in, financing and managing mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and other mortgage-related assets. Our objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders, primarily through dividends and secondarily through capital appreciation.
As of December 31, 2024, we were invested in:
•residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) that are guaranteed by a U.S. government agency such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”), or a federally chartered corporation such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”) or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”) (collectively “Agency RMBS”);
•commercial mortgage-backed securities ("CMBS") that are guaranteed by a U.S. government agency such as Ginnie Mae or a federally chartered corporation such as Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae (collectively “Agency CMBS”);
•CMBS that are not guaranteed by a U.S. government agency or a federally chartered corporation (“non-Agency CMBS”); and
•RMBS that are not guaranteed by a U.S. government agency or a federally chartered corporation (“non-Agency RMBS”).
Substantially all of our investments as of December 31, 2024 were in Agency MBS. During the periods presented in this Report, we also invested in:
•to-be-announced securities forward contracts (“TBAs”) to purchase Agency RMBS;
•a commercial mortgage loan;
•real estate-related financing arrangements in the form of unconsolidated ventures; and
•U.S. Treasury securities.
We continuously evaluate new investment opportunities to complement our current investment portfolio by expanding our target assets and portfolio diversification.
We conduct our business through our wholly-owned subsidiary, IAS Operating Partnership L.P. (the “Operating Partnership”). We are externally managed and advised by Invesco Advisers, Inc. (our “Manager”), an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Invesco Ltd. (“Invesco”).
We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (“REIT”) for U.S. federal income tax purposes under the provisions of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. To maintain our REIT qualification, we are generally required to distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income to our stockholders annually. We operate our business in a manner that permits our exclusion from the definition of “Investment Company” under the 1940 Act.
Our Manager
Our Manager provides us with our management team, including our officers and appropriate support personnel. Each of our officers is an employee of our Manager or one of its affiliates. We do not have any employees. Our Manager is not obligated to dedicate any of its employees exclusively to us, and our Manager and its employees are not obligated to dedicate any specific portion of time to our business. Our Manager is at all times subject to the supervision and oversight of our Board of Directors and has only such functions and authority as we delegate to it. Refer to Item 13. “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence” in Part III of this Report for a discussion of our relationship with our Manager.
Human Capital
As previously discussed, we do not have any employees. Instead, under our management agreement, our Manager is responsible for providing us with our management team. Our executive officers may also serve as officers of our Manager. For additional information, refer to Item 13 - “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence”. Our Manager's long-term success depends on its ability to engage, attract, develop and retain top talent. Our Manager invests significantly in talent development, health and welfare programs, technology and other resources that support its employees in developing their full potential both personally and professionally.
Our Competitive Advantages
We believe that our competitive advantages include the following:
Significant Experience of Our Senior Management and Our Manager
Our senior management and the structured investments team of our Manager have a long track record and broad experience in managing residential and commercial mortgage-related assets through a variety of credit and interest rate environments and have demonstrated the ability to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns under different market conditions and cycles. We have real time access to research and data on the mortgage and real estate industries. We believe having in-house access to these resources and expertise provides us with a competitive advantage over other companies investing in our target assets who have less internal resources and expertise.
Access to Our Manager’s Sophisticated Analytical Tools, Infrastructure and Expertise
Our Manager has created and maintains analytical and portfolio management capabilities to aid in asset selection and risk management. We capitalize on the market knowledge and ready access to data across our target markets that our Manager and its affiliates obtain through their established platforms. We focus on in-depth analysis of the numerous factors that influence our target assets, including: (1) fundamental market and sector review; (2) rigorous cash flow analysis; (3) disciplined asset selection; (4) controlled risk exposure; and (5) prudent balance sheet management. We also benefit from our Manager’s and its affiliates’ comprehensive financial and administrative infrastructure, including its risk management, financial reporting, legal and compliance teams.
Extensive Strategic Relationships and Experience of our Manager and its Affiliates
Our Manager maintains extensive long-term relationships with other financial intermediaries, including primary dealers, leading investment banks, brokerage firms, leading mortgage originators and commercial banks. We believe these relationships enhance our ability to source, finance and hedge investment opportunities and, thus, will enable us to grow in various credit and interest rate environments.
Disciplined Investment Approach
We seek to maximize our risk-adjusted returns through our disciplined investment approach, which relies on rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. Our Manager monitors our overall portfolio risk and evaluates the characteristics of our investments in our target assets including, but not limited to, asset type, interest rate, interest rate type, loan balance distribution, geographic concentration, property type, occupancy, loan-to-value ratio and credit score. In addition, with respect to any particular target asset, our Manager’s investment team evaluates, among other things, relative valuation, supply and demand trends, shape of yield curves, prepayment rates, loan delinquencies, default rates and loss severity rates. We believe this strategy and our commitment to capital preservation provide us with a competitive advantage when operating in a variety of market conditions.
Investment Guidelines
Our Board of Directors has adopted the following investment guidelines:
•no investment shall be made that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT for federal income tax purposes;
•no investment shall be made that would cause us to be regulated as an investment company under the 1940 Act;
•our assets will be invested within our target assets; and
•until appropriate investments can be identified, our Manager may pay off short-term debt, or invest the proceeds of any offering in interest-bearing, short-term investments, including funds that are consistent with maintaining our REIT qualification.
These investment guidelines may be changed from time to time by our Board of Directors without the approval of our stockholders.
Investment Committee
Our investment committee is comprised of certain of our officers and certain of our Manager’s investment professionals. The investment committee periodically reviews our investment portfolio for risk characteristics, investment performance, liquidity, portfolio composition, leverage and other applicable items. It also reviews its compliance with our investment policies and procedures, including our investment guidelines, and our Manager discusses investment performance with our Board of Directors at the end of each quarter in conjunction with its review of our quarterly results.
Investment Process
Our Manager’s investment team has a strong focus on asset selection and on the relative value of various sectors within the mortgage market. Our Manager utilizes this expertise to build a diversified portfolio. Our Manager incorporates its views on the economic environment and the outlook for the mortgage market, including relative valuation, supply and demand trends, the level of interest rates, the shape of the yield curve, prepayment rates, financing and liquidity, housing prices, delinquencies, default rates and loss severity rates of various collateral types.
Our investment process includes sourcing and screening investment opportunities, assessing investment suitability, conducting interest rate and prepayment analysis, evaluating cash flow and collateral performance, reviewing legal structure and servicer and originator information and investment structuring, as appropriate, to ensure an attractive return commensurate with the risk we are bearing. Upon identification of an investment opportunity, the investment will be screened and monitored by our Manager to determine its impact on maintaining our REIT qualification and our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. We make investments in sectors where our Manager has strong core competencies and where we believe market risk and expected performance can be reasonably quantified.
Our Manager evaluates each of our investment opportunities based on its expected risk-adjusted return relative to the returns available from other, comparable investments. In addition, we evaluate new opportunities based on their relative expected returns compared to assets held in our portfolio. The terms of any leverage available to us for use in funding an investment purchase are also taken into consideration, as are any risks posed by illiquidity or correlations with other assets in the portfolio. Our Manager also develops a macro outlook with respect to each target asset class by examining factors in the broader economy such as gross domestic product, interest rates, unemployment rates and availability of credit, among other factors. These macro decisions guide our Manager’s assumptions regarding model inputs and portfolio allocations among target assets. Our Manager analyzes fundamental trends in the relevant target asset class sector to adjust or maintain its outlook for that particular target asset class. Additionally, our Manager conducts extensive diligence with respect to each target asset class by, among other things, examining and monitoring the capabilities and financial wherewithal of the parties responsible for the origination, administration and servicing of relevant target assets.
Investment Strategy
We have invested in a diversified pool of mortgage assets that generate attractive risk-adjusted returns. Our current investment portfolio includes Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, non-Agency CMBS and non-Agency RMBS. Our investment portfolio has also historically included, and may in the future include TBAs, credit risk transfer securities that are unsecured obligations issued by government-sponsored enterprises, residential mortgage loans, commercial mortgage loans and other real estate-related investments. We refer to all of these investment types collectively as our target assets. We have also purchased U.S. Treasury securities and, in addition to direct purchases of our target assets, invested in ventures managed by an affiliate of our Manager, which, in turn, invested in our target assets. We accept credit and spread risk to earn income and manage our interest rate risk exposure through our hedge portfolio.
Agency RMBS
Agency RMBS are residential mortgage-backed securities issued by a U.S. government agency such as Ginnie Mae, or a federally chartered corporation such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac (Government Sponsored Enterprises or “GSEs”) that are secured by a collection of mortgages. Payments of principal and interest on Agency RMBS, not the market value of the securities themselves, are guaranteed by the issuer. Agency RMBS differ from other forms of traditional debt securities, which normally provide for periodic payments of interest in fixed amounts with principal payments at maturity or on specified call dates. Instead, Agency RMBS provide for monthly payments of both principal and interest. In effect, these payments are a “pass-through” of scheduled and unscheduled principal payments and the monthly interest payments made by the individual borrowers on the mortgage loans, net of any fees paid to the servicers, guarantors or other related parties of the securities.
The principal may be repaid at any time due to prepayments or defaults on the underlying mortgage loans. These differences can result in significantly greater price and yield volatility than is the case with other fixed-income securities.
Various factors affect the rate at which mortgage prepayments occur, including changes in the level and directional trends in housing prices, interest rates, general economic conditions, the age of the mortgage loan, the location of the property, social and demographic conditions, government initiated refinance programs, legislative regulations, and industry capacity. Generally, prepayments on Agency RMBS increase during periods of falling mortgage interest rates and decrease during periods of rising mortgage interest rates. However, this may not always be the case. We may reinvest principal repayments at a yield that is higher or lower than the yield on the repaid investment, thus affecting our net interest income by altering the average yield on our assets.
In addition, when interest rates are declining, the value of Agency RMBS with prepayment options may not increase as much as other fixed income securities. The rate of prepayments on underlying mortgages will affect the price and volatility of
Agency RMBS and may have the effect of shortening or extending the duration of the security beyond what was anticipated at the time of purchase. When interest rates rise, our holdings of Agency RMBS may experience reduced returns if the owners of the underlying mortgages pay off their mortgages slower than previously anticipated. This is generally referred to as extension risk.
Mortgage pass-through certificates, collateralized mortgage obligations (“CMOs”), Freddie Mac Gold Certificates, Fannie Mae Certificates and Ginnie Mae Certificates are types of Agency RMBS that are collateralized by either fixed-rate mortgage loans (“FRMs”), adjustable-rate mortgage loans (“ARMs”), or hybrid ARMs. FRMs have an interest rate that is fixed for the term of the loan and do not adjust. The interest rates on ARMs generally adjust annually (although some may adjust more frequently) to an increment over a specified interest rate index. Hybrid ARMs have interest rates that are fixed for a specified period of time (typically three, five, seven or ten years) and, thereafter, adjust to an increment over a specified interest rate index. ARMs and hybrid ARMs generally have periodic and lifetime constraints on how much the loan interest rate can change on any predetermined interest rate reset date. Our allocation of our Agency RMBS collateralized by FRMs, ARMs or hybrid ARMs will depend on various factors including, but not limited to, relative value, expected future prepayment trends, supply and demand, costs of hedging, costs of financing, expected future interest rate volatility and the overall shape of the U.S. Treasury and interest rate swap yield curves. We take these factors into account when we make investments. Substantially all of our current investments in Agency RMBS are FRMs.
Agency CMBS
Agency CMBS are structured pass-through certificates representing interests in pools of commercial loans that are secured by commercial property and issued by a U.S. government agency or federally chartered corporation. Types of Agency CMBS include Fannie Mae DUS (Delegated Underwriting and Servicing), Freddie Mac Multifamily Mortgage Participation Certificates, Ginnie Mae project loan pools and CMOs structured from such collateral.
The U.S. government agency or federally chartered corporation sources these loans from a network of approved multifamily sellers/servicers and guarantees the timely payment of interest and principal on these investments. Unlike single family residential mortgages in which the borrower, generally, can prepay at any time, commercial mortgages frequently limit the ability of the borrower to prepay, thereby providing a certain level of prepayment protection. Common restrictions include yield maintenance (a prepayment premium that allows investors to attain the same yield as if the borrower made all scheduled interest payments up until the maturity date) and prepayment penalties.
Non-Agency CMBS
Non-Agency CMBS are commercial mortgage-backed securities that are not issued or guaranteed by a U.S. government agency or federally chartered corporation. Like Agency CMBS, non-Agency CMBS are securities backed by obligations (including certificates of participation in obligations) that are principally secured by commercial mortgages on real property or interests therein having a multifamily or commercial use, such as regional malls, retail space, office buildings, industrial or warehouse properties, hotels, apartments, nursing homes and senior living facilities.
Non-Agency CMBS are typically issued in multiple tranches whereby the more senior classes are entitled to priority distributions to make specified interest and principal payments on such tranches. Losses and other shortfalls from expected amounts to be received on the mortgage pool are borne by the most subordinate classes, which receive payments only after the more senior classes have received all principal and/or interest to which they are entitled. The credit quality of non-Agency CMBS depends on the securitization structure and the credit quality of the underlying mortgage loans, which is a function of factors such as the principal amount of loans relative to the value of the related properties, the mortgage loan terms, such as amortization, market assessment and geographic location, construction quality of the property, and the creditworthiness of the borrowers.
Non-Agency RMBS
Non-Agency RMBS are residential mortgage-backed securities that are not issued or guaranteed by a U.S. government agency or federally chartered corporation. Like Agency RMBS, non-Agency RMBS represent interests in pools of mortgage loans secured by residential real property. The mortgage loan collateral for non-Agency RMBS generally consists of residential mortgage loans that do not conform to U.S. government agency or federally chartered corporation underwriting guidelines due to certain factors including mortgage balance in excess of such guidelines, borrower characteristics, loan characteristics and level of documentation. Like non-Agency CMBS, the credit quality of non-Agency RMBS depends on the securitization structure and the characteristics of the underlying mortgage loans.
Unconsolidated Ventures
During the periods presented in this Report, we have invested in unconsolidated ventures. In circumstances where we have a non-controlling interest but we are deemed to be able to exert significant influence over the affairs of the enterprise, we utilize the equity method of accounting. Under the equity method of accounting, the initial investment is increased each period for additional capital contributions and a proportionate share of the entity’s earnings and decreased for cash distributions and a proportionate share of the entity’s losses.
TBAs
TBAs are forward contracts to purchase or sell Agency RMBS. TBAs specify the price, issuer, term and coupon of the securities to be delivered, but the actual securities are not identified until shortly before the TBA settlement date. We generally do not intend to physically settle TBAs that are used for investment purposes.
Commercial Mortgage Loans
Commercial mortgage loans are mortgage loans secured by first or second liens on commercial properties such as regional malls, retail space, office buildings, industrial or warehouse properties, hotels, apartments, nursing homes and senior living facilities. These loans, which tend to range in term from two to ten years, can carry either fixed or floating interest rates. They generally permit prepayments before final maturity but may require the payment to the lender of yield maintenance or prepayment penalties.
Financing Strategy
We have historically used repurchase agreements to finance the majority of our target assets and expect to continue to use repurchase agreements to finance Agency investments in the future. Repurchase agreements are generally settled on a short-term basis, usually from one to six months, and bear interest at rates that are expected to move in close relationship to the secured overnight financing rate (“SOFR”).
We have also financed investments through issuances of equity, and may utilize other forms of financing in the future.
Repurchase Agreements
Repurchase agreements are financings under which we sell our assets to the repurchase agreement counterparty (the buyer) for an agreed upon price with the obligation to repurchase these assets from the buyer at a future date and at a price higher than the original purchase price. The amount of financing we receive under a repurchase agreement is limited to a specified percentage of the estimated market value of the assets we sell to the buyer. The difference between the sale price and repurchase price is the cost, or interest expense, of financing under a repurchase agreement. Under repurchase agreement financing arrangements, certain buyers require us to provide additional cash collateral in the event the market value of the asset declines to maintain the ratio of value of the collateral to the amount of borrowing.
Leverage
We use leverage on our assets to achieve our return objectives, which are adjusted as our investment and financing opportunities change. The amount of leverage we apply to a given asset depends primarily on the expected price volatility and liquidity of the asset we use as collateral, the type of financing, the advance rate against our collateral and the cost of financing. Shorter duration and higher quality liquid assets generally merit higher leverage due to lower price volatility, higher advance rates, and more attractive financing rates. Assets that are less liquid or exhibit higher price volatility tend to be held unlevered or with lower leverage applied.
We include a table that shows our debt-to-equity ratio and our economic debt-to-equity ratio (a non-GAAP financial measure of leverage) in Part II. Item 7. “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Conditions and Results of Operations” of this Report.
Risk Management Strategy
Market Risk Management
Risk management is an integral component of our strategy to deliver returns to our stockholders. Because we invest in MBS, investment losses from prepayment, interest rate volatility or other risks can meaningfully impact our earnings and our dividends to stockholders. In addition, because we employ financial leverage in funding our investment portfolio, mismatches in the maturities of our assets and liabilities can create the need to continually renew or otherwise refinance our liabilities. Our results are dependent upon a positive spread between the returns on our asset portfolio and our overall cost of funding. To minimize the risks to our portfolio, we actively employ portfolio-wide and security-specific risk measurement and management processes in our daily operations. Our Manager’s risk management tools include software and services licensed or purchased from third parties, in addition to proprietary analytical methods developed by Invesco.
Interest Rate Risk
We engage in a variety of interest rate management techniques that seek to mitigate the influence of interest rate changes on the costs of liabilities and help us achieve our risk management objectives. Specifically, we seek to hedge our exposure to potential interest rate mismatches between the interest we earn on our investments and our borrowing costs caused by fluctuations in short-term interest rates. We may utilize various derivative financial instruments including puts and calls on securities or indices of securities, futures contracts, interest rate swaps, interest rate caps, interest rate floors, exchange-traded derivatives, U.S. Treasury securities and options on U.S. Treasury securities to hedge all or a portion of the interest rate risk associated with the financing of our investment portfolio.
Spread Risk
We refer to the difference between interest rates on our investments and interest rates on risk free instruments as spreads. We employ a variety of spread risk management techniques that seek to mitigate the influences of spread changes on our book value per common share and our liquidity to help us achieve our investment objectives. The yield on our investments changes over time due to the level of risk free interest rates, the creditworthiness of the security, and the price of the perceived risk. The change in the market yield of our interest rate hedges also changes primarily with the level of risk free interest rates. We manage spread risk through careful asset selection, sector allocation, regulating our portfolio value-at-risk, and maintaining adequate liquidity. Changes in spreads impact our book value per common share and our liquidity and could cause us to sell assets and to change our investment strategy to maintain liquidity and preserve book value per common share. Inflation, financial conditions, monetary policy initiatives, interest rates and interest rate volatility may have an impact on spreads.
Credit Risk
We believe that our investment strategy will generally keep our credit losses and financing costs low. However, we retain the risk of potential credit losses on all of our residential and commercial mortgage investments. We seek to manage this risk in part through our pre-acquisition due diligence process. In addition, we re-evaluate the credit risk inherent in our investments on a regular basis pursuant to fundamental considerations such as gross domestic product, unemployment, interest rates, retail sales, store closings/openings, corporate earnings, housing inventory, affordability and regional home price trends. We also review key loan credit metrics including, but not limited to, payment status, current loan-to-value ratios, current borrower credit scores and debt yields. These characteristics assist us in determining the likelihood and severity of loan loss as well as prepayment and extension expectations. We then perform structural analysis under multiple scenarios to establish likely cash flow profiles and credit enhancement levels relative to collateral performance projections. This analysis allows us to quantify our opinions of credit quality and fundamental value, which are key drivers of portfolio management decisions.
Deteriorating fundamentals and tightening lending conditions may cause borrowers to experience difficulties meeting their obligations and refinancing loans upon scheduled maturities. Loans may experience increasing delinquency levels and eventual defaults, which could impact the performance of our mortgage-backed securities. Rating agencies periodically reassess transactions negatively impacted by these adverse changes, which may result in our investments being downgraded.
Liquidity Risk
We engage in a variety of liquidity management techniques to mitigate the risk of volatility in the marketplace, which may bring significant security price fluctuations, associated margin calls, changing cash needs, and variability in counterparty financing terms. We perform statistical analysis to measure and quantify our required liquidity needs under multiple scenarios and time horizons. Liquidity in the form of cash, unencumbered assets and future cash flows is consistently monitored and evaluated versus internal targets. One such measure that we use to monitor our liquidity is unrestricted cash and unencumbered
investments, which consists of cash and cash equivalents as reported in our consolidated balance sheets and investments that have not been pledged as collateral for repurchase agreement borrowings.
Foreign Exchange Rate Risk
During the periods presented in this Report, we had an investment in an unconsolidated joint venture whose net assets and results of operations were exposed to foreign currency translation risk when translated in U.S. dollars upon consolidation. We historically sought to hedge our foreign currency exposures by purchasing currency forward contracts.
Competition
Our net income depends, in large part, on our ability to acquire assets at favorable spreads over our borrowing costs. In acquiring our investments, we compete with other REITs, specialty finance companies, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, mutual funds, institutional investors, investment banking firms, financial institutions, governmental bodies and other entities. In addition, there are numerous REITs with similar asset acquisition objectives. These other REITs increase competition for the available supply of mortgage assets suitable for purchase. Many of our competitors are significantly larger than we are, have access to greater capital and other resources and may have other advantages over us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more relationships than we can. Market conditions may attract more competitors, which may increase the competition for sources of financing. An increase in the competition for sources of financing could adversely affect the availability and cost of financing.
We have access to our Manager’s professionals and their industry expertise, which we believe provides us with a competitive advantage. These professionals help us assess investment risks and determine appropriate pricing for certain potential investments. These relationships enable us to compete more effectively for attractive investment opportunities. Despite certain competitive advantages, we may not be able to achieve our business goals or expectations due to the competitive risks that we face. For additional information concerning these competitive risks, refer to Item 1A. “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Our Investments”. We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities. Competition may limit our ability to acquire desirable investments in our target assets, and could also affect the pricing of these securities.
Our Corporate Information
Our principal executive offices are located at 1331 Spring Street, N.W., Suite 2500, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. Our telephone number is (404) 892-0896. We file current and periodic reports, proxy statements and other information with the SEC. The SEC maintains a website that contains reports, proxy and other information at www.sec.gov. We make available free of charge on our corporate website, www.invescomortgagecapital.com, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished under Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. The information on our website is not intended to form a part of or be incorporated by reference into this Report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
Item 1A. Risk Factors.
Set forth below are the material risks and uncertainties that, if they were to occur, could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations and the trading price of our securities. Additional risks not presently known, or that we currently deem immaterial, also may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and trading price of our securities.
Risk Factor Summary
Risks Related to Our Investments
•The U.S. Federal Reserve’s participation in the Agency RMBS market could have an adverse effect on our Agency RMBS investments.
•We may lose profits if our assets experience periods of illiquidity.
•Our investments may be concentrated and subject to risk of default.
•There could be adverse impacts to our results and dividends resulting from fluctuations in interest rates and increases in interest rates.
•Spread risk is inherent to our business as a levered investor in our target assets.
•Premium securities may be subject to more risk than par value securities.
•Prepayment rates may adversely affect the value of our investment portfolio.
•Market conditions may upset the historical relationship between interest rate changes and prepayment trends, which would make it more difficult for us to analyze our investment portfolio.
•The Federal conservatorship of and changes in laws affecting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may adversely affect our business.
•Competition may limit our ability to acquire desirable investments.
•There is risk of losses associated with our investments.
•We are dependent on third-party service providers, whose actions we may not control.
•A decline in the market value of our MBS may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Related to Financing and Hedging
•Our strategy involves the use of significant leverage, which increases the risk that we may incur substantial losses.
•We depend on repurchase agreement financing to acquire our target assets, and our inability to access this funding on acceptable terms could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and business.
•The inherent uncertainty of repurchase transactions, including counterparty credit risk, may cause us to incur a loss on our repurchase transactions.
•The repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements that we use to finance our investments may require us to provide additional collateral and may restrict us from leveraging our assets as fully as desired.
•A failure to comply with covenants in our repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements would have a material adverse effect on us.
•Our use or future use of repurchase agreements to finance our target assets may give our lenders greater rights if either we or a lender files for bankruptcy.
•We enter into hedging transactions that could expose us to contingent liabilities in the future.
•Hedging may adversely affect our earnings, which could reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
•Our hedging strategies may be ineffective.
•Clearing facilities or exchanges may increase the margin requirements we are required to post when entering into derivative instruments, which may negatively impact our ability to hedge and our liquidity.
•We may enter into derivative contracts that expose us to risks and contingent liabilities, and those contingent liabilities may not appear on our balance sheet.
•It may be uneconomical to “roll” Agency MBS TBA holdings, or we may be unable to meet margin calls on TBA contracts, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related to Our Business
•Our business may be adversely affected by unfavorable or changing economic, market, and political conditions.
•Maintaining 1940 Act exclusions for our subsidiaries imposes limits on our operations, and failure to maintain an exclusion could have a material negative impact on our operations.
•We are highly dependent on information systems and systems failures or cyber-attacks could significantly disrupt our business, which may, in turn, negatively affect the market price of our capital stock and our ability to pay dividends.
•The recent advancements in and increased use of artificial intelligence (“AI”) present risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business.
•Our Manager utilizes quantitative models to support investment decisions and investment processes, including those related to our portfolio management and risk analysis, which may contain errors.
•We may repurchase shares of our common stock and preferred stock from time to time, which may negatively impact our compliance with covenants in our financing agreements and regulatory requirements and our ability to invest in our target assets in the future.
•There are risks associated with accounting estimates, judgments and assumptions in the preparation of our financial statements, and changes in the fair value of our derivatives may result in volatility in our U.S. GAAP earnings.
•Our reported U.S. GAAP financial results differ from our REIT taxable income, which impacts our dividend distribution requirements. Therefore, our U.S. GAAP results may not be an accurate indicator of future taxable income and dividend distributions.
Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager
•We are dependent on our Manager and its key personnel for our success.
•There are conflicts of interest in our relationship with our Manager and Invesco, which could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
Risks Related to Our Capital Stock
•We have not established a minimum dividend payment level, and we cannot assure our stockholders of our ability to pay dividends in the future.
•Future offerings of debt or equity securities that would rank senior to our common stock may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
•Certain provisions of Maryland law and in our organizational documents could inhibit changes in control.
•We are the sole general partner of our Operating Partnership and could become liable for the debts and other obligations of our Operating Partnership.
Tax Risks
•Investment in our capital stock has various U.S. federal income tax risks, and there are risks involved with the requirements associated with our REIT qualification.
General Risk Factors
•Our business is subject to extensive regulation.
•We may be adversely affected by the current and future economic, regulatory and other actions of government bodies and their agencies.
•We may change any of our strategies, policies or procedures without stockholder consent.
•We may enter into transactions and take certain actions in connection with such transactions, and there are certain other factors, that could affect the price of our common stock.
Risks Related to Our Investments
Fluctuations in interest rates could adversely affect the value of our investments and derivative financial instruments and cause our interest expense to increase, which could result in reduced earnings, decreased profitability and dividends, and diminished cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors beyond our control.
Interest rate fluctuations present a variety of risks including the risk of a narrowing of the difference between asset yields and borrowing rates, a decline in the yield on adjustable-rate investments, and a detrimental impact on prepayment rates and may adversely affect our income and the value of our assets and capital stock.
We may invest in RMBS, CMBS, mortgage loans and other financing arrangements that are subject to risks related to interest rate fluctuations. Fluctuations in short- or long-term interest rates could have adverse effects on our operations and financial condition, which may negatively affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Fluctuations in interest rates could impact us as follows:
•If short-term interest rates increase significantly the amount of interest owed on the repurchase agreements we enter into to finance the purchase of our investments would increase, which may reduce our net income.
•If long-term rates increase significantly, the market value of our fixed-rate investments would decline, and the duration and weighted average life of the investments may increase. We could realize a loss if the securities were sold.
•If short-term or long-term interest rates fall, we may recognize losses on our derivative financial instruments that are not offset by gains on our investments, which may adversely affect our liquidity and financial position.
•If short-term interest rates rise disproportionately relative to longer-term interest rates (a flattening of the yield curve), our borrowing costs may increase more rapidly than the interest income earned on our investments. Because we expect our investments, on average, generally will bear interest based on longer-term rates than our borrowings, a flattening of the yield curve would tend to decrease our net income. Additionally, to the extent cash flows from investments that return scheduled and unscheduled principal are reinvested, the spread between the yields on the new investments and available borrowing rates may decline, which would likely decrease our net income. If short-term interest rates rise to the extent that they exceed longer-term interest rates (a yield curve inversion), our borrowing costs may exceed our interest income and we could incur operating losses.
In a period of rising interest rates, our operating results will depend in large part on the difference between the income from our investments and borrowing costs. We anticipate that, in most cases, the income from such assets may respond more slowly to interest rate fluctuations than the cost of our borrowings. Consequently, changes in interest rates, particularly short-term interest rates, may significantly influence our net income. Increases in these rates will tend to decrease our net income and the market value of our assets and may negatively affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
While we attempt to manage risk from changes in market interest rates, our hedging activities may not fully mitigate our interest rate risk, and a rapid increase or decrease in interest rates may have material and adverse effects on our business, results of operations and financial performance. There can be no guarantee that our interest rate risk management will fully mitigate the yield curve flattening and inversion risks described above.
In addition, market values of our investments may decline without any general increase in interest rates for a number of reasons, such as widening of credit spreads, increases or expected increases in defaults, or changes or expected changes in voluntary prepayments for those investments that are subject to prepayment risk, which may negatively affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
Elevated interest rates may cause a decrease in the availability of certain of our target assets which could adversely affect our ability to acquire target assets that satisfy our investment objectives and to generate income and pay dividends.
Elevated interest rates generally reduce the demand for mortgage loans due to the higher cost of borrowing. A reduction in the volume of mortgage loans originated may affect the volume of target assets available to us, which could adversely affect our ability to acquire assets that satisfy our investment objectives. If rising interest rates cause us to be unable to acquire a sufficient volume of our target assets with a yield that is above our borrowing cost, our ability to satisfy our investment objectives and to generate income and pay dividends may be materially and adversely affected.
Spread risk is inherent to investing in MBS and other mortgage-related assets.
When the spread between the market yield on our mortgage assets and benchmark interest rates widens, our tangible net book value will typically decline. We refer to this as "spread risk". Although we use hedging instruments to attempt to protect against moves in interest rates, our hedges will typically not protect us against spread risk. Spreads may widen due to numerous factors, including changes in mortgage and fixed income markets due to actual or expected monetary policy actions by U.S. and foreign central banks, market liquidity or changes in investor return requirements and sentiment. Wider spreads can also occur
independent of moves in interest rates. For example, actions by the Federal Reserve in 2022 and 2023 to taper its purchases of Agency RMBS and to reduce its balance sheet resulted in a widening of credit spreads and lower Agency RMBS valuations, impacting our tangible net book value.
Our active portfolio management strategy may expose us to greater losses and lower returns than compared to passive strategies.
We employ an active management strategy; therefore, the composition of our investment portfolio, leverage ratio and hedge composition will vary as we believe changes to market conditions warrant. We may realize significant investment gains or losses when we sell investments that we no longer believe provide attractive risk-adjusted returns or when we believe more attractive alternatives are available. We may also be incorrect in our assessment of market conditions and select an investment portfolio, leverage levels and terms, and hedge composition that generate lower returns than a more static management strategy. Furthermore, because of our active strategy, investors may be unable to assess changes in our financial position solely by observing changes in the mortgage market.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s or FDIC’s participation in the Agency RMBS market could have an adverse effect on our Agency RMBS investments.
The U.S. Federal Reserve’s participation in the Agency RMBS market can materially impact the available supply, price and returns on Agency RMBS. The U.S. Federal Reserve has continued its passive contraction of its balance sheet by ceasing reinvestments of proceeds from maturing Agency RMBS portfolio repayments. Given the U.S. Federal Reserve’s historic participation and the current scale of its balance sheet holdings, the effects of a shift in monetary policy may be material and are difficult to predict, and we may be unable to mitigate potentially adverse effects on our portfolio and financial condition. Furthermore, despite its stated preference for a passive balance sheet reduction, there is no guarantee the U.S. Federal Reserve will not conduct outright sales of Agency RMBS in the secondary market, which could significantly increase the pace of their balance sheet reduction and result in lower Agency RMBS valuations due to a widening of credit spreads.
At times, upon a financial institution’s distress or impending failure, the FDIC may take control of a significant portion of the Agency RMBS held by that institution. The FDIC’s actions with respect to those securities can also materially impact the available supply, price and returns on Agency RMBS.
We cannot predict or control the impact future actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve or the FDIC will have on our business. Accordingly, future actions by the U.S. Federal Reserve or FDIC could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Volatile market conditions for mortgages and mortgage-related assets as well as the broader financial markets can result in a significant contraction in liquidity for mortgages and mortgage-related assets, which may adversely affect the value of the assets in which we invest.
Significant adverse changes in financial market conditions can result in a deleveraging of the global financial system and the forced sale of large quantities of mortgage-related and other financial assets. Concerns over economic recession, inflation, subdued growth expectations, interest rate increases, policy priorities of the U.S. government, trade wars, geopolitical issues, unemployment, the availability and cost of financing, or the mortgage market and a declining real estate market may contribute to increased volatility and diminished expectations for the economy and markets.
Increased volatility and deterioration in the markets for mortgages and mortgage-related assets as well as the broader financial markets may adversely affect the performance and market value of our investments. When these conditions exist, institutions from which we seek financing for our investments may tighten their lending standards, increase margin calls or become insolvent, which could make it more difficult for us to obtain financing on favorable terms or at all. Our profitability and financial condition including our liquidity may be adversely affected if we are unable to obtain cost-effective financing for our investments.
A portion of our RMBS portfolio consists of premium securities. Premium securities may be subject to more risk than par value securities.
Premium securities have market values that exceed their unpaid principal balance. We may purchase RMBS at a premium, which represent prices that we believe appropriately reflect the risks involved. Declining interest rates increase the premium level of our RMBS and generate unrealized holding gains. Because we carry our RMBS at fair value, unrealized holding gains are reflected in total stockholders’ equity.
RMBS premium is not guaranteed by the Agencies and rising interest rates tend to reduce premium values. Premium value will also erode over time as principal payments are made.
Prepayment rates may adversely affect the value of our investment portfolio.
Pools of residential mortgage loans underlie the RMBS that we acquire. In the case of residential mortgage loans, there are seldom any restrictions on borrowers’ ability to prepay their loans. We generally receive prepayments of principal that are made on these underlying mortgage loans. When borrowers prepay their mortgage loans faster than expected, the prepayments on the RMBS are also faster than expected. Faster than expected prepayments could adversely affect our profitability, including in the following ways:
•As described above, we may pay a premium over the par value to acquire a RMBS security. In accordance with U.S. GAAP, we may amortize this premium over the estimated term of the RMBS. If the RMBS is prepaid in whole or in part before its maturity date, however, we may be required to expense the premium that was prepaid at the time of the prepayment.
•Our adjustable-rate RMBS may bear interest rates that are lower than their fully indexed rates, which are equivalent to the applicable index rate plus a margin. If an adjustable-rate RMBS is prepaid before or soon after the time of adjustment to a fully indexed rate, we will have held that RMBS while it was least profitable and lost the opportunity to receive interest at the fully indexed rate over the remainder of its expected life.
•If we are unable to acquire new RMBS at similar yields to the prepaid RMBS, our financial condition, results of operations and cash flow would suffer. Prepayment rates generally increase when interest rates fall and decrease when interest rates rise, but changes in prepayment rates are difficult to predict. Prepayment rates also may be affected by conditions in the housing and financial markets, general economic conditions and the relative interest rates on FRMs and ARMs.
While we seek to minimize prepayment risk to the extent practical, in selecting investments we must balance prepayment risk against other risks and the potential returns of each investment. No strategy can completely insulate us from prepayment risk.
Market conditions may upset the historical relationship between interest rate changes and prepayment trends, which would make it more difficult for us to analyze our investment portfolio.
Our success depends in part on our ability to analyze the impact of changing interest rates on prepayments of the mortgage loans that underlie our investments. Changes in interest rates and prepayments affect the market price of target assets. As part of our overall portfolio risk management, we analyze interest rate changes and prepayment trends separately and collectively to assess their effects on our investment portfolio. In conducting our analysis, we depend on certain assumptions based upon historical trends with respect to the relationship between interest rates and prepayments under normal market conditions. If dislocations in the mortgage market or other developments change the way that prepayment trends respond to interest rate changes, our ability to (1) assess the market value of our investment portfolio, (2) implement our hedging strategies, and (3) utilize techniques to reduce our prepayment rate volatility would be significantly affected, which could materially adversely affect our financial position and results of operations.
Our investments may be concentrated and will be subject to risk of default.
While we seek to diversify our portfolio of investments, we are not required to observe any specific diversification criteria, except as may be set forth in the investment guidelines and Investment Company Act of 1940 Compliance Policy adopted by our board of directors. Therefore, our investments in our target assets may at times be concentrated in certain types of securities, property types that are subject to higher risk of foreclosure or secured by properties concentrated in a limited number of geographic locations. To the extent that our portfolio is concentrated in any one region or type of security, downturns relating generally to such region or type of security may result in defaults on a number of our investments within a short time period, which may reduce our net income and the value of our capital stock and accordingly reduce our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders, which could have an adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and business.
The Federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and related efforts, along with any changes in laws and regulations affecting the relationship between these agencies and the U.S. Government, may adversely affect our business.
The payments of principal and interest we receive on our Agency MBS, which depend directly upon payments on the mortgages underlying such securities, are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are U.S. Government-sponsored entities, or GSEs, but their guarantees are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (although the FHFA largely controls their actions through its conservatorship of the two GSEs). Ginnie Mae is part of a U.S. Government agency and its guarantees are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.
Although the U.S. Government has undertaken several measures to support the positive net worth of the GSEs since the 2008 financial crisis, there is no guarantee of continuing capital support, if such support were to become necessary. Despite the steps taken by the U.S. Government, GSEs could default on their guarantee obligations which would materially and adversely affect the value of our Agency MBS. Accordingly, if these government actions are inadequate in the future and the GSEs were
to suffer losses, be significantly reformed, or cease to exist, our business, operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.
The future roles of the GSEs may be reduced (perhaps significantly) and the nature of their guarantee obligations could be limited relative to historical measurements. Alternatively, it is possible that the GSEs could be dissolved entirely or privatized, and, as mentioned above, the U.S. Government could determine to stop providing liquidity support of any kind to the mortgage market. Any changes to the nature of the GSEs or their guarantee obligations could redefine what constitutes an Agency MBS and could have broad adverse implications for the market and our business, operations and financial condition. If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were eliminated or their structures were to change, limiting or removing the guarantee obligation, we could be unable to acquire additional Agency MBS and our existing Agency MBS could be materially and adversely impacted.
All of the foregoing could negatively affect the availability and value of Agency MBS; our ability to obtain financing on our Agency MBS; or our ability to maintain our compliance with the terms of any financing transactions, which could adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition and business.
We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities and competition may limit our ability to acquire desirable investments in our target assets and could also affect the pricing of these securities.
We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities. Our profitability depends, in large part, on our ability to acquire our target assets at attractive prices. We compete with a variety of institutional investors, including other REITs, and some of our competitors are larger and may have greater financial, technical, marketing and other resources than we do. Some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that may not be available to us. Many of our competitors are not subject to the operating constraints associated with REIT tax compliance or maintenance of an exemption from the 1940 Act. Furthermore, competition for investments in our target assets may lead to the price of such assets increasing, which may further limit our ability to generate desired returns. We cannot assure you that the competitive pressures we face will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, as a result of this competition, desirable investments in our target assets may be limited in the future, and we may not be able to take advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time.
We may acquire certain target assets that are subject to defaults, foreclosure timeline extension, fraud, residential and commercial price depreciation, and unfavorable modification of loan principal amount, interest rate and amortization of principal, which could result in losses to us.
Mortgage-backed securities are secured by mortgage loans (primarily pools of single-family residential property loans for RMBS and single commercial mortgage loans or pools of commercial mortgage loans for CMBS). Our MBS investments are subject to all the risks of the respective underlying mortgage loans, including risks of defaults, foreclosure timeline extension, fraud, price depreciation and unfavorable modification of loan principal amount, interest rate and amortization of principal.
A number of factors over which we have no control may impair a borrower’s ability to repay a mortgage loan secured by a residential property, including the income and assets of the borrower. As of December 31, 2024, we do not hold any mortgage loans secured by residential property.
Commercial mortgage loans are secured by multifamily or commercial property and are subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure, and risks of loss that may be greater than similar risks associated with loans made on the security of single-family residential property. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by an income-producing property typically is dependent primarily upon the successful operation of such property, which can be affected by a number of factors over which we have no control, rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced, the borrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. As of December 31, 2024, we do not hold any commercial mortgage loans.
In the event of any default under a mortgage loan held directly by us, we bear a risk of loss of principal to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the collateral and the principal and accrued interest of the mortgage loan, which could have a material adverse effect on our cash flow from operations.
In the event of defaults on the mortgage loans that underlie our investments and the exhaustion of any underlying or any additional credit support, we may not realize our anticipated return on our investments, and we may incur a loss on these investments causing an adverse impact on our results of operations, financial condition and business.
Our subordinated MBS assets may be in the “first loss” position, subjecting us to greater risks of loss.
We may invest in certain tranches of MBS that are only entitled to a portion of the principal and interest payments made on mortgage loans underlying the securities issued by the trust. In general, losses on a mortgage loan included in a RMBS trust will be borne first by the equity holder of the issuing trust if any, and then by the “first loss” subordinated security holder and then by the “second loss” subordinate holder and so on. For non-Agency CMBS assets, losses on a mortgaged property securing
a mortgage loan included in a securitization will typically be borne first by the equity holder of the property, then by a cash reserve fund or letter of credit, if any, then by the holder of a mezzanine loan or B-Note, if any, then by the “first loss” subordinated security holder (generally, the “B-Piece” buyer) and then by the holder of a more senior security.
We may acquire securities at every level of such a trust, from the equity position to the most senior tranche. In the event of default and the exhaustion of any classes of securities junior to those which we acquire, our securities will suffer losses as well. In addition, if we overvalue the underlying mortgage portfolio, or if the values subsequently decline and, as a result, less collateral is available to satisfy interest and principal payments due on the related MBS, the securities which we acquire may effectively become the “first loss” position ahead of the more senior securities, which may result in significant losses. The prices of lower credit quality securities are generally more sensitive to adverse economic downturns or individual issuer developments than more highly-rated securities. A projection of, or an actual, economic downturn could cause a decline in the value of lower credit quality securities because the ability of obligors of mortgages underlying MBS to make principal and interest payments may be impaired. In such an event, existing credit support in the securitization structure may be insufficient to protect us against loss of our principal on these securities.
We may not control the special servicing of the mortgage loans included in CMBS in which we invest, and, in such cases, the special servicer may take actions that could adversely affect our interests.
With respect to each series of CMBS in which we may invest, overall control over the special servicing of the related underlying mortgage loans is held by a “directing certificate holder” or a “controlling class representative,” which is appointed by the holders of the most subordinate class of CMBS in such series. Depending on the class of CMBS in which we invest, we may not have the right to appoint the directing certificate holder. In connection with the servicing of the specially serviced mortgage loans, the related special servicer may, at the direction of the directing certificate holder, take actions with respect to the specially serviced mortgage loans that could adversely affect our interests and have a negative impact on our results of operations, financial condition and business.
Due diligence of potential assets may not reveal all of the liabilities associated with such assets and may not reveal other weaknesses in such assets, which could lead to losses.
Before making an asset acquisition, we will assess the strengths and weaknesses of the originator or issuer of the asset as well as other factors and characteristics that are material to the performance of the asset. In making the assessment and otherwise conducting customary due diligence, we will rely on resources available to us, including third party loan originators and servicers. This process is particularly important with respect to newly formed originators or issuers because there may be little or no information publicly available about these entities and assets. There can be no assurance that our due diligence process will uncover all relevant facts or that any asset acquisition will be successful, which could lead to losses in the value of our portfolio.
We depend on third-party service providers, including mortgage servicers, for a variety of services related to our RMBS. We are, therefore, subject to the risks associated with third-party service providers.
We depend on a variety of services provided by third-party service providers related to our RMBS. We rely on the mortgage servicers who service the mortgage loans backing our RMBS to, among other things, collect principal and interest payments and administer escrow accounts on the underlying mortgages and perform loss mitigation services. If a servicer is not vigilant in seeing that borrowers make their required monthly payments, borrowers may be less likely to make these payments, resulting in a higher frequency of default. If a servicer takes longer to liquidate non-performing mortgages, our losses related to those loans may be higher than originally anticipated. Any failure by servicers to service these mortgages and/or to competently manage and dispose of properties could negatively impact the value of these investments and our financial performance. Further, the foreclosure process, especially in judicial foreclosure states such as New York, Florida and New Jersey, can be lengthy and expensive, and the delays and costs involved in completing a foreclosure and liquidating such property through sale may materially increase any related loss.
A decline in the market value of our mortgage-backed securities may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.
All of our mortgage-backed securities are reported at fair value. Their value may fluctuate due to a number of factors including, among others, market volatility, geopolitical events and changes in credit spreads, spot and forward interest rates, and actual and anticipated prepayments. They may also fluctuate in value due to increased or reduced demand. The level of demand may be impacted by, among other things, interest rates, capital flows, economic conditions, and government policies and actions, such as purchases and sales by the Federal Reserve. Changes in the market values of these assets impact our stockholders’ equity and declines in market value adversely affect our book value per common share. For a discussion of how we determine our provision for credit losses, see Note 2 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV of this Report.
The fair value of certain of our investments may fluctuate over short periods of time, and our determinations of fair value may differ materially from the values that would have been used if a ready market for these investments existed. The value of our common stock and preferred stock, results of operations, our financial condition and business could be adversely affected if our determinations regarding the fair value of these investments were materially higher than the values that we ultimately realize upon their disposal.
We have at times experienced significant declines in the fair value of our investments as a result of market volatility. If we experience a decline in the fair value of our investments as a result of future uncertain market conditions, it could materially and adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, stock price, liquidity and ability to make distributions to our stockholders.
Risks Related to Financing and Hedging
Our strategy involves the use of significant leverage, which increases the risk that we may incur substantial losses.
Our business strategy is dependent upon our ability to use leverage to finance our assets through borrowings from repurchase agreements and other secured and unsecured forms of borrowing We expect our leverage to vary with market conditions and our assessment of the tradeoffs between risk and return on investments. We incur this leverage by borrowing against a substantial portion of the market value of our assets. Leverage, which is fundamental to our investment strategy, creates significant risks and amplifies our risk exposure to higher borrowing costs, changes in underlying asset values, changes in mortgage spreads, and other market factors. Leverage also exposes us to the risk of margin calls and defaults under our funding agreements, which may result in forced sales of assets in adverse market conditions. The risks associated with leverage are more acute during volatile market environments and periods of reduced market liquidity. Because of our leverage, we may incur substantial losses.
We depend on repurchase agreement financing to acquire our target assets, and our inability to access this funding on acceptable terms could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and business.
We use repurchase agreement financing as a strategy to increase the return on our assets. Our ability to fund our target assets may be impacted by our ability to secure repurchase agreement financing on acceptable terms. We can provide no assurance that lenders will be willing or able to provide us with sufficient financing. In addition, because repurchase agreements are short-term commitments of capital, lenders may respond to market conditions in a manner that makes it more difficult for us to renew or replace, on a continuous basis, maturing short-term financings, and have and may continue to impose less favorable conditions when rolling such financings. If we are not able to renew or roll our repurchase agreements or arrange for new financing on terms acceptable to us, or if we default on our financial covenants, are otherwise unable to access funds under our financing arrangements, or if we are required to post more collateral or face larger haircuts on our financings, we may have to dispose of assets at significantly lower prices and at inopportune times, which could cause significant losses, and may also force us to limit our asset acquisition activities.
During market disruptions, such as during the COVID-19 pandemic, lenders have and may curtail their willingness to provide financing. This may require us to liquidate collateral to satisfy funding requirements. In addition, if major market participants were to exit the repurchase agreement financing business, the value of our portfolio could be negatively impacted, thus reducing our stockholders' equity, or book value per common share. In addition, if the regulatory capital requirements imposed on our lenders change, they may be required to significantly increase the cost of the financing that they provide to us. Our lenders also may revise their eligibility requirements for the types of assets they are willing to finance or the terms of such financings, based on, among other factors, the regulatory environment and their management of perceived risk, particularly with respect to assignee liability.
The inherent uncertainty of repurchase transactions, including counterparty credit risk, may cause us to incur a loss on our repurchase transactions.
When we engage in repurchase transactions, we generally sell securities to lenders (repurchase agreement counterparties) and receive cash from these lenders. The lenders are obligated to resell the same securities back to us at the end of the term of the transaction. Because the cash we receive from the lender when we initially sell the securities to the lender is less than the value of those securities (this difference is the haircut), if the lender defaults on its obligation to resell the same securities back to us we may incur a loss on the transaction equal to the amount of the haircut (assuming there was no change in the value of the securities). As of December 31, 2024, one counterparty held collateral that exceeded the amounts borrowed under the related repurchase agreements by more than $36.5 million, or 5% of our stockholders’ equity. We may incur a loss on a repurchase transaction if the value of the underlying securities has declined as of the end of the transaction term, as we would have to repurchase the securities for their initial value but would receive securities worth less than that amount. Further, if we default on one of our obligations under a repurchase transaction, the lender can terminate the transaction and refrain from entering into any other repurchase transactions with us. Some of our repurchase agreements contain cross-default provisions, so
that if a default occurs under any one agreement, the lenders under our other agreements could also declare a default. Any losses we incur on our repurchase transactions could adversely affect our earnings and thus our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
The repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements that we use to finance our investments may require us to provide additional collateral and may restrict us from leveraging our assets as fully as desired.
The amount of financing we receive, or may in the future receive, under our repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements, is directly related to the lenders’ valuation of the assets that secure the outstanding borrowings. Lenders under our repurchase agreements typically have the absolute right to reevaluate the market value of the assets that secure outstanding borrowings at any time. If a lender determines in its sole discretion that the value of the assets has decreased, it has the right to initiate a margin call or increase collateral requirements, even if we believe that the decrease in value is temporary including as a result of market volatility. Either decision would require us to transfer additional assets to such lender without any advance of funds from the lender or to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings. Any such margin call or increased collateral requirements could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, business, liquidity and ability to pay dividends to our stockholders, and could cause the value of our capital stock to decline. We may be forced to sell assets at significantly depressed prices to meet such margin calls and to maintain adequate liquidity, which could cause us to incur losses. Moreover, to the extent we are forced to sell assets at such time, given market conditions, we may be selling at the same time as others facing similar pressures, which could exacerbate a difficult market environment, and which could result in our incurring significantly greater losses on our sale of such assets. In an extreme case of market duress, a market may not even be present for certain of our assets at any price. Such a situation would likely result in a rapid deterioration of our financial condition and possibly necessitate a filing for bankruptcy protection.
Further, financial institutions providing the repurchase facilities may require us to maintain a certain amount of cash uninvested or to set aside non-levered assets sufficient to maintain a specified liquidity position which would allow us to satisfy our collateral obligations. As a result, we may not be able to leverage our assets as fully as desired, which could reduce our return on stockholders' equity. If we are unable to meet these collateral obligations, our financial condition could deteriorate rapidly.
A failure to comply with covenants in our repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements would have a material adverse effect on us, and any future financings may require us to provide additional collateral or pay down debt.
We are subject to various covenants contained in our existing financing arrangements and may become subject to additional covenants in connection with future financings. Many of our master repurchase agreements require us to maintain compliance with various financial covenants, including a minimum tangible net worth, specified financial ratios (such as total debt to total assets) and financial information delivery obligations. These covenants may limit our flexibility to pursue certain investments or incur additional debt. If we fail to meet or satisfy any of these covenants, we would be in default under these agreements, and our lenders could elect to declare outstanding amounts due and payable, terminate their commitments, require the posting of additional collateral and/or enforce their interests against existing collateral. We may also be subject to cross-default and acceleration rights and, with respect to collateralized debt, the posting of additional collateral and foreclosure rights upon default. Further, this could also make it difficult for us to satisfy the distribution requirements necessary to maintain our status as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes.
Our use or future use of repurchase agreements to finance our target assets may give our lenders greater rights if either we or a lender files for bankruptcy.
Our borrowings or future borrowings under repurchase agreements for our target assets may qualify for special treatment under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code. This would give our lenders the ability to avoid the automatic stay provisions of the U.S. Bankruptcy Code and to take possession of and liquidate the assets that we have pledged under their repurchase agreements, without delay, if we file for bankruptcy. Furthermore, the special treatment of repurchase agreements under the U.S. Bankruptcy Code may make it difficult for us to recover our pledged assets if a lender party to such agreement files for bankruptcy.
We enter into hedging transactions that could expose us to contingent liabilities in the future.
Part of our investment and financing strategy involves entering into hedging transactions that could require us to fund cash payments in certain circumstances (such as the early termination of the hedging instrument caused by an event of default or the decision by a counterparty to request margin securities it is contractually owed under the terms of the hedging instrument). The amount due would be equal to the unrealized loss of the open positions with the respective counterparty and could also include other fees and charges. Such economic losses would be reflected in our results of operations, and our ability to fund these obligations would depend on the liquidity of our assets and access to capital at the time, and the need to fund these obligations could adversely impact our financial condition.
Hedging may adversely affect our earnings, which could reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.
We pursue various hedging strategies to seek to reduce our exposure to adverse changes in interest rates on our liabilities and currency exchange rates. Our hedging activity varies in scope based on the level and volatility of interest rates, currency exchange rates, the type of assets held and other changing market conditions. Hedging may fail to protect or could adversely affect our earnings because, among other things:
•interest rate and/or currency hedging can be expensive, particularly during periods of volatile markets;
•available interest rate hedges may not correspond directly with the interest rate risk for which protection is sought;
•the duration of the hedges may not match the duration of the liabilities;
•the amount of income that a REIT may earn from hedging transactions (other than hedging transactions that satisfy certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code or that are done through a taxable REIT subsidiary (“TRS”)) to offset interest rate losses is limited by U.S. federal tax provisions governing REITs;
•the credit quality of the hedging counterparty owing money on the hedge may be downgraded to such an extent that it impairs our ability to sell or assign our side of the hedging transaction; and
•the hedging counterparty owing money in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay.
In addition, the enforceability of agreements underlying hedging transactions may depend on compliance with applicable statutory and commodity and other regulatory requirements and, depending on the identity of the counterparty, applicable international requirements. Any actions taken by regulators could constrain our investment strategy and could increase our costs, either of which could materially and adversely impact our results of operations.
Our hedging strategies may be ineffective.
We attempt to limit, or hedge against, the adverse effect of changes in interest rates on the value of our assets and financing costs, subject to complying with REIT tax requirements. Hedging strategies are complex and do not fully protect against adverse changes under all circumstances. Our business model also calls for accepting certain amounts of risk. Consequently, our hedging activities are generally designed to limit interest rate exposure, but not to eliminate it, and they are generally not designed to hedge against spread risk and other risks inherent to our business model.
Our hedging strategies may vary in scope based on our portfolio composition, liabilities and our assessment of the level and volatility of interest rates, expected prepayments, credit and other market conditions, and are expected to change over time. We could fail to properly assess a risk or fail to recognize a risk entirely, leaving us exposed to losses without the benefit of any offsetting hedges. Furthermore, the techniques and derivative instruments we select may not have the effect of reducing our risk. Poorly designed hedging strategies or improperly executed transactions could increase our risk of loss. Hedging activities could also result in losses if the hedged event does not occur. Numerous other factors can impact the effectiveness of our hedging strategies, including the following:
•the cost of interest rate hedges;
•the degree to which the interest rate hedge benchmark rate correlates to the interest rate risk being hedged;
•the degree to which the duration of the hedge matches that of the related asset or liability, particularly as interest rates change;
•the amount of income that a REIT may earn from hedging transactions that do not satisfy certain requirements of the Internal Revenue Code or that are not done through a TRS; and
•the degree to which the value of our interest rate hedges changes relative to our assets as a result of fluctuations in interest rates, passage of time, or other factors.
Additionally, regulations adopted by the CFTC could adversely affect our ability to engage in derivative transactions or impose increased margin requirements and require additional operational and compliance costs. Consequently, our hedging strategies may fail to protect us from loss and could even result in greater losses than if we had not entered in the hedge transaction.
Clearing facilities or exchanges may increase the margin requirements we are required to post when entering into derivative instruments, which may negatively impact our ability to hedge and our liquidity.
We are required to post margin when entering into a hedging instrument that is traded on an exchange or administered through a clearing house. The amount of margin is set for each derivative by the exchange or clearinghouse. In prior periods, exchanges have required additional margin in response to events having, or expected to have, adverse economic consequences. Future adverse economic developments or market uncertainty and any proposed new reporting requirements by self-regulatory
authorities and Congress, may result in increased margin requirements for our hedging instruments, which may have a material adverse effect on our liquidity, financial condition and results of operations.
We may enter into derivative contracts that expose us to contingent liabilities, and those contingent liabilities may not appear on our balance sheet. We may invest in synthetic securities, credit default swaps, and other credit derivatives, which expose us to additional risks.
We have entered into, and may again in the future enter into, derivative contracts that could require us to make cash payments in certain circumstances. Potential payment obligations would be contingent liabilities and may not appear on our balance sheet. Our ability to satisfy these contingent liabilities depends on the liquidity of our assets and our access to capital and cash. The need to fund these contingent liabilities could adversely impact our financial condition.
We may invest in synthetic securities, credit default swaps, and other credit derivatives that reference other real estate securities or indices. These investments may present risks in excess of those resulting from the referenced security or index. These investments are typically a contractual relationship with counterparties and not an acquisition of a referenced security or other asset. In these types of investments, we have no right to directly enforce compliance with the terms of the referenced security or other assets and we have no voting or other consensual rights of ownership with respect to the referenced security or other assets. In the event of insolvency of a counterparty, we will be treated as a general creditor of the counterparty and will have no claim of title with respect to the referenced security.
The markets for these types of investments may not be liquid. Many of these investments incorporate “pay as you go” credit events. For example, the terms of credit default swaps are still evolving and may change significantly, which could make it more difficult to assign such an instrument or determine the “loss” under the underlying agreement. In a credit default swap, the party wishing to “buy” protection will pay a premium. When interest rates, spreads or the prevailing credit premiums on credit default swaps change, the amount of the termination payment due could change by a substantial amount. In an illiquid market, the determination of this change could be difficult to ascertain and, as a result, we may not achieve the desired benefit of entering into this contractual relationship.
As of December 31, 2024, we have no outstanding credit default swaps. We may over time enter into these types of investments as the market for them evolves and during times when we attempt to hedge some of the risks of our investments, to enhance returns, to serve as a substitute for an underlying asset, to reduce transaction costs or preserve capital. Our efforts to manage the risk associated with these investments, including counterparty risks, may prove to be insufficient in enabling us to generate the returns anticipated.
It may be uneconomical to “roll” Agency MBS TBA holdings, or we may be unable to meet margin calls on TBA contracts, which could negatively affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We may invest in Agency MBS TBA securities as an alternate means of gaining exposure to the Agency MBS market. A TBA contract is an agreement to purchase or sell, for future delivery, an Agency MBS with a specified issuer, term and coupon. A TBA dollar roll is a transaction where two TBA contracts with the same terms but different settlement dates are simultaneously bought and sold. The price difference between those two contracts is commonly referred to as the “drop” and is a reflection of the expected net interest income from an investment in similar Agency mortgage-backed securities, net of an implied financing cost, which would be foregone as a result of settling the contract in the later month rather than in the earlier month. Accordingly, TBA dollar roll income generally represents the economic equivalent of the net interest income earned on the underlying Agency mortgage-backed security less an implied financing cost. Consequently, dollar roll transactions and such forward purchases of Agency securities represent a form of off-balance sheet financing and increase our “at risk” leverage.
The economic return of a TBA dollar roll generally equates to interest income on a generic TBA-eligible security less an implied financing cost, and there may be situations in which the implied financing cost exceeds the interest income, resulting in negative carry on the position. If we roll our TBA dollar roll positions when they have a negative carry, the positions would decrease net income and amounts available for distributions to stockholders.
There may be situations in which we are unable or unwilling to roll or sell our TBA dollar roll positions. The TBA transaction could have a negative carry or otherwise be uneconomical, we may be unable to find counterparties with whom to trade in sufficient volume, or we may be required to collateralize the TBA positions in a way that is uneconomical. Because TBA dollar rolls represent implied financing, an inability or unwillingness to roll has effects similar to any other loss of financing. If we do not roll our TBA positions before the settlement date, we would have to take delivery of the underlying securities and settle our obligations for cash. We may not have sufficient funds or alternative financing sources available to settle such obligations. Counterparties may also make margin calls as the value of a generic TBA-eligible security (and therefore the value of the TBA contract) declines. Margin calls on TBA positions, or failure to roll TBA positions, could have the effects described in the liquidity risks described above.
Risks Related to Our Business
Our business may be adversely affected by unfavorable or changing economic, market, and political conditions.
Elevated inflation, interest rate volatility, a recessionary period, adverse trends in employment levels, pandemics or endemics, geopolitical instability or conflicts, trade or supply chain disruptions, economic or other sanctions, uncertainty regarding the breach of the U.S. debt ceiling or a sustained capital market correction could have an adverse effect on our business, including on the value of our investments and collateral securing our financing, which can impact our liquidity. Any deterioration of the real estate market as a result of these conditions may cause us to experience losses related to our assets and to sell assets at a loss.
Maintaining 1940 Act exclusions for our subsidiaries imposes limits on our operations, and failure to maintain an exclusion could have a material negative impact on our operations.
We conduct our operations so that neither we, nor our operating partnership, IAS Operating Partnership LP (the “Operating Partnership”), nor the subsidiaries of the Operating Partnership are required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act.
Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. We believe neither we nor our Operating Partnership will be considered an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act. Rather, through our Operating Partnership’s wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we and our Operating Partnership will be primarily engaged in the non-investment company businesses of these subsidiaries, namely the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring real property, mortgages and other interests in real estate.
Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the 40% test. Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are U.S. government securities and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exception from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act.
We are a holding company that conducts business through the Operating Partnership and the Operating Partnership’s wholly owned or majority-owned subsidiaries. Both we and the Operating Partnership conduct our operations so that we comply with the 40% test. Accordingly, the securities issued by these subsidiaries that are excepted from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act, together with any other investment securities the Operating Partnership may own, may not have a value in excess of 40% of the value of the Operating Partnership's total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis. Compliance with the 40% test limits the types of businesses in which we are permitted to engage through our subsidiaries. Furthermore, certain of the Operating Partnership’s current subsidiaries and subsidiaries that we may form in the future intend to rely upon an exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act, which is available for entities “primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate.” This exception generally requires that at least 55% of a subsidiary’s portfolio must be comprised of qualifying assets and at least 80% of its portfolio must be comprised of qualifying assets and real estate-related assets (and no more than 20% comprised of miscellaneous assets). In analyzing a subsidiary's compliance with Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act, we classify investments based in large measure on SEC staff guidance, including no-action letters, and, in the absence of SEC guidance, on our view of what constitutes a qualifying real estate asset and a real estate-related asset.
Qualification for an exception from the definition of investment company under the 1940 Act limits our ability to make certain investments. Therefore, the Operating Partnership’s subsidiaries may need to adjust their respective assets and strategy from time-to-time to continue to rely on the exception from the definition of investment company under Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act. Any such adjustment in assets or strategy is not expected to have a material adverse effect on our business or strategy. There can be no assurance that we will be able to maintain this exception from the definition of investment company for the Operating Partnership’s subsidiaries intending to rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act.
We may in the future organize one or more subsidiaries that seek to rely on other exceptions from being deemed an investment company under the 1940 Act. Any such subsidiary would need to be structured to comply with any guidance that may be issued by the SEC staff, including no-action letters, and, in the absence of SEC guidance, on our view of what constitutes a qualifying real estate asset and a real estate-related asset.
There can be no assurance that the laws and regulations governing the 1940 Act status of REITs will not change in a manner that adversely affects our operations or inhibits our ability to pursue our strategies. Any issuance of more specific or different guidance relating to the relevant exemptions and exceptions from the definition of an investment company under the
1940 Act could similarly affect or inhibit our operations. If we, the Operating Partnership or its subsidiaries fail to maintain an exemption from the 1940 Act, we could, among other things, be required to (a) change the investments that we hold or the manner in which we conduct our operations to avoid being required to register as an investment company, (b) effect sales of our assets in a manner that, or at a time when, we would not otherwise choose to do so, or (c) register as an investment company. Any of these events could cause us to incur losses and negatively affect the value of our capital stock, the sustainability of our business model, and our ability to pay dividends, which could have an adverse effect on our business and the market price for our shares of capital stock. In addition, if it were established that we were an unregistered investment company, there would be a risk that we would be subject to monetary penalties or injunctive relief imposed by the SEC.
We are highly dependent on information technology, and any and failures of or damage to, attack on or unauthorized access to our Manager’s information technology systems or facilities, or those of third parties with which we do business or that facilitate our business activities, including as a result of cyber-attacks, could result in significant limits on our ability to conduct our operations and activities, costs and reputational damage.
We are highly dependent on the use of various third-party information and security technology and other technology systems to operate our business, including those of our Manager and other service providers. We are also dependent on the effectiveness of our Manager’s information and cyber security infrastructure, policies, procedures and capabilities to protect our technology and digital systems and the data that reside on or are transmitted through them. We and our Manager use technology to, among other things, manage and trade portfolio investments, obtain securities pricing information, process transactions, protect the privacy of clients', employees' and business partners' data, and support our other operations.
In recent years, several financial services firms suffered cyber-attacks launched both domestically and from abroad, resulting in the disruption of services to clients, loss or misappropriation of confidential data, litigation and regulatory enforcement actions and reputational harm. Cyber security incidents and cyber-attacks have been occurring globally at a more frequent and severe level. Our Manager’s status as a global financial institution and the nature of its client base may enhance the risk that it is targeted by such cyber threats, which could impact us. Although our Manager takes protective measures, including measures to effectively secure information through system security technology, has many controls, processes, digital backup and recovery processes in place, and seeks to continually monitor and develop its systems to protect its and our technology infrastructure and data from misappropriation or corruption, our Manager’s technology systems may still be vulnerable to unauthorized access as a result of an external attack, actions by its employees or vendors with access to its systems, computer malware or other events that have a security impact and that result in the disclosure or release of confidential information inadvertently or through malfeasance, or result in the loss (temporarily or permanently) of data, applications or systems. The third parties with which we or our Manager do business or which facilitate our business activities, including financial intermediaries and technology infrastructure, data storage and service providers, are also susceptible to the foregoing risks (including those related to the third parties with which they are similarly interconnected or on which they otherwise rely), and our or their business operations and activities may therefore be adversely affected, perhaps materially, by failures, terminations, errors or malfeasance by, or attacks or constraints on, one or more financial, technology or infrastructure institutions or intermediaries with whom we or they are interconnected or conduct business. We do not control the cyber security plans and systems put in place by our Manager and third-party service providers, and such service providers may have limited indemnification obligations to us or our Manager.
A breach of our Manager's technology systems could damage our reputation and could result in unauthorized disclosure or modification or loss of sensitive or confidential information (including client data); unauthorized disclosure, modification or loss of proprietary information relating to our business; delays or other problems in our securities trading activities and financial, accounting and other data processing activities; breach and termination of client contracts; liability for stolen assets, information or identity; remediation costs to repair damage caused by the breach, including damage to systems and recovery of lost data; additional security costs to mitigate against future incidents; regulatory actions (including fines and penalties, which could be material) and litigation costs resulting from the incident. These consequences could have a material adverse effect on our operating results and negatively affect the market price of our capital stock and our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders. In addition, any insurance we maintain against the risk of this type of loss may not be sufficient to cover all actual losses or may not apply to circumstances relating to any particular breach or other cyber incident.
The recent advancements in and increased use of AI present risks and challenges that may adversely impact our business.
Our Manager or its or our third-party vendors, clients or counterparties have developed, and may continue to develop or incorporate AI technology in certain business processes, services or products. The development and use of AI presents a number of risks and challenges. The legal and regulatory environment relating to AI is uncertain and rapidly evolving, in the U.S. and internationally, and includes regulation targeted specifically at AI technology, as well as provisions in intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection, employment and other laws applicable to the use of AI. These evolving laws and regulations could require changes in our Manager’s implementation of AI technology, increase its or our compliance costs and the risk of non-compliance, and restrict or impede its ability to develop, adopt and deploy AI technologies efficiently and effectively. AI models, particularly generative AI models, may produce output or take action that is incorrect or outdated, that
result in the release of personal, confidential or proprietary information, that reflect biases included in the data on which they are trained or introduced during the training or fine tuning process, that infringe on the intellectual property rights of others, or that is otherwise harmful. In addition, the complexity of many AI models makes it challenging to understand why they are generating particular outputs. This limited transparency increases the challenges associated with assessing the proper operation of AI technology, understanding and monitoring the capabilities of the AI technology developed by third parties, and, to that extent, are dependent in part on the manner in which those third parties develop and train their models, including risks arising from the inclusion of any unauthorized material in the training data for their models, and the effectiveness of the steps these third parties have taken to limit the risks associated with the output of their models, matters over which we or our Manager may have limited visibility. Any of these risks could expose our Manager or us to liability or adverse legal or regulatory consequences and harm its or our reputation and the public perception of its or our business or the effectiveness of our security measures. In addition to our Manager’s use of AI technologies, it and we are exposed to risks arising from the use of AI technologies by bad actors to commit fraud and misappropriate funds and to facilitate cyberattacks. Generative AI, if used to perpetrate fraud or launch cyberattacks, could result in losses, liquidity outflows, or other adverse effects at a particular financial institution or exchange. If our Manager’s use of AI becomes controversial, it or we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liability.
Our Manager utilizes quantitative models to support investment decisions and investment processes, including those related to our portfolio management and risk analysis, which may contain errors.
Our Manager utilizes quantitative models to support investment decisions and investment processes, including those related to our portfolio management and risk analysis. Any errors in the underlying models or model assumptions could have unanticipated and adverse consequences on our business and reputation. If our Manager underestimates losses relative to the price we pay for a particular investment, we may experience losses or a lower yield than expected.
We may repurchase shares of our common stock and preferred stock from time to time. Share repurchases may negatively impact our compliance with covenants in our financing agreements and regulatory requirements (including maintaining exclusions from the requirements of the 1940 Act and qualification as a REIT). Any compliance failures associated with share repurchases could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Share repurchases also may negatively impact our ability to invest in our target assets in the future.
As of December 31, 2024, 1,816,359 shares of common stock were available under our Board-authorized share repurchase program. In May 2022, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for our Series B and Series C Preferred Stock. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased and retired 138,008 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock (prior to redemption) and 338,780 shares of our Series C Preferred Stock. As of December 31, 2024, we had authority to purchased 706,659 additional shares of our Series C Preferred Stock under the current share repurchase program.
We may engage in share repurchases from time-to-time through open market purchases, including block purchases or privately negotiated transactions, or under any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rules 10b5-1 and 10b-18 of the Exchange Act. Certain of our financing agreements have financial covenants, including covenants related to maintaining a certain level of stockholders' equity, that may be impacted by our share repurchases. In addition, we generally fund share repurchases with interest income or income from the sale of our assets. The sale of assets to fund share repurchases could impact the allocation of our portfolio for purposes of maintaining an exclusion from the requirements of the 1940 Act and could impact our ability to comply with income and asset tests required to qualify as a REIT. The failure to comply with covenants in our financing agreements, to maintain our exemption from the 1940 Act or to qualify as a REIT could have a material negative impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our decision to repurchase shares of our common stock or other securities and reduce our stockholders' equity could adversely affect our competitive position and could negatively impact our ability in the future to invest in assets that have a greater potential return than the repurchase of our common stock.
The preparation of our financial statements involves use of estimates, judgments and assumptions, and our financial statements may be materially affected if our estimates prove to be inaccurate.
Financial statements prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP require the use of estimates, judgments and assumptions that affect the reported amounts. Different estimates, judgments and assumptions reasonably could be used that would have a material effect on the financial statements, and changes in these estimates, judgments and assumptions are likely to occur from period to period in the future. Significant areas of accounting requiring the application of management’s judgment include, but are not limited to, determining the fair value of investment securities and interest income recognition. These estimates, judgments and assumptions are inherently uncertain, and, if they prove to be wrong, we face the risk that charges to income will be required. Any such charges could significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations and the price of our securities. Refer to Item 7. “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates” in Part II of this Report for a discussion of the accounting estimates, judgments and
assumptions that we believe are the most critical to an understanding of our business, financial condition and results of operations.
Changes in the fair value of our derivatives may result in volatility in our U.S. GAAP earnings.
We enter into derivative transactions to reduce the impact that changes in interest rates will have on our net interest margin. Changes in the fair value of our derivatives are recorded in our consolidated statement of operations as “gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net” and may result in volatility in our U.S. GAAP earnings. The total changes in fair value may exceed our consolidated net income in any period or for a full year. Volatility in our net income may adversely affect the price of our capital stock.
Our reported U.S. GAAP financial results differ from our REIT taxable income, which impacts our dividend distribution requirements. Therefore, our U.S. GAAP results may not be an accurate indicator of future taxable income and dividend distributions.
Generally, the cumulative net income we report over the life of an asset will be the same for U.S. GAAP and tax purposes, although the timing of this income recognition over the life of the asset could be materially different. Differences exist in the accounting for U.S. GAAP net income and REIT taxable income, which can lead to significant variances in the amount and timing of when income and losses are recognized under these two measures. Due to these differences, our reported U.S. GAAP financial results could materially differ from our determination of REIT taxable income, which impacts our dividend distribution requirements. Therefore, our U.S. GAAP results may not be an accurate indicator of future REIT taxable income and dividend distributions. Capital gains and losses in a period may impact REIT taxable income and impact the dividend paid in future periods.
Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager
We are dependent on our Manager and its key personnel for our success.
We have no separate facilities and are completely reliant on our Manager. We do not have any employees. Our executive officers are employees of our Manager or one of its affiliates. Our Manager has significant discretion as to the implementation of our investment and operating policies and strategies. Accordingly, we believe that our success depends to a significant extent upon the efforts, experience, diligence, skill and network of business contacts of the executive officers and key personnel of our Manager. The executive officers and key personnel of our Manager evaluate, negotiate, close and monitor our investments; therefore, our success depends on their continued service. The departure of any of the executive officers or key personnel of our Manager who provide management services to us could have a material adverse effect on our performance. In addition, we offer no assurance that our Manager will remain our investment manager or that we will continue to have access to our Manager’s professionals. The initial term of our management agreement with our Manager expired on July 1, 2011. The agreement automatically renews for successive one-year terms, and the management agreement is currently in a renewal term. If the management agreement is terminated and no suitable replacement is found to manage us, we may not be able to execute our business plan. Moreover, our Manager is not obligated to dedicate certain of its personnel exclusively to us nor is it obligated to dedicate any specific portion of its time to our business.
There are conflicts of interest in our relationship with our Manager and Invesco, which could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders.
We are subject to conflicts of interest arising out of our relationship with Invesco and our Manager. Specifically, each of our officers and certain members of our board of directors are employees of our Manager or one of its affiliates. Our Manager and our executive officers may have conflicts between their duties to us and their duties to, and interests in, Invesco. We compete for investment opportunities directly with other client accounts and funds managed by our Manager or Invesco and its subsidiaries. A substantial number of client accounts and funds managed by our Manager have exposure to our target assets. In addition, in the future our Manager may have additional clients or fund products that compete directly with us for investment opportunities.
Our Manager and our executive officers may choose to allocate favorable investments to other clients of Invesco instead of to us. Further, when there are turbulent conditions in the mortgage markets, distress in the credit markets or other times when we will need focused support and assistance from our Manager, Invesco or entities for which our Manager also acts as an investment manager will likewise require greater focus and attention, placing our Manager’s resources in high demand. In such situations, we may not receive the level of support and assistance that we may have received if we were internally managed or if our Manager did not act as a manager for other entities. Our Manager has investment allocation policies in place where appropriate intended to enable us to share equitably with the other clients and fund products of our Manager or Invesco and its subsidiaries. There is no assurance that our Manager’s allocation policies that address some of the conflicts relating to our access to investment and financing sources will be adequate to address all of the conflicts that may arise. Therefore, we may compete for investment or financing opportunities sourced by our Manager and, as a result, we may either not be presented with
the opportunity or have to compete with other clients and fund products of our Manager or clients and fund products of Invesco and its subsidiaries to acquire these investments or have access to these sources of financing.
Our Manager would have a conflict in recommending our participation in any equity investment it manages.
Our Manager has a conflict of interest in recommending our participation in any equity investment it manages because the fees payable to it may be greater than the fees payable by us under the management agreement. With respect to equity investments, we have made in partnerships managed by an affiliate of our Manager, our Manager has agreed to waive base management fees at the equity investment level to avoid duplication of fees. To address any potential conflict of interest, we require the terms of any equity investment managed by our Manager to be approved by our audit committee consisting of our independent directors. However, there can be no assurance that all conflicts of interest will be eliminated.
The management agreement with our Manager was not negotiated on an arm’s-length basis and may not be as favorable to us as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party, and it may be costly and difficult to terminate.
Our executive officers and certain members of our board of directors are employees of our Manager or one of its affiliates. Our management agreement with our Manager was negotiated between related parties and its terms, including fees payable, may not be as favorable to us as if it had been negotiated with an unaffiliated third party.
Termination of the management agreement with our Manager without cause is difficult and costly. Our independent directors review our Manager’s performance and the management fees annually, and the management agreement may be terminated annually upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors based upon: (1) our Manager’s unsatisfactory performance that is materially detrimental to us, or (2) a determination that the management fees payable to our Manager are not fair, subject to our Manager’s right to prevent termination based on unfair fees by accepting a reduction of management fees agreed to by at least two-thirds of our independent directors. Additionally, upon such a termination, the management agreement provides that we will pay our Manager a termination fee equal to three times the sum of our average annual management fee during the 24-month period before termination, calculated as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. These provisions may increase the cost of terminating the management agreement and may adversely affect our ability to terminate our Manager without cause. If the management agreement is terminated and no suitable replacement is found to manage us, we may not be able to execute our business plan.
Under the management agreement, our Manager does not assume any responsibility other than to render the services called for thereunder and is not responsible for any action of our board of directors in following or declining to follow its advice or recommendations. Our Manager maintains a contractual, as opposed to a fiduciary, relationship with us. Under the terms of the management agreement, our Manager, its officers, stockholders, members, managers, partners, directors and personnel, any person controlling or controlled by our Manager and any person providing sub-advisory services to our Manager will not be liable to us, any subsidiary of ours, our directors, our stockholders or any subsidiary’s stockholders or partners for acts or omissions performed in accordance with and pursuant to the management agreement, except because of acts constituting bad faith, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of their duties under the management agreement, as determined by a final non-appealable order of a court of competent jurisdiction. We have agreed to indemnify our Manager, its officers, stockholders, members, managers, directors and personnel, any person controlling or controlled by our Manager and any person providing sub-advisory services to our Manager with respect to all expenses, losses, damages, liabilities, demands, charges and claims arising from acts of our Manager not constituting bad faith, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of duties, performed in good faith in accordance with and pursuant to the management agreement.
Our board of directors approved broad investment guidelines for our Manager and does not approve each investment and financing decision made by our Manager.
Our Manager is authorized to follow broad investment guidelines. Our board of directors will periodically review our investment guidelines and our investment portfolio but does not, and is not required to, review all of our proposed investments, except that an investment in a security structured or issued by an entity managed by Invesco must be approved by our Audit Committee before such investment may be made. In addition, in conducting periodic reviews, our board of directors may rely primarily on information provided to them by our Manager. Our Manager has great latitude within the broad parameters of our investment guidelines in determining the types and amounts of target assets and financing arrangements it may decide are attractive investments for us, which could result in investment returns that are substantially below expectations or that result in losses, which would materially and adversely affect our business operations and results.
Risks Related to Our Capital Stock
We have not established a minimum dividend payment level, and we cannot assure our stockholders of our ability to pay dividends in the future.
We pay quarterly dividends to our stockholders in an amount such that we distribute all or substantially all of our REIT taxable income in each year, subject to certain adjustments. We have not established a minimum dividend payment level, and our ability to pay dividends may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including the risk factors described in this Report. All dividends will be made at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, our financial condition, debt covenants, maintenance of our REIT qualification, applicable provisions of Maryland law and other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. We believe that a change in any one of the following factors and other factors described in the risk factors in this Report could adversely affect our results of operations and impair our ability to pay dividends to our stockholders:
•our ability to make profitable investments;
•margin calls or other expenses that reduce our cash flow;
•defaults in our asset portfolio or decreases in the value of our portfolio; and
•the fact that anticipated operating expense levels may not prove accurate, as actual results may vary from estimates.
We cannot assure our stockholders that we will achieve investment results that will allow us to make a specified level of cash distributions or increases in cash distributions in the future. In addition, some of our distributions may include a return of capital.
Future offerings of debt or equity securities that would rank senior to our common stock may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
We have shares of Series C Preferred Stock issued and outstanding. If we decide to issue debt or equity securities in the future that would rank senior to our common stock, it is likely that they will be governed by an indenture or other instrument containing covenants restricting our operating flexibility. Any convertible or exchangeable securities that we issue in the future may have rights, preferences and privileges more favorable than those of our common stock and may result in dilution to owners of our common stock. For example, our preferred shares have a preference on liquidating distributions and a preference on dividend payments that could limit our ability to make a distribution to the holders of our common stock. We and, indirectly, our stockholders, will bear the cost of issuing and servicing such securities. Because our decision to issue debt or equity securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings.
Holders of our common stock are not entitled to preemptive rights or other protections against dilution. Thus, holders of our common stock will bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our common stock and diluting the value of their stock holdings in us. In addition, future issuances and sales of preferred stock on parity to our Series C Preferred Stock, or the perception that such issuances and sales could occur, may also cause prevailing market prices for the Series C Preferred Stock and our common stock to decline and may adversely affect our ability to raise additional capital in the financial markets at times and prices favorable to us.
Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure
Certain provisions of Maryland law could inhibit changes in control.
Certain provisions of the Maryland General Corporation Law (the “MGCL”) may have the effect of deterring a third party from making a proposal to acquire us or of impeding a change in control under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our common stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-prevailing market price of our common stock. Under the MGCL, certain “business combinations” between us and an “interested stockholder” (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns, directly or indirectly, 10% or more of the voting power of the outstanding voting stock of the corporation or an affiliate or associate of the corporation who, at any time within the two-year period immediately prior to the date in question, was the beneficial owner, directly or indirectly, of 10% or more of the voting power of the then outstanding stock of the corporation) or an affiliate thereof are prohibited for five years after the most recent date on which the stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Thereafter, the MGCL imposes two super-majority stockholder voting requirements on these business combinations. Under the statute, our board of directors has, by resolution, exempted business combinations between us and any other person, provided that such business combination is first approved by our board of directors (including a majority of our directors who are not affiliates or associates of such person).
The “control share” provisions of the MGCL provide that “control shares” of a Maryland corporation (defined as voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned or controlled by the acquirer, would entitle the acquirer to exercise one of three increasing ranges of voting power in electing directors) acquired in a “control share
acquisition” (defined as the direct or indirect acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding votes entitled to be cast by the acquiror of control shares, officers of the corporation and employees of the corporation who are also directors. Our bylaws contain a provision exempting from the control share acquisition statute any and all acquisitions by any person of shares of our stock. There can be no assurance that this provision will not be amended or eliminated at any time in the future.
Additionally, Title 3, Subtitle 8 of the MGCL (“Subtitle 8”) permits our board of directors, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is currently provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement certain corporate governance provisions, some of which (for example, a classified board) we do not yet have. Our charter contains a provision whereby we have elected to be subject to the provision of Subtitle 8 relating to the filling of vacancies on our board of directors. Through provisions in our charter and bylaws unrelated to Subtitle 8, we vest in our board of directors the exclusive power to fix the number of directorships, require the affirmative vote of stockholders entitled to cast not less than two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors to remove any director from our board of directors, which removal will be allowed only for cause, and require the written request of stockholders entitled to cast at least a majority of all the votes entitled to be cast on any matter in order to call a special meeting to act on such matter.
These provisions may have the effect of inhibiting a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of us under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of shares of common stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price.
Ownership limitations may restrict change of control or business combination opportunities in which our stockholders might receive a premium for their shares.
For us to qualify as a REIT, no more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals at any time during the last half of any calendar year. To preserve our REIT qualification, among other purposes, our charter generally prohibits any person from directly or indirectly owning more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our capital stock or more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock. This ownership limitation could have the effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction in which holders of our common stock might receive a premium for their shares over the then-prevailing market price or which holders might believe to be otherwise in their best interests.
Our authorized but unissued shares of capital stock may prevent a change in our control.
Our charter authorizes us to issue additional authorized but unissued shares of common stock or preferred stock. In addition, our board of directors may, without stockholder approval, amend our charter from time to time to increase or decrease the aggregate number of shares of stock or the number of shares of stock of any class or series that we have authority to issue and classify or reclassify any unissued shares of common stock or preferred stock and set the preferences, rights and other terms of the classified or reclassified shares. As a result, our board of directors may establish a class or series of shares of common stock or preferred stock that could delay or prevent a transaction or a change in control that might involve a premium price for shares of our common stock or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders.
The change of control conversion feature of our Series C Preferred Stock may make it more difficult for a party to acquire us or discourage a party from acquiring us.
The change of control conversion feature of our Series C Preferred Stock may have the effect of discouraging a third party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring or preventing certain change of control transactions under circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of our common stock and Series C Preferred Stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then-current market price of such stock or that stockholders may otherwise believe is in their best interests.
Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited.
Maryland law provides that a director has no liability in the capacity as a director if he or she performs his or her duties in good faith, in a manner he or she reasonably believes to be in the corporation’s best interests and with the care that an ordinarily prudent person in a like position would use under similar circumstances. As permitted by the MGCL, our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:
•actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services; or
•a final judgment based upon a finding of active and deliberate dishonesty by the director or officer that was material to the cause of action adjudicated.
In addition, our bylaws require us, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law in effect from time to time, to indemnify and, without requiring a preliminary determination of the ultimate entitlement to indemnification, pay or reimburse
reasonable expenses in advance of final disposition of a proceeding to (a) any individual who is a present or former director or officer and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity or (b) any individual who, while a director or officer and at our request, serves or has served as a director, officer, partner or trustee of another corporation, real estate investment trust, partnership, joint venture, trust, employee benefit plan, limited liability company or other enterprise and who is made or threatened to be made a party to the proceeding by reason of his or her service in that capacity. As a result, we and our stockholders may have more limited rights against our directors and officers than might otherwise exist under common law.
We are the sole general partner of our Operating Partnership and could become liable for the debts and other obligations of our Operating Partnership.
We are the sole general partner of our Operating Partnership and directly or indirectly conduct all of our business activities through the Operating Partnership and its subsidiaries. As the sole general partner, we are liable for our Operating Partnership’s debts and other obligations. Therefore, if our Operating Partnership is unable to pay its debts and other obligations, we will be liable for such debts and other obligations. These obligations could include unforeseen contingent liabilities and could materially adversely affect our financial condition, operating results and ability to pay dividends to our stockholders.
Tax Risks
Risks Related to our REIT Status and Certain Other Tax Items
If we do not qualify to be taxed as a REIT, we will be subject to tax as a regular corporation and could face a substantial tax liability.
We have operated and expect to continue to operate so as to qualify to be taxed as a REIT under the Code. However, qualification as a REIT involves the application of highly technical and complex Code provisions for which only a limited number of judicial or administrative interpretations exist. Notwithstanding the availability of cure provisions in the Code, various compliance requirements could be failed and could jeopardize our REIT status. Furthermore, new tax legislation, administrative guidance or court decisions, in each instance potentially with retroactive effect, could make it more difficult or impossible for us to qualify as a REIT. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any tax year, then:
•we would be taxed as a regular domestic corporation, which under current laws would result in, among other things, being unable to deduct dividends paid to stockholders in computing taxable income and being subject to federal and applicable state and local income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates;
•any resulting tax liability could be substantial and could have a material adverse effect on our book value;
•unless we were entitled to relief under applicable statutory provisions, we would be required to pay taxes, and therefore, our cash available for distribution to stockholders would be reduced for each of the years during which we did not qualify as a REIT and for which we had taxable income; and
•we generally would not be eligible to re-elect to be taxed as a REIT for the subsequent four full taxable years.
We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could increase our tax liability, reduce our operating flexibility and reduce the price of our stock.
In recent years, numerous legislative, judicial and administrative changes have been made in the provisions of U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to investments similar to an investment in shares of our stock. The 2017 tax reform legislation commonly referred to as the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act has resulted in fundamental changes to the Code, with many of the changes applicable to individuals applying only through December 31, 2025. Federal legislation intended to ameliorate the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security Act made technical corrections to, or modified on a temporary basis, certain of the provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.
Although REITs generally receive certain tax advantages compared to entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate assets and/or mortgage loans to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a corporation. As a result, our charter authorizes our board of directors to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that changes to U.S. federal income tax laws and regulations or other considerations mean it is no longer in our best interests to qualify as a REIT.
There can be no assurance that future tax law changes will not increase income tax rates, impose new limitations on deductions, credits or other tax benefits, or make other changes that may adversely affect our business, cash flows or financial performance or a stockholder’s investment in us. You are urged to consult with your tax advisor with respect to the impact of
these legislative changes on your investment in our shares and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our shares.
To maintain our REIT status, we may have to borrow funds on a short-term basis during unfavorable market conditions.
To qualify as a REIT, we generally must distribute annually to our stockholders dividends equal to a minimum of 90% of our net taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to regular corporate income taxes on any undistributed REIT taxable income, including undistributed net capital gain, each year. Additionally, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which dividends paid by us in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from previous years. Payments we make to our stockholders under our share repurchase plan generally will not be taken into account for purposes of these distribution requirements. If we do not have sufficient cash to make distributions necessary to preserve our REIT status for any year or to avoid taxation, we may be forced to borrow funds or sell assets even if the market conditions at that time are not favorable for these borrowings or sales. These options could increase our costs or reduce our equity.
Compliance with REIT requirements may cause us to forgo otherwise attractive opportunities, which may hinder or delay our ability to meet our investment objectives and reduce your overall return.
To qualify as a REIT, we are required at all times to satisfy tests relating to, among other things, the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the ownership of our stock and the amounts we distribute to our stockholders. Compliance with the REIT requirements may impair our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits. For example, we may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution.
Compliance with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments.
To qualify as a REIT, at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets must consist of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified real estate assets. The remainder of our investments in securities (other than qualified real estate assets, government securities and securities of our taxable REIT subsidiaries) generally cannot include more than 10% of the voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the value of the outstanding securities of more than any one issuer (other than securities that qualify for the straight-debt safe harbor) unless we and such issuer jointly elect for such issuer to be treated as a “taxable REIT subsidiary” under the Code. Debt will generally meet the “straight debt” safe harbor if the debt is a written unconditional promise to pay on demand or on a specified date a certain sum of money, the debt is not convertible, directly or indirectly, into stock, and the interest rate and the interest payment dates of the debt are not contingent on the profits, the borrower’s discretion, or similar factors. Additionally, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities, qualified real estate assets and securities of our taxable REIT subsidiaries) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, no more than 20% of the value of our assets may be represented by securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries, and no more than 25% of the value of our assets may consist of “nonqualified publicly offered REIT debt instruments.” If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any calendar quarter, we must dispose of a portion of our assets within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions in order to avoid losing our REIT qualification and suffering adverse tax consequences. In order to satisfy these requirements and maintain our qualification as a REIT, we may be forced to liquidate assets from our portfolio or not make otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.
Our charter does not permit any person or group to own more than 9.8% of our outstanding common stock or of our outstanding capital stock of all classes or series, and attempts to acquire our common stock or our capital stock of all other classes or series in excess of these 9.8% limits would not be effective without an exemption from these limits by our board of directors.
For us to qualify as a REIT under the Code, not more than 50% of the value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (including certain entities treated as individuals for this purpose) during the last half of a taxable year other than the first taxable year in which we are taxed as a REIT. For the purpose of assisting our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, our charter prohibits beneficial or constructive ownership by any person or group of more than a certain percentage, which is expected to be 9.8%, by value or by number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of our common stock or of our capital stock of all classes or series, which we refer to as the “Ownership Limits.” The constructive ownership rules under the Code and our charter are complex and may cause shares of the outstanding common stock or capital stock owned by a group of related persons to be deemed to be constructively owned by one person. As a result, the acquisition of less than 9.8% of our outstanding common stock or our capital stock by a person could cause another person to be treated as owning in excess of 9.8% of our outstanding common stock or our capital stock, respectively, and thus violate the Ownership Limits. There can be no assurance that our board of directors, as permitted in the
charter, will not decrease these Ownership Limits in the future. Any attempt to own or transfer shares of our common stock or capital stock in excess of the Ownership Limits without the consent of our board of directors will result either in the shares in excess of the limit being transferred by operation of our charter to a charitable trust, and the person who attempted to acquire such excess shares not having any rights in such excess shares, or in the transfer being void.
The Ownership Limits may have the effect of precluding a change in control of us by a third party, even if such change in control would be in the best interests of our stockholders or would result in receipt of a premium to the price of our common stock (and even if such change in control would not reasonably jeopardize our REIT status). Any exemptions to the Ownership Limits granted in the future may limit our board of directors’ power to increase the Ownership Limits or grant further exemptions.
Non-U.S. stockholders may be required to file U.S. federal income tax returns and pay U.S. federal income tax upon their receipt of certain distributions from us or upon their disposition of shares of our stock.
In addition to any potential withholding tax on ordinary dividends, a non-U.S. stockholder, other than a “qualified shareholder” or a “qualified foreign pension fund,” as each is defined in Section 897 of the Code, that disposes of a “United States real property interest” (“USRPI”) (which includes shares of stock of a U.S. corporation whose assets consist principally of USRPIs), or that receives a distribution from a REIT that is attributable to gains from such a disposition, is generally subject to U.S. federal income tax under the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act of 1980, as amended (“FIRPTA”), on the amount received from (or, in the case of a distribution, to the extent attributable to gains from) such disposition. Subject to certain exceptions, FIRPTA gains must be reported on U.S. federal income tax returns and are taxable at regular U.S. federal income tax rates. Such tax does not apply, however, to gain on the disposition of stock in a REIT that is “domestically controlled.” Generally, a REIT is domestically controlled if less than 50% of its stock, by value, has been owned directly or indirectly by non-U.S. persons during a continuous five-year period ending on the date of disposition or, if shorter, during the entire period of the REIT’s existence. We cannot assure you that we will qualify as a domestically controlled REIT. If we were to fail to so qualify, amounts received by a non-U.S. stockholder on certain dispositions of shares of our stock could be subject to tax under FIRPTA, unless (1) our shares of stock were regularly traded on an established securities market and (2) the non-U.S. stockholder did not, at any time during a specified testing period, hold more than 10% of our stock. We expect our shares to be regularly traded on an established securities market. Final Treasury Regulations that were effective as of April 25, 2024 (the “Final Regulations”) modified prior tax guidance relating to the manner in which we determine whether we are a domestically controlled REIT. The Final Regulations provide a look-through rule for our stockholders that are non-publicly traded partnerships, non-public REITs, non-public regulated investment companies, or non-public domestic C corporations owned more than 50% directly or indirectly by foreign persons (“foreign-controlled domestic corporations”) and treat “qualified foreign pension funds” as foreign persons. The look-through rule in the Final Regulations applicable to foreign-controlled domestic corporations will not apply to a REIT for a period of up to ten years if it is able to satisfy certain requirements, including not undergoing a significant change in its ownership and not acquiring a significant amount of new USRPIs, in each case since April 24, 2024, the date the Final Regulations were issued. If a REIT fails to satisfy such requirements during the ten-year period, then the look-through rule in the Final Regulations applicable to foreign controlled domestic corporations will apply to such REIT beginning on the day immediately following the date of such failure. While we cannot predict when we will commence being subject to such look-through rule in the Final Regulations, we may not be able to satisfy the applicable requirements for the duration of the ten-year period. Prospective investors are urged to consult with their tax advisors regarding the application and impact of these rules.
A non-U.S. stockholder, other than a “qualified shareholder” or a “qualified foreign pension fund,” that receives a distribution from us that is attributable to gains from the disposition of a USRPI as described above is generally subject to U.S. federal income tax under FIRPTA to the extent such distribution is attributable to gains from such disposition, regardless of whether the difference between the fair market value and the tax basis of the USRPI giving rise to such gains is attributable to periods prior to or during such non-U.S. stockholder’s ownership of our stock, unless the relevant class of stock is regularly traded on an established securities market in the United States and such non-U.S. stockholder did not own more than 10% of such class at any time during the one-year period ending on the date of such distribution.
Investments outside the United States may subject us to additional taxes and could present additional complications to our ability to satisfy the REIT qualification requirements.
Non-U.S. investments may subject us to various non-U.S. tax liabilities, including withholding taxes. In addition, operating in functional currencies other than the U.S. dollar and in environments in which real estate transactions are typically structured differently than they are in the United States or are subject to different legal rules may present complications to our ability to structure non-U.S. investments in a manner that enables us to satisfy the REIT qualification requirements. Even if we maintain our status as a REIT, entities through which we hold investments in assets located outside the United States may be subject to income taxation by jurisdictions in which such assets are located or in which our subsidiaries that hold interests in such assets are located. Any such taxes could adversely affect our business, results of operations, cash flows or financial condition, and our cash available for distribution to our stockholders will be reduced by any such foreign income taxes.
We may incur tax liabilities that would reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
Even if we qualify and maintain our status as a REIT, we may become subject to U.S. federal income taxes and related state and local taxes. For example, net income from the sale of properties or assets that are “dealer” properties or assets sold by a REIT (a “prohibited transaction” under the Code) will be subject to a 100% tax. We may not make sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. If we were to fail either gross income test (and did not lose our REIT status because such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect), we would be subject to tax on the income that does not meet the gross income test requirements. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our investments and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, we could elect to cause our stockholders to be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax we paid. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, including franchise, payroll, mortgage recording and transfer taxes, either directly or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own our assets, such as our domestic taxable REIT subsidiaries, which are subject to full U.S. federal, state, local and foreign corporate-level income taxes. Any taxes we pay directly or indirectly will reduce our cash available for distribution to you.
Restrictions on the deduction of all of our interest expense could prevent us from satisfying the REIT distribution requirements and avoiding the incurrence of income or excise taxes.
Under Section 163(j) of the Code, the deduction for business interest expense may be limited to the amount of the taxpayer’s business interest income plus 30% of the taxpayer’s “adjusted taxable income” unless the taxpayer’s gross receipts do not exceed $25 million per year during the applicable testing period or the taxpayer qualifies to elect and elects to be treated as an “electing real property trade or business.” A taxpayer’s adjusted taxable income will start with its taxable income and add back items of non-business income and expense, business interest income and business interest expense, net operating losses, and any deductions for “qualified business income.” A taxpayer that is exempt from the interest expense limitations as an electing real property trade or business is ineligible for certain expensing benefits and is subject to less favorable depreciation rules for real property. The rules for business interest expense will apply to us and at the level of each entity in which or through which we invest that is not a disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes. To the extent that our interest expense is not deductible, our taxable income will be increased, as will our REIT distribution requirements and the amounts we need to distribute to avoid incurring income and excise taxes.
Our board of directors is authorized to revoke our REIT election without stockholder approval, which may cause adverse consequences to our stockholders.
Our charter authorizes our board of directors to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if it determines that it is no longer in our best interests to qualify as a REIT. Our board of directors has duties to us and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in our best interests. In this event, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income, and we would no longer be required to distribute most of our net income to our stockholders, which may cause a reduction in the total return to our stockholders.
We may choose to pay dividends in a combination of cash and shares of our common stock, in which case stockholders may be required to pay income taxes in excess of the cash dividends they receive.
We may choose to pay dividends in a combination of cash and shares of our common stock. Under IRS Revenue Procedures 2017-45, as a publicly offered REIT, we may give stockholders a choice, subject to various limits and requirements, of receiving a dividend in cash or in our common stock. As long as at least 20% of the total dividend is available in cash and certain other requirements are satisfied, the IRS will treat the stock distribution as a dividend (to the extent applicable rules treat such distribution as being made out of our earnings and profits). As a result, U.S. stockholders may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such dividends in excess of the cash dividends they receive. In the case of non-U.S. stockholders, we generally will be required to withhold tax with respect to the entire dividend, which withholding tax may exceed the amount of cash such non-U.S. stockholder would otherwise receive.
Generally, ordinary dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for reduced U.S. federal income tax rates.
Currently, the maximum tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to certain non-corporate U.S. stockholders is 20% (excluding the 3.8% Medicare tax). Dividends payable by REITs, however, are not eligible for the reduced rate except to the extent designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income. Although this does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends could cause certain non-corporate investors to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our stock. However, for taxable years through the taxable year ending December 31, 2025, non-corporate U.S.
taxpayers may be entitled to claim a deduction in determining their taxable income of up to 20% of “qualified REIT dividends” (dividends not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income), subject to certain limitations. You are urged to consult with your tax advisor regarding the effect of this change on your effective tax rate with respect to REIT dividends.
The failure of a mezzanine loan to qualify as a real estate asset could adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT.
We may acquire mezzanine loans, for which the IRS has provided a safe harbor but not rules of substantive law. Pursuant to the safe harbor, if a mezzanine loan meets certain requirements, it will be treated by the IRS as a real estate asset for purposes of the asset tests, and interest derived from the mezzanine loan will be treated as qualifying mortgage interest for purposes of the 75% gross income test. We may acquire mezzanine loans that do not meet all of the requirements of this safe harbor. In the event we own a mezzanine loan that does not meet the safe harbor, the IRS could challenge such loan’s treatment as a real estate asset for purposes of the REIT asset and gross income tests and, if such a challenge were sustained, we could fail to qualify as a REIT.
Our taxable REIT subsidiaries are subject to special rules that may result in increased taxes.
We may conduct certain activities or invest in assets through one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. A taxable REIT subsidiary is a corporation other than a REIT in which a REIT directly or indirectly holds stock, and that has made a joint election with such REIT to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Other than some activities relating to hotel and health care properties, a taxable REIT subsidiary may generally engage in any business, including the provision of services to tenants of its parent REIT. A taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to U.S. federal income tax as a regular C corporation, including any applicable corporate alternative minimum tax.
No more than 20% of the value of our total assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. This requirement limits the extent to which we can conduct our activities through taxable REIT subsidiaries. The values of some of our assets, including assets that we hold through taxable REIT subsidiaries, may not be subject to precise determination, and values are subject to change in the future. Furthermore, if a REIT lends money to a taxable REIT subsidiary, the taxable REIT subsidiary may be unable to deduct all or a portion of the interest paid to the REIT, which could increase the tax liability of the taxable REIT subsidiary. In addition, as a REIT, we must pay a 100% penalty tax on certain payments that we receive if the economic arrangements between us and any of our taxable REIT subsidiaries are not comparable to similar arrangements between unrelated parties. We intend to structure transactions with any taxable REIT subsidiary on terms that we believe are arm’s length to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above; however, the IRS may successfully assert that the economic arrangements of any of our inter-company transactions are not comparable to similar arrangements between unrelated parties.
If the Operating Partnership failed to qualify as a partnership or is not otherwise disregarded for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we would cease to qualify as a REIT.
If the IRS were to successfully challenge the status of the Operating Partnership as a partnership or disregarded entity for U.S. federal income tax purposes, it would be taxable as a corporation. In the event that this occurs, it would reduce the amount of distributions that the Operating Partnership could make to us. This would also result in our failing to qualify as a REIT and becoming subject to a corporate-level tax on our income, which would substantially reduce our cash available to pay distributions and the yield on your investment.
Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively and may cause us to incur tax liabilities.
The REIT provisions of the Code may limit our ability to hedge our assets and operations. Under these provisions, any income that we generate from hedging transactions will be excluded from gross income for purposes of the 75% and 95% REIT gross income tests if: (1) the instrument (A) hedges interest rate risk or foreign currency exposure on liabilities used to carry or acquire real estate assets, (B) hedges risk of currency fluctuations with respect to any item of income or gain that would be qualifying income under the 75% or 95% gross income tests or (C) hedges a position entered into pursuant to clause (A) or (B) after the extinguishment of such liability or disposition of the asset producing such income; and (2) such instrument is properly identified under applicable Treasury Regulations. Income from hedging transactions that do not meet these requirements will generally constitute non-qualifying income for purposes of both the 75% and 95% gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we may have to limit our use of hedging techniques that might otherwise be advantageous or implement those hedges through a taxable REIT subsidiary. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our taxable REIT subsidiary would be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in our taxable REIT subsidiary will generally not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income in the taxable REIT subsidiary.
The “taxable mortgage pool” rules may increase the taxes that we or our stockholders may incur, and may limit the manner in which we effect future securitizations.
Securitizations could result in the creation of taxable mortgage pools for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a REIT, so long as we own 100% of the equity interests in a taxable mortgage pool, we generally would not be adversely affected by the characterization of the securitization as a taxable mortgage pool. Certain categories of stockholders, however, such as foreign stockholders eligible for treaty or other benefits, stockholders with net operating losses, and certain tax-exempt stockholders that are subject to unrelated business income tax, could be subject to increased taxes on a portion of their dividend income from us that is attributable to the taxable mortgage pool. Because we hold substantially all of our assets through the Operating Partnership, the foregoing rules would not apply if the Operating Partnership was treated as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes and was, or owned an equity interest in, a taxable mortgage pool, and any such taxable mortgage pool would be treated as a corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes and could prevent us from qualifying as a REIT. These limitations may prevent us from using certain techniques to maximize our returns from securitization transactions. Similarly, if we acquire REMIC residual interests (or equity interests in taxable mortgage pools in a manner consistent with our REIT qualification) and generate “excess inclusion income,” a portion of our dividends received by a tax-exempt stockholder will be treated as unrelated business taxable income. The excess inclusion income would also be subject to adverse U.S. federal income tax rules in the case of U.S. taxable stockholders and non-U.S. stockholders.
Liquidation of our assets to repay obligations to our lenders may jeopardize our REIT qualification.
To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding our assets and sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our qualifications as a REIT.
Purchases of mortgages at a discount may affect our ability to satisfy the REIT asset and gross income tests.
Whether our loan holdings are treated as real estate assets and interest income thereon is treated as qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test depends on whether the loans are adequately secured by real property. If a mortgage loan is secured by both real property and personal property, the value of the personal property exceeds 15% of the value of all property securing such loan, and the value of the real property at the time the REIT commits to make or acquire the loan is less than the highest principal amount (i.e., the face amount) of the loan during the year, interest earned on the loan will be treated as qualifying income only in proportion to the ratio of the value of the real property at the time the REIT commits to make or acquires the loan to the highest principal amount of the loan during the year.
Our qualification as a REIT could be jeopardized as a result of our interests in joint ventures or investment funds.
We may own or acquire interests in partnerships or limited liability companies that are joint ventures or investment funds. We may not have timely access to information from such partnerships and limited liability companies related to monitoring and managing our REIT qualification. If a partnership or limited liability company in which we own an interest but do not control takes or expects to take actions that could jeopardize our REIT qualification or require us to pay tax, we may be forced to dispose of our interest in such entity. It is possible that a partnership or limited liability company could take an action which could cause us to fail a REIT gross income or asset test and that we would not become aware of such action in time to dispose of our interest in the partnership or limited liability company or take other corrective action on a timely basis. In that case, we could fail to qualify as a REIT unless we are able to qualify for a statutory REIT “savings” provision, which may require us to pay a significant penalty tax to maintain our REIT qualification.
We may be required to report taxable income for certain investments in excess of the economic income we ultimately realize from them.
We may acquire debt instruments in the secondary market for less than their face amount. The discount at which such debt instruments are acquired may reflect doubts about their ultimate collectability rather than current market interest rates. The amount of such discount will nevertheless generally be treated as “market discount” for federal income tax purposes. Accrued market discount is reported as income when, and to the extent that, any payment of principal of the debt instrument is made. If we collect less on the debt instrument than our purchase price plus the market discount we had previously reported as income, we may not be able to benefit from any offsetting loss deductions.
Some of the debt instruments that we acquire may have been issued with original issue discount. We will be required to report such original issue discount based on a constant yield method and will be taxed based on the assumption that all future projected payments due on such debt instruments will be made. If such debt instruments turn out not to be fully collectible, an offsetting loss deduction will become available only in the later year that uncollectability is provable.
In addition, we may acquire debt instruments that are subsequently modified by agreement with the borrower. If the amendments to the outstanding instrument are “significant modifications” under the applicable Treasury Regulations, the modified instrument will be considered to have been reissued to us in a debt-for-debt exchange with the borrower. In that event,
we may be required to recognize taxable gain to the extent the principal amount of the modified instrument exceeds our adjusted tax basis in the unmodified instrument, even if the value of the instrument or the payment expectations have not changed. Following such a taxable modification, we would hold the modified loan with a cost basis equal to its principal amount for federal tax purposes.
Finally, if any debt instruments acquired by us are delinquent as to mandatory principal and interest payments, or in the event payments with respect to a particular instrument are not made when due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income as it accrues, despite doubt as to its ultimate collectability. Similarly, we may be required to accrue interest income with respect to debt instruments at its stated rate regardless of whether corresponding cash payments are received or are ultimately collectible. In each case, while we would, in general, ultimately have an offsetting loss deduction available to us when such interest was determined to be uncollectible, the utility of that deduction could depend on our having taxable income in that later year or thereafter.
The failure of assets subject to repurchase agreements to qualify as real estate assets could adversely affect our ability to remain qualified as a REIT.
We enter into certain financing arrangements that are structured as sale and repurchase agreements pursuant to which we nominally sell certain of our assets to a counterparty and simultaneously enter into an agreement to repurchase these assets at a later date in exchange for a purchase price. Economically, these agreements are financings that are secured by the assets sold pursuant thereto, and we treat them as such for U.S. federal income tax purposes. We believe that we would be treated for REIT asset and income test purposes as the owner of the assets that are the subject of any such sale and repurchase agreement notwithstanding that such agreement may transfer record ownership of the assets to the counterparty during the term of the agreement. It is possible, however, that the IRS could assert that we did not own the assets during the term of the sale and repurchase agreement, in which case we could fail to remain qualified as a REIT.
The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in certain transactions, including certain methods of securitizing mortgage loans, which would be treated as sales for federal income tax purposes.
A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We might be subject to this tax if we were to dispose of or securitize loans in a manner that was treated as a sale of the loans for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, to avoid the prohibited transactions tax, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of loans at the REIT level and may limit the structures we utilize for our securitization transactions, even though the sales or such structures might otherwise be beneficial to us.
Changing the nature of our assets may complicate our ability to satisfy the REIT gross income and asset tests.
We have large holdings of RMBS that are qualifying assets for purposes of the REIT asset tests and generate interest income that is qualifying income for purposes of the REIT gross income tests. The REIT asset tests do not require that all assets be qualifying assets, nor do the REIT gross income tests require that all income be qualifying income. Our substantial RMBS holdings have given us room to make investments that may not qualify, all or in part, as real estate assets or that may generate income that may not qualify, all or in part, under one or both of the gross income tests. Any reduction in our RMBS holdings may reduce our room for non-qualifying assets and income. In addition, if the market value or income potential of real estate-related investments declines as a result of increased interest rates, prepayment rates or other factors, we may need to increase our real estate investments and gross income therefrom and/or liquidate our nonqualifying assets to maintain our REIT qualification or exemption from the 1940 Act. If the decline in real estate asset values and/or income occurs quickly, this may be especially difficult to accomplish. This difficulty may be exacerbated by the illiquid nature of certain assets that we may own. We may have to make investment decisions that we otherwise would not make absent the REIT qualification requirements and Investment Company Act considerations. Furthermore, we may make investments in which the proper application of the REIT gross income and assets tests may not be clear. Mistakes in classifying assets or income for REIT purposes or in projecting the amount of qualifying and non-qualifying income could cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT.
Uncertainty exists with respect to the treatment of our TBAs for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests.
While there is no direct authority with respect to the qualification of TBAs as real estate assets or U.S. government securities for purposes of the 75% asset test or the qualification of income or gains from dispositions of TBAs as gains from the sale of real property (including interests in real property and interests in mortgages on real property) or other qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, we treat our TBAs under which we contract to purchase to-be-announced Agency MBS (“long TBAs”) as qualifying assets for purposes of the REIT 75% asset test, and we treat income and gains from our long TBAs as qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test, based on an opinion of counsel substantially to the effect that (i) for purposes of the REIT asset tests, our long TBAs should be treated as “real estate assets,” and (ii) for purposes of the 75% gross income test, any gain recognized by us in connection with the disposition of our long TBAs by offset, including in dollar roll transactions, should be qualifying income. Opinions of counsel are not binding on the IRS, and no assurance can be
given that the IRS will not successfully challenge the conclusions set forth in such opinions. In addition, it must be emphasized that the opinion of counsel is based on various assumptions relating to our TBAs and is conditioned upon fact-based representations and covenants made by our management regarding our TBAs. No assurance can be given that the IRS would not assert that such assets or income are not qualifying assets or income. If the IRS were to successfully challenge the opinion of counsel, we could be subject to a penalty tax or we could fail to remain qualified as a REIT if a sufficient portion of our assets consists of TBAs or a sufficient portion of our income consists of income or gains from the disposition of TBAs.
General Risk Factors
Our business is subject to extensive regulation.
Our business is subject to extensive regulation by federal and state governmental authorities, self-regulatory organizations, and securities exchanges. We are required to comply with numerous federal and state laws. The laws, rules and regulations comprising this regulatory framework change frequently, as can the interpretation and enforcement of existing laws, rules, and regulations. From time to time, we may receive requests from federal and state agencies for records, documents, and information regarding our policies, procedures, and practices regarding our business activities. We may incur significant ongoing costs to comply with these government regulations.
The regulatory environment in the United States can be impacted by changes in administration and future legislative developments. The outcome of congressional and other elections creates uncertainty with respect to legal, tax and regulatory regimes in which we and our investments, as well as our manager and its affiliates, will operate. Any significant changes in, among other things, economic policy (including with respect to interest rates and foreign trade), the regulation of the investment management industry, tax law, immigration policy and/or government entitlement programs could have a material adverse impact on us and our investments.
Although we believe that we have structured our operations and investments to comply with existing legal and regulatory requirements and interpretations, changes in regulatory and legal requirements, including changes in their interpretation and enforcement by lawmakers and regulators, could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations.
We may be adversely affected by the current and future economic, regulatory and other actions of government bodies and their agencies.
The U.S. government, Federal Reserve, U.S. Treasury, SEC and other U.S. and foreign governmental and regulatory bodies have taken a number of economic actions and regulatory initiatives from time-to-time designed to stabilize and stimulate the economy and the financial markets, and additional actions and initiatives may occur in the future. While our current exposure to transactions in foreign currencies is limited, uncertainties regarding geopolitical developments can produce volatility in global financial markets, which could have a negative impact on our business in the future.
There can be no assurance that, in the long term, actions that governments and regulatory bodies or central banks have taken in the past or may take in the future will improve the efficiency and stability of mortgage or financial markets. To the extent the financial markets do not respond favorably to any of these actions or such actions do not function as intended, our business may be harmed. In addition, because the programs are designed, in part, to improve the markets for certain of our target assets, the establishment of these programs may result in increased competition for attractive opportunities in our target assets or, in the case of government-backed refinancing and modification programs, may have the effect of reducing the revenues associated with certain of our target assets. We cannot predict whether or when additional actions or initiatives to stabilize and stimulate the economy and the financial markets may occur, and such actions could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We may change any of our strategies, policies or procedures without stockholder consent and make investment decisions with which our stockholders may not agree and/or fail to meet our investment criteria.
We may change any of our strategies, policies or procedures with respect to investments, acquisitions, growth, operations, indebtedness, capitalization and distributions at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in an investment portfolio with a different risk profile. Our stockholders will be unable to evaluate the manner in which we invest or the economic merit of our expected investments and, as a result, we may make investment decisions with which our stockholders may not agree. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objectives. A change in our investment strategy may increase our exposure to interest rate risk, default risk, real estate market fluctuations, rules, regulations and governmental actions. Furthermore, a change in our asset allocation could result in us making investments in asset categories different from those described in this Report. The failure of our management to make investments that meet our investment criteria could cause a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and ability to pay dividends to our stockholders and could cause the value of our capital stock to decline.
We may enter into transactions and take certain actions in connection with such transactions that could affect the price of our common stock.
We may conduct transactions (including acquisitions) that would offer business and strategic opportunities. In the event of such transactions, we could:
•use a significant portion of our available cash;
•issue equity securities, which would dilute the current percentage ownership of our stockholders;
•incur substantial debt;
•incur or assume contingent liabilities, known or unknown; and
•incur amortization expenses related to intangibles.
Any such actions by us could harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, or prospects and could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.
The market price and trading volume of our capital stock may be volatile.
The market price of our capital stock may be highly volatile and be subject to wide fluctuations. In addition, the trading volume in our capital stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. If the market price of our capital stock declines significantly, our stockholders may be unable to resell their shares at or above the price our stockholders paid for their shares. We cannot assure you that the market price of our capital stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our capital stock are included in the risk factors described in this Report.
Common stock eligible for future sale may have adverse effects on our share price.
We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of our common stock, or the availability of shares for future sales, on the market price of our common stock. Further, certain stock change of ownership tests may limit our ability to raise significant amounts of equity capital or could limit our future use of tax losses to offset income tax obligations, which may adversely affect us or our stockholders.
Sales of substantial amounts of common stock or the perception that such sales could occur may adversely affect the prevailing market price for our common stock. Also, we may issue additional shares in public offerings or private placements to make new investments or for other purposes. We are not required to offer any such shares to existing stockholders on a preemptive basis. Therefore, it may not be possible for existing stockholders to participate in such future share issuances, which may dilute existing stockholders’ interests in us.
Investing in our capital stock may involve a high degree of risk.
The investments we make in accordance with our investment objectives may carry a high amount of risk when compared to alternative investment options and may lead to volatility or loss of principal. Our investments may be highly speculative and aggressive, and therefore an investment in our capital stock may not be suitable for someone with lower risk tolerance.
A change in market interest rates may cause a material decrease in the market price of our capital stock.
One of the factors that investors may consider in deciding whether to buy or sell shares of our capital stock is our distribution rate as a percentage of our share price relative to market interest rates. If the market price of our capital stock is based primarily on the earnings and return that we derive from our investments and income with respect to our investments and our related distributions to stockholders, and not from the market value of the investments themselves, then interest rate fluctuations and capital market conditions are likely to adversely affect the market price of our capital stock. For instance, if market rates rise without an increase in our distribution rate, the market price of our capital stock could decrease as potential investors may require a higher distribution yield or seek other securities paying higher distributions or interest.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments.
None.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
Item 2. Properties.
Our principal executive office is located at 1331 Spring Street, N.W., Suite 2500, Atlanta, Georgia 30309. As part of our management agreement, our Manager is responsible for providing office space and office services required in rendering services to us.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Item 3. Legal Proceedings.
From time to time, we may be involved in various claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. As of December 31, 2024, we were not involved in any such legal proceedings.

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ITEM 4. MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURE
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures.
Not applicable.
PART II

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ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT'S COMMON EQUITY
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities.
Market Information
Our common stock is traded on the NYSE under the symbol “IVR.”
Dividend Information
We intend to pay quarterly dividends and to distribute to our stockholders all or substantially all of our taxable income in each year (subject to certain adjustments) consistent with the distribution requirements applicable to REITs, which will enable us to qualify for the tax benefits accorded to a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. We have not established a minimum dividend payment level and our ability to pay dividends may be adversely affected for the reasons described in Part I. Item 1A. “Risk Factors” of this Report. All distributions will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our earnings, our financial condition, maintenance of our REIT status and such other factors as our Board of Directors may deem relevant from time to time. No cash dividends can be paid on our common stock unless we have paid full cumulative dividends on our preferred stock. From the date of issuance of our preferred stock through December 31, 2024, we have paid full cumulative dividends on our preferred stock.
For information about our recent dividend payments, please see Note 11 - “Stockholders' Equity” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV of this Report.
Holders
As of February 18, 2025, there were 130 common stockholders of record.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the cumulative 5-year total return of holders of Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc.'s common stock with the cumulative total returns of the S&P 500 index and the FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs index. The graph assumes that the value of the investment in our common stock and in each of the indices (including reinvestment of dividends) was $100 on December 31, 2019 and tracks it through December 31, 2024.
Index 12/31/2019 12/31/2020 12/31/2021 12/31/2022 12/31/2023 12/31/2024
Invesco Mortgage Capital Inc. 100.00 24.67 22.37 12.40 10.63 11.59
S&P 500 100.00 118.40 152.39 124.79 157.59 197.02
FTSE NAREIT Mortgage REITs 100.00 81.23 93.93 68.94 79.52 79.80
The stock price performance included in this graph is not necessarily indicative of future stock price performance.
Use of Proceeds
We used the net proceeds from our common and preferred stock offerings to acquire our target assets in accordance with our objectives and strategies described in Item 1, Business - Investment Strategy. We focus on purchasing our target assets, subject to our investment guidelines and to the extent consistent with maintaining our REIT qualification and exclusion from the requirements of the 1940 Act. Our Manager determines the percentage of our stockholders' equity that will be invested in each of our target assets.
Repurchases of Common Equity Securities
In December 2011, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program with no stated expiration date. As of December 31, 2024, there were 1,816,359 common shares available for repurchase under the program. The shares may be repurchased from time to time through privately negotiated transactions or open market transactions, including under a trading plan in accordance with Rules 10b5-1 and 10b-18 under the Exchange Act or by any combination of such methods. The
manner, price, number and timing of share repurchases will be subject to a variety of factors, including market conditions and applicable SEC rules. During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock.
Repurchases of Preferred Equity Securities
The following tables sets forth information with respect to our repurchases of Series C Preferred Stock during the three months ended December 31, 2024.
Month Total Number of Shares Purchased Average Price Paid Per Share Total Number of Shares
Purchased as Part of
Publicly Announced Plans or Programs (1)
Maximum Number at end of period of Shares
that May Yet Be Purchased
Under the Plans
or Programs (1)
October 1, 2024 to October 31, 2024 29,743 24.46 29,743 747,780
November 1, 2024 to November 30, 2024 19,697 24.19 19,697 728,083
December 1, 2024 to December 31, 2024 21,424 23.96 21,424 706,659
70,864 24.24 70,864
(1)In May 2022, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program under which we may purchase up to 3,000,000 shares of our Series B Preferred Stock and 5,000,000 shares of our Series C Preferred Stock with no stated expiration date. The shares may be repurchased from time to time through privately negotiated transactions or open market transactions, including under a trading plan in accordance with Rules 10b5-1 and 10b-18 under Exchange Act or by any combination of such methods. The manner, price, number and timing of share repurchases are subject to a variety of factors, including market conditions and applicable SEC rules. We redeemed all outstanding shares of our Series B Preferred Stock in December 2024.
Equity Compensation Plans
We will provide the equity compensation plan information required in Item 201(d) of Regulation S-K in our definitive Proxy Statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report and incorporate into this Item 5 by reference.

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ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA
Item 6. [Reserved]

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ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.
The discussion and analysis disclosed herein apply to material changes in our consolidated financial statements for 2024 and 2023. For the comparison of 2023 and 2022, see the Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in Part II, Item 7 of our 2023 Annual Report on Form 10-K, filed with the SEC on February 22, 2024. The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements, which are included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report.
Overview
We are a Maryland corporation primarily focused on investing in, financing and managing mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) and other mortgage-related assets. Our objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders, primarily through dividends and secondarily through capital appreciation.
Factors Impacting Our Operating Results
Our operating results can be affected by a number of factors and primarily depend on the level of our net interest income and the market value of our assets. Our net interest income, which includes the amortization of purchase premiums and accretion of purchase discounts, varies primarily as a result of changes in market interest rates and prepayment speeds, as measured by the constant prepayment rate (“CPR”) on our assets. Interest rates and prepayment speeds vary according to the type of investment, conditions in the financial markets, competition and other factors, none of which can be predicted with any certainty. The market value of our assets can be impacted by credit spread premiums (yield advantage over U.S. Treasury notes) and the supply of, and demand for, assets in which we invest.
Market Conditions and Impacts
Macroeconomic factors that affect our business include inflation, economic growth, employment conditions, interest rates, interest rate volatility, fiscal and monetary policy, financial conditions, spread premiums, residential and commercial real estate prices, credit availability, the health of the banking system, consumer personal income and spending and corporate
earnings. Of these macroeconomic factors, financial conditions, inflation, employment conditions, monetary policy, interest rates and interest rate volatility had the most direct impacts on our performance and financial condition during 2024.
Financial conditions were predominantly accommodative throughout 2024, buoyed by strong equity market performance, tightening spreads across investment grade, high yield and emerging market bonds, declining interest rate volatility and the start of the Federal Open Market Committee’s (“FOMC”) easing cycle. The fourth quarter saw these trends continue following the resolution of the US elections, despite sharply higher interest rates in the intermediate and long end of the yield curve.
Inflation readings trended lower during 2024. The headline consumer price index (“CPI”) ended the year at 2.9%, down from 3.4% in December of 2023, while CPI (ex. food and energy) declined from 3.9% to 3.2%. The disinflationary trend stalled during the fourth quarter, however, as headline CPI increased from 2.4% to 2.9% and CPI (ex. food and energy) declined modestly from 3.3% to 3.2%. Investors responded to the stalled progress, along with fresh uncertainty regarding the potential impacts of future fiscal and trade policies, by adjusting expectations for future inflation sharply higher. This was reflected most directly in Treasury inflation-protected securities breakeven rates. The two-year breakeven ended the year at 2.54% (up from 1.77% at the end of September, and up from 2.02% in December of 2023) and the five-year breakeven ended at 2.39% (up from 2.09% in September and 2.15% last December). The employment picture was strong throughout 2024, with the economy adding a total of over 2.2 million jobs. This trend continued during the fourth quarter, as the economy added an average of 170,000 jobs per month.
Strong labor markets, inflation persistently higher than the FOMC’s target of 2% and uncertainty about the impact of future policy action led to a re-pricing of the market’s expectations of future monetary policy. Following the 100 basis point reduction in the Federal Funds target rate over the course of the third and fourth quarters, Federal Funds futures market expectations as of year-end 2024 reflected only one to two additional cuts in the target rate through the end of 2025. This compares to an expectation of ten cuts through the end of 2025 priced in as recently as mid-September 2024. Quantitative tightening continued in the fourth quarter of 2024, as the Federal Reserve passively reduced the size of its balance sheet through maturities of U.S. Treasuries and paydowns of Agency RMBS. Paydowns of Agency RMBS from the balance sheet added approximately $16 billion of net supply to the market each month, well below the Federal Reserve's monthly cap of $35 billion. Although quantitative tightening is anticipated to conclude over the next several quarters, runoff of the Agency RMBS portion of the balance sheet is expected to continue, with proceeds redeployed into Treasuries.
Interest rates were quite volatile during 2024, with rates falling for the first three quarters of the year on expectations of future policy action by the FOMC before sharply reversing during the fourth quarter as the market priced the majority of those cuts out. Over the year, the yield on the two-year Treasury was flat at 4.25%, the yield on the five-year Treasury increased 56 basis points to 4.39% and the yield on the ten-year Treasury finished at 4.58%, up 72 basis points on the year. During the fourth quarter interest rates were higher across the board, with the two-year, five-year and ten-year Treasury yields up 60 basis points, 81 basis points and 78 basis points, respectively. Short-dated interest rate volatility reflected the market’s shifting expectations of both monetary and potential fiscal policy, increasing ahead of the U.S. elections and FOMC meeting in November before settling in December to end the year slightly lower.
Against this macroeconomic backdrop, Agency RMBS underperformed Treasuries during the fourth quarter while still ending the year with modest outperformance. Underperformance during the quarter primarily took place in lower coupons, as the sharp move higher in interest rates limited demand for deep discount securities. Although interest rate volatility moved higher during the quarter, supply and demand technicals for higher coupon Agency RMBS were supportive as supply was limited while bank and overseas demand improved. Prepayment speeds largely remained at low levels given limited housing activity and elevated mortgage rates, but recently originated loans did display significant responsiveness to the short-lived notable decline in mortgage rates in the third quarter. Premiums on higher coupon specified pool collateral declined modestly given the increase in interest rates but remain relatively well-supported as implied financing via the dollar roll market for TBA investments remained largely unattractive throughout the quarter.
Agency CMBS risk premiums contracted notably during the fourth quarter and throughout 2024 given increased optimism regarding eventual monetary policy normalization, money manager inflows, renewed bank demand for stable cash flow profiles amidst elevated interest rate volatility and relatively modest new issuance.
Market Rates
As of
December 31, 2024 September 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 December 31, 2023 One Quarter Change One Year
Change
Interest Rates
Effective Federal Funds Rate 4.33 % 4.83 % 5.33 % 5.33 % 5.33 % (0.50) % (1.00) %
One-month SOFR 4.33 % 4.86 % 5.34 % 5.33 % 5.35 % (0.53) % (1.02) %
2 Year Treasury 4.25 % 3.65 % 4.72 % 4.62 % 4.25 % 0.60 % - %
5 Year Treasury 4.39 % 3.58 % 4.33 % 4.20 % 3.83 % 0.81 % 0.56 %
10 Year Treasury 4.58 % 3.80 % 4.34 % 4.19 % 3.86 % 0.78 % 0.72 %
30 Year Treasury 4.78 % 4.13 % 4.50 % 4.34 % 4.02 % 0.65 % 0.76 %
As of
(in basis points) December 31, 2024 September 30, 2024 June 30, 2024 March 31, 2024 December 31, 2023 One Quarter Change One Year
Change
Swap Spreads (1)
2 Year (16) (20) (15) (8) (18) 4 2
5 Year (34) (31) (28) (23) (32) (3) (2)
10 Year (50) (47) (42) (37) (40) (3) (10)
30 Year (85) (82) (80) (73) (71) (3) (14)
30 Year Mortgage Spreads vs. 5/10 Year Treasury Blend (2)
FNMA 2.0% 65 72 61 58 55 (7) 10
FNMA 2.5% 74 82 73 70 65 (8) 9
FNMA 3.0% 77 85 79 77 73 (8) 4
FNMA 3.5% 78 87 83 82 81 (9) (3)
FNMA 4.0% 76 95 93 91 95 (19) (19)
FNMA 4.5% 91 109 100 101 110 (18) (19)
FNMA 5.0% 108 132 116 117 131 (24) (23)
FNMA 5.5% 126 143 138 137 154 (17) (28)
FNMA 6.0% 140 129 158 156 165 11 (25)
10 Year Agency CMBS Spreads vs. Treasuries (3)
FHLMC K 45 48 49 54 60 (3) (15)
FNMA DUS 47 58 54 58 67 (11) (20)
(1)Swap spreads represent the difference between the fixed rate coupon of an interest rate swap and the yield on a U.S. Treasury security with a similar maturity.
(2)Mortgage spreads represent the difference between the yield on the Agency TBA and the blended average yield of five year and ten year U.S. Treasury securities.
(3)Agency CMBS spreads represent the difference between the yields on new issue Freddie Mac K Certificates and Fannie Mae Delegated Underwriting and Servicing MBS (“DUS”) and a U.S. Treasury security with a similar maturity.
Outlook
In the near-term, we remain cautious on Agency RMBS as shifting expectations for monetary and fiscal policy may result in elevated interest rate volatility, reducing investor demand. Our long-term outlook for Agency RMBS is favorable, however, as we expect demand to improve in higher coupons given attractive valuations, an eventual decline in interest rate volatility, and a steeper yield curve. Lastly, we expect a gradual increase in Agency CMBS new issuance to be met with robust investor
demand, as the sector continues to offer value relative to other fixed income investments due to its prepayment protection and attractive risk-adjusted return profiles.
Investment Activities
The table below shows the composition of our investment portfolio as of December 31, 2024 and 2023.
$ in thousands As of December 31,
2024 2023
Agency RMBS:
30 year fixed-rate pass-through, at fair value 4,541,525 4,952,474
Agency CMO, at fair value 70,776 74,758
Agency CMBS, at fair value 816,147 -
Non-Agency CMBS, at fair value 9,836 9,935
Non-Agency RMBS, at fair value 7,224 8,139
U.S. Treasury securities, at fair value - 11,214
Investment in unconsolidated venture - 500
Total investment portfolio 5,445,508 5,057,020
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, our holdings of 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS represented 83% and 98% of our total investment portfolio, respectively. Our 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS holdings as of December 31, 2024 and 2023 consisted of specified pools with coupon distributions as shown in the table below.
As of December 31,
2024 2023
$ in thousands Fair Value Percentage Period-end Weighted Average Yield Fair Value Percentage Period-end Weighted Average Yield
4.0% 369,321 8.1 % 4.67 % 876,337 17.7 % 4.65 %
4.5% 658,218 14.5 % 4.95 % 1,017,191 20.5 % 4.95 %
5.0% 836,197 18.4 % 5.35 % 1,028,036 20.8 % 5.34 %
5.5% 1,196,335 26.3 % 5.59 % 1,016,707 20.5 % 5.59 %
6.0% 1,481,454 32.7 % 5.97 % 1,014,203 20.5 % 6.03 %
Total 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS 4,541,525 100.0 % 5.50 % 4,952,474 100.0 % 5.33 %
Our purchases of Agency RMBS have been primarily focused on specified pools with attractive prepayment profiles. We seek to capitalize on the impact of prepayments on our investment portfolio by purchasing specified pools with characteristics that optimize borrower incentive to prepay for both our premium and discount priced investments. The table below shows the specified pool characteristics of our 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS holdings as of December 31, 2024 and 2023.
As of December 31,
2024 2023
$ in thousands Fair Value Percentage Fair Value Percentage
Specified pool characteristic:
Geographic location 741,428 16.3 % 1,079,310 21.8 %
Loan balance 1,961,771 43.2 % 2,193,876 44.3 %
High loan-to-value (“LTV”) ratio 509,459 11.2 % 574,246 11.6 %
Low credit score 1,328,867 29.3 % 1,105,042 22.3 %
Total 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS 4,541,525 100.0 % 4,952,474 100.0 %
We resumed investing in Agency CMBS in the first quarter of 2024 because these securities benefit from prepayment protection characteristics and have an attractive return profile. Further, the hedging costs related to these holdings are economical as they are less sensitive to interest rate risk given prepayment protection and scheduled balloon maturity payments. As of December 31, 2024, our holdings of Agency CMBS represented approximately 15% of our total investment portfolio.
Approximately 79% of our Agency CMBS were Fannie Mae DUS and 21% were Freddie Mac Multifamily Participation Certificates.
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, our holdings of non-Agency CMBS and non-Agency RMBS represented less than 1% of our total investment portfolio. In the first quarter of 2024, we received a final distribution from our sole remaining unconsolidated venture. Following this distribution, we no longer have any investments in unconsolidated ventures.
Financing and Other Liabilities
We finance the majority of our investment portfolio through repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are generally settled on a short-term basis, usually from one to six months, and bear interest at rates that are expected to move in close relationship to SOFR.
The following table presents the amount of collateralized borrowings outstanding under repurchase agreements as of the end of each quarter, the average amount outstanding during the quarter and the maximum balance outstanding during the quarter.
$ in thousands Collateralized borrowings under repurchase agreements
Quarter Ended Quarter-end balance Average quarterly balance (1)
Maximum balance (2)
March 31, 2023 4,814,700 4,734,819 4,814,700
June 30, 2023 4,959,388 4,791,720 4,959,388
September 30, 2023 4,987,006 4,902,400 4,987,006
December 31, 2023 4,458,695 3,736,432 4,458,695
March 31, 2024 4,393,908 4,419,757 4,531,261
June 30, 2024 4,260,475 4,251,953 4,269,254
September 30, 2024 5,184,885 5,004,504 5,184,885
December 31, 2024 4,893,958 4,865,582 4,943,054
(1)Average quarterly balance for each period is based on month-end balances.
(2)Amount represents the maximum borrowings at month-end during each of the respective periods.
Hedging Instruments
We generally hedge as much of our interest rate and foreign exchange risk as we deem prudent because of market conditions. No assurance can be given that our hedging activities will have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations or financial condition. Our investment policies do not contain specific requirements as to the percentages or amount of risk that we are required to hedge.
Hedging may fail to protect or could adversely affect us because, among other things:
•available interest rate hedging may not correspond directly with the interest rate risk for which protection is sought;
•the duration of the hedges may not match the duration of the related liabilities;
•our counterparty in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay;
•the values of derivatives used for hedging are adjusted in accordance with accounting rules to reflect changes in fair value.
We enter into interest rate swap agreements that are designed to mitigate the effects of changes in interest rates for a portion of our borrowings. Under these swap agreements, we generally pay fixed interest rates and receive floating interest rates indexed to SOFR. To a lesser extent, we have also used interest rate swap agreements whereby we make floating interest rate payments indexed to SOFR and receive fixed interest rate payments as part of our overall risk management strategy.
We actively manage our interest rate swap portfolio as the size and composition of our investment portfolio changes. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into new interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $2.6 billion and terminated or settled existing interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $3.4 billion.
During the third quarter of 2024, we began entering into futures contracts as an alternative way to help mitigate the potential impact of changes in interest rates on our performance. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into futures contracts with a notional amount of $2.8 billion and terminated or settled existing futures contracts with a notional amount of $1.4 billion.
Daily variation margin for interest rate swaps and futures contracts is characterized as settlement of the derivative itself rather than collateral and is recorded as a realized gain or loss in our consolidated statement of operations.
Capital Activities
As of December 31, 2024, we may sell up to 11,095,561 shares of our common stock from time to time in at-the-market or privately negotiated transactions under our equity distribution agreement with placement agents. The table below shows sales of our common stock under equity distribution agreements during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023.
Years ended December 31,
Shares in ones, $ in thousands 2024 2023
Shares sold 13,204,968 9,699,471
Net proceeds 116,215 109,104
Commissions and other costs 1,720 1,478
In May 2022, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for our Series B and Series C Preferred Stock. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased and retired 138,008 shares of Series B Preferred Stock (prior to the redemption discussed below) and 338,780 shares of Series C Preferred Stock. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased and retired 151,637 shares of Series B Preferred Stock and 271,031 shares of Series C Preferred Stock. As of December 31, 2024, we had authority to repurchase 706,659 additional shares of our Series C Preferred Stock under the current preferred stock share repurchase program.
On December 27, 2024, we redeemed all issued and outstanding shares of our Series B Preferred Stock for $106.2 million. The cash redemption price for each share of Series B Preferred Stock was $25.00. The excess of the consideration transferred over carrying value was accounted for as a deemed dividend and resulted in a reduction of $3.5 million in net income attributable to common stockholders during the year ended December 31, 2024.
For information on dividends declared and paid during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, see Note 11 - “Stockholders' Equity” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV, Item 15 of this report on Form 10-K.
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we did not repurchase any shares of our common stock.
Book Value per Common Share
We calculate book value per common share as follows.
As of December 31,
In thousands except per share amounts 2024 2023 2022
Numerator (adjusted equity):
Total equity 730,729 782,665 804,075
Less: Liquidation preference of Series B Preferred Stock - (109,650) (113,441)
Less: Liquidation preference of Series C Preferred Stock (180,166) (188,636) (195,412)
Total adjusted equity 550,563 484,379 495,222
Denominator (number of shares):
Common stock outstanding 61,730 48,461 38,711
Book value per common share 8.92 10.00 12.79
Our book value per common share decreased 10.8% as of December 31, 2024 compared to December 31, 2023 primarily due to losses recognized on investments and dividends declared, which were partially offset by net interest income and gains recognized on derivative instruments.
Refer to Item 7A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” for interest rate risk and its impact on fair value.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which requires the use of estimates and assumptions that involve the exercise of judgment and use of assumptions as to future uncertainties. Accounting estimates and assumptions discussed in this section are those that we consider to be the most critical to an understanding of our financial statements because they involve significant judgments and uncertainties. All of these estimates reflect our best judgment about current, and for some estimates, future economic and market conditions and their effects based on information available as of the date of these financial statements. If conditions change from those expected, it is possible that the judgments and estimates described below could change, which may result in a change in valuation of our investment portfolio, allowances for credit losses on our available-for-sale MBS, and a change in our interest income recognition among other effects.
Mortgage-Backed Securities. We have elected the fair value option for all of our MBS purchased on or after September 1, 2016 and all of our RMBS IOs. Under the fair value option, changes in fair value are recognized in the consolidated statement of operations. In our view, the fair value option election more appropriately reflects the results of our operations because MBS fair value changes are accounted for in the same manner as fair value changes in economic hedging instruments. As of December 31, 2024, $5.4 billion (December 31, 2023: $5.0 billion) or 99.7% (December 31, 2023: 99.7%) of our MBS are accounted for under the fair value option. We record our MBS purchased before September 1, 2016, as available-for-sale and report these MBS at fair value.
We determine the fair value of our MBS by obtaining valuations from an independent source. If the fair value of a security is not available from a third-party pricing service, we may estimate the fair value of the security using a variety of methods including other pricing services, discounted cash flow analysis, matrix pricing, option adjusted spread models and other fundamental analysis of observable market factors. It is possible that changes in these inputs could change the valuation estimate.
Refer to the preceding discussion under “Market Conditions and Impacts” for information on how conditions in 2024 impacted valuations of our Agency securities, which constituted substantially all of our investment portfolio during 2024. Additionally, refer to Item 7A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” for the estimated impact of an instantaneous shift in the yield curve on the market value of our interest rate-sensitive investments.
Interest Income Recognition. Interest income on MBS is accrued based on the outstanding principal or notional balance of the securities and their contractual terms. Premiums or discounts are amortized or accreted into interest income over the life of the investment using the effective interest method.
Interest income on our MBS where we may not recover substantially all of our initial investment is based on estimated future cash flows. We estimate future expected cash flows at the time of purchase and determine the effective interest rate based on these estimated cash flows and our purchase price. Over the life of the investments, we update these estimated future cash flows and compute a revised yield based on the current amortized cost of the investment, unless those changes will be reflected in an allowance for credit losses. In situations where an allowance for credit losses is limited by the fair value of the investment, we compute the yield as the rate that equates expected future cash flows to the current fair value of the investment. In estimating these future cash flows, there are a number of assumptions that are subject to uncertainties and contingencies, including but not limited to the rate and timing of principal payments (prepayments, repurchases, defaults and liquidations), the pass through or coupon rate, and interest rate fluctuations. These uncertainties and contingencies are difficult to predict and are subject to future events that may impact our estimate and our interest income. Changes in our original or most recent cash flow projections may result in a prospective change in interest income recognized on these securities, or the amortized cost of these securities. For non-Agency RMBS not of high credit quality, when actual cash flows vary from expected cash flows, the difference is recorded as an adjustment to the amortized cost of the security, unless those changes will be reflected in an allowance for credit losses, and the security's yield is revised prospectively.
One of the most significant factors impacting our projected cash flows is changes in long-term interest rates. When interest rates fall, prepayments will generally increase and when interest rates rise, prepayments will generally decrease. However, there are a variety of factors that may impact the rate of prepayments on our securities. Accordingly, under different conditions, we could report materially different amounts.
For Agency RMBS and Agency CMBS that cannot be prepaid in such a way that we would not recover substantially all of our initial investment, interest income recognition is based on contractual cash flows. We do not estimate prepayments in applying the effective interest method.
Prepayment rates on our mortgage-backed securities increased modestly in 2024 compared to 2023 but remained relatively low given elevated interest rates. Refer to Item 7A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” for an estimate of the percentage change in our net interest income, including interest paid or received under interest rate swaps, caused by an instantaneous 50 and 100 basis points increase or decrease in interest rates.
Accounting for Derivative Financial Instruments. We use or have used derivatives to manage interest rate and currency exchange risk and as an alternative means of investing in and financing Agency RMBS. We record all derivatives on our consolidated balance sheets at fair value. Refer to Note 2 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report for a description of how we determine the fair value of our futures contracts, interest rate swaps and TBAs. As of December 31, 2024, all of our futures contracts were exchange-traded and all of our interest rate swaps were centrally cleared by a registered clearing organization. Changes in the fair value of our derivatives are recorded in gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net in our consolidated statement of operations. Further information is provided in Note 7 - “Derivatives and Hedging Activities” of our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report.
The factors that impact valuations of our TBAs are similar to those that impact valuations of our Agency RMBS. Valuations of interest rate swaps and futures contracts are most significantly impacted by changing interest rate expectations. We recognized net gains on our interest rate swaps and futures contracts in 2024 primarily due to shifting expectations that interest rates would stay higher for longer.
Results of Operations
Our consolidated results of operations for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 are summarized below.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands except share data 2024 2023 2022
Interest income
Mortgage-backed and other securities 286,546 277,929 192,566
Commercial loan - - 1,947
Total interest income 286,546 277,929 194,513
Interest expense 249,719 228,229 51,560
Net interest income 36,827 49,700 142,953
Other income (loss)
Gain (loss) on investments, net (133,911) (107,280) (1,079,339)
(Increase) decrease in provision for credit losses (458) (320) -
Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated ventures (193) (1) (407)
Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net 176,634 61,838 559,007
Other investment income (loss), net 2 (66) 186
Total other income (loss) 42,074 (45,829) (520,553)
Expenses
Management fee - related party 11,866 12,290 16,906
General and administrative 7,153 7,440 8,418
Total expenses 19,019 19,730 25,324
Net income (loss) 59,882 (15,859) (402,924)
Dividends to preferred stockholders (22,011) (23,153) (28,218)
Gain on repurchase and retirement of preferred stock 427 1,471 14,179
Issuance and redemption costs of redeemed preferred stock (3,535) - -
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders 34,763 (37,541) (416,963)
Earnings (loss) per share:
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders
Basic 0.65 (0.85) (12.21)
Diluted 0.65 (0.85) (12.21)
Weighted average number of shares of common stock:
Basic 53,773,405 44,073,815 34,160,080
Diluted 53,775,143 44,073,815 34,160,080
Interest Income and Average Earning Asset Yields
The table below presents information related to our average earning assets and earning asset yields for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Average earning assets (1)
5,208,204 5,106,473 5,137,339
Average earning asset yields (2)
5.50 % 5.44 % 3.79 %
(1)Average balances for each period are based on weighted month-end balances.
(2)Average earning asset yields for the period were calculated by dividing interest income, including amortization of premiums and discounts, by average earning assets based on the amortized cost of the investments. All yields are annualized.
Total average earning assets increased $101.7 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023. Changes in our average earning assets are a factor of our total stockholders' equity and our desired leverage levels.
Average earning asset yields increased 6 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023. Changes in our average earning asset yields are driven by the composition of our investments, book prices of our securities and prepayment rates.
We earned total interest income of $286.5 million during 2024 (2023: $277.9 million). Our interest income consists of coupon interest and net (premium amortization) discount accretion on MBS and other securities as well as interest income on our commercial loan as shown in the table below.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Interest Income
Mortgage-backed and other securities - coupon interest 281,080 271,856 198,290
Mortgage-backed and other securities - net (premium amortization) discount accretion 5,466 6,073 (5,724)
Mortgage-backed and other securities - interest income 286,546 277,929 192,566
Commercial loan - - 1,947
Total interest income 286,546 277,929 194,513
Our interest income increased $8.6 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 due to higher average earning assets and average earning asset yields.
Prepayment Speeds
Our RMBS portfolio is subject to inherent prepayment risk primarily driven by changes in interest rates, which impacts the amount of premium and discount on the purchase of these securities that is recognized into interest income. Generally, in an environment of falling interest rates, prepayment speeds will increase as homeowners are more likely to prepay their existing mortgage and refinance into a lower borrowing rate. In an environment of rising interest rates, prepayment speeds will generally decrease as homeowners are not as incentivized to refinance. For Agency RMBS where we do not estimate prepayments, premium amortization and discount accretion are not impacted by prepayments until actual prepayments occur. For those securities on which we do estimate prepayments, expected future prepayment speeds are estimated on at least a quarterly basis. If the actual prepayment speed during the period is faster than estimated, the amortization on securities purchased at a premium to par value will be accelerated, resulting in lower interest income recognized. Conversely, for securities purchased at a discount to par value, interest income will be reduced in periods where prepayment speeds were slower than expected.
The following table presents net (premium amortization) discount accretion recognized on our mortgage-backed and other securities portfolio during 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Agency RMBS 4,948 5,160 (6,755)
Agency CMBS 433 - -
Non-Agency CMBS 496 1,101 1,624
Non-Agency RMBS (410) (479) (552)
U.S. Treasury securities (1) 291 (41)
Net (premium amortization) discount accretion 5,466 6,073 (5,724)
Net discount accretion decreased slightly for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 as the impact of repositioning into securities with higher book prices was largely offset by modestly faster prepayment rates.
Our interest income is subject to interest rate risk. Refer to Item 7A. “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk” for more information relating to interest rate risk and its impact on our operating results.
Interest Expense and Cost of Funds
The table below presents our average borrowings and cost of funds for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Total average borrowings (1)
4,637,086 4,540,252 4,495,581
Maximum borrowings during the period (2)
5,184,885 4,987,006 6,636,913
Cost of funds (3)
5.39 % 5.03 % 1.15 %
(1)Average borrowings for each period are based on weighted month-end balances.
(2)Amount represents the maximum borrowings at month-end during each of the respective periods.
(3)Average cost of funds is calculated by dividing annualized interest expense, including amortization of net deferred gain (loss) on de-designated interest rate swaps, by our average borrowings.
Total average borrowings increased $96.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023. Changes in our average borrowings are a factor of our total stockholders' equity and our desired leverage levels.
Our average cost of funds increased 36 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 as the FOMC raised the Federal Funds target rate from a range of 4.25% to 4.50% as of January 1, 2023 to a maximum of 5.25% to 5.50% before lowering the target rate in the second half of 2024. Our cost of funds for the year ended December 31, 2024 was also significantly impacted by the completion of amortization of net deferred gains on de-designated interest rate swaps in December 2023. The amortization of these net deferred gains previously offset a portion of our current period interest expense on repurchase agreement borrowings.
The table below presents the components of interest expense for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Interest Expense
Interest expense on repurchase agreement borrowings 249,719 238,634 71,268
Amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps - (10,405) (19,708)
Total interest expense 249,719 228,229 51,560
Our interest expense increased $21.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 due to a decrease in amortization of net deferred gains on de-designated interest rate swaps and increases in total average borrowings and borrowing rates.
Amounts recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income before we discontinued cash flow hedge accounting for our interest rate swaps were reclassified to interest expense on the consolidated statements of operations as interest was accrued and paid on the related repurchase agreements over the remaining life of the interest rate swap agreements.
Net Interest Income
The table below presents the components of net interest income for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Interest Income
Mortgage-backed and other securities 286,546 277,929 192,566
Commercial loan - - 1,947
Total interest income 286,546 277,929 194,513
Interest Expense
Interest expense on repurchase agreement borrowings 249,719 238,634 71,268
Amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps - (10,405) (19,708)
Total interest expense 249,719 228,229 51,560
Net interest income 36,827 49,700 142,953
Net interest rate margin 0.11 % 0.41 % 2.64 %
Our net interest income, which equals total interest income less total interest expense, decreased $12.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 due to a decrease in amortization of net deferred gains on de-designated interest rate swaps, a higher average Federal Funds target rate and higher average borrowings, which were partially offset by higher average earning assets and average earning asset yields.
Our net interest rate margin, which equals the yield on our average earning assets for the period less the average cost of funds, decreased 30 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 due to a decrease in amortization of net deferred gains on de-designated interest rate swaps and a higher average Federal Funds target rate, which were partially offset by higher average earning asset yields. Our cost of funds is generally more sensitive to changes in interest rates than the yield on our investment portfolio, which is largely comprised of 30 year fixed-rate Agency RMBS.
Gain (Loss) on Investments, net
The table below summarizes the components of gain (loss) on investments, net for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Net realized gains (losses) on sale of MBS (9,124) (158,028) (1,163,910)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on MBS accounted for under the fair value option (124,329) 50,364 118,365
Net unrealized gains (losses) on commercial loan - - 404
Net unrealized gains (losses) on U.S. Treasury securities (372) 372 -
Net realized gains (losses) on U.S. Treasury securities (86) 12 (34,198)
Total gain (loss) on investments, net (133,911)
(107,280) (1,079,339)
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we sold MBS and realized net losses of $9.1 million (2023: net losses of $158.0 million). Net realized losses during the year ended December 31, 2024 primarily reflect sales of 4.0% to 5.0% coupon Agency RMBS with a portion of the proceeds being used to purchase Agency CMBS. Net realized losses during the year ended December 31, 2023 primarily reflect the repositioning of Agency RMBS coupon allocations and sales of lower yielding Agency RMBS to purchase higher yielding Agency RMBS in an effort to improve the earnings power of the portfolio.
We have elected the fair value option for all of our MBS purchased on or after September 1, 2016. Before September 1, 2016, we had also elected the fair value option for our non-Agency RMBS interest-only securities. Under the fair value option, changes in fair value are recognized in income in the consolidated statements of operations. As of December 31, 2024, $5.4 billion or 99.7% (December 31, 2023: $5.0 billion or 99.7%) of our MBS were accounted for under the fair value option.
We recorded net unrealized losses on our MBS portfolio accounted for under the fair value option of $124.3 million in 2024 (2023: net unrealized gains of $50.4 million). Net unrealized losses in the year ended December 31, 2024 were due to lower valuations on Agency RMBS and Agency CMBS given an increase in interest rates. Net unrealized gains in the year ended December 31, 2023 reflect favorable valuations on our assets held at year end.
We recorded realized and unrealized losses of $458,000 on a U.S. Treasury security during the year ended December 31, 2024. We sold the security during the first quarter of 2024. We recorded net realized and unrealized gains of $384,000 on U.S. Treasury securities during the year ended December 31, 2023.
(Increase) Decrease in Provision for Credit Losses
As of December 31, 2024, $15.0 million of our $5.4 billion of MBS are classified as available-for-sale and subject to evaluation for credit losses. We recorded a provision for credit losses of $458,000 on a single non-Agency CMBS for the year ended December 31, 2024 (2023: $320,000). Refer to Note 2 - “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies” of our consolidated financial statements included in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report for additional information on how we calculate our provision for credit losses.
Equity in Earnings (Losses) of Unconsolidated Ventures
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we recorded equity in losses of unconsolidated ventures of $193,000 (2023: equity in losses of $1,000). We received a final distribution from our sole remaining unconsolidated venture during the first quarter of 2024, and the venture was dissolved in April 2024.
Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments, net
We record all derivatives on our consolidated balance sheets at fair value. Changes in the fair value of our derivatives are recorded in gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net in our consolidated statements of operations. Net interest paid or received under our interest rate swaps is also recognized in gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net in our consolidated statements of operations.
The tables below summarize the components of our gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022.
$ in thousands Year ended December 31, 2024
Derivative
not designated as
hedging instrument Realized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net Contractual net
interest income (expense) Unrealized
gain (loss), net Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net
Interest Rate Swaps (47,581) 161,762 610 114,791
Futures Contracts 58,000 - 3,463 61,463
TBAs 986 - (606) 380
Total 11,405 161,762 3,467 176,634
$ in thousands Year ended December 31, 2023
Derivative
not designated as
hedging instrument Realized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net Contractual net
interest income (expense) Unrealized
gain (loss), net Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net
Interest Rate Swaps (177,628) 239,008 918 62,298
Currency Forward Contracts (18) - - (18)
TBAs (1,880) - 1,438 (442)
Total (179,526) 239,008 2,356 61,838
$ in thousands Year ended December 31, 2022
Derivative
not designated as
hedging instrument Realized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net Contractual net
interest income (expense) Unrealized
gain (loss), net Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net
Interest Rate Swaps 593,035 86,872 11,426 691,333
Currency Forward Contracts 919 - (271) 648
TBAs (134,488) - 1,514 (132,974)
Total 459,466 86,872 12,669 559,007
As of December 31, 2024 and 2023, we held the following interest rate swaps whereby we pay fixed rate interest and receive floating rate interest based upon SOFR.
$ in thousands As of December 31, 2024 As of December 31, 2023
Derivative instrument Notional Amount Weighted Average Fixed Pay Rate Weighted Average Floating Receive Rate Weighted Average Years to Maturity Notional Amount Weighted Average Fixed Pay Rate Weighted Average Floating Receive Rate Weighted Average Years to Maturity
Interest Rate Swaps 3,265,000 0.97 % 4.49 % 5.3 4,065,000 1.10 % 5.38 % 6.6
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $2.6 billion and terminated or settled existing interest rate swaps with a notional amount of $3.4 billion (December 31, 2023: $3.5 billion of additions and $7.6 billion of terminations or settlements). We recorded net gains of $114.8 million and $62.3 million on interest rate swaps during the years ended December 31, 2024 and 2023, respectively, primarily due to changes in interest rate expectations.
As of December 31, 2024, we had $4.9 billion of repurchase agreement borrowings with a weighted average remaining maturity of 29 days (December 31, 2023: $4.5 billion and 20 days). We typically refinance each repurchase agreement at market interest rates upon maturity. We use interest rate swaps to manage our exposure to changing interest rates and add stability to interest rate expense.
During the third quarter of 2024, we began using futures contracts as an alternative way to help mitigate the potential impact of changes in interest rates on our performance. The table below presents certain details of our futures contracts as of December 31, 2024. We did not hold any futures contracts as of December 31, 2023.
As of December 31, 2024
$ in thousands Notional Amount - Short
10 year U.S. Treasury futures 136,000
Ultra 10 year U.S. Treasury futures 1,057,000
30 year U.S. Treasury futures 209,000
Total 1,402,000
During the year ended December 31, 2024, we entered into futures contracts with a notional amount of $2.8 billion and terminated or settled existing futures contracts with a notional amount of $1.4 billion. We recognized net gains of $61.5 million on futures contracts for the year ended December 31, 2024 due to changes in interest rate expectations.
We primarily use TBAs that we do not intend to physically settle on the contractual settlement date as an alternative means of investing in and financing Agency RMBS. We recorded net gains of $380,000 on TBAs during the year ended December 31, 2024 (December 31, 2023: net losses of $442,000).
Other Investment Income (Loss), net
Our other investment income (loss), net for the year ended December 31, 2023 consisted of foreign currency transaction gains and losses and the reclassification of our foreign currency translation adjustment that was previously recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income related to an unconsolidated venture.
Expenses
For the year ended December 31, 2024, we incurred management fees of $11.9 million (2023: $12.3 million) that are payable to our Manager under our management agreement. Management fees decreased for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 due to lower average stockholders' equity. Our management fees are calculated quarterly in arrears. Refer to Note 10 - “Related Party Transactions” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report for a discussion of our relationship with our Manager and a description of how our fees are calculated.
For the year ended December 31, 2024, our general and administrative expenses not covered under our management agreement amounted to $7.2 million (2023: $7.4 million). General and administrative expenses not covered under our management agreement primarily consist of directors and officers insurance, legal costs, accounting, auditing and tax services, filing fees and miscellaneous general and administrative costs.
Gain on Repurchase and Retirement of Preferred Stock
In May 2022, our board of directors approved a share repurchase program for our Series B and Series C Preferred Stock. During the year ended December 31, 2024, we repurchased and retired 138,008 shares of Series B Preferred Stock (prior to the redemption discussed below) and 338,780 shares of Series C Preferred Stock and recorded a gain on repurchase and retirement of preferred stock of $427,000. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we repurchased and retired 151,637 shares of Series B Preferred Stock and 271,031 shares of Series C Preferred Stock and recorded a gain on repurchase and retirement of preferred stock of $1.5 million. Gains on repurchases and retirements of preferred stock represent the difference between the consideration transferred and the carrying value of the preferred stock.
Issuance and Redemption Costs of Redeemed Preferred Stock
On December 27, 2024, we redeemed all issued and outstanding shares of our Series B Preferred Stock for $106.2 million. The cash redemption price for each share of Series B Preferred Stock was $25.00. The excess of the consideration transferred over carrying value was accounted for as a deemed dividend and resulted in a reduction of $3.5 million in net income attributable to common stockholders during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Net Income (Loss) attributable to Common Stockholders
For the year ended December 31, 2024, our net income attributable to common stockholders was $34.8 million (2023: net loss of $37.5 million) or $0.65 basic and diluted net income per average share available to common stockholders (2023: $0.85 net loss per share).
For the year ended December 31, 2024, the change in net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders compared to 2023 was primarily due to: (i) net losses on investments of $133.9 million versus $107.3 million in the 2023 period; (ii) net gains on derivative instruments of $176.6 million versus $61.8 million in the 2023 period and (iii) a $12.9 million decrease in net interest income.
For further information on the changes in net gain (loss) on investments, net gain (loss) on derivative instruments, and changes in net interest income, see preceding discussion under “Gain (Loss) on Investments, net”, “Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments, net” and “Net Interest Income”.
Non-GAAP Financial Measures
The table below shows the non-GAAP financial measures we use to analyze our operating results and the most directly comparable U.S. GAAP measures. We believe these non-GAAP measures are useful to investors in assessing our performance as discussed further below.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure Most Directly Comparable U.S. GAAP Measure
Earnings available for distribution (and by calculation, earnings available for distribution per common share) Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders (and by calculation, basic earnings (loss) per common share)
Effective interest expense (and by calculation, effective cost of funds) Total interest expense (and by calculation, cost of funds)
Effective net interest income (and by calculation, effective interest rate margin) Net interest income (and by calculation, net interest rate margin)
Economic debt-to-equity ratio Debt-to-equity ratio
The non-GAAP financial measures used by management should be analyzed in conjunction with U.S. GAAP financial measures and should not be considered substitutes for U.S. GAAP financial measures. In addition, the non-GAAP financial measures may not be comparable to similarly titled non-GAAP financial measures of our peer companies.
Earnings Available for Distribution
Our business objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders, primarily through dividends and secondarily through capital appreciation. We use earnings available for distribution as a measure of our investment portfolio’s ability to generate income for distribution to common stockholders and to evaluate our progress toward meeting this objective. We calculate earnings available for distribution as U.S. GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders adjusted for (gain) loss on investments, net; realized (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net; unrealized (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net; TBA dollar roll income; gain on repurchase and retirement of preferred stock; foreign currency (gains) losses, net and amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps.
By excluding the gains and losses discussed above, we believe the presentation of earnings available for distribution provides a consistent measure of operating performance that investors can use to evaluate our results over multiple reporting periods and, to a certain extent, compare to our peer companies. However, because not all of our peer companies use identical operating performance measures, our presentation of earnings available for distribution may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures used by our peer companies. We exclude the impact of gains and losses when calculating earnings available for distribution because (i) when analyzed in conjunction with our U.S. GAAP results, earnings available for distribution provides additional detail of our investment portfolio’s earnings capacity and (ii) gains and losses are not accounted for consistently under U.S. GAAP. Under U.S. GAAP, certain gains and losses are reflected in net income whereas other gains and losses are reflected in other comprehensive income. For example, a portion of our mortgage-backed securities are classified as available-for-sale securities, and we record changes in the valuation of these securities in other comprehensive income on our consolidated balance sheets. We elected the fair value option for our mortgage-backed securities purchased on or after September 1, 2016, and changes in the valuation of these securities are recorded in other income (loss) in our consolidated statements of operations. In addition, certain gains and losses represent one-time events. We may add and have added additional reconciling items to our earnings available for distribution calculation as appropriate.
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, U.S. federal income tax law generally requires that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income annually, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains. We have historically distributed at least 100% of our REIT taxable income. Because we view earnings available for
distribution as a consistent measure of our investment portfolio's ability to generate income for distribution to common stockholders, earnings available for distribution is one metric, but not the exclusive metric, that our board of directors uses to determine the amount, if any, and the payment date of dividends on our common stock. However, earnings available for distribution should not be considered as an indication of our taxable income, a guaranty of our ability to pay dividends or as a proxy for the amount of dividends we may pay, as earnings available for distribution excludes certain items that impact our cash needs.
Earnings available for distribution is an incomplete measure of our financial performance and there are other factors that impact the achievement of our business objective. We caution that earnings available for distribution should not be considered as an alternative to net income (determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP) or as an indication of our cash flow from operating activities (determined in accordance with U.S. GAAP), a measure of our liquidity or as an indication of amounts available to fund our cash needs.
The table below provides a reconciliation of U.S. GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders to earnings available for distribution for the following periods.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands, except per share data 2024 2023 2022
Net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders 34,763 (37,541) (416,963)
Adjustments:
(Gain) loss on investments, net 133,911 107,280 1,079,339
Realized (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net (1)
(11,405) 179,526 (459,466)
Unrealized (gain) loss on derivative instruments, net (1)
(3,467) (2,356) (12,669)
TBA dollar roll income (2)
1,366 697 28,843
(Gain) on repurchase and retirement of preferred stock (427) (1,471) (14,179)
Foreign currency (gains) losses, net (3)
(2) 66 (186)
Amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps (4)
- (10,405) (19,708)
Subtotal 119,976 273,337 601,974
Earnings available for distribution 154,739 235,796 185,011
Basic earnings (loss) per common share 0.65 (0.85) (12.21)
Earnings available for distribution per common share (5)
2.88 5.35 5.42
(1)U.S. GAAP gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net on the consolidated statements of operations includes the following components.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Realized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net 11,405 (179,526) 459,466
Unrealized gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net 3,467 2,356 12,669
Contractual net interest income (expense) on interest rate swaps 161,762 239,008 86,872
Gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net 176,634 61,838 559,007
(2)A TBA dollar roll is a series of derivative transactions where TBAs with the same specified issuer, term and coupon but different settlement dates are simultaneously bought and sold. The TBA settling in the later month typically prices at a discount to the TBA settling in the earlier month. TBA dollar roll income represents the price differential between the TBA price for current month settlement versus the TBA price for forward month settlement. We include TBA dollar roll income in earnings available for distribution because it is the economic equivalent of interest income on the underlying Agency RMBS, less an implied financing cost, over the forward settlement period. TBA dollar roll income is a component of gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net on our consolidated statements of operations.
(3) Foreign currency gains (losses), net includes foreign currency transaction gains and losses and the reclassification of currency translation adjustments that were previously recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income and is included in other investment income (loss), net on the consolidated statements of operations.
(4) U.S. GAAP interest expense on the consolidated statements of operations includes the following components.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Interest expense on repurchase agreement borrowings 249,719 238,634 71,268
Amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps - (10,405) (19,708)
Total interest expense 249,719 228,229 51,560
(5) Earnings available for distribution per common share is equal to earnings available for distribution divided by the basic weighted average number of common shares outstanding.
The components of earnings available for distribution for the years ended December 31, 2024, 2023 and 2022 were as follows.
Years Ended December 31,
$ in thousands 2024 2023 2022
Effective net interest income(1)
198,589 278,303 210,117
TBA dollar roll income 1,366 697 28,843
Equity in earnings (losses) of unconsolidated ventures (193) (1) (407)
(Increase) decrease in provision for credit losses (458) (320) -
Total expenses (19,019) (19,730) (25,324)
Subtotal 180,285 258,949 213,229
Dividends to preferred stockholders (22,011) (23,153) (28,218)
Issuance and redemption costs of redeemed preferred stock (3,535) - -
Earnings available for distribution 154,739 235,796 185,011
(1)See below for a reconciliation of net interest income to effective net interest income, a non-GAAP measure.
Earnings available for distribution decreased for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to lower effective net interest income. See below for details on the change in effective net interest income.
Effective Interest Expense / Effective Cost of Funds / Effective Net Interest Income / Effective Interest Rate Margin
We calculate effective interest expense (and by calculation, effective cost of funds) as U.S. GAAP total interest expense adjusted for contractual net interest income (expense) on our interest rate swaps that is recorded as gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net and the amortization of net deferred gains (losses) on de-designated interest rate swaps that is recorded as interest expense. We view our interest rate swaps as an economic hedge against increases in future market interest rates on our borrowings. We add back the net payments or receipts on our interest rate swap agreements to our total U.S. GAAP interest expense because we use interest rate swaps to add stability to interest expense. We exclude the amortization of net deferred gains (losses) on de-designated interest rate swaps from our calculation of effective interest expense because we do not consider the amortization a current component of our borrowing costs.
We calculate effective net interest income (and by calculation, effective interest rate margin) as U.S. GAAP net interest income adjusted for contractual net interest income (expense) on our interest rate swaps that is recorded as gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net and amortization of net deferred gains (losses) on de-designated interest rate swaps that is recorded as interest expense.
We believe the presentation of effective interest expense, effective cost of funds, effective net interest income and effective interest rate margin measures, when considered together with U.S. GAAP financial measures, provides information that is useful to investors in understanding our borrowing costs and operating performance.
The following table reconciles total interest expense to effective interest expense and cost of funds to effective cost of funds for the following periods.
Years Ended December 31,
2024 2023 2022
$ in thousands Reconciliation Cost of Funds / Effective Cost of Funds Reconciliation Cost of Funds / Effective Cost of Funds Reconciliation Cost of Funds / Effective Cost of Funds
Total interest expense 249,719 5.39 % 228,229 5.03 % 51,560 1.15 %
Add: Amortization of net deferred gain (loss) on de-designated interest rate swaps
- - % 10,405 0.23 % 19,708 0.44 %
Less: Contractual net interest expense (income) on interest rate swaps recorded as gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net (161,762) (3.49) % (239,008) (5.26) % (86,872) (1.93) %
Effective interest expense
87,957 1.90 % (374) - % (15,604) (0.34) %
Our effective interest expense and effective cost of funds increased for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to a decrease in contractual net interest income on interest rate swaps.
In addition to changes caused by the underlying floating rate index, the amount of contractual net interest income or expense on interest rate swaps that we recognize has changed based on changes in the size and composition of our interest rate swap portfolio. During the third quarter of 2024, we also began using futures contracts, which do not earn or incur contractual interest, in lieu of certain interest rate swaps as an alternative way to help mitigate the potential impact of changing interest rates on our performance. See preceding discussion under “Gain (Loss) on Derivative Instruments, net” for details of our interest rate swap portfolio as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023.
The following table reconciles net interest income to effective net interest income and net interest rate margin to effective interest rate margin for the following periods.
Years Ended December 31,
2024 2023 2022
$ in thousands Reconciliation Net Interest Rate Margin / Effective Interest Rate Margin Reconciliation Net Interest Rate Margin / Effective Interest Rate Margin Reconciliation Net Interest Rate Margin / Effective Interest Rate Margin
Net interest income 36,827 0.11 % 49,700 0.41 % 142,953 2.64 %
Less: Amortization of net deferred (gain) loss on de-designated interest rate swaps - - % (10,405) (0.23) % (19,708) (0.44) %
Add: Contractual net interest income (expense) on interest rate swaps recorded as gain (loss) on derivative instruments, net 161,762 3.49 % 239,008 5.26 % 86,872 1.93 %
Effective net interest income
198,589 3.60 % 278,303 5.44 % 210,117 4.13 %
Our effective net interest income and effective interest rate margin decreased for the year ended December 31, 2024 compared to 2023 primarily due to a decrease in contractual net interest income on interest rate swaps.
Economic Debt-to-Equity Ratio
The table below shows our debt-to-equity ratio and our economic debt-to-equity ratio as of December 31, 2024 and December 31, 2023. Our debt-to-equity ratio is calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP and is the ratio of total debt to total stockholders' equity.
We present an economic debt-to-equity ratio, a non-GAAP financial measure of leverage that considers the impact of the off-balance sheet financing of our investments in TBAs that are accounted for as derivative instruments under U.S. GAAP. We include our TBAs at implied cost basis in our measure of leverage because a forward contract to acquire Agency RMBS in the
TBA market carries similar risks to Agency RMBS purchased in the cash market and funded with on-balance sheet liabilities. Similarly, a contract for the forward sale of Agency RMBS has substantially the same effect as selling the underlying Agency RMBS and reducing our on-balance sheet funding commitments. We believe that presenting our economic debt-to-equity ratio, when considered together with our U.S. GAAP financial measure of debt-to-equity ratio, provides information that is useful to investors in understanding how management evaluates our at-risk leverage and gives investors a comparable statistic to those of other mortgage REITs who also invest in TBAs and present a similar non-GAAP measure of leverage.
As of
$ in thousands December 31, 2024 December 31, 2023
Repurchase agreements 4,893,958 4,458,695
Total stockholders' equity 730,729 782,665
Debt-to-equity ratio (1)
6.7 5.7
Economic debt-to-equity ratio (2)
6.7 5.7
(1)Debt-to-equity ratio is calculated as the ratio of total repurchase agreements to total stockholders' equity.
(2)Economic debt-to-equity ratio is calculated as the ratio of total repurchase agreements and TBAs at implied cost basis ($606,000 as of December 31, 2024; none as of December 31, 2023) to total stockholders' equity.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
Liquidity is a measure of our ability to meet potential cash requirements, including ongoing commitments to pay dividends, fund investments, repay borrowings and fund other general business needs. Our primary sources of funds for liquidity consist of the net proceeds from our common and preferred equity offerings, net cash provided by operating activities, proceeds from repurchase agreements and other financing arrangements and future issuances of equity and/or debt securities.
We currently believe that we have sufficient liquidity and capital resources available for the acquisition of additional investments, repayments on borrowings, margin requirements and the payment of cash dividends as required for continued qualification as a REIT. We generally maintain liquidity to pay down borrowings under repurchase agreements to reduce borrowing costs and otherwise efficiently manage our long-term investment capital. Because the level of these borrowings can be adjusted on a daily basis, the level of cash and cash equivalents carried on our consolidated balance sheets is significantly less important than our potential liquidity available under borrowing arrangements or through the sale of liquid investments. However, there can be no assurance that we will maintain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet any margin calls.
We held cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $210.9 million at December 31, 2024 (2023: $198.6 million). Our cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash change due to normal fluctuations in cash balances related to the timing of principal and interest payments, repayments of debt, and asset purchases and sales. Our operating activities provided net cash of approximately $183.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 (2023: $237.8 million).
Our investing activities used net cash of $497.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 (2023: $536.8 million). Our primary use of cash from investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was $2.2 billion to purchase MBS. We received proceeds from the sale of MBS of $1.3 billion and proceeds from the sale of U.S. Treasury securities of $10.8 million during the year ended December 31, 2024. We generated $389.5 million from principal payments of MBS during the year ended December 31, 2024. We also received $11.4 million to settle derivative contracts during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Our investing activities used net cash of $536.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Our primary use of cash from investing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was $5.9 billion to purchase MBS and $59.5 million to purchase U.S. Treasury securities. We also paid $179.5 million to settle derivative contracts during the year ended December 31, 2023. We received proceeds from the sale of MBS of $5.2 billion and proceeds from the sale of U.S. Treasury securities of $49.0 million during the year ended December 31, 2023. We also generated $348.5 million from principal payments of MBS during the year ended December 31, 2023.
Our financing activities provided net cash of $326.5 million for the year ended December 31, 2024 (2023: $218.9 million). Our primary source of cash from financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2024 was net proceeds on our repurchase agreements of $435.7 million and proceeds from issuance of common stock of $116.5 million. We redeemed all outstanding shares of our Series B Preferred Stock for $106.2 million during the year ended December 31, 2024. We also paid dividends of $105.5 million and used $11.1 million to repurchase Series B (prior to redemption) and Series C Preferred Stock during the year ended December 31, 2024.
Our financing activities provided net cash of $218.9 million for the year ended December 31, 2023. Our primary source of cash from financing activities during the year ended December 31, 2023 was net proceeds on our repurchase agreements of
$223.5 million and proceeds from issuance of common stock of $109.1 million. We paid dividends of $102.2 million and used $8.7 million to repurchase Series B and Series C Preferred Stock.
As of December 31, 2024, the average margin requirement (weighted by borrowing amount), or the haircut, under our repurchase agreements was 4.4% for Agency RMBS and 4.7% for Agency CMBS. The haircuts ranged from a low of 3% to a high of 5% for Agency RMBS and Agency CMBS. Declines in the value of our securities portfolio can trigger margin calls by our lenders under our repurchase agreements. An event of default or termination event may give our counterparties the option to terminate all repurchase transactions outstanding with us and require any amount due from us to the counterparties to be payable immediately.
Effects of Margin Requirements, Leverage and Credit Spreads
Our securities have values that fluctuate according to market conditions and the market value of our securities will decrease as prevailing interest rates or credit spreads increase. When the value of the securities pledged to secure a repurchase loan decreases to the point where the positive difference between the collateral value and the loan amount is less than the haircut, our lenders may issue a “margin call”, which means that the lender will require us to pay cash or pledge additional collateral. Under our repurchase facilities, our lenders have full discretion to determine the value of the securities we pledge to them. Most of our lenders will value securities based on recent trades in the market. Lenders also issue margin calls as the published current principal balance factors change on the pool of mortgages underlying the securities pledged as collateral when scheduled and unscheduled paydowns are announced monthly.
We experience margin calls and increased collateral requirements in the ordinary course of our business. In seeking to effectively manage the margin requirements established by our lenders, we maintain a position of cash and unpledged securities. We refer to this position as our liquidity. The level of liquidity we have available to meet margin calls is directly affected by our leverage levels, our haircuts and the price changes on our securities. If interest rates increase as a result of a yield curve shift or for another reason or if credit spreads widen, then the prices of our collateral (and our unpledged assets that constitute our liquidity) will decline, we will experience margin calls, and we will seek to use our liquidity to meet the margin calls. There can be no assurance that we will maintain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet any margin calls or increased collateral requirements. If our haircuts increase, our liquidity will proportionately decrease. In addition, if we increase our borrowings, our liquidity will decrease by the amount of additional haircut on the increased level of indebtedness.
We intend to maintain a level of liquidity in relation to our assets that enables us to meet reasonably anticipated margin calls and increased collateral requirements but that also allows us to be substantially invested in securities. We may misjudge the appropriate amount of our liquidity by maintaining excessive liquidity, which would lower our investment returns, or by maintaining insufficient liquidity, which would force us to liquidate assets into unfavorable market conditions and harm our results of operations and financial condition.
We are subject to financial covenants in connection with our lending, derivatives and other agreements we enter into in the normal course of our business. We intend to operate in a manner which complies with all of our financial covenants. Our lending and derivative agreements provide that we may be declared in default of our obligations if our leverage ratio exceeds certain thresholds and we fail to maintain stockholders’ equity or market value above certain thresholds over specified time periods.
Forward-Looking Statements Regarding Liquidity
As of December 31, 2024, we held $5.1 billion of Agency securities that are financed by repurchase agreements. We also had approximately $316.0 million of unencumbered investments and unrestricted cash of $73.4 million as of December 31, 2024. As of December 31, 2024, our known contractual obligations primarily consist of $4.9 billion of repurchase agreement borrowings with a weighted average remaining maturity of 29 days. We generally intend to refinance the majority of our repurchase agreement borrowings at market rates upon maturity. Repurchase agreement borrowings that are not refinanced upon maturity are typically repaid through the use of cash on hand or proceeds from sales of securities.
Based upon our current portfolio and existing borrowing arrangements, we believe that cash flow from operations and available borrowing capacity will be sufficient to enable us to meet anticipated short-term (one year or less) liquidity requirements to fund our investment activities, pay fees under our management agreement, fund our required distributions to stockholders and fund other general corporate expenses.
Our ability to meet our long-term (greater than one year) liquidity and capital resource requirements will be subject to obtaining additional debt financing. We may increase our capital resources by obtaining long-term credit facilities or through public or private offerings of equity or debt securities, possibly including classes of preferred stock, common stock, senior or subordinated notes and convertible notes. Such financing will depend on market conditions for capital raises and our ability to invest such offering proceeds. If we are unable to renew, replace or expand our sources of financing on substantially similar terms, it may have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.
Exposure to Financial Counterparties
We finance a substantial portion of our investment portfolio through repurchase agreements. Under these agreements, we pledge assets from our investment portfolio as collateral. Additionally, certain counterparties may require us to provide cash collateral in the event the market value of the assets declines to maintain a contractual repurchase agreement collateral ratio. If a counterparty were to default on its obligations, we would be exposed to potential losses to the extent the fair value of collateral pledged by us to the counterparty including any accrued interest receivable on such collateral exceeded the amount loaned to us by the counterparty plus interest due to the counterparty.
As of December 31, 2024, one counterparty held collateral that exceeded the amounts borrowed under the related repurchase agreements by more than $36.5 million, or 5% of our stockholders’ equity. The following table summarizes our exposure under repurchase agreements to counterparties by geographic concentration as of December 31, 2024. The information is based on the geographic headquarters of the counterparty or counterparty's parent company. However, our repurchase agreements are denominated in U.S. dollars.
$ in thousands Number of Counterparties Repurchase Agreement Financing Exposure
North America 13 3,038,272 (143,033)
Europe (excluding United Kingdom) 2 593,975 (25,686)
Asia 4 793,380 (36,562)
United Kingdom 1 468,331 (20,135)
Total 20 4,893,958 (225,416)
Dividends
To maintain our qualification as a REIT, U.S. federal income tax law generally requires that we distribute at least 90% of our REIT taxable income annually, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains. We must pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that we annually distribute less than 100% of our REIT taxable income. Before we pay any dividend, whether for U.S. federal income tax purposes or otherwise, we must first meet both our operating requirements and debt service on our repurchase agreements and other debt payable. If our cash available for distribution is less than our REIT taxable income, we could be required to sell assets or borrow funds to make cash distributions, or we may make a portion of the required distribution in the form of a taxable stock distribution or distribution of debt securities.
As discussed above, our distribution requirements are based on REIT taxable income rather than U.S. GAAP net income. The primary differences between our REIT taxable income and U.S. GAAP net income are: (i) unrealized gains and losses on investments that we have elected the fair value option for that are included in current U.S. GAAP income but are excluded from REIT taxable income until realized or settled; (ii) gains and losses on derivative instruments that are included in current U.S. GAAP net income but are excluded from REIT taxable income until realized; and (iii) temporary differences related to amortization of premiums and discounts on investments. For additional information regarding the characteristics of our dividends, refer to Note 11 - “Stockholders' Equity” of our consolidated financial statements in Part IV, Item 15 of this Report.
Unrelated Business Taxable Income
We have not engaged in transactions that would result in a portion of our income being treated as unrelated business taxable income.
Other Matters
We believe that we satisfied each of the asset tests in Section 856(c)(4) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”) at the end of each calendar quarter in 2024. We also believe that our revenue qualifies for the 75% source of income test and for the 95% source of income test rules for the year ended December 31, 2024. Consequently, we believe we met the REIT income and asset test as of December 31, 2024. We also met all REIT requirements regarding the stock ownership and distribution of dividends of our taxable income as of December 31, 2024. Therefore, as of December 31, 2024, we believe that we qualified as a REIT under the Code.
At all times, we intend to conduct our business so that neither we nor our Operating Partnership nor the subsidiaries of our Operating Partnership are required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. If we were required to register as an investment company, then our use of leverage would be substantially reduced. Because we are a holding company that conducts our business through our Operating Partnership and the Operating Partnership’s wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, the securities issued by these subsidiaries that are excepted from the definition of “investment company” under
Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act, together with any other investment securities the Operating Partnership may own, may not have a combined value in excess of 40% of the value of the Operating Partnership’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the 40% test. This requirement limits the types of businesses in which we are permitted to engage in through our subsidiaries. In addition, we believe neither we nor the Operating Partnership are considered an investment company under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act because they do not engage primarily or hold themselves out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Rather, through the Operating Partnership’s wholly-owned or majority-owned subsidiaries, we and the Operating Partnership are primarily engaged in the non-investment company businesses of these subsidiaries. IAS Asset I LLC and certain of the Operating Partnership’s other subsidiaries that we may form in the future rely upon the exclusion from the definition of “investment company” under the 1940 Act provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act, which is available for entities “primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate.” This exclusion generally requires that at least 55% of each subsidiary’s portfolio be comprised of qualifying assets and at least 80% be comprised of qualifying assets and real estate-related assets (and no more than 20% comprised of miscellaneous assets). We calculate that as of December 31, 2024, we conducted our business so as not to be regulated as an investment company under the 1940 Act.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk.
The primary components of our market risk are related to interest rate, principal prepayment and market value. While we do not seek to avoid risk completely, we believe the risk can be quantified from historical experience and we seek to actively manage that risk, to earn sufficient compensation to justify taking those risks and to maintain capital levels consistent with the risks we undertake.
For additional discussion of market risk, see Item Part I. Item 1A - Risk Factors of this Report.
Interest Rate Risk
Interest rate risk is highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental, monetary and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations, and other factors beyond our control. We are subject to interest rate risk in connection with our investments and our repurchase agreements. Our repurchase agreements are typically short-term in nature and are periodically refinanced at current market rates. We typically mitigate this interest rate risk by utilizing derivative contracts, primarily interest rate swap agreements and futures contracts.
Interest Rate Effect on Net Interest Income
Our operating results depend in large part upon differences between the yields earned on our investments and our cost of borrowing and interest rate hedging activities. During periods of rising interest rates, the borrowing costs associated with our investments tend to increase while the income earned on our fixed interest rate investments may remain substantially unchanged. This increase in borrowing costs results in the narrowing of the net interest spread between the related assets and borrowings and may even result in losses. Further, defaults could increase and result in credit losses to us, which could adversely affect our liquidity and operating results. Such delinquencies or defaults could also have an adverse effect on the spread between interest-earning assets and interest-bearing liabilities.
Hedging techniques are partly based on assumed levels of prepayments of our RMBS. If prepayments are slower or faster than assumed, the life of the RMBS will be longer or shorter, which would reduce the effectiveness of any hedging strategies we may use and may cause losses on such transactions. Hedging strategies involving the use of derivative securities are highly complex and may produce volatile returns.
Interest Rate Effects on Fair Value
Another component of interest rate risk is the effect that changes in interest rates will have on the market value of the assets that we acquire. We face the risk that the market value of our assets will increase or decrease at different rates than those of our liabilities, including our hedging instruments.
We primarily assess our interest rate risk by estimating the duration of our assets and the duration of our liabilities. Duration measures the market price volatility of financial instruments as interest rates change. We generally calculate duration using various financial models and empirical data. Different models and methodologies can produce different duration values for the same securities.
The impact of changing interest rates on fair value can change significantly when interest rates change materially. Therefore, the volatility in the fair value of our assets could increase significantly in the event interest rates change materially. In addition, other factors impact the fair value of our interest rate-sensitive investments and hedging instruments, such as the
shape of the yield curve, market expectations as to future interest rate changes and other market conditions. Accordingly, changes in actual interest rates may have a material adverse effect on us.
Spread Risk
We refer to the difference between interest rates on our investments and interest rates on risk free instruments as spreads. We employ a variety of spread risk management techniques that seek to mitigate the influences of spread changes on our book value and our liquidity to help us achieve our investment objectives. The yield on our investments changes over time due to the level of risk free interest rates, the creditworthiness of the security, and the price of the perceived risk. The change in the market yield of our interest rate hedges also changes primarily with the level of risk free interest rates. We manage spread risk through careful asset selection, sector allocation, regulating our portfolio value-at-risk, and seeking to maintain adequate liquidity. Changes in spreads impact our book value and our liquidity and could cause us to sell assets and to change our investment strategy to maintain liquidity and preserve book value. Inflation, financial conditions, monetary policy initiatives, interest rates and interest rate volatility may have an impact on spreads.
Prepayment Risk
As we receive prepayments of principal on our investments, premiums or discounts on these investments are amortized against interest income. In general, an increase in prepayment rates will accelerate the amortization of purchase premiums, thereby reducing the interest income earned on the investments. Conversely, discounts on such investments are accreted into interest income. In general, an increase in prepayment rates will accelerate the accretion of purchase discounts, thereby increasing the interest income earned on the investments.
Uncertainty regarding the rate of inflation, fiscal and monetary policy initiatives, elevated interest rate volatility and other factors have made it more difficult to predict prepayment levels for the securities in our portfolio. As a result, it is possible that realized prepayment behavior will be materially different from our expectations.
Extension Risk
We compute the projected weighted average life of our investments based upon assumptions regarding the rate at which the borrowers will prepay the underlying mortgages. In general, when a fixed-rate or hybrid adjustable-rate security is acquired with borrowings, we may, but are not required to, enter into an interest rate swap agreement or other hedging instrument that effectively fixes our borrowing costs for a period close to the anticipated average life of the fixed-rate portion of the related assets. This strategy is designed to protect us from rising interest rates, because the borrowing costs are fixed for the duration of the fixed-rate portion of the related target asset.
However, if prepayment rates decrease in a rising interest rate environment, then the life of the fixed-rate portion of the related assets could extend beyond the term of the swap agreement or other hedging instrument. This could have a negative impact on our results from operations, as borrowing costs would no longer be fixed after the end of the hedging instrument, while the income earned on the hybrid adjustable-rate assets would remain fixed. This situation may also cause the market value of our hybrid adjustable-rate assets to decline, with little or no offsetting gain from the related hedging transactions. In extreme situations, we may be forced to sell assets to maintain adequate liquidity, which could cause us to incur losses.
Market Risk
Market Value Risk
Our available-for-sale securities are reflected at their estimated fair value with unrealized gains and losses excluded from earnings and reported in other comprehensive income under ASC Topic 320. The estimated fair value of these securities fluctuates primarily due to changes in interest rates and other factors. Generally, in a rising interest rate environment, the estimated fair value of these securities would be expected to decrease; conversely, in a falling interest rate environment, the estimated fair value of these securities would be expected to increase.
Pandemics and other widespread crises, including any related fiscal or monetary policy responses, may cause extreme volatility and illiquidity in fixed income markets. The amount of financing we receive under our repurchase agreements is directly related to our counterparties’ valuation of our assets that collateralize the outstanding repurchase agreement financing. When these or similar market conditions are present, margin call risk is elevated and our operating results and financial condition may be materially impacted.
The sensitivity analysis table presented below shows the estimated impact of an instantaneous parallel shift in the yield curve, up and down 50 and 100 basis points, on the market value of our interest rate-sensitive investments and net interest income, including net interest paid or received under interest rate swaps, as of December 31, 2024 and 2023, assuming a static portfolio and constant financing and credit spreads. When evaluating the impact of changes in interest rates, prepayment
assumptions and principal reinvestment rates are adjusted based on our Manager’s expectations. The analysis presented utilized assumptions, models and estimates of our Manager based on our Manager’s judgment and experience.
As of December 31, 2024 As of December 31, 2023
Change in Interest Rates Percentage Change in
Projected Net Interest Income Percentage Change in
Projected Portfolio Value Percentage Change in
Projected Net Interest Income Percentage Change in
Projected Portfolio Value
+1.00% (0.16) % (0.59) % (1.04) % (0.76) %
+0.50% 0.02 % (0.21) % (0.41) % (0.23) %
-0.50% (0.48) % (0.05) % 0.27 % (0.13) %
-1.00% (1.30) % (0.47) % 0.93 % (0.68) %
Certain assumptions have been made in connection with the calculation of the information set forth in the foregoing interest rate sensitivity table and, as such, there can be no assurance that assumed events will occur or that other events will not occur that would affect the outcomes. The interest rate scenarios assume interest rates as of December 31, 2024 and 2023. Furthermore, while the analysis reflects the estimated impact of interest rate increases and decreases on a static portfolio, we actively manage the size and composition of our investment and swap portfolios, which can result in material changes to our interest rate risk profile. When applicable, our scenario analysis assumes a floor of 0% for U.S. Treasury yields and, to be consistent, we also apply a floor of 0% for all related funding costs.
The information set forth in the interest rate sensitivity table above and all related disclosures constitutes forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimated in the foregoing interest rate sensitivity table.
Real Estate Risk
Residential and commercial property values are subject to volatility and may be adversely affected by a number of factors, including, but not limited to: national, regional and local economic conditions (which may be adversely affected by industry slowdowns and other factors); local real estate conditions (such as the supply of housing stock or other property sectors); changes or continued weakness in specific industry segments; construction quality, age and design; demographic factors; and retroactive changes to building or similar codes. In addition, decreases in property values reduce the value of the collateral and the potential proceeds available to a borrower to repay our loans, which could also cause us to suffer losses.
Credit Risk
We retain the risk of potential credit losses on all of our residential and commercial mortgage investments. We seek to manage this risk through our pre-acquisition due diligence process. In addition, we re-evaluate the credit risk inherent in our investments on a regular basis pursuant to fundamental considerations such as GDP, unemployment, interest rates, retail sales, store closings/openings, corporate earnings, housing inventory, affordability and regional home price trends. We also review key loan credit metrics including, but not limited to, payment status, current loan-to-value ratios, current borrower credit scores and debt yields. These characteristics assist in determining the likelihood and severity of loan loss as well as prepayment and extension expectations. We then perform structural analysis under multiple scenarios to establish likely cash flow profiles and credit enhancement levels relative to collateral performance projections. This analysis allows us to quantify our opinions of credit quality and fundamental value, which are key drivers of portfolio management decisions.
Deteriorating fundamentals and tightening lending conditions may cause borrowers to experience difficulties meeting their obligations and refinancing loans upon scheduled maturities. Loans may experience increasing delinquency levels and eventual defaults, which could impact the performance of our mortgage-backed securities. Rating agencies periodically reassess transactions negatively impacted by these adverse changes, which may result in our investments being downgraded.
Risk Management
To the extent consistent with maintaining our REIT qualification, we seek to manage risk exposure to protect our investment portfolio against the effects of major interest rate changes. We generally seek to manage this risk by:
•monitoring and adjusting, if necessary, the reset index and interest rate related to our target assets and our financings;
•attempting to structure our financing agreements to have a range of different maturities, terms, amortizations and interest rate adjustment periods;
•exploring options to obtain financing arrangements that are not marked to market;
•using hedging instruments, primarily interest rate swap agreements but also financial futures, options, interest rate cap agreements, floors and forward sales to adjust the interest rate sensitivity of our target assets and our borrowings; and
•actively managing, on an aggregate basis, the interest rate indices, interest rate adjustment periods, and gross reset margins of our target assets and the interest rate indices and adjustment periods of our financings.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.
The financial statements and supplementary data are included under Item 15 of this Report.

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ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS
Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure.
None.

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ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
Item 9A. Controls and Procedures.
Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) of the Exchange Act. We have evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of December 31, 2024. Based upon our evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures. Accordingly, even effective disclosure controls and procedures can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives.
Management’s Annual Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as defined in the Exchange Act, Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f). Our internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
Under the supervision and with the participation of the principal executive officer and principal financial officer, management assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. In making this assessment, management used the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (COSO) in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013). Based on this assessment, management concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024.
Our independent registered public accounting firm, PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, audited the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. Their report dated February 20, 2025, which is included herein, expressed an unqualified opinion on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There has been no change in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rules 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the quarter ended December 31, 2024 that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
Item 9B. Other Information.
None.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance.
We will provide information that is responsive to certain portions of this Item 10 in our definitive proxy statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report, in either case under the captions “Information about Director Nominees,” “Information about the Executive Officers of the Company,” “Corporate Governance,” “Information about the Board and its Committees,” or under captions with similar meanings and possibly elsewhere therein. That information is incorporated into this Item 10 by reference.
Each year, the chief executive officer of each company listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) must certify to the NYSE that he or she is not aware of any violation by us of NYSE corporate governance listing standards as of the date of certification, qualifying the certification to the extent necessary. Our chief executive officer submitted this certification to the NYSE in 2024 as required pursuant to Section 303A of the NYSE Listed Company Manual and will submit a similar certification within 30 days of our 2025 annual stockholders’ meeting. In addition, we have filed, as exhibits to this Report, the certifications of our chief executive officer and chief financial officer required under Section 302 and 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Item 11. Executive Compensation.
We will provide information that is responsive to this Item 11 in our definitive proxy statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report, in either case under the captions “Information About the Board and Its Committees - Director Compensation,” “Executive Compensation,” “Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation,” or under captions with similar meanings and possibly elsewhere therein. That information is incorporated into this Item 11 by reference.

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ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS
Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters.
We will provide information that is responsive to this Item 12 in our definitive proxy statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report, in either case under the caption “Security Ownership of Principal Stockholders,” “Security Ownership of Management,” “Executive Compensation,” or under captions with similar meanings and possibly elsewhere therein. That information is incorporated into this Item 12 by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence.
We will provide information that is responsive to this Item 13 in our definitive proxy statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report, in either case under the captions “Corporate Governance,” “Certain Relationships and Related Transactions,” “Information About Director Nominees,” “Related Person Transaction Policy,” or under captions with similar meanings and possibly elsewhere therein. That information is incorporated into this Item 13 by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services.
We will provide information that is responsive to this Item 14 in our definitive proxy statement or in an amendment to this Report not later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by this Report, in either case under the captions “Fees Paid to Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm,” “Pre-Approval Process and Policy,” or under captions with similar meanings and possibly elsewhere therein. That information is incorporated into this Item 14 by reference.
PART IV

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules.
(a)(1) Financial Statements: The financial statements contained herein are set forth on pages 70 - 98 of this Report.
(a)(2) Financial Statement Schedules: Refer to Index to Financial Statement Schedules contained herein on page 67 of this Report.
(a)(3) Exhibits: Refer to Exhibit Index starting on page 65 of this Report.