EDGAR 10-K Filing

Company CIK: 1258602
Filing Year: 2023
Filename: 1258602_10-K_2023_0001258602-23-000026.json

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ITEM 1. BUSINESS
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
Nelnet is a diverse, innovative company with a purpose to serve others and a vision to make dreams possible. The largest operating businesses engage in loan servicing and education technology, services, and payment processing, and the Company also has a significant investment in communications. A significant portion of the Company's revenue is net interest income earned on a portfolio of federally insured student loans. The Company also makes investments to further diversify both within and outside of its historical core education-related businesses including, but not limited to, investments in early-stage and emerging growth companies, real estate, and renewable energy (solar). Substantially all revenue from external customers is earned, and all long-lived assets are located, in the United States.
The Company was formed as a Nebraska corporation in 1978 to service federal student loans for two local banks. The Company built on this initial foundation as a servicer to become a leading originator, holder, and servicer of federal student loans, principally consisting of loans originated under the Federal Family Education Loan Program. A detailed description of the FFEL Program is included in Appendix A to this report.
The Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (the “Reconciliation Act of 2010”) discontinued new loan originations under the FFEL Program, effective July 1, 2010, and requires all new federal student loan originations be made directly by the Department through the Federal Direct Loan Program. This law does not alter or affect the terms and conditions of existing FFELP loans.
As a result of the Reconciliation Act of 2010, the Company no longer originates FFELP loans. However, a significant portion of the Company's income continues to be derived from its existing FFELP student loan portfolio. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had a $13.6 billion FFELP loan portfolio. Interest income on the Company's existing FFELP loan portfolio will decline over time as the portfolio is paid down. Since all FFELP loans will eventually run off, a key objective of the Company is to maximize the amount and timing of cash flows generated from its FFELP portfolio and reposition itself for the post-FFELP environment.
To reduce its reliance on interest income from FFELP loans, the Company has expanded its services and products. This expansion has been accomplished through internal growth and innovation as well as business and certain investment acquisitions. The Company is also actively expanding its private education, consumer, and other loan portfolios, and in November 2020 launched Nelnet Bank (as further explained below). In addition, the Company has been servicing federally owned student loans for the Department since 2009.
Operating Segments
The Company’s reportable operating segments are summarized below. Business activities and operating segments that are not reportable are combined and included in “Corporate and Other Activities."
Loan Servicing and Systems (LSS)
•Referred to as Nelnet Diversified Services (NDS)
•Focuses on student and consumer loan origination services and servicing, loan origination and servicing-related technology solutions, and outsourcing business services
•Includes the brands Nelnet Diversified Solutions, Nelnet Loan Servicing, Nelnet Servicing, Great Lakes, Firstmark Services, GreatNet, and Nelnet Government Services
Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing (ETS&PP)
•Referred to as Nelnet Business Services (NBS)
•NBS provides education services, payment technology, and community management solutions for K-12 schools, higher education institutions, churches, and businesses in the United States and internationally
•Includes the divisions of FACTS, Nelnet Campus Commerce, Nelnet Payment Services (formerly PaymentSpring), Nelnet Community Engagement, and Nelnet International
Asset Generation and Management (AGM)
•Also referred to as Nelnet Financial Services
•Includes the acquisition and management of student and other loan assets
Nelnet Bank
•Internet Utah-chartered industrial bank focused on the private education and unsecured consumer loan markets
Communications
•Comprised of the operations of ALLO prior to the deconsolidation of ALLO on December 21, 2020
•ALLO focuses on providing fiber optic service directly to homes and businesses for internet, telephone, and television services
A more detailed description of each of the Company's reportable operating segments and Corporate and Other Activities is provided below.
Loan Servicing and Systems
The primary service offerings of this operating segment include:
•Servicing federally owned student loans for the Department
•Servicing FFELP loans
•Originating and servicing private education and consumer loans
•Backup servicing for FFELP, private education, and consumer loans
•Providing student loan servicing software and other information technology products and services
•Providing outsourced services including call center, processing, and technology services
As of December 31, 2022, the Company serviced $587.5 billion of loans for 17.6 million borrowers. See Part II, Item 7 - Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations (the “MD&A”) - “Loan Servicing and Systems Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Loan Servicing Volumes” for additional information related to the Company's servicing volume.
Servicing federally owned student loans for the Department
Nelnet Servicing, LLC (Nelnet Servicing), a subsidiary of the Company, and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc. (“Great Lakes”), acquired by the Company in February 2018, are two of the current six private sector entities that have student loan servicing contracts with the Department to service loans that include Federal Direct Loan Program loans originated directly by the Department and FFEL Program loans purchased by the Department. The Department evaluates each federal loan servicer and allocates new borrower accounts on a quarterly basis based on service level and portfolio performance metrics. As of December 31, 2022, NDS was servicing $545.4 billion of student loans for 15.8 million borrowers under its contracts. Under the servicing contracts, Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes earn a monthly fee from the Department for each unique borrower they service on behalf of the Department. The Department is the Company's largest customer, representing 32% of the Company's revenue and 74% of the LSS operating segment’s revenue in 2022.
The Company’s student loan servicing contracts with the Department are scheduled to expire on December 14, 2023. In 2017, the Department initiated a contract procurement process referred to as the Next Generation Financial Services Environment for a new framework for the servicing of all student loans owned by the Department. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 contains provisions directing certain aspects of the process, including that any new federal student loan servicing environment is required to provide for the participation of multiple student loan servicers and the allocation of borrower accounts to eligible student loan servicers based on performance. In the second quarter of 2022, the Department released a solicitation entitled Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS) for the new servicing framework. The Company responded to the USDS solicitation. The Company cannot predict the timing, nature, or ultimate outcome of this or any other contract procurement process by the Department. If the Company’s servicing contracts are not extended beyond the current expiration date or the Company is not chosen as a subsequent servicer, the Company’s servicing revenue would decrease significantly. If the terms and requirements under a potential new contract with the Department are less favorable than under the Company’s current contracts, loan servicing revenue and/or operating margins could be adversely impacted.
Incremental revenue components earned by Nelnet Servicing or Great Lakes from the Department (in addition to loan servicing revenues) include:
•Administration of the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) Discharge program. Nelnet Servicing processes applications for the TPD discharge program and is responsible for discharge, monitoring, and servicing TPD loans. Individuals who are totally and permanently disabled may qualify for a discharge of their federal student loans, and the Company processes applications under the program and receives a fee from the Department on a per application basis, as well as a monthly servicing fee during the monitoring period. Nelnet Servicing is the exclusive provider of this service to the Department.
•Origination of consolidation loans. The Department outsources the origination of consolidation loans whereby servicers receive Federal Direct Loan consolidation origination volume based on borrower choice. The Department pays the Company a fee for each completed consolidation loan application it processes. Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes each service the consolidation volume it originates.
Servicing FFELP loans
NDS services AGM and Nelnet Bank’s FFELP student loan portfolios and the portfolios of third parties. The loan servicing activities include loan conversion activities, application processing, borrower updates, customer service, payment processing, due diligence procedures, funds management reconciliations, and claim processing. These activities are performed internally for the Company's portfolio, in addition to generating external fee revenue when performed for third-party clients.
The Company uses proprietary systems to manage the servicing process. These systems provide for automated compliance with most of the federal student loan regulations adopted under Title IV of the Higher Education Act of 1965, as amended (the “Higher Education Act”).
The Company serviced FFELP loans on behalf of 113 third-party servicing customers as of December 31, 2022. The Company's FFELP servicing customers include national and regional banks, credit unions, and various state and nonprofit secondary markets. The majority of the Company's external FFELP loan servicing activities are performed under “life of loan” contracts, which essentially provide that as long as the applicable loan exists, the Company shall be the sole servicer of that loan; however, the agreement may contain “deconversion” provisions where, for a fee, the lender may move the loan to another servicer.
The discontinuation of new FFELP loan originations in July 2010 has caused and will continue to cause FFELP servicing revenue to decline as these loan portfolios are paid down. However, the Company believes there may be opportunities to service additional FFELP loan portfolios from current FFELP participants not currently using the Company as a servicer as the FFEL Program winds down.
Originating and servicing private education and consumer loans
NDS conducts origination and servicing activities for private education and consumer loans. Private education loans are non-federal private credit loans made to students or their family; as such, the loans are not issued or guaranteed by the federal government. These loans are used primarily to bridge the gap between the cost of higher education and the amount funded through financial aid, federal loans, or the borrowers' personal resources. Although similar in terms of activities and functions as FFELP loan servicing, private education loan servicing activities are not required to comply with provisions of the Higher Education Act and may be more customized to individual client requirements.
The Company has invested and plans to continue to invest in modernizing key technologies and services to position its consumer loan servicing business for the long-term, expanding services to include personal loan products and other consumer installment assets. The Company is in the process of a modernization of its private education and consumer loan origination and repayment servicing systems. The Company believes improvements in systems will allow for diversified products to be both originated and serviced with secure, state-of-the-art application and servicing platforms to drive growth for the Company's client partners. Presenting a very wide market opportunity of new entrants and existing players, consumer lending is expected to be a growth area. In both backup servicing and full servicing partnerships, the Company is a valuable resource for consumer lenders and asset holders as it allows for leveraged economies of scale, high compliance, and secure service to client partners.
As of December 31, 2022, NDS serviced private education and consumer loans on behalf of 35 third-party servicing customers.
Backup servicing for FFELP, private education, and consumer loans
NDS offers protection against unexpected business failure, or any event that stretches a third-party service provider’s resources beyond its capability to perform essential services, through backup servicing. Backup servicing for loan asset owners, investors, financiers, and other stakeholders is a way to safeguard assets and mitigate financial risk, generally in conjunction with a structured long-term financing of the assets (like an asset-backed securitization).
NDS’s backup service provides a trigger response plan with pre-built system profiles that remain on standby, ready to be utilized if a contracted asset manager or service provider cannot perform its duties. The Company performs testing and maintenance against the loan transfer process each month with backup clients and certifies compliance. For a monthly fee, these arrangements require a 30 to 90 day notice from a triggering event to transfer the customer's servicing volume to the Company's platform and becoming a full servicing customer. NDS offers backup servicing for FFEL, private education, and consumer loan
programs that leverages existing servicing systems and full service experience. NDS provides backup servicing arrangements to assist 20 entities for more than 17 million borrowers.
Providing student loan servicing software and other information technology products and services
NDS provides data center services, student loan servicing software for servicing private education and federal loans, guaranty servicing software, and consulting and professional services to support the technology platforms. These proprietary software systems are used internally by the Company and/or licensed to third-party student loan holders and servicers. These software systems have been adapted so they can be offered as hosted servicing software solutions that can be used by third parties for guaranty servicing and to service various types of student loans, including Federal Direct Loan Program and FFEL Program loans. The Company earns a monthly fee from its remote hosting customers for each loan or unique borrower on the Company's platform, with a minimum monthly charge for most contracts. As of December 31, 2022, 6.1 million borrowers were hosted on the Company's hosted servicing software solution platforms, including 6.0 million borrowers who were serviced by entities that have contracts to service loans for the Department.
Six entities, including Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes, are currently servicers of federally owned loans. NDS currently licenses its hosted servicing software to two of the six servicers for the Department. The Company’s remote hosted Department servicing customers will transfer their servicing volume to other servicers in 2023, which will have a significant adverse impact to software services revenue in future periods. See the MD&A - “Loan Servicing and Systems Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Government Loan Servicing” for additional information.
Providing outsourced services including call center, processing, and technology services
NDS provides business process outsourcing primarily specializing in contact center management. The contact center solutions and services include taking inbound calls, helping with outreach campaigns and sales, and interacting with customers through multi-channels. Processing services include application processing and verification, payment processing, credit dispute, and account management services. NDS also outsources technology expertise and capacity to supplement development needs in organizations.
Competition
We believe the Company's scalable servicing platform allows it to provide compliant, efficient, and reliable service at a low cost, giving the Company a competitive advantage over others in the industry. In contrast to its competitors, the Company has segmented its private education loan servicing on a distinct platform, created specifically to meet the needs of private education student loan borrowers, their family, the school they attend, and the lenders who serve them. This ensures access to specialized teams with a dedicated focus on servicing these borrowers.
NDS is one of the leaders in the development of servicing software for guaranty agencies, consumer and private education loan programs, the Federal Direct Loan Program, and FFELP student loans. Many student loan lenders and servicers utilize the Company's software either directly or indirectly. NDS believes the investments it has made to scale its systems and to create a secure infrastructure to support the Department's servicing volume and requirements increase its competitive advantage as a long-term partner in the loan servicing market.
Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing
NBS is a service and technology company that operates as the following divisions:
•FACTS
•Nelnet Campus Commerce
•Nelnet Payment Services (formerly PaymentSpring)
•Nelnet Community Engagement
•Nelnet International
The majority of this segment’s customers are located in the United States; however, the Company also provides services and technology as part of its Nelnet International division in Australia, New Zealand, and Southeast Asia, and believes there are opportunities to increase its customer base and revenues internationally.
See the MD&A - “Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing Operating Segment - Results of Operations” for an overview of the seasonality of the business in this operating segment.
A more detailed description of each NBS division is provided below. For a presentation of NBS revenue disaggregated by service offering into tuition payment plan services revenue, payment processing revenue, and education technology and services revenue, see the MD&A - “Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Summary and Comparison of Operating Results - Education technology, services, and payment processing revenue.” In the discussion below, revenues from the described products and services are included in education technology and services revenue in such presentation, unless specifically indicated otherwise.
FACTS
NBS uses the FACTS brand in the K-12 private and faith-based markets. FACTS provides solutions that elevate the K-12 experience for school administrators, teachers, and families. FACTS solutions include the following categories:
•Financial Management
•Administration
•Enrollment and Communications
•Advancement
•Education Development
FACTS provides services for almost 11,000 K-12 schools and serves over 4 million students and families. FACTS generated $244 million and $184 million in revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Financial Management - FACTS is the market leader in education financial management services, including tuition payment plans and financial needs assessment (grant and aid). K-12 educational institutions contract with the Company to administer tuition payment plans that allow families to make recurring payments generally over six to 12 months. The Company earns tuition payment plan services revenue by collecting a fee from either the institution or the payer to administer the plan. Additionally, the Company may earn payment processing revenue for fees when families make tuition payments. The Company's grant and aid assessment service helps K-12 schools evaluate and determine the amount of financial aid to disburse to the families it serves. The Company earns service revenue by charging a fee for grant and aid applications processed.
Administration - The Company’s school administration solutions include FACTS Student Information System (SIS), Family App, and Parent Alert. FACTS SIS automates the flow of information between school administrators, teachers, and parents and includes administrative processes such as scheduling, cafeteria management, attendance, and grade book management. The Company’s information systems software is sold as a subscription service to schools. The Company also offers a streamlined, social, and fully integrated learning management system to enhance classroom instruction for both teachers and students. FACTS Family App provides families with mobile access to the information they need and Parent Alert allows for instant communication with families when needed.
Enrollment and Communications - The Company’s enrollment and communications tools are used by schools to enhance and streamline admissions and communications efforts. FACTS Application & Enrollment provides a paperless experience for the admissions office and provides schools with real-time information as applications and enrollment forms are completed. The Company earns a fee per completed application and/or enrollment form. FACTS School Site is a website content management system for schools to promote and share information with current and prospective families. FACTS solutions in this area allow for better overall connection between admissions, enrollment, and marketing.
The combination of the Company’s financial management, administration, and enrollment and communications products has significantly increased the value of the Company’s offerings in this area, allowing the Company to deliver a comprehensive suite of solutions to schools.
Advancement - The Company's advancement solution, FACTS Giving, is a comprehensive donation platform that streamlines donor communications, organizes donor information, and provides access to data analysis and reporting. FACTS Giving pairs with other FACTS solutions like SIS, School Site, and Family App. FACTS Giving simplifies incoming donations through appeal pages and online registration for virtual school events. FACTS Giving features also include text-to-give functionality, options to manage specific fundraising projects or year-long campaigns, and real-time reports to analyze fundraising efforts. The Company earns subscription fees and payment processing revenues for these services.
Education Development - FACTS Education Solutions provides customized professional development and coaching services for teachers and school leaders as well as instructional services for students experiencing academic challenges. These services provide continuous advanced learning and professional development while helping private schools identify and attain equitable participation in Title I and Title II federal education programs. Due to the increases in federal pandemic-related funds supporting K-12 education under the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) program, the Company has
witnessed a spike in schools asking for services in these areas. FACTS Education Solutions also offers an innovative technology product that aids in both teacher and student evaluation.
Nelnet Campus Commerce
NBS uses the Nelnet Campus Commerce brand to offer payment technologies for a smarter campus to higher education institutions. Nelnet Campus Commerce offers the following solutions:
•Tuition Management
•Integrated Commerce
The Company provides service for more than 1,100 colleges and universities worldwide and serves over 8 million students and families. Nelnet Campus Commerce generated $113 million and $99 million in revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Tuition Management - Higher education institutions contract with the Company to administer tuition payment plans that allow the student and family to make recurring payments on either a semester or annual basis. The Company earns tuition payment plan services revenue by collecting a fee from either the student or family to administer the plan. Additionally, the Company may earn payment processing revenue when families make tuition payments.
Nelnet Billing & Payments allows schools to send automated bills for tuition and fees, housing, parking, and other campus service offerings and allows students to safely make online payments from anywhere. Nelnet Refunds helps schools stay compliant with federal refund regulations and allows students choice in their refund method. The Company earns hosting fees, per transaction fees, and credit card processing fees for its Nelnet Billing & Payments and Nelnet Refunds products. Credit card processing fees are included in payment processing revenue.
Integrated Commerce - Nelnet Campus Commerce integrated commerce solutions help schools maintain revenue sources across campus including in-person payments, online shopping experiences, and a mobile app. Nelnet Storefront provides online stores for departments across campus with consolidated views and management by the business office. Nelnet Cashiering allows higher education institutions to manage all in-person payments on campus. The Company earns hosting fees, per transaction fees, and credit card processing fees for its integrated commerce solutions. Credit card processing fees are included in payment processing revenue.
Nelnet Payment Services
NBS uses the Nelnet Payment Services brand to provide secure payment processing technology. Nelnet Payment Services supports and provides payment processing services, including credit card and electronic transfers, to the other divisions of NBS in addition to other third-party industries and software platforms across the United States. Nelnet Payment Services offers mobile, in-person, and online solutions for customers to collect, process, and view credit card and Automated Clearing House (ACH) payments. Services rendered by Nelnet Payment Services are Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant. Nelnet Payment Services earns payment processing revenues through fees for credit card and ACH transactions. Nelnet Payment Services generated $50 million and $43 million in revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Nelnet Community Engagement
NBS uses the Nelnet Community Engagement (NCE) brand to provide faith community engagement, giving management, and learning management services and technologies. NCE serves customers in the technology, nonprofit, religious, health care, and professional services industries and is the newest division within NBS. NCE generated $4 million and $6 million in revenue for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and offers the following solutions:
•Faith Community Engagement
•Giving Management
•Learning Management
Faith Community Engagement - NCE services and technologies enable church leaders and members to easily engage and communicate with each other. Faith Community Engagement product features include a customizable mobile app, text messaging, forms and registrations, and other digital tools to strengthen communication and engagement. Additional solutions provide content management services including bulletin, news articles, and event calendars, as well as customized websites that provide on-demand support and automated communication to keep members engaged through newsletters and social media. The Company earns subscription fees and content creation fees for these services.
Giving Management - Giving management products connect organizations with partners, donors, and volunteers to make personalized giving simple. Giving management administrative features provide a dashboard, customizable receipts, pledge management, and real-time reporting. Donors have options to give using the product's mobile app, text messaging, or passcode and can be one-time or recurring gifts. The Company earns subscription fees and payment processing revenues for these services.
Learning Management - NCE offers comprehensive solutions that use innovations such as extended enterprise, social collaborations, and gamification to expand capabilities and engage and motivate learners. Live and online training and certification is managed with simplified reporting, tracking, and record maintenance. NCE technologies allow customers to update certificate programs or create new custom learning programs to meet emerging needs. The Company earns subscription fees and content creation fees for these services. Additionally, a fee may be earned from learners completing course offerings.
Nelnet International
NBS uses the brand Nelnet International to serve customers in the education, local government, and health care space to build future-focused agile businesses. Nelnet International products include service and technology that align with the similarly named products categories for FACTS and Nelnet Campus Commerce. Nelnet International products include:
•Integrated Commerce
•Financial Management
•Administration
Integrated Commerce - Nelnet International’s Xetta platform provides commerce payment solutions to its customers. Xetta captures and centralizes financial information across organizations and integrates with core business systems to simplify workflows, expand payment capabilities, streamline reconciliation, reduce security and compliance risk, and provide reporting and analytics. The Company earns subscription and consulting fees for the utilization of the Xetta platform.
Financial Management - Tuition payment plans and other financial management services are provided to customers internationally using the FACTS brand and service platforms. Refer to “Financial Management” under the FACTS division for additional information.
Administration - PCSchool is a cloud-based school management platform that provides administrative, information management, financial management, and communication functions for K-12 schools in Australia and New Zealand. Outside of Australia and New Zealand, Nelnet International provides administration products under the FACTS brand. The technology and services provided are consistent with the “Administration” products described under the FACTS division. The Company earns subscription fees and per transaction revenues for providing these services.
Nelnet International provides its services and technology to schools in more than 55 countries, with the largest concentrations in Australia, New Zealand, and the Asia-Pacific region. Nelnet International generated $7 million in revenue for each of the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021.
Competition
The Company is the largest provider of tuition management and financial needs assessment services to the private and faith-based K-12 market in the United States. Competitors include financial institutions, tuition management providers, financial needs assessment providers, accounting firms, and a myriad of software companies.
In the higher education market, the Company targets business offices at colleges and universities. In this market, the primary competition is from a relatively small number of campus commerce and tuition payment providers, as well as solutions developed in-house by colleges and universities.
The Company believes its principal competitive advantages are (i) the customer service it provides to institutions and consumers, (ii) the technology provided with the Company's service, and (iii) the Company's ability to integrate its technology with the institution clients and their third-party service providers. The Company believes its clients select products primarily based on technology features, functionality, and the ability to integrate with other systems, but price and service also impact the selection process.
Asset Generation and Management
AGM includes the acquisition, management, and ownership of the Company's loan assets (excluding loan assets held by Nelnet Bank). Loans consist of federally insured student (originated under the FFEL Program), private education, consumer, and other loans. As of December 31, 2022, AGM's loan portfolio was $14.2 billion. Substantially all of AGM’s loan portfolio (95.7% as
of December 31, 2022) is federally insured. The Company earns net interest income on its loan portfolio, and generates a substantial portion of its earnings from the spread, referred to as “loan spread,” between the yield it receives on its loan portfolio and the associated costs to finance such portfolio. See the MD&A - "Asset Generation and Management Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Loan Spread Analysis,” for further details related to loan spread. In addition to the loan spread earned on its portfolio, all costs and activity associated with managing the portfolio, such as servicing of the assets and debt maintenance, are included in this segment.
AGM's portfolio of federally insured student loans is subject to minimal credit risk, as these loans are guaranteed by the Department at levels ranging from 97% to 100%. The Higher Education Act regulates every aspect of the federally insured student loan program. Failure to service a student loan properly could jeopardize the guarantee on federal student loans. In the case of death, disability, or bankruptcy of the borrower, the guarantee covers 100% of the loan's principal and accrued interest. FFELP loans are guaranteed by state agencies or nonprofit companies designated as guarantors, with the Department providing reinsurance to the guarantor. Guarantors are responsible for performing certain functions necessary to ensure the program's soundness and accountability. Generally, the guarantor is responsible for ensuring that loans are serviced in compliance with the requirements of the Higher Education Act. When a borrower defaults on a FFELP loan, the servicer submits a claim to the guarantor, who provides reimbursements of principal and accrued interest, subject to the applicable risk share percentage.
Origination and acquisition
Since all FFELP loans will eventually pay off, as new FFELP loans are not being originated, a key objective of the Company is to maximize the amount and timing of cash flows generated from its FFELP portfolio and reposition itself for the post-FFELP environment. As such, the Company is actively acquiring private education, consumer, and other loans and plans to expand these portfolios. During 2022, the Company purchased $524.5 million of private education, consumer, and other non-FFELP loans.
AGM's competition for the purchase of FFELP, private education, consumer, and other loan portfolios includes banks, hedge funds, and other finance companies.
Interest rate risk management
Since the Company generates a significant portion of its earnings from its loan spread, the interest rate sensitivity of the Company's balance sheet is very important to its operations. The current and future interest rate environment can and will affect the Company's interest income and net income. The effects on the Company's results of operations as a result of the changing interest rate environments are further outlined in the MD&A - "Asset Generation and Management Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Loan Spread Analysis" and in Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk - AGM Operating Segment.”
Nelnet Bank
On November 2, 2020, the Company obtained final approval for federal deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and for a bank charter from the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) in connection with the establishment of Nelnet Bank, and Nelnet Bank launched operations. Nelnet Bank, a wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, operates as an internet industrial bank franchise focused on the private education and unsecured consumer loan markets, with a home office in Salt Lake City, Utah. Nelnet Bank is governed by a board of directors, a majority of the members of which are independent of the Company. Nelnet Bank was funded by the Company with an initial capital contribution of $100.0 million and an additional $30.0 million of capital was contributed in 2022 by the Company to support Nelnet Bank’s asset growth. As a consolidated subsidiary of the Company, the Bank’s assets, liabilities, results of operations, and cash flows are reflected in the Company’s consolidated financial statements, and the industrial bank charter allows the Company to maintain its other diversified business offerings.
Nelnet Bank serves and plans to serve a niche market, with a concentration in the private education and unsecured consumer loan markets. Currently, Nelnet Bank offers refinance private education loan options to borrowers that have higher priced private education and/or federal student loan debt and in-school private education loans to students attending higher education institutions. The recent increase of interest rates has negatively impacted and will continue to negatively impact the origination of refinanced private education loans. Nelnet Bank plans to begin offering unsecured consumer loans, primarily refinance loans, in 2023 for consumers to consolidate credit card and other general-purpose debt as well as financing home improvements. Nelnet Bank extends consumer loans to borrowers in all 50 states plus the District of Columbia. As of December 31, 2022, Nelnet Bank’s loan portfolio was $419.8 million.
Nelnet Bank’s deposits are interest-bearing and consist of brokered certificates of deposit (CDs), retail and other savings deposits and CDs, and intercompany deposits. Retail and other savings deposits include deposits from Educational 529 College
Savings and Health Savings plans and commercial and institutional CDs. Union Bank and Trust Company (“Union Bank”), a related party, is the program manager for the College Savings plans. The intercompany deposits are deposits from the Company and its subsidiaries and include a pledged deposit of $40.0 million from Nelnet, Inc. (parent company), as required under a Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement with the FDIC, deposits required for intercompany transactions, operating deposits, and NBS custodial deposits consisting of tuition payments collected which are subsequently remitted to the appropriate school. As of December 31, 2022, Nelnet Bank had $789.6 million of deposits, of which $98.3 million were intercompany deposits.
As a Utah-chartered industrial bank, Nelnet Bank is able to fulfill its mission of being a steady and stable supplier of education credit. The Bank’s goal is to meet underserved needs in the United States for reliable education financing. The Company’s strong history within, and understanding of, the education industry are expected to afford Nelnet Bank access to more families participating in education nationwide.
Communications
The Company provided communication services through ALLO, a former majority-owned subsidiary, until a recapitalization and additional funding for ALLO resulted in a deconsolidation of ALLO from the Company’s consolidated financial statements in the fourth quarter of 2020. The recapitalization of ALLO was not considered a strategic shift in the Company’s involvement with ALLO, and ALLO’s results of operations, prior to the deconsolidation, are presented by the Company as a reportable operating segment. The Company continues to hold a significant investment in ALLO. See note 2 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information related to the ALLO recapitalization and the Company’s current ownership investment in ALLO.
ALLO derives its revenue primarily from the sale of telecommunication services, including internet, telephone, and television services to business, governmental, and residential customers in Nebraska, Colorado, and Arizona, and specializes in high-speed internet and broadband services available through its all-fiber network. ALLO plans to continue to increase market share and revenue in its existing markets and plans to expand to additional communities. As of December 31, 2022, ALLO currently serves, is in the process of building their network in, and has announced they will build in a total of 36 communities. The total households in these communities is approximately 410,000. As of December 31, 2022, ALLO served more than 90,000 residential customers and had nearly 41,000 business lines.
Corporate and Other Activities
Other business activities and operating segments that are not reportable are combined and included in Corporate and Other Activities. Corporate and Other Activities include the following items:
•The operating results of Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC (WRCM), the Company's U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)-registered investment advisor subsidiary
•The operating results of Nelnet Renewable Energy, which include solar tax equity investments made by the Company, administrative and management services provided by the Company on tax equity investments made by third parties, and solar development
•The results of the majority of the Company’s investment activities, including early-stage and emerging growth companies and real estate
•Interest income earned on cash and investment debt securities (primarily student loan and other asset-backed securities)
•Interest expense incurred on unsecured and certain other corporate related debt transactions
•Other product and service offerings that are not considered reportable operating segments
Corporate and Other Activities also include certain activities related to internal audit, human resources, accounting, legal, enterprise risk management, information technology, occupancy, and marketing. These costs are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services. Corporate and Other Activities also includes corporate costs and overhead functions not allocated to operating segments, including executive management, investments in innovation, and other holding company organizational costs.
Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC
As of December 31, 2022, WRCM had $3.5 billion in assets under management for third-party customers, consisting of student loan asset-backed securities ($2.8 billion) and Nelnet stock ($0.7 billion) - primarily shares of Class B common stock. WRCM earns annual management fees of 10 basis points to 25 basis points for asset-backed securities under management and a share of the gains from the sale of securities or securities being called prior to the full contractual maturity for which it provides advisory
services. WRCM earns annual management fees of five basis points for Nelnet stock under management. During 2022, WRCM earned $6.0 million in management fees.
Nelnet Renewable Energy
As of December 31, 2022, the Company has invested a total of $175.6 million (which excludes $102.8 million syndicated to third-party investors) in tax equity investments in renewable energy solar partnerships to support the development and operations of solar projects throughout the country. These investments provide a federal income tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code, equaling either 26% or 30% of the eligible project cost, with the tax credit available when the project is placed-in-service. The Company is then allowed to reduce its tax estimates paid to the U.S. Treasury based on the credits earned. In addition to the credits, the Company structures the investments to receive quarterly distributions of cash from the operating earnings of the solar project for a period of at least five years (so the tax credits are not recaptured). After that period, the contractual agreements typically provide for the Company’s interest in the projects to be purchased in an exit at the fair market value of the discounted forecasted future cash flows allocable to the Company. Given the expected timing of cash flows and experience the Company has in underwriting these assets, the Company considers these investments a good use of its capital when looking at its capital deployment initiatives.
In addition to making these tax equity investments for the Company’s own portfolio, the Company is syndicating these investments with co-investors with similar tax attributes. The Company has developed expertise in sourcing, underwriting, closing, and managing these investments and believes it has strong relationships with solar developers throughout the country. The Company invests anywhere between 10% and 100% in each investment transaction, with its co-investment partners taking the remaining share. The Company earns an upfront management fee based on the amount of capital contributed by the co-investor. The management fee is recognized as income over the duration of the investment (typically five years). In addition, a performance fee is earned and recognized by the Company upon the co-investor’s exit from the investment. The performance fee is typically a percentage of the capital invested and is collected during the sixth year following the initial investment. The aggregate of the management and performance fees earned from co-investors is typically five to six percent of the capital invested. The Company raised and invested a total of $63.8 million during 2022 on behalf of its co-investors. Due to the management and control of each of these investment partnerships, the tax equity investments are consolidated on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, with the co-investor’s portion being presented as noncontrolling interests.
In addition to solar tax equity investments, the Company has a strategy to own solar energy project assets. These assets provide long-term, predictable, and recurring cash flows. Accordingly, the Company has begun to execute a multi-faceted approach to originate, acquire, finance, own, and manage these assets. As part of this strategy, on July 1, 2022, the Company acquired 80% of the ownership interest of two subsidiaries of GRNE Solutions, LLC named GRNE-Nelnet, LLC (GRNE) and ENRG-Nelnet, LLC (ENRG) (collectively referred to as “GRNE Solar”) for total consideration of $33.9 million.
GRNE is a solar contracting company that provides full-service engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to residential homes and commercial entities. As of December 31, 2022, it has seven physical branches, predominately in the Midwest with its primary corporate operations in Palatine, Illinois and Lincoln, Nebraska. GRNE contracts to build solar on a cost-plus-margin basis. ENRG is a development company that is primarily focused on the development of solar assets that the Company expects to own long-term. ENRG performs services such as site control, permitting, execution of power purchase agreements, utility interconnections, construction oversight, project finance, and other ancillary services to enable a successful solar photovoltaic project.
The acquisition of GRNE Solar provides technical know-how, customer relationships, a talented workforce, and revenue streams to Nelnet’s expanding renewable energy business. The acquisition gives the Company an ability to realize a diversified revenue stream by generating a fee-based service from its EPC and operations and maintenance (O&M) services, while also originating solar assets for the Company’s own balance sheet on a high-quality, cost-efficient basis. These assets are expected to earn revenue and generate a profit for up to 40 years based on energy production and energy sales to entities, such as utilities, governmental bodies, commercial companies, educational institutions, multi-family landlords, and healthcare groups. The Company plans to expand this business geographically across the United States, increase the team size and technical expertise to build larger projects, and serve new and existing customers on a go-forward basis. In addition to asset origination, the Company plans to begin acquiring solar assets that are in various stages of their project life-cycle with other development partners.
Investments
The Company makes investments to further diversify itself both within and outside of its historical core education-related businesses, including investments in early-stage and emerging growth companies and real estate. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has a $2.1 billion portfolio of investments, which includes $1.4 billion of student loan and other asset-backed
securities. See note 7 in the notes to consolidated financial statements for additional detail of the Company’s investments, including a summary of holdings.
Early-Stage and Emerging Growth (Venture Capital) Investments
The Company has invested in early-stage and emerging growth companies and various funds. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has investments in 73 entities and funds and the carrying value of such investments was $249.4 million. The largest investment in the Company’s venture capital portfolio is Agile Sports Technologies, Inc. (doing business as “Hudl”). As of December 31, 2022, the carrying value of the Company’s investment in Hudl was $133.9 million. Hudl is a leading sports performance analysis company, and its software provides more than 200,000 teams across 40 sports and in 150 countries the insights to be more competitive. David S. Graff, a member of the Company’s board of directors, is a co-founder, the chief executive officer, and a director of Hudl.
Real Estate
As of December 31, 2022, the Company has 31 real estate investments across the United States with a carrying value of $80.4 million. Included in the Company’s real estate portfolio is the development of commercial properties in the Midwest, particularly in Lincoln, Nebraska, where the Company is headquartered. The local investments include projects for the development of properties in Lincoln’s east downtown Telegraph District, where a facility for the Company’s student loan servicing operations is located, and projects in Lincoln’s Haymarket District, including the headquarters of Hudl. The Company is also a tenant at Hudl's headquarters.
Regulation and Supervision
The Company's operating segments and industry partners are heavily regulated by federal and state government regulatory agencies. The following provides a summary of the more significant existing and proposed legislation and regulations affecting the Company. A failure to comply with these laws and regulations could subject the Company to substantial fines, penalties, and remedial and other costs, restrictions on business, and the loss of business. Regulations and supervision can change rapidly, and changes could alter the Company's business plans and increase the Company's operating expenses as new or additional regulatory compliance requirements are addressed.
Loan Servicing and Systems
NDS, which services Federal Direct Loan Program, FFELP, private education, and consumer loans, is subject to federal and state consumer protection, privacy, and related laws and regulations. Some of the more significant federal laws and regulations include:
•The Higher Education Act, which establishes financial responsibility and administrative capability requirements that govern all third-party servicers of federally insured student loans
•The Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), which governs communication methods that may be used to contact customers
•The Truth-In-Lending Act (TILA) and Regulation Z, which govern disclosures of credit terms to consumer borrowers
•The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) and Regulation V, which govern the use and provision of information to consumer reporting agencies
•The Equal Credit Opportunity Act (ECOA) and Regulation B, which prohibit discrimination on the basis of race, creed, or other prohibited factors in extending credit
•The Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA), which applies to all debts incurred prior to commencement of active military service and limits the amount of interest, including certain fees or charges that are related to the obligation or liability
•The Military Lending Act (MLA), which protects active-duty members of the military, their spouses, and their dependents from certain lending practices
•The Electronic Funds Transfer Act (EFTA) and Regulation E, which protect individual consumers engaged in electronic fund transfers (EFTs)
•The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLBA) and Regulation P, which govern a financial institution’s treatment of nonpublic personal information about consumers and require that an institution, under certain circumstances, notify consumers about its privacy policies and practices
•The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), a European Union (EU) regulation which places specific requirements on businesses that collect and process personal data of individuals residing in the EU, and provides for significant fines and other penalties for non-compliance
•The California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) and California Privacy Rights Act (CPRA), which enhances the privacy rights and consumer protection for residents of California
•The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), which provides temporary relief measures for federal student loans held by the Department, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic
•The Federal Bankruptcy laws Title 11 of the U.S. Code, which provides for the reduction or elimination of certain debts
•The Electronic Signatures in Global and National Commerce Act (ESIGN), which allows the use of electronic records if the consumer has affirmatively consented to such use and has not withdrawn such consent
•Laws prohibiting unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices (UDAAP)
•Various laws, regulations, and standards that govern government contractors
As a student loan servicer for the federal government and for financial institutions, including the Company’s FFELP student loan portfolio, the Company is subject to the Higher Education Act (HEA) and related laws, rules, regulations, and policies. The Company is subject to oversight by the Department through the Federal Student Aid Office and the Financial Institution Oversight Service (FIOS) division. The HEA regulates every aspect of the federally insured student loan program. Failure to comply with the HEA could result in fines, the loss of the insurance and related federal guarantees on affected FFELP loans, expenses required to cure servicing deficiencies, suspension or termination of the right to participate as a FFELP servicer, negative publicity, and potential legal claims. The Company has designed its servicing operations to comply with the HEA, and it regularly monitors the Company's operations to maintain compliance. While the HEA is required to be reviewed and reauthorized by Congress every five years, Congress has not reauthorized the HEA since 2008, choosing to temporarily extend the HEA each year since 2013 while Congress works on the next reauthorization. The Company monitors for potential changes to the HEA and evaluates possible impacts to its business operations.
Our federal servicing contract with the Department, an indefinite-delivery, indefinite quantity contract must be in compliance with the Federal Acquisition Regulations, which regulates the procurement, award, administration, and performance of U.S. government contracts.
Under the TCPA, plaintiffs may seek actual monetary loss or damages of $500 per violation, and courts may treble the damage award for willful or knowing violations. In addition, TCPA lawsuits have asserted putative class action claims.
The Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”) established the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), which has broad authority to regulate a wide range of consumer financial products and services. The Company's student loan servicing business is subject to CFPB supervision and oversight authority.
The CFPB has authority to draft new regulations implementing federal consumer financial protection laws, to enforce those laws and regulations, and to conduct examinations and investigations of the Company's operations to determine compliance. The CFPB’s authority includes the ability to assess financial penalties and fines and provide for restitution to consumers if it determines there have been violations of consumer financial protection laws. The CFPB also provides consumer financial education, tracks consumer complaints, requests data from industry participants, and promotes the availability of financial services to underserved consumers and communities. The CFPB has authority to prevent unfair, deceptive, or abusive acts or practices and to ensure that all consumers have access to fair, transparent, and competitive markets for consumer financial products and services. The CFPB’s scrutiny of financial services has impacted industry participants’ approach to their services, including how the Company interacts with consumers.
The Dodd-Frank Act empowers state attorneys general and state regulators to bring civil actions to remedy violations of state law. Most states also have statutes that prohibit unfair and deceptive practices. To the extent states enact requirements that differ from federal standards or state officials and courts adopt interpretations of federal consumer laws that differ from those adopted by the CFPB under the Dodd-Frank Act, the Company's ability to offer the same products and services to consumers nationwide may be limited.
As a third-party service provider to financial institutions, the Company is subject to periodic examination by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC). FFIEC is a formal interagency body of the U.S. government empowered to prescribe uniform principles, standards, and report forms for the federal examination of financial institutions by the Federal Reserve Banks, the FDIC, and the CFPB, and to make recommendations to promote uniformity in the supervision of financial institutions.
Several states have enacted laws regulating and monitoring the activity of student loan servicers. Some of these laws stipulate additional licensing fees which increase the Company’s cost of doing business. Where the Company has obtained licenses, state licensing statutes may impose a variety of requirements and restrictions on the Company. In addition, these statutes may also subject the Company to the supervisory and examination authority of state regulators in certain cases, and the Company will be
subject to and experience exams by state regulators. If the Company is found to not have complied with applicable laws, regulations, or requirements, it could: (i) lose one or more of its licenses or authorizations, (ii) become subject to a consent order or administrative enforcement action, (iii) face lawsuits (including class action lawsuits), sanctions, or penalties, or (iv) be in breach of certain contracts, which may void or cancel such contracts. The Company anticipates additional states adopting similar laws.
Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing
NBS provides tuition management services, payment processing, and school information software for K-12 schools and tuition management services and payment processing solutions for higher education institutions. The Company also provides payment technologies and payment services for software platforms, businesses, and nonprofits beyond the K-12 and higher education space. As a service provider that takes payment instructions from institutions and their constituents and sends them to bank partners, the Company is directly or indirectly subject to a variety of federal and state laws and regulations. The Company's contracts with clients and bank partners require the Company to comply with these laws and regulations.
The Company's payment processing services are subject to the EFTA and Regulation E, which govern automatic deposits to and withdrawals from deposit accounts and customers’ rights and liabilities arising from the use of debit cards and certain other electronic banking services. The Company assists bank partners with fulfilling their compliance obligations pursuant to these requirements.
The Company's payment processing services are also subject to the National Automated Clearing House Association (NACHA) requirements, which include operating rules and sound risk management procedures to govern the use of the ACH Network. These rules are used to ensure that the ACH Network is efficient, reliable, and secure for its members. Because the ACH Network uses a batch process, the importance of proper submissions by NACHA members is magnified. The Company is also impacted by laws and regulations that affect the bankcard industry. The Company is registered with the card brand payment networks as a service provider and is subject to their respective rules.
The Company's higher education institution clients are subject to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA), which protects the privacy of student education records. These clients disclose certain non-directory information concerning their students to the Company, including contact information, student identification numbers, and the amount of students’ credit balances pursuant to one or more exceptions under FERPA. Additionally, as the Company is indirectly subject to FERPA, it may not permit the transfer of any personally identifiable information to another party other than in a manner in which an educational institution may properly disclose it. A breach of this prohibition could result in a five-year suspension of the Company's access to the related client’s records. The Company may also be subject to similar state laws and regulations that restrict higher education institutions from disclosing certain personally identifiable student information.
Some of the Company's K-12 and higher education institution clients choose to charge convenience fees to students, parents, or other payers who make online payments using a credit or debit card. Laws and regulations related to such fees vary from state to state and certain states have laws that to varying degrees prohibit the imposition of a surcharge on a cardholder who elects to use a credit or debit card in lieu of cash, check, or other means.
The Company's contracts with higher education institution clients also require the Company to comply with regulations promulgated by the Department regarding the handling of student financial aid funds received by institutions on behalf of their students under Title IV of the HEA. These regulations are designed to ensure students have convenient access to their Title IV funds, do not incur unreasonable fees, and are not led to believe they must open a financial account to receive such funds.
Asset Generation and Management
The Dodd-Frank Act created a comprehensive regulatory framework for derivatives transactions, with regulatory authority allocated among the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), other prudential regulators, and the SEC. This framework, among other things, subjects certain swap participants to capital and margin requirements, recordkeeping, and business conduct standards and imposes registration and regulation of swap dealers and major swap participants. Even when a securitization trust qualifies for an exemption, many of the Company's derivative counterparties are subject to capital, margin, and business conduct requirements; therefore, the Company may be impacted. When securitization trusts do not qualify for an exemption, the Company may be unable to enter into new swaps to hedge interest rate risk or the costs associated with such swaps may increase. With respect to existing securitization trusts, an inability to amend, novate, or otherwise materially modify existing swap contracts could result in a downgrade of outstanding asset-backed securities. As a result, the Company's business, ability to access the capital markets for financing, and costs may be impacted by these regulations.
Nelnet Bank
Nelnet Bank is a Utah industrial bank that is regulated by the FDIC and the UDFI. As an originator of private education and consumer loans and a purchaser and owner of federally insured student loans, Nelnet Bank is subject to federal and state consumer protection, privacy, and related laws and regulations. In addition to having to comply with the majority of laws and regulations addressed in the Loan Servicing and Systems section, there are additional laws and regulations Nelnet Bank must follow. Some of the more significant laws and regulations applicable to Nelnet Bank include:
•Regulation W and Federal Reserve Act Sections 23A and 23B, which prevents losses to a bank resulting from affiliate engagement and transfer of a bank’s federal deposit insurance safety net to an affiliate
•Community Reinvestment Act, which encourages depository institutions to help meet the credit needs of the communities in which they operate
•Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Act, which prevents unfair or deceptive acts or practices and ensures consumer privacy (including the Telephone Sales Rule, FTC Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising, and FTC Policy Statement Regarding Advertising Substantiation)
•Regulation O, which places limits and conditions on credit extensions that a bank can offer to its executive officers, principal shareholders, directors, and related interests
•Right to Financial Privacy Act, which establishes specific procedures that government authorities must follow when requesting a customer’s financial records from a bank or other financial institution
•BSA/AML, which specifies the Bank’s commitment to compliance with the Bank Secrecy Act, Anti-Money Laundering (BSA/AML) laws and regulations, including the USA PATRIOT Act, that were enacted to require financial institutions in the United States to assist U.S. government agencies with detecting and preventing money laundering and terrorist financing
Regulation D, the Truth in Savings Act (reserve requirements), and Regulation DD (disclosure of deposit terms to customers) will be applicable to Nelnet Bank once consumer deposit products are launched, which is tentatively scheduled for 2023.
Corporate
Governmental bodies in the United States and abroad have adopted, or are considering the adoption of, data privacy laws and regulations that include requirements with respect to nonpublic personal information such as data minimization, purpose limitation, transparency, accountability, integrity, and confidentiality. For example, in the United States, certain of the Company’s operating segments and their financial institution clients are within the corresponding capacities in which they operate, subject to the FTC’s and the federal banking regulators’ privacy and information safeguarding requirements under the GLBA. The GLBA requires financial institutions to periodically disclose their privacy policies and practices relating to sharing such information and enables customers to opt out of the disclosing institution’s ability to share information with third parties under certain circumstances. Other federal and state laws and regulations also impact the Company’s ability to share certain information with affiliates and non-affiliates for marketing and/or non-marketing purposes, or to contact customers with marketing offers. The GLBA, under the Safeguards Rule, further requires financial institutions to implement a comprehensive information security program that includes administrative, technical, and physical safeguards to ensure the security and confidentiality of customer records and information. The Safeguards Rule was the subject of recent changes approved by the FTC in October 2021 with an effective date of June 9, 2023, whereby such changes are intended to provide for detailed criteria for what specific safeguards applicable financial institutions must implement as part of their information security programs. Depending on the Company operating segment and the capacities in which they operate, various other domestic federal laws with data privacy and protection requirements may also be relevant such as the FERPA and Fair Credit Reporting Act. Data privacy and data protection are also areas of increasing state legislative focus. For example, the CCPA, which became effective on January 1, 2020, is the first state-level comprehensive data privacy and protection law that applies to for-profit businesses that conduct business in California and meet certain revenue or data collection thresholds. The CCPA gives consumers the right to know what personal information is collected about them, the right to access that information, the right to know whether that information has been sold or shared with others, the right to request deletion of personal information (subject to certain exceptions), the right to opt out of the sale of the consumer’s personal information, and the right not to be discriminated against for exercising these rights. The CCPA contains several exemptions, including an exemption applicable to information that is collected, processed, sold, or disclosed pursuant to the GLBA. In addition, the CPRA, which amends and expands upon the CCPA, became effective January 1, 2023. The CPRA, amongst other newly added requirements, and subject to regulations that have yet to become final, sunsets previous CCPA exemptions relating to employment data and business contact data thereby bringing such data within scope of the law. Also, effective January 1, 2023, is Virginia’s newly enacted VCDPA which is a comprehensive consumer data privacy statute that mandates requirements similar to those found under the California’s CCPA and CPRA. Similarly, Colorado has enacted the CPA effective July 1, 2023, Connecticut has enacted the CTDPA effective July
1, 2023, and Utah has enacted the UCPA effective December 31, 2023. Similar comprehensive privacy laws may be adopted by other states where the Company does business. The federal government may also pass data privacy or data protection legislation. In addition, it is estimated that over 130 countries worldwide have instituted some form of privacy or data protection law. Of these laws, one of the prominent is the GDPR, which applies to countries in the European Economic Area (EEA) notwithstanding the United Kingdom where the identical law was maintained but is specifically referred to as the UK GDPR. The GDPR contains extensive compliance obligations and provides for substantial penalties for non-compliance and has expansive extraterritorial scope that reaches beyond the boundaries of the EEA and the UK.
The Company’s renewable energy business is subject to and depends in significant part upon complex federal, state, and other laws and regulations, including the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which regulate and, in some instances, incentivize the production of renewable energy.
Intellectual Property
The Company owns numerous trademarks and service marks (“Marks”) to identify its various products and services. As of December 31, 2022, the Company had 94 registered Marks. The Company actively asserts its rights to these Marks when it believes infringement may exist. The Company believes its Marks have developed and continue to develop strong brand-name recognition in the industry and the consumer marketplace. Each of the Marks has, upon registration, an indefinite duration so long as the Company continues to use the Mark on or in connection with such goods or services as the Mark identifies. To protect the indefinite duration, the Company makes filings to continue registration of the Marks. The Company owns one patent application that has been published, but has not yet been issued, and has also actively asserted its rights thereunder in situations during which the Company believes its claims may be infringed upon. The Company owns many copyright-protected works, including its various computer system codes and displays, websites, and marketing materials. The Company also has trade secret rights to many of its processes and strategies and its software product designs. The Company's software products are protected by both registered and common law copyrights, as well as strict confidentiality and ownership provisions placed in license agreements, which restrict the ability to copy, distribute, or improperly disclose the software products. The Company also has adopted internal procedures designed to protect the Company's intellectual property.
The Company seeks federal and/or state protection of intellectual property when deemed appropriate, including patent, trademark/service mark, and copyright. The decision whether to seek such protection may depend on the perceived value of the intellectual property, the likelihood of securing protection, the cost of securing and maintaining that protection, and the potential for infringement. The Company's employees (referred to by the Company as “associates”) are trained in the fundamentals of intellectual property, intellectual property protection, and infringement issues. The Company's associates are also required to sign agreements requiring, among other things, confidentiality of trade secrets, assignment of inventions, and non-solicitation of other associates post-termination. Consultants, suppliers, and other business partners are also required to sign nondisclosure agreements to protect the Company's proprietary rights.
Human Capital Resources
The Company’s associates are critical to its success, and the executive team puts significant focus on human capital resources. In addition, the executive team regularly updates the Company’s board of directors and its committees on the operation and status of human capital trends and activities. Key areas of focus for the Company include:
Headcount data
Total associate headcount by reportable segment as of December 31, 2022, follows:
Number Percent of total
NDS 4,478 54.4 %
NBS 2,874 34.9
Nelnet Bank 32 0.4
AGM 12 0.1
Corporate and other 841 10.2
8,237 100.0 %
None of the Company’s associates are covered by collective bargaining agreements. The Company is not involved in any material disputes with any of its associates, and the Company believes that relations with its associates are good.
Employee recruitment, engagement, and retention
The Company works diligently to attract the best talent from a diverse range of sources that are expected to meet the current and future demands of its businesses, and has established relationships with trade schools, universities, professional associations, and industry groups to proactively attract talent. In 2022, the Company hired approximately 5,200 new associates, including approximately 900 temporary associates who are contracted to perform a job for only a short amount of time.
In 2022, the Company conducted an associate culture survey using a leading outside firm that specializes in employee engagement. Ninety percent of the Company’s associates participated in the survey with results 15 points above the survey provider’s industry benchmark. There were many questions, but the overarching goal of the survey was to determine overall associate engagement through understanding of how associates feel about working for the Company and if associates would recommend the Company as a great place to work. The results of the survey were an overall engagement score of 78 out of 100, which was three points above the survey provider’s industry benchmark. The Company’s management team collected all the feedback and is focusing on making associate-suggested changes so the Company becomes an even better place to work.
For 2022, associate voluntary turnover was approximately 25%, a 3 percentage point decrease from 2021. The average associate has nearly five years of service.
Diversity and inclusion
The Company embraces diversity among its associates, including their unique backgrounds, experiences, and talents, and the Company strives to cultivate a culture and vision that supports and enhances its ability to recruit, develop, and retain diverse talent at every level. The Company demonstrates its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion at the highest levels of the Company. The Company’s independent directors (seven in total) include four women and two directors that are members of racial/ethnic minorities.
As of December 31, 2022, the Company’s workforce was approximately 66% women, which was unchanged from December 31, 2021. As of December 31, 2020, 57% of the Company’s workforce was women. People of color, as defined by the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission's EEO-1 race and ethnicity categories for the U.S., represented approximately 29% of the Company’s workforce (based on associate self-identification), an increase from 27% as of December 31, 2021, and 20% as of December 31, 2020. The Company is making progress in the number of women and people of color working in leadership positions (defined by the Company as an associate with one or more direct reports) across the organization. As of December 31, 2022 and 2021, women held 52% of leadership positions in the Company, an increase from 50% as of December 31, 2020, and people of color held 11% of leadership positions in the Company, an increase from 10% as of December 31, 2021, and 8% as of December 31, 2020. The Company has acknowledged that people of color are underrepresented in leadership positions at Nelnet and is committed to fostering an inclusive workforce that reflects the diversity in the communities the Company serves and that provides opportunity for all associates to advance and thrive.
To further Nelnet’s objective of creating an inspiring work environment and furthering associate development, the Company developed and launched the Better Together Council (the “Council”), sponsored by the Chief Executive Officer and the Executive Director of People Services. This Council of 27 members represents locations, functions, and business segments across the entire Company. Its top priorities include:
•Implementing a comprehensive diversity and inclusion learning and development plan to build awareness and drive inclusive behaviors;
•Developing the Company’s diversity pipeline through recruiting, hiring, developing, mentoring, and retaining diverse top talent; and
•Promoting a work environment that enables associates to feel safe to authentically express their ideas and perspectives and feel they belong.
The Council supports multiple highly active associate resource groups for racial and ethnic minorities, women, people with disabilities, and associates who identify as LGBTQIA+, where associates can go for community, support, and collaboration. The Council has partnered with Nelnet University, the Company’s learning and development program for associates, to launch a robust mentoring program. The program is available to all associates, prioritizing mentorships for associates from underrepresented racial and ethnic groups. Associates participating in this program are partnered with tenured Nelnet leaders for guidance, support, and coaching. The Council has also provided training sessions for all associates on cultural competence and unconscious bias. In addition, the Company has changed new hire recruiting methods and strategies to increase pools of minority, women, veteran, and disabled candidates, and has created other programs focused on race and gender to increase diversity throughout the Company. The Company also revised its scholarship program for the children of its associates to better recognize minority and low-income students. In addition, the Company was named on the following Forbes listings: America’s
Best Large Employers and Best Employers for Diversity. In Lincoln, Nebraska, where the Company’s headquarters is located, the Company was awarded Best Places to Work.
Talent, development, and training
The Company’s talent strategy is focused on attracting the best talent from a diverse range of sources, recognizing and rewarding associates for their performance, and continually developing, engaging, and retaining associates.
The Company is committed to the continued development of its people. Strategic talent reviews and succession planning occur on a planned cadence annually across all business areas. The executive team convenes meetings with senior leadership and the board of directors to review top enterprise talent. The Company continues to provide opportunities for associates to grow their careers internally, with almost 70% of open management positions filled internally during 2022.
The Company provides a variety of professional, technical, and leadership training courses to help its associates grow in their current roles and build new skills and capabilities. The Company emphasizes individual development planning as part of its annual goal setting process, and offers mentoring programs, along with change management and project management upskilling opportunities. The Company has leadership development resources for all leaders across the organization and continues to build tools for leaders to develop their teams on the job and in roles to create new opportunities to learn and grow.
Training is provided in a number of formats to accommodate the learner’s style, location, and technological knowledge and access, including instructor-led courses and hundreds of online courses in the Company’s learning management system. The Company also offers tuition assistance to associates for degree programs, non-degree seeking individual classes, or certificate programs. During 2022, the Company paid over $310,000 in tuition assistance for its associates.
Competitive pay, benefits, wellness, and safety
The general compensation philosophy of the Company, as an organization that values the long-term success of its shareholders, customers, and associates, is that the Company will pay fair, competitive, and equitable compensation designed to encourage focus on the long-term performance objectives of the Company and is differentiated based on both the individual’s performance and the performance of his or her respective business segment. In carrying out this philosophy, the Company structures its overall compensation framework with the general objectives of encouraging equity ownership in the Company, savings, wellness, productivity, and innovation. In addition, total compensation is intended to be market competitive compared to select industry surveys, internally consistent, and aligned with the philosophy of a performance-based organization. The Company provides a comprehensive benefits package, opportunities for retirement savings, and a robust wellness program. The holistic wellness program focuses on four pillars: personal, professional, physical, and financial well-being.
In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Company has implemented and continues to implement safety measures in all its facilities. Since March 2020, a vast majority of associates continue to work from their home. However, non-remote associates currently have the choice to work in the office, at home, or a hybrid of both.
Culture, values, and ethics
The Company believes acting ethically and responsibly is the right thing to do, and embraces core values of open, honest communication in work environments. The Company also believes it must do its part to improve the world for current and future generations; and as part of this philosophy, the Company contributes time, talent, and resources to strengthen the communities in which the Company does business and promotes the transition to a clean-energy economy. The Company’s associates participate in many initiatives focused on supporting and the sustainability of their communities, both financially and with their time.
Ethics are deeply embedded in the Company’s values and business processes. The Company has a Code of Ethics and Conduct that includes the Company’s core values and guiding principles by which every associate is expected to abide and honor. The Company regularly reinforces its commitment to ethics and integrity in associate communications, in its everyday actions, and in processes and controls. As part of the Company’s ongoing efforts to ensure its associates conduct business with the highest levels of ethics and integrity, the Company has compliance training programs. The Company also maintains an Ask Ethics email through which associates can raise concerns they may have about business behavior they do not feel comfortable discussing personally with managers or human resources personnel. In addition, the Company maintains a separate anonymous portal for any associate concerns about the Company's financial reporting, internal controls, and related matters.
Available Information
The Company's internet website address is www.nelnet.com, and the Company's investor relations website address is www.nelnetinvestors.com. Copies of the Company's annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to such reports are available on the Company's investor relations website free of charge as soon as reasonably practicable after such reports are filed with or furnished to the SEC. The Company routinely posts important information for investors on its investor relations website.
The Company has adopted a Code of Ethics and Conduct that applies to directors, officers, and associates, including the Company's principal executive officer and its principal financial and accounting officer, and has posted such Code of Ethics and Conduct on its investor relations website. Amendments to and waivers granted with respect to the Company's Code of Ethics and Conduct relating to its executive officers and directors, which are required to be disclosed pursuant to applicable securities laws and stock exchange rules and regulations, will also be posted on its investor relations website. The Company's Corporate Governance Guidelines, Audit Committee Charter, People Development and Compensation Committee Charter, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee Charter, Risk and Finance Committee Charter, and Compliance Committee Charter are also posted on its investor relations website.
Information on the Company's websites is not incorporated by reference into this report and should not be considered part of this report.

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ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS
We and our businesses are subject to a variety of risks. This section discusses material risk factors that could adversely affect our financial results and condition, and an investment in us. Although this section highlights key risk factors, other risks may emerge at any time, and we cannot predict all risks or estimate the extent to which they may affect us.
Loan Portfolio
Our loan portfolios are subject to certain risks related to interest rates, and the derivatives we use to manage interest rate risks, prepayment risk, and credit risk, each of which could reduce the expected cash flows and earnings on our portfolios.
Interest rate risk - basis and repricing risk
We are exposed to interest rate risk in the form of basis risk and repricing risk because the interest rate characteristics of our loan assets do not always match the interest rate characteristics of the funding for those assets.
We fund the majority of the FFELP student loan assets in our AGM segment with one-month or three-month LIBOR indexed floating rate securities. Meanwhile, the interest earned on our FFELP student loan assets is indexed to one-month LIBOR, three-month commercial paper, and Treasury bill rates. The differing interest rate characteristics of our loan assets versus the liabilities funding these assets result in basis risk, which impacts the excess spread earned on our loans. We also face repricing risk due to the timing of the interest rate resets on our liabilities, which may occur as infrequently as once a quarter, in contrast to the timing of the interest rate resets on our assets, which generally occur daily. In a declining interest rate environment, this may cause our variable student loan spread to compress, while in a rising interest rate environment, it may cause the variable spread to increase.
As of December 31, 2022, our AGM segment had $12.7 billion, $0.5 billion, and $0.4 billion of FFELP loans indexed to the one-month LIBOR, three-month commercial paper, and three-month Treasury bill rate, respectively, all of which reset daily, and $3.8 billion of debt indexed to three-month LIBOR, which resets quarterly, and $8.1 billion of debt indexed to one-month LIBOR, which resets monthly. While these indices are all short term in nature with rate movements that are highly correlated over a longer period of time, the indices' historically high level of correlation may be disrupted in the future due to capital market dislocations or other factors not within our control. In such circumstances, our business, financial condition, or results of operations could be materially adversely affected.
Interest rate risk - loss of floor income
FFELP loans originated prior to April 1, 2006 generally earn interest at the higher of the borrower rate, which is fixed over a period of time, or a floating rate based on the Special Allowance Payments (SAP) formula set by the Department. The SAP rate is based on an applicable index plus a fixed spread that depends on loan type, origination date, and repayment status. We generally finance our student loan portfolio with variable rate debt. In low and/or certain declining interest rate environments, when the fixed borrower rate is higher than the SAP rate, these student loans earn at a fixed rate while the interest on the variable rate debt typically continues to reflect the low and/or declining interest rates. In these interest rate environments, we may earn additional spread income that we refer to as floor income.
Depending on the type of loan and when it originated, the borrower rate is either fixed to term or is reset to an annual rate each July 1. As a result, for loans where the borrower rate is fixed to term, we may earn floor income for an extended period of time, which we refer to as fixed rate floor income, and for those loans where the borrower rate is reset annually on July 1, we may earn floor income to the next reset date, which we refer to as variable rate floor income.
For the year ended December 31, 2022, we earned $90.5 million of fixed rate floor income, which reflects $33.1 million of net settlements received related to derivatives used to hedge loans earning fixed rate floor income. Absent the use of derivative instruments, a rise in interest rates will reduce the amount of floor income received and this will have a negative impact on earnings due to interest margin compression caused by increased financing costs, until such time as the federally insured loans earn interest at a variable rate in accordance with their SAP formulas. In higher interest rate environments, where the interest rate rises above the borrower rate and fixed rate loans effectively convert to variable rate loans, the impact of the rate fluctuations is reduced.
Interest rate risk - use of derivatives
We utilize derivative instruments to manage interest rate sensitivity. See note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information on derivatives used by us to manage interest rate risk. Our derivative instruments are intended as economic hedges but do not qualify for hedge accounting; consequently, the “mark-to-market” change in fair value of these derivative instruments is included in our operating results. Changes or shifts in the forward yield curve can significantly impact and have impacted the valuation of our derivatives, and in turn can significantly impact and have impacted our results of operations.
Developing an effective strategy for dealing with movements in interest rates is complex, and no strategy can completely insulate us from risks associated with such fluctuations. Because many of our derivatives are not balance guaranteed to a particular pool of student loans and we may not elect to fully hedge our risk on a notional and/or duration basis, we are subject to the risk of being under or over hedged, which could result in material losses. In addition, our interest rate risk management activities could expose us to substantial mark-to-market losses if interest rates move in a materially different way than was expected based on the environment when the derivatives were entered into. As a result, our economic hedging activities may not effectively manage our interest rate sensitivity, may not have the desired beneficial impact on our results of operations or financial condition, and may cause volatility in our results of operations or have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
The CFTC requires over-the-counter derivative transactions to be executed through an exchange or central clearinghouse. The clearing rules require us to post substantial amounts of liquid collateral as initial margin when executing new derivative instruments, which could negatively impact our liquidity and capital resources and may prevent or limit us from utilizing derivative instruments to manage interest rate sensitivity and risks. Interest rate movements have an impact on the amount of payments we are required to settle with our clearinghouse on a daily basis. We attempt to manage market risk associated with interest rates by establishing and monitoring limits as to the types and degree of risk that may be undertaken. However, if interest rates move materially and negatively impact the fair value of our derivative portfolio, the replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate as discussed below has significant adverse impacts on our derivatives, or if we enter into additional derivatives for which the fair value subsequently becomes negative, we could be required to pay a significant amount of mark-to-market variation margin to our clearinghouse. These payments could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, liquidity, or capital resources.
Interest rate risk - replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate
As of December 31, 2022, the interest earned on a principal amount of $12.7 billion of our FFELP student loan assets held by our AGM segment was indexed to one-month LIBOR, and the interest paid on a principal amount of $11.9 billion of our FFELP student loan asset-backed debt securities to fund such loans was indexed to one-month or three-month LIBOR. In addition, the majority of our derivative financial instrument transactions used to manage LIBOR interest rate risks are indexed to LIBOR.
The United Kingdom’s Financial Conduct Authority has announced that all LIBOR tenors relevant to us will cease to be published or will no longer be representative after June 30, 2023. The Adjustable Interest Rate (LIBOR) Act (the "LIBOR Act"), enacted in March 2022, contains a framework for addressing the discontinuation of LIBOR under U.S. federal law. The LIBOR Act provides a statutory mechanism to automatically replace LIBOR with a benchmark rate based on the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR), including any applicable tenor adjustment, for certain contracts that reference LIBOR and do not contain sufficient fallback provisions. The LIBOR Act also amends the Higher Education Act to substitute the current SAP rate-setting mechanism for FFELP loans from one-month LIBOR to the 30-day average SOFR in effect for each of the days in an applicable quarter, adjusted daily by adding a tenor spread adjustment. Transition of the SAP rate-setting mechanism from LIBOR to SOFR is expected to occur July 1, 2023.
There are significant differences between LIBOR and SOFR, such as LIBOR being an unsecured lending rate while SOFR is a secured lending rate, and SOFR being an overnight rate while LIBOR reflects term rates at different maturities. Accordingly, there are uncertainties as to the transition process, including what effect it will have on the value of LIBOR-based securities, financial contracts, and variable rate loans.
Although the indentures for student loan asset-backed debt securities issued in our most recent LIBOR-indexed securitization transactions include new interest rate determination fallback provisions, many of the contracts for our existing LIBOR-indexed assets, liabilities, and derivative instruments from historical transactions do not include provisions that contemplate the possibility of a permanent discontinuation of LIBOR and do not clearly specify a method for transitioning to an alternative benchmark rate. Although parties remain free to agree on a benchmark replacement rate other than the SOFR benchmark that would otherwise result under the LIBOR Act, and we have worked and will continue to work with our asset-backed securitization investors to amend transaction documents to address the discontinuation of LIBOR, it is not yet known how specific counterparties will address the significant complexities and uncertainties involved in the transition from LIBOR to an alternative benchmark rate. As a result, we cannot predict the impact that the transition from LIBOR to an alternative benchmark rate will have on our existing LIBOR-indexed assets, liabilities, and derivative instruments, but such impact could have material adverse effects on the value, performance, and related cash flows of such LIBOR-indexed items, including our funding costs, net interest income, loan and other asset values, and asset-liability management strategies. In particular, such transition could:
•adversely affect the interest rates received or paid on, the income and expenses associated with, and the pricing and value of our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities;
•result in uncertainty or differences in the calculation of the applicable interest rate or payment amounts on our LIBOR-based assets and liabilities which may continue to depend on the terms of the governing instruments, which in turn could result in disputes with counterparties regarding the interpretation and enforceability of certain fallback language in LIBOR-based securities and contracts; and
•result in basis risk where the alternative benchmark rates on our loan assets do not match the alternative benchmark rates for the funding for those assets.
In addition, the transition away from LIBOR may impact our existing transaction data, systems, operations, pricing, and risk management processes, and require significant efforts to transition to or develop appropriate systems and analytics to reflect the new benchmark rate environment. There can be no assurance that such efforts will successfully mitigate the financial and operational risks associated with the transition away from LIBOR. Accordingly, our transition away from LIBOR could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Prepayment risk
Higher rates of prepayments of student loans, including consolidations by the Department through the Federal Direct Loan Program or private refinancing programs, reduce our interest income.
The Higher Education Act allows borrowers to prepay FFEL Program loans at any time without penalty. Prepayments have resulted and may continue to result from consolidations of student loans by the Department through the Federal Direct Loan Program or by a lending institution through a private education or unsecured consumer loan, which historically tend to occur more frequently in low interest rate environments; from borrower defaults on federally insured loans, which will result in the receipt of a guaranty payment; and from voluntary full or partial prepayments; among other things.
If the federal government or the Department initiate additional loan forgiveness or cancellation, other repayment options or plans, consolidation loan programs, or further extend the suspension of borrower payments under the CARES Act, such initiatives could further increase prepayments and reduce interest income. Even if a broad debt cancellation program only applied to student loans held by the Department, such program could result in a significant increase in consolidations of FFELP loans to Federal Direct Loan Program loans and a corresponding increase in prepayments with respect to our FFELP loan portfolio, and also a decrease in our third-party FFELP loan servicing revenues.
For example, in October 2021, the Department announced a set of policy changes and released proposed negotiated rulemaking materials relating to the Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program under its Federal Direct Loan Program, which we believe resulted in an increase in consolidations of FFELP loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans held by the Department (which results in the loans no longer being on our balance sheet). In addition, in October 2022, the Department announced executive actions and new regulations which among other things provide for changes regarding income-driven repayment (IDR) plans for federal student loans, borrower defense to repayment where there is a dispute with the higher education institution, the PSLF program, interest capitalization rules, and closed school discharges. The Department and the Department’s Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) indicated that as part of these changes, any borrower with loans that have accumulated time in repayment, including time in certain forbearances and deferments, of at least 20 or 25 years will see
automatic forgiveness, even if the borrower is not currently in an IDR plan, and that if a borrower has a commercially held FFEL Program loan, the borrower can only benefit from these changes if they consolidate their FFEL Program loan to a Federal Direct Loan Program loan. The new regulations are to become effective on July 1, 2023, and the fact sheet accompanying the executive actions announcement indicated that if a borrower has a commercially held FFEL Program loan, the borrower must apply for consolidation to a Federal Direct Loan Program loan by May 1, 2023 to receive the IDR plan and other benefits set forth in the announcement.
In addition, the Department announced a broad based student debt relief plan in an August 24, 2022 bulletin, which indicated the Department would provide targeted student debt cancellation to borrowers with loans held by the Department, and that borrowers whose annual income for either 2020 or 2021 was under $125,000 (for single or married, filing separately) or under $250,000 (for married couples, filing jointly or heads of household) would be eligible for otherwise unconditional loan cancellation in amounts of up to $20,000 for eligible borrowers who received a Pell Grant, or of up to $10,000 for eligible borrowers who did not receive a Pell Grant. The Department has issued guidance that, as of September 29, 2022, borrowers with federal student loans not held by the Department cannot obtain one-time debt relief by consolidating those loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans by the Department.
In view of this guidance by the Department, we do not currently expect there would be significant FFELP loan consolidation activity specifically as a result of the one-time student debt relief plan announced in the August 24, 2022 bulletin. However, the Department announced they are continuing to assess whether there are alternative pathways to provide relief to borrowers with FFELP loans not held by the Department.
Decisions by the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Fifth Circuit in October 2022 and November 2022, respectively, in response to legal challenges that were initiated by other parties (not the Company) have blocked implementation of the Department's broad based student debt relief plan. These cases have been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. As of the filing of this report, the Supreme Court has not ruled on, and we cannot predict the timing, nature, or ultimate outcome of, this case.
Since late 2021, we have experienced accelerated run-off of our FFELP loan portfolio due to FFELP borrowers consolidating their loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans as a result of the continued extension of the CARES Act payment pause on Department held loans and the initiatives offered by the Department for FFELP borrowers to consolidate their loans to qualify for loan forgiveness under the PSLF and other programs. We believe the recent changes by the Department discussed above, other than with respect to the broad based student debt relief plan under the August 24, 2022 bulletin for borrowers with loans held by the Department, may continue to increase FFEL Program loan prepayments.
Sustained higher FFEL Program loan prepayments and/or a significant increase in FFEL Program loan prepayments could have a material adverse impact in future periods on net interest income in our AGM segment, FFELP servicing revenue in our LSS segment, investment advisory services revenue earned by WRCM on FFELP loan asset-backed securities under management, and interest income earned on our FFELP loan asset-backed securities investments.
Some variability in prepayment levels is expected, although extraordinary or extended increases in prepayment rates could have a material adverse effect on our revenues, cash flows, profitability, and business outlook, and, as a result, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
We cannot predict how or what programs or policies will be impacted by any actions that the Biden-Harris Administration (the “Administration”), Congress, or the federal government may take, the timing of when such programs or policies may be implemented, and/or the ultimate outcome thereof. In addition, any changes to government programs or policies may be legally challenged, which may affect the extent and timing of these changes and the resulting impact they may have on our businesses, financial condition, or results of operations.
Credit risk
Future losses due to defaults on loans held by us present credit risk which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Our estimated allowance for loan losses is based on periodic evaluations of the credit risk in our loan portfolios, including the consideration of the following factors (as applicable), for each of our loan portfolios: loans in repayment versus those in nonpaying status; delinquency status; type of private education or consumer loan program; trends in defaults in the portfolio based on internal and industry data; past experience; trends in federally insured student loan claims rejected for payment by guarantors; changes to federal student loan programs; current macroeconomic factors, including unemployment rates, gross domestic product, and consumer price index; and other relevant qualitative factors.
The vast majority (93.4%) of our student loan portfolio is federally guaranteed, which limits our loss exposure on the outstanding balance of our federally guaranteed portfolio. Our private education and consumer loans are unsecured, with neither
a government nor a private insurance guarantee. Accordingly, we bear the full risk of loss on these loans if the borrower and co-borrower, if applicable, default. We are actively expanding our acquisition of private education and consumer loan portfolios, which increases our exposure to credit risk.
If future defaults on loans held by us are higher than anticipated, which could result from a variety of factors such as downturns in the economy, regulatory or operational changes, and other unforeseen future trends, or actual performance is significantly worse than currently estimated, our estimate of the allowance for loan losses and the related provision for loan losses in our statements of income would be materially affected.
Our loan portfolios and other assets and operations could experience adverse impacts from natural disasters, widespread health crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, terrorist activities, or international hostilities.
Natural disasters, widespread health crises similar to the COVID-19 pandemic, terrorist activities, or international hostilities, including the conflict in Ukraine and similar conflicts, could affect the financial markets or the economy in general or in any particular region and could lead, for example, to an increase in loan delinquencies, borrower bankruptcies, or defaults that could result in higher levels of nonperforming assets, net charge-offs, and provisions for credit losses, as well as have adverse effects on our other assets and business operations. We cannot predict specifically when and where such events will occur, or the full nature and extent thereof, and our resiliency planning may not be sufficient to mitigate the adverse consequences of such events. The adverse impact of such events could also be increased to the extent that there is insufficient preparedness on the part of national or regional emergency responders or on the part of other organizations and businesses that we transact with, particularly those that we depend upon but have no control over.
Liquidity and Funding
The current maturities of our loan warehouse financing facilities do not match the maturities of the related funded loans, and we may not be able to modify and/or find alternative funding related to the loan collateral in these facilities prior to their expiration.
The majority of our portfolio of loans is funded through asset-backed securitizations that are structured to substantially match the maturities of the funded assets, and there are minimal liquidity issues related to these facilities. We also have loans funded in shorter term warehouse facilities, as described in note 5 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report. The current maturities of the warehouse facilities do not match the maturity of the related funded assets. Therefore, we will need to modify and/or find alternative funding related to the loan collateral in these facilities prior to their expiration. In addition, our warehouse facilities contain certain financial covenants. Any noncompliance with these covenants could result in a requirement for the immediate repayment of any outstanding borrowings under the facilities.
If we are unable to obtain cost-effective funding alternatives for the loans in the warehouse facilities prior to the facilities' maturities, our cost of funds could increase, adversely affecting our results of operations. If we cannot find funding alternatives, we would have to fund the collateral using operating cash (negatively impacting our liquidity), consider the sale of assets (that could result in losses), and/or lose our collateral, including the loan assets and cash advances, related to these facilities.
We are subject to economic and market fluctuations related to our investments.
We invest a substantial portion of our excess cash in student loan and other asset-backed securities that are subject to market fluctuations. The fair value of these investments was $1.4 billion as of December 31, 2022. The majority of our asset-backed securities earn floating interest rates with expected returns of approximately LIBOR + 100 to 350 basis points to maturity. Our portfolio of asset-backed securities has limited liquidity, and we could incur a significant loss if the investments were sold prior to maturity at an amount less than the original purchase price.
We will need to extend or refinance repurchase agreements funding the purchase of certain private education loan asset-backed securities that we must retain as sponsor of the underlying securitizations, since the current maturities of the agreements do not match the required holding period for the related securities and we must pay additional equity support if the fair value of the securities subject to the agreements becomes less than the original purchase price of the securities.
During 2021, we sponsored four asset-backed securitization transactions to permanently finance a total of $8.7 billion of private education loans sold by Wells Fargo. As sponsor, we are required to provide a certain level of risk retention, and we have purchased bonds issued in such securitizations to satisfy this requirement. The bonds purchased to satisfy the risk retention requirement are reflected on our consolidated balance sheets as "investments and notes receivable" and as of December 31, 2022, the fair value of these bonds was $306.5 million. We must retain these investment securities until the latest of (i) two years from the closing date of the securitization, (ii) the date the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the loans in the securitization is 33% or less of the initial loan balance, and (iii) the date the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the bonds is 33% or less of the aggregate initial outstanding principal balance of the bonds, at which time we can sell the investment securities (bonds) to a third party. We entered into repurchase agreements with third parties, the proceeds of which
were used to purchase a portion of the asset-backed investments, and such investments serve as collateral on the repurchase obligations.
As of December 31, 2022, $567.3 million was outstanding on our repurchase agreements, of which $291.3 million was borrowed to fund the private education loan securitization bonds subject to our risk retention requirements. The agreements, as of December 31, 2022, have various maturity dates through November 27, 2024, but one of the agreements is subject to early termination upon required notice provided by us or the applicable counterparty prior to the maturity dates. We must pay additional cash as equity support if the fair value of the securities subject to the agreements becomes less than the original purchase price of the securities.
The current maturities of the repurchase agreements do not match the required holding period for, or the maturity of, the related funded assets. Therefore, we will need to continue to extend the maturities of the agreements and/or find alternative funding for the related investment securities collateral prior to the agreements’ expiration. If we are unable to extend the maturities of the agreements and/or find alternative funding, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations.
Concerns about the downgrade of the U.S. credit rating may materially adversely affect our business, financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations.
In January 2023, the U.S. government hit its borrowing cap (the “debt ceiling”) which is the maximum amount the federal government is able to borrow to finance obligations. As a result, the Treasury Department started taking “extraordinary measures” to prevent a default. While the Treasury Department doesn’t expect the U.S. to default on its debt before early June 2023, Congress must negotiate a solution prior to missing a payment of principal and interest on federal debt to avoid default. Default or even the threat of default would negatively impact the U.S. economy, and the global financial markets, as well as raise our borrowing costs.
Negative credit rating actions with respect to U.S. government obligations and the impact on the markets are unpredictable and may not be immediately apparent. However, such actions could materially adversely affect our liquidity, cash flows, and results of operations, increase our borrowing costs, limit our access to the capital markets, or trigger other implications under certain collateralized arrangements.
Operations
Our largest fee-based customer, the Department of Education, represented 32% of our revenue in 2022. We also earn revenue through remote hosting for other servicers. Failure to extend the Department servicing contracts or obtain new contracts in the Department's current or other procurement processes, our inability to consistently surpass competitor performance metrics, unfavorable contract modifications or interpretations, or the loss of servicing borrower volume due to broad based debt cancellation by the Department, could significantly lower servicing revenue in our LSS segment, hinder future service opportunities, and have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
As of December 31, 2022, Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes were servicing $545.4 billion of government owned student loans for 15.8 million borrowers. For the year ended December 31, 2022, our LSS segment recognized $423.1 million in revenue from the Department under these contracts, which represented 32% of our revenue.
Nelnet Servicing's and Great Lakes' servicing contracts with the Department are scheduled to expire on December 14, 2023. In 2017, the Department initiated a contract procurement process referred to as the Next Generation Financial Services Environment for a new framework for the servicing of all student loans owned by the Department. In the second quarter of 2022, the Department released a solicitation entitled Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS) for the new servicing framework. We responded to the USDS solicitation.
If our servicing contracts are not extended beyond the current expiration date, or we are not chosen as a subsequent servicer, loan servicing revenue would decrease significantly. If the terms and requirements under a potential new contract with the Department are less favorable than under our current contracts, loan servicing revenue and/or operating margins could be adversely impacted. There are significant risks to us and uncertainties regarding the current Department contracts and potential future Department contracts, including the pending and uncertain nature of the current contract procurement process and the Department's prior awards of new contracts to other service providers; risks that we may not be successful in obtaining any new contracts with the Department; and risks and uncertainties as to the terms and requirements under a potential new contract or contracts with the Department. We cannot predict the timing, nature, or ultimate outcome of the current or any other contract procurement process by the Department, any of which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
New loan volume is currently allocated among the Department servicers based on certain service level and portfolio performance metrics established by the Department and compared among all loan servicers. The amount of future allocations of
new loan volume could be negatively impacted if we are unable to consistently surpass comparable competitor and/or other performance metrics. In addition, if any current or future Department servicing contracts become subject to unfavorable modifications or interpretations by the Department, including adverse pricing changes, servicing revenue would be negatively impacted and could result in potential restructuring charges that may be necessary to re-align our cost structure with our servicing operations. For example, in February 2023, the Department notified us of its intention to transfer up to one million existing borrowers currently serviced by us to another servicer. In addition, due to a lack of Federal government appropriations, the Department may modify its cost under existing contracts with its servicers, and such modifications could adversely impact the Company’s servicing revenue and operating results.
Further, we are partially dependent on the existing Department contracts to broaden servicing operations with the Department, other federal and state agencies, and commercial clients. The size and importance of these contracts provide us the scale and infrastructure needed to profitably expand into new business opportunities. Failure to extend the Department contracts beyond the current expiration date or obtain new Department contracts, or loss of existing loan volume to other Department servicers, would adversely impact loan servicing revenue and could significantly hinder future opportunities, as well as result in potential restructuring charges that may be necessary to re-align our cost structure with our servicing operations.
In August 2022, the Department announced a broad based student debt relief plan that would provide targeted student debt cancellation to borrowers with loans held by the Department, which plan is currently blocked by court decisions and subject to appeals to the U.S. Supreme Court (see the risk factor discussion under the caption “Loan Portfolio - Prepayment risk” above for additional information about the plan). As noted above, as of December 31, 2022, we were servicing 15.8 million borrowers under our government servicing contracts. We cannot estimate how many borrowers would meet the eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions for one-time debt cancellation under the Department's debt relief plan. If there was a broad $10,000 or $20,000 per borrower cancellation on all government owned loans, we estimate it would decrease the number of borrowers serviced by us (based on the borrower loan information as of December 31, 2022) by approximately 4.3 million borrowers and 7.5 million borrowers, respectively. The actual impact to the number of borrowers serviced may be less than these amounts due to annual income ceilings for borrowers to qualify for cancellation and the impact of whether a Pell Grant was received on the amount of cancellation for a borrower. Revenue earned by us under the current Department servicing contracts will decrease in future periods if the Department's student debt relief plan or other broad based loan cancellation is implemented.
The Company’s current remote hosted Department servicing customers will transfer their servicing volume to other servicers in 2023, which will have a significant adverse impact to software services revenue in future periods. See the MD&A - “Loan Servicing and Systems Operating Segment - Results of Operations - Government Loan Servicing” for additional information.
The COVID-19 pandemic adversely impacted our results of operations, and either directly or indirectly through impacts on economic conditions or government policy could adversely impact our results of operations, businesses, financial condition, and/or cash flows going forward.
The COVID-19 pandemic has had significant adverse effects on the economic environment globally and in the U.S. These effects adversely impacted our results of operations and, if these effects continue to result in sustained economic stress, they could have a material adverse impact on us in a number of ways, including but not limited to, talent acquisition and retention, wage inflation and cost of service delivery, lower higher education school enrollments, rising interest rates due to market conditions or government policy or stimulus, loan performance (where individual student and consumer borrowers experience financial hardship), and performance levels of our workforce and work environment (work from home). Although certain business and economic conditions have improved since the pandemic began, significant uncertainties remain, including with respect to the effectiveness of vaccines against existing and new variant strains of the COVID-19 virus which could be vaccine resistant, the potential impacts of variations in vaccination rates among different geographical areas and demographic segments, booster vaccines, and the potential impacts of potential additional future spikes in infection rates including through breakthrough infections among the fully vaccinated.
COVID-19 materially disrupted business operations across many sectors, initially resulting in periods of significantly higher levels of unemployment and underemployment, inflation associated with supply chain disruptions, a constrained labor market, and extensive government stimulus programs initiated in efforts to counteract the economic disruptions from the pandemic. As a result, many student and consumer borrowers have experienced or may continue to experience financial hardship, making it difficult to meet loan payment obligations without assistance, which has had previous adverse effects and could have future adverse effects on the performance of our loan portfolios.
Our net interest income and profitability have been and could further be negatively affected by volatility in interest rates caused by uncertainties stemming from COVID-19. Higher income volatility from changes in interest rates and spreads to benchmark indices has caused and could cause a loss of net interest income and adverse changes in current fair value measurements of our assets and liabilities, which in turn could have a material adverse effect on our net income, operating results, or financial
condition. For example, since March 2022, the Federal Reserve has made several increases to its target interest rate (and has recently indicated that it anticipates that ongoing increases will be appropriate) as a way of addressing the inflationary effects of the extensive pandemic-related government stimulus programs, and other factors, and an increase in interest rate levels generally results in a reduction of floor income we receive on certain FFELP loans.
A vast majority of our employees continue to work from home, either full-time or dividing their workdays between working from home and working in the office as we have offered employees flexibility in the amount of time they work in the office. Unanticipated issues arising from handling personal, confidential, and other information in a work-from-home environment could lead to greater risks for us, including cybersecurity and privacy risks. In addition, recent labor market constraints have resulted in wage inflation and higher voluntary turnover rates, which in turn have led to increases in compensation costs to attract and retain talent.
The CARES Act suspended federal student loan payments and interest accruals on all loans owned by the Department beginning as of March 13, 2020, and this suspension has been extended until 60 days after the earlier of (i) the date the Department is permitted to implement its broad based student loan debt relief plan or the litigation concerning such plan is resolved; or (ii) June 30, 2023. As a result of this suspension, we receive a reduced level of servicing revenue per borrower from the Department. If the suspension period is extended further, more borrowers may consolidate their FFELP loans to the Federal Direct Loan Program, which could further increase prepayments on our student loan portfolio and reduce our interest income and servicing fees. We anticipate revenues will continue to be negatively impacted while student loan payments and interest accruals are suspended. In addition, when borrowers resume payments on their student loans at the completion of the suspension period, our system stability and scale could be stressed, resulting in increased costs and reputation damage.
The extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact us will depend on many factors which are uncertain and beyond our control, including: the duration and ultimate severity of the pandemic; further public health and economic dislocations and constraints resulting from the pandemic; government actions in response to the pandemic, including any further actions to suspend, reduce or cancel payment obligations for loan borrowers; and the impacts of the pandemic on the U.S. and world economies. However, the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic, or any other pandemic, on our businesses could be material and adverse. To the extent the COVID-19 pandemic continues to adversely affect broader economic conditions and/or adversely affects us, it may also have the effect of increasing the likelihood and/or magnitude of other risks described in this report.
Climate change manifesting as physical or transition risks could have a material adverse impact on our operations, vendors, and customers.
Our businesses, and the activities of our vendors and customers, could be impacted by climate change. Climate change could manifest as a financial risk to us either through changes in the physical climate or from the process of transitioning to a low-carbon economy, including changes in climate policy or in the regulation of businesses with respect to risks posed by climate change. Climate-related physical risks may include altered distribution and intensity of rainfall; prolonged droughts or flooding; increased frequency and severity of wildfires, hurricanes, and tornadoes; rising sea levels; and a rising heat index. In addition to possible changes in climate policy and regulation, potential transition risks may include economic and other changes engendered by the development of low-carbon technological advances and/or changes in consumer and business preferences toward low-carbon goods and services. These climate-related physical risks and transition risks could have a financial impact on us, and on our vendors and customers, including declines in asset values; cost increases; reduced availability of insurance; reduced demand for certain goods and services; increased loan delinquencies, bankruptcies, events of default, and force majeure events; increased interruptions to business operations and services; adverse supply chain impacts; and negative consequences to business models and the need to make changes in response to those consequences.
The profitability and risk profile of our renewable energy business may be impacted by the terms and availability of federal incentives, regulatory uncertainty, climate change risk, supply chain risk, rising debt and construction costs, and other risks and costs associated with the construction, development, financing, sale, and operation and maintenance of renewable energy projects.
The operation and profitability of our renewable energy business is subject to and depends in significant part upon complex federal, state, and other laws and regulations, including the recently passed Inflation Reduction Act, which regulate and, in some instances, incentivize the production of renewable energy. Any reductions or modifications to, or the elimination or adverse interpretation of, governmental regulations or incentives that support renewable energy, or the imposition of taxes, tariffs, or other assessments on renewable energy or renewable energy equipment, could negatively impact this business unit. Our ability to proceed with solar projects under development and to complete and finance the construction of such projects on schedule and within budget may be adversely affected by escalating costs for materials, labor, insurance, and regulatory compliance, operational risks as described below, inability to obtain requisite permits, disputes involving contractors/subcontractors, land owners, offtakers, and/or other entities, rising interest rates and cost of debt service, and changes in key
assumptions underlying the forecasted model and budget for project development and operation. If any renewable energy project under our long-term ownership or financed by us or otherwise constructed by us is not completed, is delayed, or is subject to cost overruns, we may incur material costs that we may or may not be able to recover through regulatory or other contractual mechanisms, including obligations to make delay or termination payments, loss of tax credits and benefits, loss of environmental incentives, or delayed or diminished returns, which could require us to write off all or a portion of its investment in the applicable project(s). Operational risks associated with our renewable energy business include, but are not limited to, risks associated with facility start-up operations, compliance risks (including penalties for failures to comply), supply chain risks, climate change risks (including severe weather events), performance below expected or contracted levels of output or production, equipment breakdown, ability of offtakers and other counterparties to renewable energy contracts to pay or perform as required, warranty claims, shifting demand and regulatory changes/uncertainty, and insufficient insurance, warranties, and/or indemnities to cover the costs of the foregoing. These factors could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and prospects.
A failure of our operating systems or infrastructure could disrupt our businesses, cause significant losses, result in regulatory action, and damage our reputation.
We operate many different businesses in diverse markets and depend on the efficient and uninterrupted operation of our computer network systems, software, datacenters, cloud services providers, telecommunications systems, and the rest of our operating systems and infrastructure to process and monitor large numbers of daily transactions in compliance with contractual, legal, regulatory, and our own standards. Such systems and infrastructure could be disrupted because of a cyberattack, unanticipated spikes in transaction volume, extended power outages, telecommunications failures, process breakdowns, degradation or loss of internet or website availability, natural disasters, political or social unrest, and terrorist acts. A significant adverse incident could damage our reputation and credibility, lead to customer dissatisfaction and loss of customers or revenue, and result in regulatory action, in addition to increased costs to service our customers and protect our network. Such an event could also result in large expenditures to repair or replace the damaged properties, networks, or information systems or to protect them from similar events in the future. System redundancy may be ineffective or inadequate, and our business continuity plans may not be sufficient for all eventualities. Any significant loss of customers or revenue, or significant increase in costs of serving those customers, could adversely affect our growth, financial condition, and results of operations.
Operating system and infrastructure risks continue to increase in part because of the proliferation of new technologies, the increased use of the internet and telecommunications technologies to support and process customer transactions, the increased number and complexity of transactions being processed, increased instances of employees working from home and/or using personal computing devices, and the increased sophistication and activities of organized crime, hackers, terrorists, activists, nation state threat actors, and other external parties. In addition, to access our services and products, our customers may use personal smartphones, tablet computers, and other mobile devices that are beyond our control systems.
Malicious and abusive activities, such as the dissemination of destructive or disruptive software, computer hacking, denial of service attacks, and ransomware or ransom demands to not expose confidential data or vulnerabilities in systems, have become more common. These activities could have material adverse consequences on our network and our customers, including degradation of service, excessive call volume, and damage to our or our customers' equipment and data. Although to date we have not experienced a material loss relating to cyberattacks or system outage, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer such losses in the future or that there is not a current threat that remains undetected at this time. Our risk and exposure to these matters remains heightened because of, among other things, the evolving nature of these threats, and the size and scale of our services.
We could also incur material losses resulting from the risk of unauthorized access to our computer systems, the execution of unauthorized transactions by employees, errors relating to transaction processing and technology, breaches of the internal control system and compliance requirements, and failures to properly execute business resumption and disaster recovery plans. In the event of a breakdown in the internal control system, improper operation of systems, or unauthorized employee actions, we could suffer material financial loss, potential legal actions, fines, or civil monetary penalties that could arise as a result of an operational deficiency or as a result of noncompliance with applicable regulatory standards, adverse business decisions or their implementation, and customer attrition due to potential negative publicity and damage to our reputation. Even though we maintain insurance coverage to offset costs related to incidents such as a cyberattack, information security breach, or extended system outage, this insurance coverage may not cover all costs of such incidents.
A security breach of our information technology systems could result in material financial losses and legal exposure, and damage to our reputation.
Our operations rely on the secure processing, storage, and transmission of personal, confidential, and other sensitive information in our information technology systems and networks. Although we take protective measures we believe to be reasonable and appropriate, our systems, networks, and software may be vulnerable to the increasingly numerous and more sophisticated cyberattacks, and our cybersecurity measures may not be entirely effective.
Cyberattack techniques change frequently, generally increase in sophistication, often are not recognized until launched, sometimes go undetected even when successful, and originate from a wide variety of sources, including organized crime, hackers, terrorists, activists, disgruntled customers or consumers, and hostile foreign governments. Cyberattacks may increase in frequency during times of global unrest, such as the conflict in Ukraine. Attackers may also attempt to fraudulently induce employees, customers, or other users of our systems to disclose sensitive information to gain access to our data or that of our customers, such as through “phishing” schemes. These risks may increase in the future as we continue to increase our mobile and internet-based product offerings and expand our internal usage of web-based products and applications. In addition, our customers often use their personal devices, such as smart phones and tablet computers, to make payments and manage their accounts. We have limited ability to assure the security of our customers’ transactions to the extent they are using their personal devices, which could be subject to similar threats. A breach, or perceived breaches, of our information security systems, or the intentional or unintentional disclosure, alteration, or destruction by an authorized user of confidential information necessary for our operations, could result in serious negative consequences for us. These consequences may include violations of applicable privacy and other laws; financial loss to us or to our customers; loss of confidence in our cybersecurity measures; customer dissatisfaction; significant litigation exposure; regulatory fines, penalties or intervention; reimbursement or other compensatory costs; additional compliance costs; significant disruption of our business operations; and damage to our reputation.
In addition, we routinely transmit, receive, and process large volumes of personal, confidential, and proprietary information through third parties. Our arrangements with these third parties to maintain the confidentiality and security of such information may not be entirely effective, and a breach of a third-party system may not be revealed to us in a timely manner, which could compromise our ability to respond effectively. A cybersecurity incident originating from a third party could have negative consequences for us similar to those discussed above.
We and our third-party vendors have experienced, and could experience in the future, cybersecurity incidents. For example, in July 2022, we determined the customer website portal for the primary loan servicing platform used by our remote hosted servicing clients had experienced a cybersecurity incident. We took immediate and extensive steps to secure the system, block the unauthorized activity, address the issue via additional technical and security measures, notify our insurance carriers, and launch a forensic investigation. Our investigation confirmed unauthorized access to confidential consumer information of federal student loan borrowers serviced on our platform by Edfinancial Services and Oklahoma Student Loan Authority. Borrower name, address, email address, phone number, and Social Security number information was impacted, but no financial account or payment information was impacted. Loans serviced directly by Nelnet were not impacted by the event. The applicable regulators and affected consumers were notified and identity theft monitoring has been and continues to be offered to those affected. Although to date none of these incidents has individually or in the aggregate had a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition, or businesses, there can be no assurance that we will not suffer material adverse effects in the future or that there is not a significant current incident or threat that remains undetected at this time.
If we are unable to adapt to rapid technological change, take advantage of technological developments, or our software products experience quality problems and development delays, the demand for our products and services may decline.
Our long-term operating results, particularly from our LSS and ETS&PP segments, depend substantially upon our ability to continually enhance, develop, introduce, and market new products and services. We must continually and cost-effectively maintain and improve our information technology systems and infrastructure in order to successfully deliver competitive and cost-effective products and services to our customers. The widespread proliferation of new technologies and market demands could require substantial expenditures to enhance system infrastructure and existing products and services. If we fail to enhance and scale our systems and operational infrastructure or products and services, our LSS and ETS&PP segments may lose their competitive advantage, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
We require skilled technology and security workers to maintain, secure, and improve our information technology systems and infrastructure. Increased demand and competition for available skilled workers across the technology sector may impact our ability to maintain adequate technology and security staffing levels. If we are unable to retain existing talent, or recruit and hire new talent when needed, we may be unable to quickly develop and adopt new technologies, adequately adjust for contingencies, or maintain and improve our existing technology systems and infrastructure.
Our products and services are based on sophisticated software and computing systems that often encounter development delays, and the underlying software may contain undetected bugs or other defects that interfere with its intended operation. Quality problems with our software products, with transferring between systems, or with errors or delays in our processing of electronic transactions, could result in additional development costs, diversion of technical and other resources from our other development efforts, loss of credibility with current or potential clients, damage to our reputation, or exposure to liability claims.
We rely on third parties for a wide array of services for our customers, and to meet our contractual obligations. The failure of a third party with which we work could adversely affect our business performance and reputation.
We rely on third parties for many critical operational services, technology, datacenter hosting facilities, cloud computing platforms, and software. We also rely upon data from external sources to maintain our proprietary databases, including data from customers, business partners, and various government sources. Our third-party service providers may be vulnerable to damage or interruption from natural disasters, power loss, cyberattacks, telecommunications failures, breakdowns or failures of their systems, employee negligence or misconduct, supply chain disruptions, acts of terrorism, and similar events. They may also be subject to sabotage, vandalism, and similar misconduct, as well as regulatory actions, changes to legal requirements, and litigation to stop, limit, or delay operations. Our ability to implement backup systems and other safeguards with respect to third-party systems is limited. Furthermore, an attack on, or failure of, a third-party system may not be revealed to us in a timely manner, which could compromise our ability to respond effectively.
If a third-party service provider’s services are disrupted, we may temporarily lose the ability to conduct certain business activities, which could impact our ability to serve our customers and meet our contractual, legal, or regulatory compliance obligations, and/or result in the loss or compromise of our information or the information of our customers. Our businesses would also be harmed if our customers and potential customers believe our services are unreliable. Some of our third-party service providers may engage vendors of their own as they provide services or technology solutions for our operations, which introduces the same risks that these “fourth parties” could be the source of operational and cybersecurity failures.
Due to our use of Amazon Web Services (AWS) for a significant amount of our technology products and services, as well as the dependence of many of our third-party service providers on AWS, the stability and availability of AWS is critical to our business.
If we fail to comply with the requirements to maintain the federal guarantees for the FFELP loans we service for us and for third parties, we may lose our guarantees or incur penalties.
As of December 31, 2022, we serviced $20.2 billion of FFELP loans that maintained a federal guarantee, of which $11.1 billion and $9.1 billion were owned by us and third parties, respectively. We must meet various requirements in order to maintain the federal guarantee on these federally insured loans, which is conditional based on compliance with origination, servicing, and collection policies set by the Department and guaranty agencies. If we misinterpret Department guidance, or incorrectly apply the Higher Education Act, the Department could determine that we are not in compliance. FFELP loans that are not originated, disbursed, or serviced in accordance with Department and guaranty agency regulations may be subject to partial or complete loss of the guarantee. If we experience servicing deficiencies, it could result in the loan guarantee being revoked or denied. Although in most cases, we may cure deficiencies by following a prescribed cure process which usually involves obtaining the borrower's reaffirmation of the debt, not all deficiencies can be cured. As FFELP loan holders, servicers, and guaranty agencies exit the FFEL Program and consolidation within the industry takes place, this increases the complexity of servicing and claim filing due to the amount of loan servicing and loan guaranty transfers and the opportunity for errors at the time a claim is filed.
Failure to comply with Department and guaranty agency regulations may also result in fines, other penalties, expenses required to cure servicing deficiencies, suspension or termination of the right to participate as a FFELP servicer, negative publicity, and potential legal claims, including claims by our servicing customers if they lose the federal guarantee or SAP benefits on loans that we service for them. If we are subjected to significant fines, or loss of insurance or guarantees on a material number of FFELP loans, or if we lose our ability to service FFELP loans, it could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Our Department of Education servicing contracts and our third-party FFELP loan servicing business involve additional risks inherent in government contracts and programs.
The federal government could engage in a prolonged debate linking the federal deficit, debt ceiling, government shutdown, and other budget issues. If U.S. lawmakers fail to reach agreement on these issues, the federal government could modify terms on current agreements or delay payment on its obligations, which could adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operations. Further, legislation to address the federal deficit and spending could impose changes that would adversely affect the Federal Direct Loan Program and FFELP servicing businesses.
We contract with the Department to administer loans held by the Department in both the FFEL and Federal Direct Loan Program, we own a portfolio of FFELP loans, and we service our FFELP loans as well as FFELP loans for third parties. These loan programs are authorized by the Higher Education Act and are subject to periodic reauthorization and changes to the programs by the Administration and Congress. Any changes, including the potential for borrowers to refinance loans via Direct Consolidation Loans, or broad loan forgiveness or cancellation, could have a material impact on our cash flows from servicing,
interest income, and operating margins (see the risk factor discussions above under the caption “Loan Portfolio - Prepayment risk” and immediately after the caption “Operations” for additional information about these risks).
Government entities in the U.S. often reserve the right to audit contract costs and conduct inquiries and investigations of business practices. These entities also conduct reviews and investigations and make inquiries regarding systems, including systems of third parties, used in connection with the performance of the contracts. Negative findings could adversely affect the contractor’s future revenues and profitability. If improper or illegal activities are found, we could become subject to various civil and criminal penalties, including those under the civil U.S. False Claims Act. Additionally, we may be subject to administrative sanctions, which may include termination or non-renewal of contracts, forfeiture of profits, suspension of payments, fines and suspensions, or debarment from doing business with other agencies of that government. Due to the inherent limitations of internal controls, it may not be possible to detect or prevent all improper or illegal activities.
The government could change governmental policies, programs, regulatory environments, spending sentiment, and many other factors and conditions, some of which could adversely impact our businesses, results of operations, and financial condition. We cannot predict how or what programs or policies will be changed by the federal government. The conditions described above could impact not only our contracts with the Department, but also other existing or future contracts with government or commercial entities, and could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Our ability to continue to grow and maintain our contracts with commercial businesses and government agencies is partly dependent on our ability to maintain compliance with various laws, regulations, and industry standards applicable to those contracts.
We are subject to various laws, regulations, and industry standards related to our commercial and government contracts. In most cases, these contracts are subject to termination rights, audits, and investigations. The laws and regulations that impact our operating segments are outlined in Part I, Item 1, “Regulation and Supervision.” Additionally, our LSS segment contracts with the federal government require that we maintain internal controls in accordance with the National Institute of Standards and Technologies and our LSS and ETS&PP segments that utilize payment cards are subject to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standards. If we fail to comply with the contract provisions or applicable laws, regulations, or standards, or the counterparty exercises its termination or other rights for that or other reasons, our reputation could be negatively affected, and our ability to compete for new contracts or maintain existing contracts could diminish, which in turn could have an adverse impact on our results of operations from existing contracts and future opportunities for new contracts.
The failure to safeguard the privacy of personal information could result in significant legal and reputational harm.
We are subject to complex and evolving laws and regulations, both inside and outside of the U.S., governing the privacy and protection of personal information of individuals. Ensuring the handling and use of personal information complies with applicable laws and regulations in relevant jurisdictions can increase operating costs, impact the development of new products or services, and reduce operational efficiency. Any mishandling or misuse of personal information by us or a third-party affiliate could expose us to litigation or regulatory fines, penalties, or other sanctions. Additional risks could arise if we or an affiliated third party do not provide adequate disclosure or transparency to our customers about the personal information obtained from them and its use; fail to receive, document, and honor the privacy preferences expressed by customers; fail to protect personal information from unauthorized disclosure; or fail to maintain proper training on privacy practices. Concerns about the effectiveness of our measures to safeguard personal information and abide by privacy preferences, or even the perception that those measures are inadequate, could cause the loss of existing or potential customers and thereby reduce our revenue. In addition, any failure or perceived failure to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws and regulations could result in requirements to modify or cease certain operations or practices, and/or significant liabilities, regulatory fines, penalties, and other sanctions. The regulatory framework for privacy issues is evolving, which is likely to continue. Because the interpretation and application of privacy and data protection laws and privacy standards are still uncertain, it is possible that these laws or privacy standards may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent with our practices. Any inability to adequately address privacy concerns, even if unfounded, or to comply with applicable privacy or data protection laws, regulations, and privacy standards, could result in additional cost and liability for us, damage our reputation, and harm our businesses.
Nelnet Bank may not be able to achieve its business plan objectives and effectively deploy loan and deposit strategies in accordance with regulatory requirements during its three-year de novo period.
Nelnet Bank is in the final year of its de novo status and initial three-year business plan, which requires ongoing monitoring to ensure alignment to financial and asset targets as well as other commitments. Failure to meet these targets and commitments could jeopardize the success of Nelnet Bank.
The banking industry is highly regulated, and the regulatory framework, together with any future legislative changes, may have a significant adverse effect on Nelnet Bank’s operations. The regulatory landscape surrounding industrial banks continues to be scrutinized and banking policy changes may be difficult to predict in advance. Nelnet Bank’s current product offerings are primarily concentrated in loan products for higher education, with current expansion under the business plan to unsecured consumer lending. Such concentrations and the competitive environment for those products subject the bank to risks that could adversely affect its financial condition. Consumer access to alternative means of financing, the costs of education, and other factors may reduce demand for, or adversely affect Nelnet Bank’s ability to, retain private education loans. For example, the recent increase of interest rates has negatively impacted and will continue to negatively impact the origination of refinanced private education loans.
Nelnet Bank has FDIC-required agreements with Nelnet, Inc. and Michael S. Dunlap (Nelnet, Inc.’s controlling shareholder) in connection with Nelnet, Inc.’s role as a source of financial strength for Nelnet Bank. For additional information, see the MD&A - “Liquidity and Capital Resources - Liquidity Impact Related to Nelnet Bank.” However, any failure to meet minimum capital requirements and FDIC regulations can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition, or results of operations.
Our failure to successfully manage business and certain asset acquisitions and other investments could have a material adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition, or results of operations.
We have expanded our services and products through business and asset acquisitions, and we anticipate making additional acquisitions to obtain new or enhance existing businesses, products, and services, as well as other investments to further diversify us both within and outside of our historical education-related businesses. Any acquisition or investment is subject to a number of risks. Such risks may include diversion of management time and resources, disruption of our ongoing businesses, difficulties in integrating acquisitions (including potential delays or errors in converting loan servicing portfolio acquisitions to our servicing platform), loss of key employees, degradation of services, difficulty expanding information technology systems and other business processes to incorporate the acquired businesses, extensive regulatory requirements, dilution to existing shareholders if our common stock is issued for an acquisition or investment, incurring or assuming indebtedness or other liabilities in connection with an acquisition, unexpected declines in real estate values or the failure to realize expected benefits from real estate development projects, lack of familiarity with new markets, and difficulties in supporting new product lines. Our failure to successfully manage acquisitions or investments, or successfully integrate acquisitions, could have a material adverse effect on our businesses, financial condition, or results of operations.
Our significant investments in ALLO and Hudl are subject to a number of risks, including macroeconomic conditions, competition, political and regulatory requirements, technology advancements, cybersecurity threats, and retention of key personnel. ALLO derives its revenue primarily from the sale of telecommunication services, which are subject to intense competition and extensive federal, state, and local regulations. Additionally, ALLO’s success is dependent on it maintaining and expanding its infrastructure and continuing to increase market share in existing and new markets. Hudl’s sports performance analysis business is subject to risks related to global market conditions, new competition, advancements in technology, and continued demand for its products and services. The operating results of any of our investments, including ALLO and Hudl, could impact the valuation on our financial statements of our investments in them, and we may not be able to fully monetize these investments without a liquidation event.
Regulatory and Legal
Federal and state laws and regulations can restrict our businesses and increase compliance costs, and noncompliance could result in penalties, litigation, reputation damage, and a loss of customers.
Our operating segments are heavily regulated by federal and state government regulatory agencies. See Part I, Item 1, "Regulation and Supervision." These agencies and the laws and regulations enforced by them are for the protection of consumers and the applicable industry as a whole, not necessarily us. Although we have procedures and controls in place to monitor compliance with regulatory requirements, these laws and regulations are complex, differ between jurisdictions, and are often subject to interpretation, and we may from time to time inadvertently be in non-compliance. Compliance is expensive and requires the time and attention of management, which divert capital and focus away from efforts intended to grow our businesses. If we do not successfully maintain compliance, we could incur fines or penalties, lose existing or new customer contracts or other business, and suffer damage to our reputation. Changes in laws and regulations can significantly alter our business environment, limit business operations, and increase costs of doing business, and we cannot predict the impact such changes may have on our profitability.
For example, the CFPB has the authority to regulate and monitor large nonbank student loan servicers, including us. If the CFPB were to determine that we were not in compliance with applicable laws, regulations, and CFPB guidance, it could result in material adverse consequences including fines, penalties, public enforcement actions, adverse regulatory actions, or changes
in our business practices. The CFPB has also issued student loan servicing rules and continues to review servicing areas where new guidance or rules may be issued in the future.
It is uncertain how the CFPB's recommendations, strategies, and priorities will impact our businesses and our results of operations going forward. CFPB actions could result in requirements to alter our services, causing them to be less attractive or effective and impair our ability to offer them profitably. If the CFPB changes regulations adopted in the past by other regulators, or modifies past regulatory guidance, our compliance costs and litigation exposure could increase.
Several states have enacted laws regulating and monitoring the activity of student loan servicers. For additional information, including risks to us from such state laws, see the paragraph beginning with the same sentence as the immediately preceding sentence that is set forth in Part I, Item 1, “Regulation and Supervision - Loan Servicing and Systems.”
As a result of the discontinuation of new FFELP loan originations in 2010, the existing FFELP loan portfolios in our AGM and Nelnet Bank segments will continue to decline over time.
New loan originations under the FFEL Program were discontinued in 2010, and all subsequent federal student loan originations must be made under the Federal Direct Loan Program. Although this did not alter or affect the terms and conditions of existing FFELP loans, interest income related to existing FFELP loans will decline over time as existing FFELP loans are paid down, refinanced, or repaid by guaranty agencies after default. We believe that in the short term we will not be able to invest the excess cash generated from our AGM segment’s FFELP loan portfolio into assets that immediately generate the rates of return historically realized from that portfolio. If we are unable to grow or develop new revenue streams, our consolidated revenue and operating margin will decrease as a result of the decline in FFELP loan volume outstanding.
Exposure related to certain tax issues could decrease our net income.
Federal and state income tax laws and regulations are often complex and require interpretation. From time to time, we engage in transactions for which the tax consequences are uncertain, and significant judgment is required in assessing and estimating the tax consequences of these transactions. We prepare and file tax returns based on the interpretation of tax laws and regulations and our tax returns are subject to examination by various taxing authorities. Such examinations may result in future tax and interest assessments. In accordance with applicable accounting guidance, we establish reserves for tax contingencies related to deductions and credits that we may be unable to sustain. Differences between these reserves and the amounts ultimately owed are recorded in the period they become known, and adjustments to our reserves could have a material effect on our financial statements. We may also be impacted by changes in tax laws, including tax rate changes, new laws, and subsequent interpretations by applicable authorities. In addition, several states are in a deficit position. Accordingly, states may look to expand their taxable base, alter their tax calculation, or increase tax rates, which could result in additional costs to the us.
In addition, as both a lender and servicer of student loans, we must report interest received and cancellation of indebtedness to individuals and the Internal Revenue Service on an annual basis. The statutory and regulatory guidance regarding the calculations, recipients, and timing are complex, and we know that interpretations of these rules vary across the industry. The complexity and volume associated with these informational forms creates a risk of error which could result in penalties or damage to our reputation.
Our investments in certain tax-advantaged projects promoting renewable energy resources (solar projects) are designed to generate a return primarily through the realization of federal income tax credits at the time the project is placed-in-service. We are subject to the risk that tax credits previously recorded by us, which remain subject to recapture by taxing authorities based on compliance features required to be met at the project level, will fail to meet certain government compliance requirements and will not be able to be realized. The inability to realize these tax credits and other tax benefits would have an adverse impact on our financial results. The risk of not realizing the tax credits and other tax benefits depends on many factors outside of our control, including changes in tax laws and the ability of the projects to continue operation.
The provisions of our articles of incorporation requiring exclusive forum in the Nebraska state courts and the federal district courts of the United States for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging certain lawsuits by limiting plaintiffs’ ability to bring a claim in a judicial forum that they find favorable.
Our articles of incorporation provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, a specifically designated Nebraska state court located in Lincoln, Nebraska (or, if that court does not have jurisdiction, the federal district court for the District of Nebraska located in Lincoln, Nebraska) will be the sole and exclusive forum for: (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf or in the right of us; (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers, or employees to us or our shareholders; (iii) any action asserting a claim arising under any provision of the Nebraska Model Business Corporation Act or our articles of
incorporation or bylaws (as each may be amended from time to time); or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine.
Additionally, our articles of incorporation provide that, unless we consent in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the federal district courts of the United States of America will be the sole and exclusive forum for the resolution of any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
These exclusive forum provisions may limit the ability of our shareholders to commence litigation in a forum that they prefer, which may discourage such lawsuits against us and our current or former directors, officers, and employees.
Principal Shareholder and Related Party Transactions
Our Executive Chairman beneficially owns 82.1% of the voting rights of our shareholders and effectively has control over all of our matters.
Michael S. Dunlap, our Executive Chairman, beneficially owns 82.1% of the voting rights of our shareholders. Accordingly, each member of the Board of Directors and each member of management has been elected or effectively appointed by Mr. Dunlap and can be removed by him. As a result, Mr. Dunlap has control over all of our matters and has the ability to take actions that benefit him, but may not benefit other minority shareholders, and may otherwise exercise his control in a manner with which other minority shareholders may not agree or which they may not consider to be in their best interests.
Furthermore, as a "controlled company" within the meaning of the NYSE rules, we qualify for and, in the future, may opt to rely on, exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements, including having a majority of independent directors, as well as having nominating and corporate governance and compensation committees composed entirely of independent directors. If in the future we choose to rely on such exemptions, the interests of Mr. Dunlap may differ from those of our other stockholders and the other stockholders may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance rules for NYSE-listed companies. Our status as a controlled company could make our Class A common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price.
Our contractual arrangements and transactions with Union Bank, which is under common control with us, present conflicts of interest and pose risks to our shareholders that the terms may not be as favorable to us as we could receive from unrelated third parties.
Union Bank is controlled by Farmers & Merchants Investment Inc. ("F&M"), which is controlled by certain grantor retained annuity trusts established by Mr. Dunlap, his spouse, and Angela L. Muhleisen, a sister of Mr. Dunlap. Mr. Dunlap serves as a Director and Chairman of F&M, and as a Director of Union Bank. Ms. Muhleisen serves as a Director and Chief Executive Officer of F&M and as a Director, Chairperson, President, and Chief Executive Officer of Union Bank. Union Bank is deemed to beneficially own a significant number of our shares because it serves in a capacity of trustee or account manager for various trusts and accounts holding our shares and may share voting and/or investment power with respect to such shares. As of December 31, 2022, Union Bank was deemed to beneficially own 9.7% of the voting rights of our shareholders, and Mr. Dunlap and Ms. Muhleisen beneficially owned 82.1% and 11.8%, respectively, of the voting rights of our shareholders (with certain shares deemed under SEC rules to be beneficially owned by each Union Bank, Mr. Dunlap, and Ms. Muhleisen).
We have entered into, and intend to continue entering into, certain contractual arrangements with Union Bank, including for loan purchases, servicing, participations, banking and lending services, Educational 529 College Savings Plan administration services, lease arrangements, trustee services, and various other investment and advisory services. The net aggregate impact on our consolidated statements of income for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020 related to the transactions with Union Bank was income (before income taxes) of $8.9 million, $11.0 million, and $15.4 million, respectively. See note 23 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information related to the transactions between us and Union Bank.
We intend to maintain our relationship with Union Bank, which our management believes provides certain benefits to us, including Union Bank's knowledge of and experience in the FFELP industry, its willingness to provide services, and at times liquidity and capital resources, on an expedient basis, and its proximity to our corporate headquarters in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The majority of the transactions and arrangements with Union Bank are not offered to unrelated third parties or subject to competitive bids. Accordingly, these transactions and arrangements not only present conflicts of interest, but also pose the risk to our shareholders that the terms of such transactions and arrangements may not be as favorable to us as we could receive from unrelated third parties. Moreover, we may have and/or may enter into contracts and business transactions with related parties that benefit Mr. Dunlap and his sister, as well as other related parties, that may not benefit us and/or our minority shareholders.

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ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
ITEM 1B. UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS
The Company has no unresolved comments from the staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission regarding its periodic or current reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

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ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
ITEM 2. PROPERTIES
The Company's headquarters are located in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Company owns or leases office space facilities primarily in Nebraska, Wisconsin, and Colorado.
The Company believes its existing office space facilities and equipment, which are used by all reportable segments, are in good operating condition and are suitable for the conduct of its business.

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ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
Note 25 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report is incorporated herein by reference.

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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
The Company's Class A common stock is listed and traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “NNI,” while its Class B common stock is not publicly traded. The number of holders of record of the Company's Class A common stock and Class B common stock as of January 31, 2023 was 1,606 and 70, respectively. The record holders of the Class B common stock are Michael S. Dunlap, Shelby J. Butterfield, various members of the Dunlap and Butterfield families, and various other estate planning trusts established by and/or entities controlled by them. Because many shares of the Company's Class A common stock are held by brokers and other institutions on behalf of shareholders, the Company is unable to estimate the total number of beneficial owners represented by these record holders.
The Company paid quarterly cash dividends on its Class A and Class B common stock during the years ended December 31, 2021 and 2022 in amounts totaling $0.90 per share and $0.98 per share, respectively. The Company plans to continue making comparable regular quarterly dividend payments, subject to future earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other factors.
Performance Graph
The following graph compares the change in the cumulative total shareholder return on the Company's Class A common stock to that of the cumulative return of the S&P 500 Index and the S&P 500 Financials Index. The graph assumes that the value of an investment in the Company's Class A common stock and each index was $100 on December 31, 2017 and that all dividends, if applicable, were reinvested. The performance shown in the graph represents past performance and should not be considered an indication of future performance.
Company/Index 12/31/2017
12/31/2018
12/31/2019
12/31/2020
12/31/2021
12/31/2022
Nelnet, Inc. $ 100.00 $ 96.65 $ 108.87 $ 135.04 $ 187.30 $ 175.99
S&P 500 100.00 95.62 125.72 148.85 191.58 156.89
S&P 500 Financials 100.00 86.97 114.91 112.96 152.54 136.48
The preceding information under the caption “Performance Graph” shall be deemed to be “furnished” but not “filed” with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Stock Repurchases
The following table summarizes the repurchases of Class A common stock during the fourth quarter of 2022 by the Company or any “affiliated purchaser” of the Company, as defined in Rule 10b-18(a)(3) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Certain share repurchases included in the table below were made pursuant to a trading plan adopted by the Company in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Period Total number of shares purchased (a) Average price paid per share Total number of shares purchased as part of publicly announced plans or programs (b) Maximum number of shares that may yet be purchased under the plans or programs (b)
October 1 - October 31, 2022 50,915 $ 81.23 50,915 4,467,021
November 1 - November 30, 2022 - - - 4,467,021
December 1 - December 31, 2022 3,448 94.27 - 4,467,021
Total 54,363 $ 82.05 50,915
(a) The total number of shares includes: (i) shares repurchased pursuant to the stock repurchase program discussed in footnote (b) below; and (ii) shares owned and tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations upon the vesting of restricted shares. Shares of Class A common stock tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations included 3,448 shares in December 2022. Unless otherwise indicated, shares owned and tendered by employees to satisfy tax withholding obligations were purchased at the closing price of the Company’s shares on the date of vesting.
(b) On May 9, 2022, the Company announced that its Board of Directors authorized a new stock repurchase program to repurchase up to a total of five million shares of the Company's Class A common stock during the three-year period ending May 8, 2025.
Equity Compensation Plans
For information regarding the securities authorized for issuance under the Company's equity compensation plans, see Part III, Item 12 of this report.

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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
(Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations is for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. All dollars are in thousands, except share data, unless otherwise noted.)
The following discussion and analysis provides information that the Company’s management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding of the consolidated results of operations and financial condition of the Company. The discussion and analysis should be read in conjunction with the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related notes included in this report. This discussion and analysis contains forward-looking statements subject to various risks and uncertainties and should be read in conjunction with the disclosures and information contained in "Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements" and Item 1A "Risk Factors" included in this report.
A discussion related to the results of operations and changes in financial condition for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared with the year ended December 31, 2021 is presented below. A discussion related to the results of operations and changes in financial condition for the year ended December 31, 2021 compared with the year ended December 31, 2020 can be found in Part II, Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in the Company's 2021 Annual Report on Form 10-K, which was filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission on February 28, 2022.
OVERVIEW
The Company is a diverse, innovative company with a purpose to serve others and a vision to make dreams possible. The largest operating businesses engage in loan servicing and education technology, services, and payment processing, and the Company also has a significant investment in communications. A significant portion of the Company's revenue is net interest income earned on a portfolio of federally insured student loans. The Company also makes investments to further diversify both within and outside of its historical core education-related businesses including, but not limited to, investments in early-stage and emerging growth companies, real estate, and renewable energy (solar).
The Company was formed as a Nebraska corporation in 1978 to service federal student loans for two local banks. The Company built on this initial foundation as a servicer to become a leading originator, holder, and servicer of federal student loans, principally consisting of loans originated under the FFEL Program.
The Reconciliation Act of 2010 discontinued new loan originations under the FFEL Program, effective July 1, 2010, and requires all new federal student loan originations be made directly by the Department through the Federal Direct Loan Program. As a result, the Company no longer originates FFELP loans. However, a significant portion of the Company's income continues to be derived from its existing FFELP student loan portfolio. Interest income on the Company's existing FFELP loan portfolio will decline over time as the portfolio is paid down. Since all FFELP loans will eventually run off, a key objective of the Company is to maximize the amount and timing of cash flow generated from its FFELP portfolio and reposition itself for the post-FFELP environment.
To reduce its reliance on interest income from FFELP loans, the Company has expanded its services and products. This expansion has been accomplished through internal growth and innovation as well as business and certain investment acquisitions. The Company is also actively expanding its private education, consumer, and other loan portfolios, and in November 2020 launched Nelnet Bank. In addition, the Company has been servicing federally owned student loans for the Department since 2009.
GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income, Excluding Adjustments
The Company prepares its financial statements and presents its financial results in accordance with GAAP. However, it also provides additional non-GAAP financial information related to specific items management believes to be important in the evaluation of its operating results and performance. A reconciliation of the Company's GAAP net income to Non-GAAP net income, excluding derivative market value adjustments, and a discussion of why the Company believes providing this additional information is useful to investors, is provided below.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
GAAP net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc.
$ 407,347 393,286
Realized and unrealized derivative market value adjustments
(231,691) (92,813)
Tax effect (a)
55,606 22,275
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc., excluding derivative market value adjustments (b)
$ 231,262 322,748
Earnings per share:
GAAP net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc.
$ 10.83 10.20
Realized and unrealized derivative market value adjustments
(6.16) (2.41)
Tax effect (a)
1.48 0.58
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc., excluding derivative market value adjustments (b)
$ 6.15 8.37
(a) The tax effects are calculated by multiplying the realized and unrealized derivative market value adjustments by the applicable statutory income tax rate.
(b) "Derivative market value adjustments" includes both the realized portion of gains and losses (corresponding to variation margin received or paid on derivative instruments that are settled daily at a central clearinghouse) and the unrealized portion of gains and losses that are caused by changes in fair values of derivatives which do not qualify for "hedge treatment" under GAAP. "Derivative market value adjustments" does not include "derivative settlements" that represent the cash paid or received during the current period to settle with derivative instrument counterparties the economic effect of the Company's derivative instruments based on their contractual terms.
The accounting for derivatives requires that changes in the fair value of derivative instruments be recognized currently in earnings, with no fair value adjustment of the hedged item, unless specific hedge accounting criteria is met. Management has structured all of the Company’s derivative transactions with the intent that each is economically effective; however, the Company’s derivative instruments do not qualify for hedge accounting. As a result, the change in fair value of derivative instruments is reported in current period earnings with no consideration for the corresponding change in fair value of the hedged item. Under GAAP, the cumulative net realized and unrealized gain or loss caused by changes in fair values of derivatives in which the Company plans to hold to maturity will equal zero over the life of the contract. However, the net realized and unrealized gain or loss during any given reporting period fluctuates significantly from period to period.
The Company believes these point-in-time estimates of asset and liability values related to its derivative instruments that are subject to interest rate fluctuations are subject to volatility mostly due to timing and market factors beyond the control of management, and affect the period-to-period comparability of the results of operations. Accordingly, the Company’s management utilizes operating results excluding these items for comparability purposes when making decisions regarding the Company’s performance and in presentations with credit rating agencies, lenders, and investors. Consequently, the Company reports this non-GAAP information because the Company believes that it provides additional information regarding operational and performance indicators that are closely assessed by management. There is no comprehensive, authoritative guidance for the presentation of such non-GAAP information, which is only meant to supplement GAAP results by providing additional information that management utilizes to assess performance.
Operating Segments
The Company's reportable operating segments are described in note 1 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report. They include:
•Loan Servicing and Systems (LSS) - referred to as Nelnet Diversified Services (NDS), which includes the operations of Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes
•Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing (ETS&PP) - referred to as Nelnet Business Services (NBS)
•Asset Generation and Management (AGM)
•Nelnet Bank
•Communications
The Company earns fee-based revenue through its NDS and NBS reportable operating segments. The Company earns net interest income on its loan portfolio, consisting primarily of FFELP loans, in its AGM reportable operating segment. This segment is expected to generate significant amounts of cash as the FFELP portfolio amortizes. The Company actively works to maximize the amount and timing of cash flows generated from its FFELP portfolio and seeks to acquire additional loan assets to leverage its servicing scale and expertise to generate incremental earnings and cash flow.
On November 2, 2020, the Company obtained final approval for federal deposit insurance from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and for a bank charter from the Utah Department of Financial Institutions (UDFI) in connection with the establishment of Nelnet Bank, and Nelnet Bank launched operations. Nelnet Bank operates as an internet industrial bank franchise focused on the private education and unsecured consumer loan markets, with a home office in Salt Lake City, Utah.
Further, the Company earned revenue in its former Communications reportable operating segment through ALLO, formerly a majority-owned subsidiary of the Company prior to a recapitalization of ALLO resulting in the deconsolidation of ALLO from the Company’s financial statements on December 21, 2020. The recapitalization of ALLO was not considered a strategic shift in the Company’s involvement with ALLO, and ALLO’s results of operations, prior to the deconsolidation, are presented by the Company in its former Communications reportable operating segment.
Other business activities and operating segments that are not reportable are combined and included in Corporate and Other Activities ("Corporate"). Corporate also includes income earned on the majority of the Company’s investments, interest expense incurred on unsecured and other corporate related debt transactions, and certain shared service activities related to internal audit, human resources, accounting, legal, enterprise risk management, information technology, occupancy, and marketing. These shared services are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services. In addition, Corporate includes corporate costs and overhead functions not allocated to operating segments, including executive management, investments in innovation, and other holding company organizational costs.
The information below provides the operating results (net income (loss) before taxes) for each reportable operating segment and Corporate and Other Activities for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021. See “Results of Operations” for each reportable operating segment and Corporate and Other Activities under this Item 7 for additional detail.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Certain Items Impacting Comparability
(All dollar amounts below are pre-tax)
NDS $ 64,456 62,445 •The recognition of $5.5 million of non-cash impairment charges in 2022 compared with $13.2 million in 2021, due primarily to continued evaluation of office space needs as employees continue to work from home due to COVID-19.
•Decrease in operating margin in 2022 compared with 2021 due to increased operating expenses in 2022, primarily salaries and benefits, as the Company hired employees in preparation for the resumption of federal student loan payments once the CARES Act suspension was to expire. The expiration of the CARES Act was extended multiple times throughout 2022.
NBS 74,105 72,713 •The recognition of $9.4 million of interest income in 2022 compared with $1.1 million in 2021 due to higher interest rates.
•The recognition of a $2.2 million non-cash impairment charge in 2022 related to previously acquired computer software.
•Decrease in operating margin in 2022 compared with 2021 due to additional investments during 2022 in the development of new services and technologies; and superior customer experiences to grow, retain, and diversify revenue.
AGM 454,725 423,616 •A net gain of $231.7 million related to changes in the fair value of derivative instruments that do not qualify for hedge accounting in 2022 compared with a gain of $92.8 million in 2021.
•A decrease of $46.3 million in net interest income due to the decrease in the average balance of loans in 2022 compared with 2021.
•An increase of $27.1 million in net interest income due to an increase in core loan spread in 2022 compared with 2021.
•A decrease of $23.8 million in interest expense in 2021 as a result of the Company reversing a historical accrued interest liability on certain bonds, which liability the Company determined is no longer probable of being required to be paid.
•An increase of $8.4 million in interest income in 2022 compared with a $6.2 million decrease to interest income in 2021, as a result of increasing the constant prepayment rate used to amortize/accrete federally insured loan premium/discounts for loans.
•The recognition of $44.6 million in provision for loan losses in 2022 compared with a negative provision of $13.2 million in 2021.
•The recognition of a $32.9 million gain in 2021 related to the Company’s joint venture to acquire a private education student loan portfolio previously owned by Wells Fargo.
•The recognition of $10.8 million in borrower late fees in 2022 compared with $3.4 million in 2021.
•The recognition of $9.9 million in interest income on restricted cash in 2022 compared with $0.1 million in 2021 due to an increase in the balance of restricted cash and interest rates.
•The recognition of $7.9 million in administration and sponsor fee income in 2022 compared with $3.7 million in 2021.
•The recognition of $2.9 million in gains from the sale of loans in 2022 compared with $18.7 million in 2021.
•The recognition of a $1.2 million gain in 2022 from the repurchase of debt compared with a loss of $6.8 million in 2021.
Nelnet Bank 4,357 (792) •Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in loans and investments, offset by increased operating expenses to support the bank’s growth.
Corporate (88,180) (55,875) •The recognition of a net loss of $68.0 million in 2022 related to the Company’s investment in ALLO compared with a net loss of $42.1 million in 2021.
•The recognition of $12.9 million of non-cash impairment and contingency charges in 2022 compared with $5.6 million in 2021. Impairment charges were primarily due to certain venture capital investments.
Net income before taxes 509,465 502,105
Income tax expense (113,224) (115,822)
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 11,106 7,003
Net income $ 407,347 393,286
CONSOLIDATED RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
An analysis of the Company's consolidated operating results for the year ended December 31, 2022 compared with 2021 is provided below.
The Company’s operating results are primarily driven by the performance of its existing loan portfolio and the revenues generated by its fee-based businesses and the costs to provide such services. The performance of the Company’s portfolio is driven by net interest income (which includes financing costs) and losses related to credit quality of the assets, along with the cost to administer and service the assets and related debt.
The Company operates as distinct reportable operating segments as described above. For a reconciliation of the reportable segment operating results to the consolidated results of operations, see note 17 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report. Since the Company monitors and assesses its operations and results based on these segments, the discussion following the consolidated results of operations is presented on a reportable segment basis.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Loan interest $ 651,205 482,337 Increase was due to an increase in the gross yield earned on loans, partially offset by a decrease in the average balance of loans and in gross fixed rate floor income.
Investment interest 91,601 41,498 Includes income from unrestricted interest-earning deposits and investments and funds in asset-backed securitizations. Increase was due to an increase in interest earning investments and an increase in interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Total interest income 742,806 523,835
Interest expense 430,137 176,233 Increase was due to an increase in cost of funds, partially offset by a decrease in the average balance of debt outstanding. In addition, during the first quarter of 2021, the Company reduced interest expense by $23.8 million as a result of reversing a historical accrued interest liability on certain bonds, which liability the Company determined is no longer probable of being required to be paid. The liability was initially recorded when certain asset-backed securitizations were acquired in 2011 and 2013.
Net interest income 312,669 347,602
Less provision (negative provision) for loan losses 46,441 (12,426) Represents the current period provision (negative provision) to reflect the lifetime expected credit losses related to the Company’s loan portfolio. See note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements in this report for the activity in the Company’s allowance for loan losses.
Net interest income after provision for loan losses 266,228 360,028
Other income (expense):
LSS revenue 535,459 486,363 See LSS operating segment - results of operations.
ETS&PP revenue 408,543 338,234 See ETS&PP operating segment - results of operations.
Solar construction revenue 24,543 - On July 1, 2022, the Company acquired 80% of the ownership interests of GRNE Solar. GRNE Solar designs and installs residential, commercial, and utility-scale solar systems. The acquisition diversifies the Company’s position in the renewable energy space to include solar construction.
Other, net 25,486 78,681 See table below for components of “other.”
Gain on sale of loans, net 2,903 18,715 The Company sold $167.0 million (par value) and $101.1 million (par value) of consumer and other loans to unrelated third parties in 2022 and 2021, respectively, and recognized net gains from such sales.
Impairment expense and provision for beneficial interests, net (15,523) (16,360) The Company continues to evaluate the use of office space as a large number of employees continue to work from home due to COVID-19. As a result of this evaluation, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge on certain building and lease assets of $2.8 million and $14.2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. In addition, the Company recognized non-cash impairment charges on certain venture capital investments of $6.6 million and $4.6 million during 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company also recognized non-cash impairment charges of $6.2 million in 2022 related to internally developed and purchased software.
Derivative settlements, net 32,943 (21,367) The Company maintains an overall risk management strategy that incorporates the use of derivative instruments to reduce the economic effect of interest rate volatility. Derivative settlements for each applicable period should be evaluated with the Company's net interest income. See AGM operating segment - results of operations.
Derivative market value adjustments, net 231,691 92,813 Includes the realized and unrealized gains and losses that are caused by changes in fair values of derivatives which do not qualify for "hedge treatment" under GAAP. The majority of the derivative market value adjustments were related to the changes in fair value of the Company's floor income interest rate swaps. Such changes reflect that a decrease in the forward yield curve during a reporting period results in a decrease in the fair value of the Company's floor income interest rate swaps, and an increase in the forward yield curve during a reporting period results in an increase in the fair value of such swaps.
Total other income (expense) 1,246,045 977,079
Cost of services:
Cost to provide education technology, services, and payment processing services 148,403 108,660 Represents direct costs to provide payment processing and instructional services in the ETS&PP operating segment. Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was primarily due to additional instructional services costs. See ETS&PP operating segment - results of operations.
Cost to provide solar construction services 19,971 - As noted above, the Company acquired GRNE Solar on July 1, 2022. These amounts represent direct costs related to GRNE providing solar construction services.
Total cost of services 168,374 108,660
Operating expenses:
Salaries and benefits 589,579 507,132 Increase was due to an increase in headcount in the (i) LSS operating segment as the Company has been required to prepare for the resumption of federal student loan payments upon the expiration of the CARES Act borrower relief provisions, which have been extended several times throughout 2022; and (ii) ETS&PP operating segment to support the growth of its customer base and the investment in the development of new technologies.
Depreciation and amortization 74,077 73,741 Includes depreciation of property and equipment and the amortization of intangibles from prior business acquisitions.
Other expenses 170,778 145,469 Other expense includes expenses necessary for operations, such as postage and distribution, consulting and professional fees, occupancy, communications, and certain information technology-related costs. Increase was due to (i) an increase in expenses in the LSS operating segment due to growth of borrowers under the government servicing contracts; and (ii) an increase in expenses in the ETS&PP operating segment due to higher costs for consulting, professional fees, and technology services resulting from investments in new technologies, and an increase in costs for travel and in-person hosted conferences that subsided in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Total operating expenses 834,434 726,342
Income before income taxes 509,465 502,105
Income tax expense 113,224 115,822 The effective tax rate was 21.75% and 22.75% for 2022 and 2021, respectively. The Company expects its future effective tax rate will range between 22% and 24%.
Net income 396,241 386,283
Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests 11,106 7,003 Amounts for noncontrolling interests reflect the net income/loss attributable to the holders of noncontrolling membership interests in WRCM, NextGen, multiple solar entities including, GRNE Solar, and multiple entities investing in federal opportunity zone programs.
Net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc. $ 407,347 393,286
Additional information:
Net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc. $ 407,347 393,286 See "Overview - GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income, Excluding Adjustments" above for additional information about non-GAAP net income, excluding derivative market value adjustments.
Derivative market value adjustments, net (231,691) (92,813)
Tax effect 55,606 22,275
Non-GAAP net income attributable to Nelnet, Inc., excluding derivative market value adjustments $ 231,262 $ 322,748
The following table summarizes the components of "other, net" in "other income (expense)."
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Income/gains from investments, net $ 51,552 91,593 See Corporate - results of operations and note (a) below for additional information.
Borrower late fee income 10,809 3,444 See AGM operating segment - results of operations.
ALLO preferred return 8,584 8,427 See Corporate - results of operations.
Administration/sponsor fee income 7,898 3,656 See AGM operating segment - results of operations.
Investment advisory services 6,026 7,773 See Corporate - results of operations.
Management fee revenue 2,543 3,307 See LSS operating segment - results of operations.
Loss from ALLO voting membership interest investment (67,966) (42,148) See Corporate - results of operations.
Loss from solar investments (9,479) (10,132) See Corporate - results of operations.
Other 15,519 12,761
Other, net $ 25,486 78,681
(a) During 2022, the Company recognized net investment income and gains of $51.6 million, including $24.2 million from venture capital investments ($22.3 million recognized in Corporate), $26.6 million related to real estate investments, and $0.8 million related to investments in asset-backed securities (bonds) and marketable equity securities (a loss of $1.3 million recognized in Corporate).
Included in the 2022 venture capital gains, the Company recognized a $15.2 million gain during the second quarter of 2022 as a result of the revaluation of its previously held 50% ownership interests in NextGen. See note 8 of the notes to the consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information.
During 2021, the Company recognized net investment income and gains of $91.6 million, including $32.9 million from the Company’s joint venture to acquire a private education student loan portfolio previously owned by Wells Fargo (included in the AGM operating segment), $28.8 million from venture capital investments, $22.3 million related to real estate investments, and $7.6 million related to investments in asset-backed securities (bonds) and marketable equity securities ($6.6 million recognized in Corporate).
As the Company expects its investment portfolio will continue to grow, the Company also anticipates fluctuations in future periodic earnings resulting from investment valuation adjustments from time to time.
LOAN SERVICING AND SYSTEMS OPERATING SEGMENT - RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Loan Servicing Volumes
As of
December 31,
2020 March 31,
2021 June 30,
2021 September 30,
2021 December 31,
2021 March 31,
2022 June 30,
2022 September 30,
2022 December 31,
Servicing volume
(dollars in millions):
Government $ 443,248 453,681 452,450 461,054 478,402 507,653 542,398 545,546 545,373
FFELP 30,763 30,084 29,361 28,244 26,916 25,646 24,224 22,412 20,226
Private and consumer 16,226 21,397 24,758 24,229 23,702 23,433 22,838 22,461 21,866
Total $ 490,237 505,162 506,569 513,527 529,020 556,732 589,460 590,419 587,465
Number of servicing
borrowers:
Government 13,251,930 13,301,364 13,253,051 13,570,056 14,196,520 14,727,860 15,426,607 15,657,942 15,777,328
FFELP 1,300,677 1,233,461 1,198,863 1,150,214 1,092,066 1,034,913 977,785 910,188 829,939
Private and consumer 636,136 882,477 1,039,537 1,097,252 1,065,439 1,030,863 998,454 979,816 951,866
Total 15,188,743 15,417,302 15,491,451 15,817,522 16,354,025 16,793,636 17,402,846 17,547,946 17,559,133
Number of remote hosted borrowers:
6,555,841 4,307,342 4,338,570 4,548,541 4,799,368 5,487,943 5,738,381 6,025,377 6,135,760
Government Loan Servicing
The Company's student loan servicing contracts with the Department are scheduled to expire on December 14, 2023. In 2017, the Department initiated a contract procurement process referred to as the Next Generation Financial Services Environment for a new framework for the servicing of all student loans owned by the Department. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 contains provisions directing certain aspects of the process, including that any new federal student loan servicing environment is required to provide for the participation of multiple student loan servicers and the allocation of borrower accounts to eligible student loan servicers based on performance. In the second quarter of 2022, the Department released a solicitation entitled Unified Servicing and Data Solution (USDS) for the new servicing framework. The Company responded to the USDS solicitation. The Company cannot predict the timing, nature, or ultimate outcome of this or any other contract procurement process by the Department. If the Company’s servicing contracts are not extended beyond the current expiration date, or the Company is not chosen as a subsequent servicer, loan servicing revenue would decrease significantly. If the terms and requirements under a potential new contract with the Department are less favorable than under our current contracts, loan servicing revenue and/or operating margins could be adversely impacted. In addition, if any current or future Department servicing contracts become subject to unfavorable modifications or interpretations by the Department, including adverse pricing changes, servicing revenue would be negatively impacted and could result in potential restructuring charges that may be necessary to re-align the Company’s cost structure with the Company’s servicing operations. For example, due to a lack of Federal government appropriations, the Department may modify its cost under existing contracts with its servicers, and such modifications could adversely impact the Company’s servicing revenue and operating results.
Nelnet Servicing and Great Lakes are two of the current six private sector entities that have student loan servicing contracts with the Department. In July 2021, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) announced its exit from the federal student loan servicing business. All applicable student loans serviced for the Department by PHEAA were transferred to successor servicers. At the time of this announcement, PHEAA serviced approximately 8.5 million borrowers under its contract. As of December 31, 2021 and 2022, approximately 603,000 and 1,910,000 PHEAA borrowers, respectively, have been transitioned to the Company's platform. In addition, over this same time period, PHEAA borrowers were transferred to other servicers that the Company provides its servicing system (remote hosted servicing customers). This has increased the number of remote hosted borrowers as reflected in the table above.
In addition, the New Hampshire Higher Education Association Foundation Network (“Granite State”) exited the federal student loan servicing business in 2021. Granite State’s servicing volume of approximately 1.3 million borrowers was transitioned to Edfinancial Services, LLC ("Edfinancial"), a current servicer for the Department, during the third and fourth quarters of 2021. Edfinancial utilizes Nelnet Servicing's platform to service their loans for the Department, as did Granite State prior to its exit. In the fourth quarter of 2022, Nelnet Servicing and Edfinancial reached an agreement on a decommission schedule transferring Edfinancial’s direct loan servicing volume to another servicing platform. As of December 31, 2022, Edfinancial was servicing 4.5 million borrowers for the Department on the Company’s platform.
In February 2023, the Department notified the Company of its intention to transfer up to one million borrowers of the Company’s existing Department servicing borrowers to another servicer, and one of the Company’s remote hosted servicing customers notified us the Department intends to move that customer’s servicing borrowers to a different servicing platform. Neither transfer decision was based on the Company’s performance.
The Company expects the three transfers discussed above to begin in the first quarter of 2023 and be completed prior to the end of the CARES Act forbearance period. As a result of the transfers, software services revenue for remote hosted customers and government servicing revenue will decrease in future periods as borrowers are transferred off of the Company’s platform. In addition, once all remote hosted servicing transfers are complete, there will be no active Department remote hosted servicing customers using the Company’s platform.
Department of Education Debt Relief
In August 2022, the Department announced a broad based student debt relief plan that would provide targeted student debt cancellation to borrowers with loans held by the Department, and that borrowers whose annual income for either 2020 or 2021 was under $125,000 (for single or married, filing separately) or under $250,000 (for married couples, filing jointly or heads of household) will be eligible for otherwise unconditional loan cancellation in amounts of up to $20,000 for eligible borrowers who received a Pell Grant, or of up to $10,000 for eligible borrowers who did not receive a Pell Grant. Decisions by the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and Fifth Circuit in October 2022 and November 2022, respectively, in response to legal challenges that were initiated by other parties (not the Company) have blocked implementation of the Department's broad based student debt relief plan. These cases have been appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. As of the filing of this report, the Supreme Court has not ruled on, and the Company cannot predict the timing, nature, or ultimate outcome of, this case.
The Company cannot estimate how many borrowers meet the eligibility requirements and other terms and conditions for one-time debt relief under the Department's announcement. If there was a broad $10,000 or $20,000 per borrower forgiveness on all government owned loans, the Company estimates it would decrease the number of borrowers serviced (based on the borrower loan information as of December 31, 2022) by approximately 4.3 million borrowers and 7.5 million borrowers, respectively. The actual impact to the number of borrowers serviced may be less than these amounts due to annual income ceilings for borrowers to qualify for forgiveness and the impact of whether a Pell Grant was received on the amount of forgiveness for a borrower.
Revenue earned under the current Department servicing contracts will decrease in future periods if the Department's student debt relief plan or other broad based loan forgiveness is implemented.
The CARES Act
Under the CARES Act, beginning in March 2020, federal student loan payments and interest accruals were suspended for all borrowers that had loans owned by the Department. As a result of the CARES Act, the Company receives less servicing revenue per borrower from the Department based on the borrower forbearance status than what was earned on such accounts prior to these provisions. On April 6, 2022, the Department extended the student loans payment pause under the CARES Act from May 1, 2022 to August 31, 2022, and on August 24, 2022, the Department extended such payment pause from August 31, 2022 to December 31, 2022. On November 22, 2022, the Department again extended such payment pause until 60 days following the date the Department is permitted to implement the debt relief program or the litigation initiated by other parties is resolved. If the debt relief program has not been implemented and the litigation has not been resolved by June 30, 2023, borrower forbearances will end 60 days after June 30, 2023, and payments will resume within 60 days after that (on or before October 28, 2023). Prior to the April 2022 extension (during the fourth quarter of 2021 and first quarter of 2022), the Company earned additional revenue from the Department based on incremental work, including outbound engagement, being performed by the Company to support the anticipated Department borrowers coming out of forbearance. Effective May 1, 2022, the Department increased the monthly per borrower CARES Act forbearance rate paid to its servicers to compensate them for supplemental outreach to certain borrowers and to support the transition of borrowers back to repayment. Once borrowers transition back to repayment, the Company anticipates revenue per borrower from the Department will increase from the current CARES Act levels.
Private Education Loan Servicing
In December 2020, Wells Fargo announced the sale of its approximately $10.0 billion portfolio of private education student loans representing approximately 445,000 borrowers. In conjunction with the sale, the Company was selected as servicer of the portfolio. During March 2021, approximately 261,000 borrowers were converted to the Company's servicing platform, with the vast majority of the remaining borrowers converted in the second quarter of 2021.
Summary and Comparison of Operating Results
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Net interest income $ 2,678 43 Increase was due to higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Loan servicing and systems revenue 535,459 486,363 See table below for additional information.
Intersegment servicing revenue 33,170 33,956 Represents revenue earned by the LSS operating segment from servicing loans for the AGM and Nelnet Bank operating segments. Decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to the continued amortization of AGM's FFELP portfolio. FFELP intersegment servicing revenue will continue to decrease as AGM's FFELP portfolio pays off.
Other income 2,543 3,307 Represents revenue earned from providing administrative support and marketing services. The decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to a contract for services provided to Great Lakes’ former parent company that expired in January 2021.
Impairment expense (5,511) (13,243) The Company continues to evaluate the use of office space as a large number of employees continue to work from home due to COVID-19. As a result of this evaluation, the Company recorded a non-cash impairment charge of $1.8 million and $13.2 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively, to certain building and lease assets. In addition, during the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company recorded a $3.7 million non-cash impairment charge to internally developed software.
Total other income (expense) 565,661 510,383
Salaries and benefits 344,809 297,406 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to the Company hiring contact center operations and support associates as the Company prepared for expiration of federal student loan payment pause and other activities under the CARES Act. See “Government Loan Servicing - The CARES Act” above for additional details.
Depreciation and amortization 24,255 25,649 Includes amortization of intangible assets from the Great Lakes acquisition in February 2018 and depreciation on property and equipment. The majority of the Great Lakes intangible assets became fully amortized as of June 30, 2021 and all remaining assets were fully amortized by December 2022. Amortization of intangible assets for 2022 and 2021 was $4.5 million and $12.3 million, respectively. Excluding amortization of intangible assets, the increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to scaling of the Company's servicing platform for the PHEAA loan volume transferred to its platform.
Other expenses 59,674 52,720 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to additional costs associated with the growth of borrowers under the government servicing contracts.
Intersegment expenses 75,145 72,206 Intersegment expenses represent costs for certain corporate activities and services that are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services. Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to the Company hiring contact center operations and support associates in preparation for the provisions of the CARES Act to expire.
Total operating expenses 503,883 447,981
Income before income taxes
64,456 62,445
Income tax expense (15,470) (14,987) Reflects income tax expense at an effective tax rate of 24%.
Net income $ 48,986 47,458
GAAP before tax operating margin 11.3 % 11.9 % Before tax operating margin, excluding impairment and amortization expense, is a non-GAAP measure of before tax operating profitability as a percentage of revenue, and for the LSS segment is calculated as income before income taxes (excluding impairment and amortization expense) divided by the total of loan servicing and systems revenue, intersegment servicing revenue, and other income revenue. The Company uses this metric to monitor and assess the segment’s performance, manage operating costs, identify and evaluate business trends affecting the segment, and make strategic decisions, and believes that it provides additional information to facilitate an understanding of the operating performance of the segment and provides a meaningful comparison of the results of operations between periods.
Before tax operating margin, excluding impairment and amortization expense, decreased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to increased operating expenses, primarily salaries and benefits, as the Company prepared for a January 31, 2022 expiration of the federal student loan payment pause under the CARES Act, which has been extended multiple times throughout 2022.
Impairment expense 0.9 2.5
Amortization expense 0.8 2.4
Non-GAAP before tax operating margin, excluding impairment and amortization expense 13.0 % 16.8 %
Loan servicing and systems revenue
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Government loan servicing $ 423,066 360,793 Represents revenue from the Company's Department servicing contracts. Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to (i) an increase in the number of borrowers serviced, including PHEAA borrowers transferred to the Company's servicing platform; (ii) a per borrower rate increase on each September 1, 2021 (1.8%) and September 1, 2022 (5.0%) to reflect the increase in the cost of labor (Employment Cost Index) per the provisions of the contracts; (iii) a CARES Act forbearance rate increase effective May 1, 2022; (vi) the recognition of $16.2 million of revenue in 2022 related to an increase in call center hours of operations, staff retention incentive from the Department, and additional change requests; and (v) the recognition of $9.9 million of revenue in 2022 for activities supporting preparedness for the Department’s debt relief program. Included in revenue for 2022 and 2021 was $13.6 million and $9.1 million, respectively, of revenue related to the discharge of borrowers under the Total and Permanent Disability (TPD) discharge program (the Company earns revenue per each borrower that satisfies the requirements for their loan to be discharged under the TPD discharge program), and $7.7 million and $25.0 million of revenue, respectively, for incremental work related primarily to CARES Act forbearance exit outreach activities to borrowers.
Private education and consumer loan servicing 49,210 47,302 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to (i) the addition of the former Wells Fargo private education loan borrowers converted to the Company's servicing platform during March and the second quarter of 2021; and (ii) revenue earned on new backup servicing agreements. Excluding revenue earned on the former Wells Fargo portfolio and new backup servicing agreements, revenue for 2022 decreased compared with 2021. The decrease in revenue was due to a decrease in servicing volume and client requested enhanced delinquency services.
FFELP loan servicing 16,016 18,281 Decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to a decrease in the number of borrowers serviced. Over time, FFELP servicing revenue will continue to decrease as third-party customers' FFELP portfolios pay off. Since late 2021, the Company has experienced accelerated run-off of its FFELP servicing portfolio due to FFELP borrowers consolidating their loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans as a result of the continued extension of borrower relief under the CARES Act and initiatives offered by the Department for FFELP borrowers to consolidate their loans to qualify for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and other programs.
Software services 33,409 34,600 Decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to (i) the Company earned deconversion fees in the fourth quarter of 2021 from Granite State, a remote hosted servicing customer, when they exited the federal student loan servicing business and transferred their loan volume to a third party; and (ii) many of the services provided under the Company's remote hosted servicing and system support contract with Great Lakes' former parent, representing 2.3 million borrowers, expiring on January 31, 2021. These decreases were offset by an increase in the number of remote hosted servicing borrowers primarily from the transfer of PHEAA borrowers to these servicing customers throughout 2021 and 2022. Software services revenue from Department remote hosted servicing customers will be adversely impacted in future periods. See “Government Loan Servicing” above for additional information.
Outsourced services 13,758 25,387 The majority of this revenue relates to providing contact center and back office operational outsourcing services. In 2021, these services included assisting state agencies with COVID-19 specific activities. Revenue from providing COVID-19 related services to state agencies in 2021 was $17.3 million. Excluding COVID-19 specific activities, outsourced services revenue has increased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to additional outsourced opportunities, including assisting existing Department servicers as they wind down their operations.
Loan servicing and systems revenue $ 535,459 486,363
EDUCATION TECHNOLOGY, SERVICES, AND PAYMENT PROCESSING OPERATING SEGMENT - RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
This segment of the Company’s business is subject to seasonal fluctuations which correspond, or are related to, the traditional school year. Tuition management revenue is recognized over the course of the academic term, but the peak operational activities take place in summer and early fall. Higher amounts of revenue are typically recognized during the first quarter due to fees related to grant and aid applications as well as online applications and enrollment services. The Company’s operating expenses do not follow the seasonality of the revenues. This is primarily due to generally fixed year-round personnel costs and seasonal marketing costs. Based on the timing of revenue recognition and when expenses are incurred, revenue and pre-tax operating margin are higher in the first quarter as compared to the remainder of the year.
Summary and Comparison of Operating Results
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Net interest income $ 9,377 1,075 Represents interest income on tuition funds held in custody for schools. Increase was due to a higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Education technology, services, and
payment processing revenue 408,543 338,234 See table below for additional information.
Intersegment revenue 81 12
Impairment expense (2,239) - During the fourth quarter of 2022, the Company recognized a non-cash impairment charge related to previously acquired computer software.
Total other income (expense) 406,385 338,246
Cost of services 148,403 108,660 See table below for additional information.
Salaries and benefits 133,428 112,046 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in headcount to support the growth of the customer base, and the investment in the development of new technologies.
Depreciation and amortization 10,184 11,404 Represents primarily amortization of intangible assets from prior business acquisitions. Amortization of intangible assets related to business acquisitions was $9.1 million and $10.7 million for 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Other expenses 30,104 19,318 Increase was due to higher costs for consulting, professional fees, and technology services resulting from investments in new technologies. Increase was also due to an increase in costs for travel and in-person hosted conferences that subsided in 2021 due to the COVID pandemic.
Intersegment expenses, net 19,538 15,180 Intersegment expenses represent costs for certain corporate activities and services that are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services. Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in costs to support the growth of the customer base, and the investment in the development of new technologies.
Total operating expenses 193,254 157,948
Income before income taxes 74,105 72,713
Income tax expense (17,785) (17,451) Represents income tax expense at an effective tax rate of 24%.
Net income 56,320 55,262
Net income attributable to noncontrolling interests (3) - Amounts for noncontrolling interests reflect the net income attributable to the holders of minority membership interests in NextGen, of which the Company became the controlling owner on April 30, 2022. See note 8 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information.
Net income $ 56,317 55,262
Education technology, services, and payment processing revenue
The following table provides disaggregated revenue by service offering and before tax operating margin for each reporting period.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Tuition payment plan services $ 110,802 103,970 Revenue increased for 2022 compared with 2021 primarily due to a higher number of payment plans in the K-12 market. Revenue for tuition payment plan services for higher education institutions in 2022 was consistent with 2021 amounts.
Payment processing 148,212 127,080 Payment volumes in 2022 increased compared with 2021 for both the K-12 and higher education markets due to new customers and an increase in volume from existing customers.
Education technology and services 146,679 105,975 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in revenues from the Company’s school information system software, enrollment and communication services, the NextGen acquisition completed in April 2022, and FACTS Education Solutions instructional and professional development services. FACTS Education Solutions instructional services revenue was the largest component of this increase, driven by the Emergency Assistance to Non-Public Schools (EANS) program which provides funds to non-public schools through September 2024 to address the impact COVID-19 has had or continues to have on school students and teachers.
Other 2,850 1,209
Education technology, services, and payment processing revenue 408,543 338,234
Cost of services 148,403 108,660 Costs relate to payment processing revenue and such costs decrease/increase in relationship to payment volumes. Costs to provide instructional services are also a component of this expense and were the primary driver of the increase in 2022 compared with 2021 due to the increase in instructional services resulting from the EANS program as noted above.
Net revenue $ 260,140 229,574
GAAP before tax operating margin 28.5 % 31.7 % Before tax operating margin, excluding net interest income, is a non-GAAP measure of before tax operating profitability as a percentage of revenue, and for the ETS&PP segment is calculated as income before income taxes less interest income divided by net revenue. The Company uses this metric to monitor and assess the segment’s performance, manage operating costs, identify and evaluate business trends affecting the segment, and make strategic decisions, and believes that it facilitates an understanding of the operating performance of the segment and provides a meaningful comparison of the results of operations between periods.
Before tax operating margin, excluding net interest income, decreased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to investments in (i) the development of new services and technologies; and (ii) superior customer experiences to align with the Company’s strategies to grow, retain, and diversify revenues. The Company anticipates before tax operating margin, excluding net interest income, will be impacted over the next several years as it continues to invest in these areas.
Net interest income (3.6) (0.5)
Non-GAAP before tax operating margin, excluding net interest income 24.9 % 31.2 %
ASSET GENERATION AND MANAGEMENT OPERATING SEGMENT - RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Loan Portfolio
As of December 31, 2022, the AGM operating segment had a $14.2 billion loan portfolio, consisting primarily of federally insured loans. For a summary of the Company's loan portfolio as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, see note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Loan Activity
The following table sets forth the activity of loans in the AGM operating segment:
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Beginning balance $ 17,441,790 19,559,108
Loan acquisitions:
Federally insured student loans 721,853 904,088
Private education loans 8,244 89,308
Consumer and other loans 516,215 81,923
Total loan acquisitions 1,246,312 1,075,319
Repayments, claims, capitalized interest, participations, and other, net (1,694,742) (2,126,708)
Loans lost to external parties (2,656,639) (964,822)
Loans sold (166,950) (101,107)
Ending balance $ 14,169,771 17,441,790
The Company has also purchased partial ownership in certain federally insured student, private education, and consumer and other loan securitizations that are accounted for as held-to-maturity beneficial interest investments and included in "investments and notes receivable" in the Company's consolidated financial statements. As of the latest remittance reports filed by the various trusts prior to or as of December 31, 2022, the Company’s ownership correlates to approximately $390 million, $620 million, and $310 million of federally insured student, private education, and consumer and other loans, respectively, included in these securitizations. The loans held in these securitizations are not included in the above table.
Since late 2021, the Company has experienced accelerated run-off of its FFELP portfolio due to FFELP borrowers consolidating their loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans as a result of the continued extension of the CARES Act payment pause on Department held loans and the initiatives offered by the Department for FFELP borrowers to consolidate their loans to qualify for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and other programs.
Allowance for Loan Losses, Loan Delinquencies, and Loan Charge-offs
For a summary of the allowance as a percentage of the ending balance and loan status and delinquency amounts for each of AGM's loan portfolios as of December 31, 2022 and 2021; and the activity in AGM’s allowance for loan losses and net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans for 2022 and 2021, see note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Loan Spread Analysis
The following table analyzes the loan spread on AGM’s portfolio of loans, which represents the spread between the yield earned on loan assets and the costs of the liabilities and derivative instruments used to fund the assets. The spread amounts included in the following table are calculated by using the notional dollar values found in the table under the caption "Net interest income after provision for loan losses, net of settlements on derivatives" below, divided by the average balance of loans or debt outstanding.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Variable loan yield, gross 4.39 % 2.64 %
Consolidation rebate fees (0.84) (0.85)
Discount accretion, net of premium and deferred origination costs amortization (a) 0.04 0.02
Variable loan yield, net 3.59 1.81
Loan cost of funds - interest expense (b) (c) (2.58) (1.04)
Loan cost of funds - derivative settlements (d) (e) (0.00 ) (0.01)
Variable loan spread 1.01 0.76
Fixed rate floor income, gross 0.36 0.76
Fixed rate floor income - derivative settlements (d) (f) 0.21 (0.11)
Fixed rate floor income, net of settlements on derivatives 0.57 0.65
Core loan spread 1.58 % 1.41 %
Average balance of AGM’s loans $ 15,969,435 18,900,038
Average balance of AGM’s debt outstanding 15,513,824 18,610,144
(a) During each of the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2021, the Company changed its estimate of the constant prepayment rate used to amortize/accrete federally insured loan premium/discounts for its loans which resulted in a $8.4 million increase and a $6.2 million decrease, respectively, to interest income. The impact of these adjustments was excluded from the table above.
(b) In the first quarter of 2021, the Company reversed a historical accrued interest liability of $23.8 million on certain bonds, which liability the Company determined is no longer probable of being required to be paid. The liability was initially recorded when certain asset-backed securitizations were acquired in 2011 and 2013. The reduction of this liability is reflected in (a reduction of) "interest expense on bonds and notes payable and bank deposits" in the consolidated statements of income and the impact of this reduction to interest expense was excluded from the table above.
(c) In the third quarter of 2021, the Company redeemed certain asset-backed debt securities prior to their legal maturity, resulting in the recognition of $1.5 million in interest expense from the write-off of all remaining debt issuance costs related to the initial issuance of such bonds. This expense was excluded from the table above.
(d) Derivative settlements represent the cash paid or received during the current period to settle with derivative instrument counterparties the economic effect of the Company's derivative instruments based on their contractual terms. Derivative accounting requires that net settlements with respect to derivatives that do not qualify for "hedge treatment" under GAAP be recorded in a separate income statement line item below net interest income. The Company maintains an overall risk management strategy that incorporates the use of derivative instruments to reduce the economic effect of interest rate volatility. As such, management believes derivative settlements for each applicable period should be evaluated with the Company’s net interest income (loan spread) as presented in this table. The Company reports this non-GAAP information because the Company believes that it provides additional information regarding operational and performance indicators that are closely assessed by management. There is no comprehensive, authoritative guidance for the presentation of such non-GAAP information, which is only meant to supplement GAAP results by providing additional information that management utilizes to assess performance. See note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information on the Company's derivative instruments, including the net settlement activity recognized by the Company for each type of derivative for the 2022 and 2021 periods presented in the table under the caption "Consolidated Financial Statement Impact Related to Derivatives - Statements of Income" in note 6 and in this table.
A reconciliation of core loan spread, which includes the impact of derivative settlements on loan spread, to loan spread without derivative settlements follows.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Core loan spread 1.58 % 1.41 %
Derivative settlements (1:3 basis swaps) 0.00 0.01
Derivative settlements (fixed rate floor income) (0.21) 0.11
Loan spread 1.37 % 1.53 %
(e) Derivative settlements consist of net settlements paid related to the Company’s 1:3 basis swaps.
(f) Derivative settlements consist of net settlements received (paid) related to the Company’s floor income interest rate swaps.
A trend analysis of AGM’s core and variable loan spreads by calendar year quarter is summarized below.
The interest earned on a large portion of AGM's FFELP student loan assets is indexed to the one-month LIBOR rate. AGM funds a portion of its assets with three-month LIBOR indexed floating rate securities. The relationship between the indices in which AGM earns interest on its loans and funds such loans has a significant impact on loan spread. The table above (the right axis) shows the difference between AGM's liability base rate and the one-month LIBOR rate by quarter.
Variable loan spread increased during 2022 compared with 2021 due to a significant increase in short-term interest rates throughout 2022. In an increasing interest rate environment, student loan spread increases due to the timing of interest rate resets on the Company's assets occurring daily in contrast to the timing of the interest resets on the Company's debt that occurs either monthly or quarterly.
See Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk - AGM Operating Segment,” which provides additional detail on AGM’s FFELP student loan assets and related funding for those assets.
The difference between variable loan spread and core loan spread is fixed rate floor income earned on a portion of AGM's federally insured student loan portfolio. A summary of fixed rate floor income and its contribution to core loan spread follows:
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Fixed rate floor income, gross $ 57,380 142,606
Derivative settlements (a) 33,149 (19,729)
Fixed rate floor income, net $ 90,529 122,877
Fixed rate floor income contribution to spread, net 0.57 % 0.65 %
(a) Derivative settlements consist of net settlements received (paid) related to the Company's derivatives used to hedge student loans earning fixed rate floor income.
Gross fixed rate floor income decreased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021. Subsequent to December 31, 2022 (on February 2, 2023), the Federal Reserve again increased interest rates, and it is currently anticipated that interest rates may continue to rise as a result of inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy. Increases in interest rates will reduce the amount of gross fixed rate floor income the Company is currently receiving.
The Company has a portfolio of derivative instruments in which the Company pays a fixed rate and receives a floating rate to economically hedge loans earning fixed rate floor income. The increase in net derivative settlements received on the floor income interest rate swaps in 2022 compared with net derivative settlements paid in 2021 was due to an increase in interest rates, partially offset by a decrease in the notional amount of derivatives outstanding.
See Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk - AGM Operating Segment,” which provides additional detail on AGM’s portfolio earning fixed rate floor income and the derivatives used by the Company to hedge these loans.
Interest Rate Risk - Replacement of LIBOR as a Benchmark Rate
As of December 31, 2022, the interest earned on a principal amount of $12.7 billion of AGM's FFELP student loan asset portfolio was indexed to one-month LIBOR, and the interest paid on a principal amount of $11.9 billion of AGM’s FFELP student loan asset-backed debt securities was indexed to one-month or three-month LIBOR. In addition, the majority of the Company’s derivative financial instrument transactions used to manage LIBOR interest rate risks are indexed to LIBOR. The market transition away from the LIBOR framework could result in significant changes to the interest rate characteristics of the Company's LIBOR-indexed assets and funding for those assets, as well as the Company’s LIBOR-indexed derivative instruments. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors - Loan Portfolio - Interest rate risk - replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate" for additional information.
Summary and Comparison of Operating Results
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Net interest income after provision for loan losses $ 220,056 347,203 See table below for additional analysis.
Other income, net 21,170 34,306 Other income includes primarily borrower late fees, income from providing administration activities for third parties, and income from AGM's investment in a joint venture. Borrower late fees for 2022 and 2021 were $10.8 million and $3.4 million, respectively. The Company suspended borrower late fees in March 2020 to provide borrowers relief as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Company began to recognize borrower late fees again in May 2021 (for private education loans) and October 2021 (for federally insured student loans). The Company recognized revenue of $7.9 million and $3.7 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively, as administrator and sponsor for the securitizations completed during 2021 by the joint venture to purchase and securitize private education loans sold by Wells Fargo. The Company also recognized income of $1.2 million and $32.9 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively, related to its investment in the joint venture. For 2021, other income was partially offset by a $6.8 million loss recognized by the Company as a result of purchasing back its own debt.
Gain on sale of loans, net 2,903 18,715 The Company sold $167.0 million (par value) and $101.1 million (par value) of loans to unrelated third parties in 2022 and 2021, respectively, and recognized net gains from such sales.
Provision for beneficial interests - 2,436 In the first quarter of 2021, due to improved economic conditions, the Company recorded a negative provision of $2.4 million related to its remaining allowance on a consumer loan securitization beneficial interest investment. Such allowance was initially recorded in March 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Derivative settlements, net 32,943 (21,367) The Company maintains an overall risk management strategy that incorporates the use of derivative instruments to reduce the economic effect of interest rate volatility. Derivative settlements for each applicable period should be evaluated with the Company's net interest income as reflected in the table below.
Derivative market value adjustments, net 231,691 92,813 Includes the realized and unrealized gains and losses that are caused by changes in fair values of derivatives which do not qualify for "hedge treatment" under GAAP. The majority of the derivative market value adjustments during 2022 and 2021 related to the changes in fair value of the Company's floor income interest rate swaps. Such changes reflect that a decrease in the forward yield curve during a reporting period results in a decrease in the fair value of the Company's floor income interest rate swaps, and an increase in the forward yield curve during a reporting period results in an increase in the fair value of such swaps.
Total other income (expense) 288,707 126,903
Salaries and benefits 2,524 2,135
Other expenses 16,835 13,487 The primary component of other expenses is servicing fees paid to third parties. The increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to increased costs resulting from ending COVID-19 borrower relief policies which increased servicing activities in 2022 compared with 2021. This increase was partially offset by a decrease in AGM's loan portfolio. Other expenses also includes certain professional and legal fees. Professional fees increased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to incurring additional costs as the Company actively expands into new asset loan classes.
Intersegment expenses 34,679 34,868 Amounts include fees paid to the LSS operating segment for the servicing of AGM’s loan portfolio. These amounts exceed the actual cost of servicing the loans. Intersegment expenses also includes costs for certain corporate activities and services that are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services.
Total operating expenses 54,038 50,490 Total operating expenses were 34 basis points and 27 basis points of the average balance of loans in 2022 and 2021, respectively. The increase in operating expenses as a percent of the average balance of loans in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in certain professional costs as discussed above.
Income before income taxes 454,725 423,616
Income tax expense (109,134) (101,668) Represents income tax expense at an effective tax rate of 24%.
Net income $ 345,591 321,948
Additional information:
Net income $ 345,591 321,948 See "Overview - GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income, Excluding Adjustments" above for additional information about non-GAAP net income, excluding derivative market value adjustments.
Derivative market value adjustments, net (231,691) (92,813)
Tax effect 55,606 22,275
Non-GAAP net income, excluding derivative market value adjustments $ 169,506 251,410
Net interest income after provision for loan losses, net of settlements on derivatives The following table summarizes the components of "net interest income after provision for loan losses" and "derivative settlements, net."
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Variable interest income, gross $ 701,816 499,698 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in the gross yield earned on loans, partially offset by a decrease in the average balance of loans.
Consolidation rebate fees (134,578) (160,228) Decrease in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to a decrease in the average consolidation loan balance.
Discount accretion, net of premium and deferred origination costs amortization 14,010 (3,347) During each of the fourth quarters of 2022 and 2021, the Company changed its estimate of the constant prepayment rate used to amortize/accrete federally insured loan premium/discounts for its loans which resulted in a $8.4 million increase and a $6.2 million decrease, respectively, to interest income. Excluding these items, the Company recognized a net discount accretion of $5.6 million and $2.9 million in 2022 and 2021, respectively. Net discount accretion is due to the Company's purchases of loans at a net discount over the last several years.
Variable interest income, net 581,248 336,123
Interest on bonds and notes payable (399,806) (171,320) Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in cost of funds, partially offset by a decrease in the average balance of debt outstanding. In addition, during the first quarter of 2021, the Company reduced interest expense by $23.8 million as a result of reversing a historical accrued interest liability on certain bonds.
Derivative settlements, net (a) (206) (1,638) Derivative settlements include the net settlements paid related to the Company’s 1:3 basis swaps.
Variable loan interest margin,
net of settlements on derivatives (a)
181,236 163,165
Fixed rate floor income, gross 57,380 142,606 Decrease was due to higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021. Subsequent to December 31, 2022 (on February 2, 2023), the Federal Reserve again increased interest rates, and it is currently anticipated that interest rates may continue to rise as a result of inflationary pressures in the U.S. economy; increases in interest rates will reduce the amount of fixed rate floor income the Company is currently receiving.
Derivative settlements, net (a) 33,149 (19,729) Derivative settlements include the settlements received (paid) related to the Company's floor income interest rate swaps. The increase in net derivative settlements received by the Company during 2022, compared with net derivative settlements paid during 2021, was due to an increase in interest rates, partially offset by a decrease in the notional amount of derivatives outstanding.
Fixed rate floor income, net of settlements on derivatives 90,529 122,877
Core loan interest income (a) 271,765 286,042
Investment interest 37,929 28,172 Increase in 2022 compared with 2021 was due to an increase in the balance of restricted cash due to significant loan prepayments and interest earned on restricted cash due to higher rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Intercompany interest (12,094) (1,598) Increase was due to an increase in the weighted average intercompany debt outstanding and higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
(Provision) negative provision for loan losses - federally insured loans (3,731) 7,343 The Company has recognized provision for loan losses in 2022 due to management’s estimate of declining economic conditions, as well as establishing an initial allowance for loans acquired during the period.
For additional information on the provision activity, see note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
(Provision) negative provision for loan losses - private education loans (2,487) 1,333
(Provision) negative provision for loan losses - consumer and other loans (38,383) 4,544
Net interest income after provision for loan losses (net of settlements on derivatives) (a) $ 252,999 325,836 Decrease for 2022 compared with 2021 was due to (i) a decrease in the average balance of loans; (ii) an increase in provision for loan losses; and (iii) the reversal of a historical accrued interest liability on certain bonds in the first quarter of 2021. These items were partially offset by (i) an increase in core loan spread; (ii) an increase in investment interest income; and (iii) the impact of changes in the constant prepayment rates used to accrete/amortize loan premium/discounts in both 2022 and 2021.
(a) Core loan interest income and net interest income after provision for loan losses (net of settlements on derivatives) are non-GAAP financial measures. For an explanation of GAAP accounting for derivative settlements and the reasons why the Company reports these non-GAAP measures (and the limitations thereof), see footnote (d) to the table immediately under the caption “Loan Spread Analysis” above. See note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information on the Company's derivative instruments, including the net settlement activity recognized by the Company for each type of derivative referred to in the "Additional information" column of this table, for the 2022 and 2021 periods presented in the table under the caption "Consolidated Financial Statement Impact Related to Derivatives - Statements of Income" in note 6 and in this table.
NELNET BANK OPERATING SEGMENT - RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Loan Portfolio
As of December 31, 2022, Nelnet Bank had a $419.8 million loan portfolio, consisting of $353.9 million of private education loans and $65.9 million of FFELP loans.
For a summary of the allowance as a percentage of the ending balance and loan status, delinquency amounts, and other key credit quality indicators of each of Nelnet Bank's loan portfolios as of December 31, 2022 and 2021; and the activity in Nelnet Bank’s allowance for loan losses and net charge-offs as a percentage of average loans for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, see note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
The following table sets forth the activity in Nelnet Bank's loan portfolio:
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Beginning balance $ 257,901 17,543
Loan acquisitions and originations:
Federally insured student loan acquisitions - 99,973
Private education loan acquisitions 6,856 -
Private education loan originations 228,283 179,749
Total loan acquisitions and originations 235,139 279,722
Repayments (69,022) (36,181)
Sales to AGM (4,223) (3,183)
Ending balance $ 419,795 257,901
Deposits
As of December 31, 2022, Nelnet Bank had $789.6 million of deposits. All of Nelnet Bank’s deposits are interest-bearing deposits and consist of brokered certificates of deposit (CDs) and retail and other savings deposits and CDs. Retail and other saving deposits include deposits from Educational 529 College Savings and Health Savings plans and commercial and institutional CDs. Union Bank, a related party, is the program manager for the Educational 529 College Savings plans.
Nelnet Bank’s deposits include $98.3 million from Nelnet, Inc. (the parent company) and its subsidiaries (intercompany), and thus eliminated for consolidated financial reporting purposes. The intercompany deposits include a pledged deposit of $40.0 million from Nelnet, Inc. as required under the Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement with the FDIC, deposits required for intercompany transactions, operating and savings deposits, and NBS custodial deposits consisting of collected tuition payments which are subsequently remitted to the appropriate school.
Average Balance Sheet
The following table reflects the rates earned on interest-earning assets and paid on interest-bearing liabilities.
Year ended December 31, (a)
2022 2021
Balance Rate Balance Rate
Average assets
Federally insured student loans $ 77,465 3.01 % $ 64,873 1.36 %
Private education loans 317,016 3.23 86,285 3.16
Cash and investments 383,250 3.50 220,735 1.86
Total interest-earning assets 777,731 3.34 % 371,893 2.08 %
Non-interest-earning assets 11,948 10,195
Total assets $ 789,679 $ 382,088
Average liabilities and equity
Brokered deposits $ 248,808 1.50 % $ 61,208 0.84 %
Intercompany deposits 121,566 1.90 81,064 0.25
Retail and other deposits 304,077 1.65 132,010 0.60
Total interest-bearing liabilities 674,451 1.64 % 274,282 0.55 %
Non-interest-bearing liabilities 4,964 4,705
Equity 110,264 103,101
Total liabilities and equity $ 789,679 $ 382,088
(a) Calculated using average daily balances.
Summary and Comparison of Operating Results
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021 Additional information
Total interest income $ 25,973 7,721 Represents interest earned on Nelnet Bank's FFELP and private education student loans, cash, and investments. Increase was due to an increase of these balances and interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Interest expense 11,055 1,507 Represents interest expense on deposits. Increase was due to an increase of deposits and interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Net interest income 14,918 6,214
Provision for loan losses 1,840 794 Increase in provision for loan losses was due to an increase in private education loans originated in 2022 compared with 2021 as well as management’s estimate of declining economic conditions. For additional information on the provision activity, see note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Net interest income after provision for loan losses 13,078 5,420
Other income 2,625 713 Represents primarily income and gains from investments.
Impairment expense (214) -
Total other income (expense) 2,411 713
Salaries and benefits 6,948 5,042 Represents salaries and benefits of Nelnet Bank associates and third-party contract labor. Increase was due to the overall growth of Nelnet Bank activities.
Depreciation 15 -
Other expenses 3,925 1,776 Increase was due to the overall growth of Nelnet Bank activities.
Intersegment expenses 244 107 Represents primarily servicing costs paid to the LSS operating segment. Certain shared service and support costs incurred by the Company to support Nelnet Bank are not and will not be reflected as part of the Nelnet Bank operating segment through 2023 (when the bank’s de novo period will end). The shared service and support costs incurred by the Company related to Nelnet Bank and not reflected in the bank’s operating segment were $5.8 million and $3.4 million for 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Total operating expenses 11,132 6,925
Income (loss) before income taxes 4,357 (792)
Income tax (expense) benefit (1,013) 175 Represents income tax (expense) benefit at an effective tax rate of 23.3% and 22.1% for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively.
Net income (loss) $ 3,344 (617)
CORPORATE AND OTHER ACTIVITIES - RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
Other business activities and operating segments that are not reportable are combined and included in Corporate and Other Activities (“Corporate.”) The following table summarizes the operating results of these activities.
Income taxes are allocated based on 24% of income (loss) before taxes for each activity. The difference between the Corporate income tax expense and the sum of taxes calculated for each activity is included in income taxes in “other” in the table below.
Summary and Comparison of Operating Results
Nelnet Renewable Energy (c) Interest income/expense, net (g)
Shared services (a) WRCM (b) Tax equity investments / syndication / administration GRNE Solar ALLO investment (d) Real estate investments (e) Venture capital investments (f) Other Total
Year ended December 31, 2022
Interest income $ - 2 - 34 - 994 1,289 39,638 619 42,576
Interest expense - - - (154) - - - (22,590) 1,206 (21,538)
Net interest income - 2 - (120) - 994 1,289 17,048 1,825 21,038
Solar construction revenue - - - 24,543 - - - - - 24,543
Other, net 2,575 6,026 (9,088) 15 (58,781) 26,139 22,272 (1,320) 11,309 (853)
Impairment expense (998) - - - - - (6,561) - - (7,559)
Cost to provide solar construction services - - - (19,971) - - - - - (19,971)
Salaries and benefits (90,259) (221) (1,386) (1,526) (972) (415) (741) - (6,350) (101,870)
Depreciation and amortization (37,852) - - (1,489) - - - - (282) (39,623)
Other expenses (43,768) (347) (589) (802) (5,483) (140) (103) (5,063) (3,945) (60,240)
Intersegment expenses, net 97,764 (12) (87) (365) - (420) - (221) (304) 96,355
Income (loss) before income taxes (72,538) 5,448 (11,150) 285 (65,236) 26,158 16,156 10,444 2,253 (88,180)
Income tax (expense) benefit 17,409 (1,177) (128) (55) 15,657 (6,276) (3,877) (2,507) 11,132 30,178
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests - (545) 11,682 (57) - (9) - - 38 11,109
Net income (loss) $ (55,129) 3,726 404 173 (49,579) 19,873 12,279 7,937 13,423 (46,893)
Year ended December 31, 2021
Interest income $ - - - - - 541 8 8,757 495 9,801
Interest expense - - - - - - - (3,837) 322 (3,515)
Net interest income - - - - - 541 8 4,920 817 6,286
Solar construction revenue - - - - - - - - - -
Other, net 3,970 7,773 (10,311) - (33,722) 22,328 28,800 6,620 14,898 40,356
Impairment expense (916) - - - - - (4,637) - - (5,553)
Cost to provide solar construction services - - - - - - - - - -
Salaries and benefits (83,401) (227) (1,030) - (502) (332) (872) - (4,138) (90,502)
Depreciation and amortization (36,297) - - - - - - - (385) (36,682)
Other expenses (45,011) (328) (100) - - (44) (70) (1,437) (11,183) (58,173)
Intersegment expenses, net 88,685 (10) (11) - - (206) (1) (207) 143 88,393
Income (loss) before income taxes (72,970) 7,208 (11,452) - (34,224) 22,287 23,228 9,896 152 (55,875)
Income tax (expense) benefit 17,513 (1,557) 893 - 8,214 (5,334) (5,575) (2,375) 6,330 18,109
Net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests - (722) 7,730 - - (62) - - 57 7,003
Net income (loss) $ (55,457) 4,929 (2,829) - (26,010) 16,891 17,653 7,521 6,539 (30,763)
(a) Includes corporate activities related to internal audit, human resources, accounting, legal, enterprise risk management, information technology, occupancy, and marketing. These costs are allocated to each operating segment based on estimated use of such activities and services. Certain shared service costs incurred to support Nelnet Bank will not be allocated to Nelnet Bank until the end of the Bank’s de novo period (November 2023). The amount allocated to operating segments is reflected as “intersegment expenses, net” in the table above. Also includes corporate costs and overhead functions not allocated to operating segments, including executive management, investments in innovation, and other holding company organizational costs.
(b) The Company provides investment advisory services through Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC (WRCM), the Company's SEC-registered investment advisor subsidiary, under various arrangements. WRCM earns annual fees of 10 basis points to 25 basis points for asset-backed securities under management and a share of the gains from the sale of securities or securities being called prior to the full contractual maturity for which it provides advisory services. As of December 31, 2022, the outstanding balance of asset-backed securities under management subject to these arrangements was $2.8 billion, of which all of such securities were FFELP student loan asset-backed securities. In addition, WRCM earns annual management fees of five basis points for Nelnet stock under management (primarily shares of Nelnet Class B common stock held in various trust estates). During 2021, WRCM earned $4.2 million in management fees and $3.6 million in performance fees, and in 2022 all income ($6.0 million) earned by WRCM was management fees. Fees earned by WRCM are included in “other, net” in the table above.
(c) Nelnet Renewable Energy, which includes solar tax equity investments made by the Company, administrative and management services provided by the Company on tax equity investments made by third parties, and solar development. As of December 31, 2022, the Company has invested a total of $278.4 million (which includes $102.8 million syndicated to third-party investors) in solar tax equity investments. Due to the management and control of each of these investment partnerships, the tax equity investments are consolidated on the Company’s consolidated financial statements, with the co-investor’s portion being presented as non-controlling interests.
Included in tax equity investments is the Company's share of income or loss from solar investments under the Hypothetical Liquidation at Book Value (HLBV) method of accounting. For the majority of the Company's solar investments, the HLBV method of accounting results in accelerated losses in the initial years of investment. For the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, Nelnet Renewable Energy recognized losses of $9.5 million and $10.1 million, respectively, on its tax equity investments. These losses, which include losses attributable to third-party noncontrolling interest investors, are included in “other, net” in the table above. Solar losses attributable to third-party noncontrolling interest investors was $10.9 million and $7.4 million for the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, respectively, and are reflected in “net (income) loss attributable to noncontrolling interests” in the table above.
Nelnet Renewable Energy syndicates tax equity investments to third parties and earns management and performance fees. Management fee income recognized by Nelnet Renewable Energy was $0.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2022, which is included in “other, net” in the table above.
In addition to solar tax equity investments, the Company has a strategy to own solar energy project assets. Accordingly, the Company has begun to execute a multi-faceted approach to originate, acquire, finance, own, and manage these assets. As part of this strategy, on July 1, 2022, the Company acquired 80% of the ownership interest in two subsidiaries of GRNE Solutions, LLC named GRNE-Nelnet, LLC (GRNE) and ENRG-Nelnet, LLC (ENRG) (collectively referred to as “GRNE Solar”) for total consideration of $33.9 million. The operating results for Nelnet Solar in the table above are for the period from July 1, 2022 through December 31, 2022. See note 8 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information.
(d) Represents primarily the Company's share of loss on its voting membership interests and income on its preferred membership interest in ALLO.
The Company accounts for its approximately 45% voting membership interests in ALLO Holdings LLC, a holding company for ALLO Communications LLC (collectively referred to as "ALLO") under the HLBV method of accounting. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized losses of $68.0 million and $42.1 million, respectively, under the HLBV method of accounting on its ALLO voting membership interests investment. These amounts are reflected in “other, net” in the table above.
Assuming ALLO continues its planned growth in existing and new communities, it will continue to invest substantial amounts in property and equipment to build the network and connect customers. The resulting recognition of depreciation and development costs could result in continuing net operating losses by ALLO under GAAP. Applying the HLBV method of accounting, the Company will continue to recognize a significant portion of ALLO’s anticipated losses over the next several years.
As of December 31, 2022, the outstanding preferred membership interests and accrued and unpaid preferred return of ALLO held by the Company was $145.9 million. The preferred membership interests of ALLO held by the Company earn a preferred annual return of 6.25%. During the years ended December 31, 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized income on its ALLO preferred membership interests of $8.6 million and $8.4 million, respectively. These amounts are reflected in “other, net” in the table above.
Agreements among the Company, SDC (a third-party global digital infrastructure investor), and ALLO provide that they will use commercially reasonable efforts (which expressly excludes requiring ALLO to raise any additional equity financing or sell any assets) to cause ALLO to redeem, on or before April 2024, the remaining preferred membership interests of ALLO held by the Company, plus the amount of accrued and unpaid preferred return on such interests. However, if the non-voting preferred membership interests are not redeemed on or before April 2024, the preferred annual return is increased from 6.25% to 10.00%.
As part of the ALLO recapitalization transaction, the Company and SDC entered into an agreement, in which the Company has contingent payment obligation to pay SDC a contingent payment amount of $25.0 million to $35.0 million in the event the Company disposes of its voting membership interests of ALLO that it holds and realizes from such disposition certain targeted return levels. During 2022, the Company recognized an expense of $5.3 million associated with this obligation, which is included in “other expenses” in the table above. See note 2 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information.
(e) Includes the operating results of the Company’s real estate investments and the administrative costs to manage this portfolio. During 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized $26.6 million and $22.3 million, respectively, in net income and gains from its real estate investments, which is included in “other, net” in the table above. In 2022, the Company incurred development fees of $0.5 million, which is included in “other, net” in the table above.
(f) Includes the operating results of the Company’s venture capital investments, including Hudl which the Company accounts for using the measurement alternative method (see note 7 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information), and the administrative costs to manage this portfolio. During 2022, the Company recognized $22.3 million in net income and gains on venture capital investments, including a $15.2 million gain as a result of the revaluation of its previously held 50% ownership interests in NextGen (previously accounted for under the equity method) as a result of the Company purchasing an additional 30% ownership interests in NextGen on April 30, 2022. In 2021, the Company recognized $28.8 million in net income and gains on venture capital investments, including $10.3 million as a result of CompanyCam Inc.’s equity raise. In October 2021, CompanyCam Inc., an entity in which the Company has an equity investment, completed an additional equity raise. The Company accounts for its investment in this entity using the measurement alternative method, which requires it to adjust its carrying value of the investment for changes resulting from observable market transactions. As a result of this entity’s equity raise, the Company recognized a gain during the fourth quarter of 2021 to adjust its carrying value to reflect the October 2021 transaction value.
(g) Includes interest income earned on cash and investment debt securities (primarily student loan and other asset-backed securities), interest expense incurred on unsecured and certain other corporate related debt transactions, unrealized gains/losses on marketable equity securities, realized gains/losses on marketable equity securities and investment debt securities, and other costs to manage these investments and facilities. During 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized $8.0 million in unrealized losses and $5.0 million in unrealized gains, respectively, on its marketable equity securities and $6.7 million and $1.6 million in realized gains, respectively, on its investment debt securities and marketable equity securities, which are included in “other, net” in the table above. During 2022 and 2021, the Company recognized $3.6 million and $0.1 million, respectively, in fees owed on collateral deposits with its derivative third-party clearinghouse as the result of an increase in collateral deposit balances and interest rates, which is included in “other expenses” in the table above.
Certain investments, including solar tax equity, ALLO, and Hudl, may be recorded at a carrying value that is less than its market value due to HLBV (solar investments and ALLO) and the measurement alternative (Hudl) method of accounting. Future operating results of solar and ALLO or an observable transaction of Hudl could impact the valuation on our financial statements or our investments in them and may result in significant fluctuations of the Company’s earnings.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
The Company’s Loan Servicing and Systems, and Education Technology, Services, and Payment Processing operating segments are non-capital intensive and both produce positive operating cash flows. As such, a minimal amount of debt and equity capital is allocated to these segments and any liquidity or capital needs are satisfied using cash flow from operations.
Nelnet Bank launched operations in November 2020. Nelnet Bank was funded by the Company with an initial capital contribution of $100.0 million and the Company contributed an additional $30.0 million to Nelnet Bank during 2022. Based on Nelnet Bank's business plan for growth and current financial condition, the Company believes it will make additional capital contributions to the bank in future periods. Cash and investments held at Nelnet Bank are generally not available for Company activities outside of Nelnet Bank. See “Liquidity Impact Related to Nelnet Bank” included below for additional information.
Therefore, the Liquidity and Capital Resources discussion is concentrated on the Company’s liquidity and capital needs to meet existing debt obligations in the Asset Generation and Management operating segment and the Company's other initiatives to pursue additional strategic investments.
The Company may issue equity and debt securities in the future in order to improve capital, increase liquidity, refinance upcoming maturities, or provide for general corporate purposes. Moreover, the Company may from time-to-time repurchase certain amounts of its outstanding secured debt securities, including debt securities which the Company may issue in the future, for cash and/or through exchanges for other securities. Such repurchases or exchanges may be made in open market transactions, privately negotiated transactions, or otherwise. Any such repurchases or exchanges will depend on prevailing market conditions, the Company’s liquidity requirements, contractual restrictions, compliance with securities laws, and other factors. The amounts involved in any such transactions may be material.
The Company has historically utilized operating cash flow, secured financing transactions (which include warehouse facilities and asset-backed securitizations), operating lines of credit, and other borrowing arrangements to fund its Asset Generation and Management operations and loan acquisitions. In addition, the Company has used operating cash flow, borrowings on its unsecured line of credit, repurchase agreements, and unsecured debt offerings to fund corporate activities; business acquisitions; solar, real estate, and other investments; repurchases of common stock; and repurchases of its own debt.
Sources of Liquidity
As of December 31, 2022, the Company's sources of liquidity included:
Cash and cash equivalents $ 118,146
Less: Cash and cash equivalents held at Nelnet Bank (1) (10,026)
Net cash and cash equivalents 108,120
Available-for-sale (AFS) debt securities (investments) - at fair value 1,389,037
Less: AFS debt securities held at Nelnet Bank - at fair value (1) (471,368)
AFS debt securities serving as collateral on participation agreement - at fair value (2) (370,666)
AFS debt securities serving as collateral on repurchase agreements - at fair value (3) (306,464)
Unencumbered AFS debt securities (investments) - at fair value 240,539
Unencumbered private, consumer, and other loans (Non-Nelnet Bank) - at par 298,460
Repurchased Nelnet issued asset-backed debt securities - at par (not included on consolidated financial statements) (4) 417,176
Less: Repurchased Nelnet issued asset-backed debt securities serving as collateral on repurchase agreements - at par (3) (331,550)
Unencumbered repurchased Nelnet issued asset-backed debt securities - at par 85,626
Unused capacity on unsecured line of credit (5) 495,000
Sources of liquidity as of December 31, 2022
$ 1,227,745
(1) Cash and investments held at Nelnet Bank are generally not available for Company activities outside of Nelnet Bank.
(2) See the caption "Other Debt Facilities" below.
(3) See the caption "Repurchase Agreements" below.
(4) The Company has repurchased certain of its own asset-backed securities (bonds and notes payable) in the secondary market. For accounting purposes, these notes are eliminated in consolidation and are not included in the Company's consolidated financial statements. However, these securities remain legally outstanding at the trust level and the Company could sell these notes to third parties or redeem the notes at par as cash is generated by the trust estate. Upon a sale of these notes to third parties, the Company would obtain cash proceeds equal to the market value of the notes on the date of such sale. Certain of these securities serve as collateral on amounts outstanding under the Company's repurchase agreements as reflected in the table above.
(5) The Company has a $495.0 million unsecured line of credit that matures on September 22, 2026. As of December 31, 2022, there was no amount outstanding on the unsecured line of credit and $495.0 million was available for future use. The line of credit provides that the Company may increase the aggregate financing commitments, through the existing lenders and/or through new lenders, up to a total of $737.5 million, subject to certain conditions.
The Company intends to use its liquidity position to capitalize on market opportunities, including FFELP, private education, consumer, and other loan acquisitions (or investment interests therein); strategic acquisitions and investments; and capital management initiatives, including stock repurchases, debt repurchases, and dividend distributions. The timing and size of these opportunities will vary and will have a direct impact on the Company's cash and investment balances.
Cash Flows
The Company has historically generated positive cash flow from operations. During the year ended December 31, 2022, the Company generated $684.1 million from operating activities, compared with $480.3 million for the same period in 2021. The increase in such cash flows from operating activities was due to:
•An increase in net income;
•Adjustments to net income for the impact of non-cash depreciation and amortization, provision for loan losses, gain on sale of loans, and net losses/gains on investments;
•An increase in net proceeds from the Company’s clearinghouse for margin payments on derivatives;
•Proceeds from termination of derivatives in 2022;
•Net proceeds from the sale of equity securities in 2022 compared with net purchases in 2021; and
•The impact of changes to accounts receivable, accrued interest payable, and other liabilities in 2022 compared with 2021.
These factors were partially offset by:
•Adjustments to net income for the impact of derivative market value adjustments, loan discount accretion, and deferred taxes; and
•The impact of changes to accrued interest receivable and other assets in 2022 compared with 2021.
The primary items included in the statement of cash flows for investing activities are the purchase, origination, and repayment of loans and the purchase and sale of available-for-sale securities. The primary items included in financing activities are the proceeds from the issuance of and payments on bonds and notes payable and Nelnet Bank deposits used to fund loans. Cash provided by investing activities and used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2022 was $2.27 billion and $2.79 billion, respectively. Cash provided by investing activities and used in financing activities for the year ended December 31, 2021 was $1.19 billion and $1.43 billion, respectively. Investing and financing activities are further addressed in the discussion that follows.
Liquidity Needs and Sources of Liquidity Available to Satisfy Debt Obligations Secured by Loan Assets and Related Collateral
The following table shows AGM’s debt obligations outstanding that are secured by loan assets and related collateral.
As of December 31, 2022
Carrying amount
Final maturity
Bonds and notes issued in asset-backed securitizations $ 12,684,098 8/26/30 - 9/25/69
FFELP, private education, and consumer loan warehouse facilities 1,132,312 12/31/23 - 11/14/25
$ 13,816,410
Bonds and Notes Issued in Asset-backed Securitizations
The majority of AGM’s portfolio of student loans is funded in asset-backed securitizations that are structured to substantially match the maturity of the funded assets, thereby minimizing liquidity risk. Cash generated from student loans funded in asset-backed securitizations provide the sources of liquidity to satisfy all obligations related to the outstanding bonds and notes issued in such securitizations. In addition, due to (i) the difference between the yield AGM receives on the loans and cost of financing within these transactions, and (ii) the servicing and administration fees AGM earns from these transactions, AGM has created a portfolio that will generate earnings and significant cash flow over the life of these transactions.
As of December 31, 2022, based on cash flow models developed to reflect management’s current estimate of, among other factors, prepayments, defaults, deferment, forbearance, and interest rates, AGM expects future undiscounted cash flows from its portfolio to be approximately $1.46 billion as detailed below.
The forecasted cash flow presented below includes all loans, the majority of which are federally insured student loans, funded in asset-backed securitizations as of December 31, 2022. As of December 31, 2022, AGM had $12.7 billion of loans included in asset-backed securitizations, which represented 89.3% of its total loan portfolio. The forecasted cash flow does not include cash flows that the Company expects to receive related to loans funded in its warehouse facilities, unencumbered private education, consumer, and other loans funded with operating cash, loans acquired subsequent to December 31, 2022, loans owned by Nelnet Bank, and cash flows relating to the Company's ownership of beneficial interest in loan securitizations (such beneficial interest investments are classified as "investments and notes receivable" on the Company's consolidated balance sheets).
Asset-backed Securitization Cash Flow Forecast
$1.46 billion
(dollars in millions)
The forecasted future undiscounted cash flows of approximately $1.46 billion include approximately $0.94 billion (as of December 31, 2022) of overcollateralization included in the asset-backed securitizations. These excess net asset positions are included in the consolidated balance sheets and included in the balances of "loans and accrued interest receivable" and "restricted cash." The difference between the total estimated future undiscounted cash flows and the overcollateralization of approximately $0.52 billion, or approximately $0.40 billion after income taxes based on the estimated effective tax rate, represents estimated future net interest income (earnings) from the portfolio and is expected to be accretive to the Company's December 31, 2022 balance of consolidated shareholders' equity.
The Company uses various assumptions, including prepayments and future interest rates, when preparing its cash flow forecast. These assumptions are further discussed below.
Prepayments: The primary variable in establishing a life of loan estimate is the level and timing of prepayments. Prepayment rates equal the amount of loans that prepay annually as a percentage of the beginning of period balance, net of scheduled principal payments. A number of factors can affect estimated prepayment rates, including the level of consolidation activity, borrower default rates, and utilization of debt management options such as income-based repayment, deferments, and forbearance. Should any of these factors change, management may revise its assumptions, which in turn would impact the projected future cash flow. The Company’s cash flow forecast above assumes prepayment rates of 5% for consolidation loans and 6% for all other loan types.
On April 19, 2022, the Department issued a press release, and the Department's Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) posted a related public announcement, which together announced, among other things, several adjustments, updates, and other changes under income-driven repayment (IDR) plans for federal student loans. In the announcements, the Department and FSA indicated that as part of these changes, any borrower with loans that have accumulated time in repayment, including time in certain forbearances and deferments, of at least 20 or 25 years will see automatic forgiveness, even if the borrower is not currently in an IDR plan, and that if a borrower has a commercially held FFEL Program loan, the borrower can only benefit from these changes if they consolidate their FFEL Program loan to a Federal Direct Loan Program loan. These changes were reflected in executive actions announced by the Department on October 25, 2022 and final regulations announced by the Department on October 31, 2022. The final regulations are to become effective on July 1, 2023, and the fact sheet accompanying the October 25, 2022 announcement indicates that if a borrower has a commercially held FFEL Program loan, the borrower must apply for consolidation to a Federal Direct Loan Program loan by May 1, 2023 to receive the IDR plan and other benefits set forth in the announcement.
These announced changes have increased, and the Company believes may continue to increase, FFEL Program loan prepayments. In addition, if the federal government and the Department initiate additional loan forgiveness or cancellation, other repayment options or plans, consolidation loan programs, or further extend the suspension of borrower payments under the CARES Act, such initiatives could also significantly increase prepayments. For example, since late 2021, the Company has experienced accelerated run-off of its FFELP portfolio due to FFELP borrowers consolidating their loans into Federal Direct Loan Program loans as a result of the continued extension of the CARES Act and an initiative offered by the Department for FFELP borrowers to consolidate their loans to qualify for loan forgiveness under the Public Service Loan Forgiveness and other programs. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors - Loan Portfolio - Prepayment risk" for additional information related to these announcements and other risks associated with loan prepayments.
The following table summarizes the estimated impact to the above forecasted cash flows if prepayments were greater than the prepayment rate assumptions used to calculate the forecasted cash flows.
Increase in prepayment rate
Reduction in forecasted cash flow from table above
Forecasted cash flow using increased prepayment rate
2x $0.11 billion $1.35 billion
4x $0.28 billion $1.18 billion
10x $0.52 billion $0.94 billion
If the entire AGM student loan portfolio prepaid, the Company would receive the full amount of overcollateralization included in the asset-backed securitizations of approximately $0.94 billion (as of December 31, 2022); however, the Company would not receive the $0.52 billion ($0.40 billion after tax) of estimated future earnings from the portfolio.
Interest rates: The Company funds a large portion of its student loans with three-month LIBOR indexed floating rate securities. Meanwhile, the interest earned on the Company’s student loan assets is indexed primarily to a one-month LIBOR rate. The different interest rate characteristics of the Company’s loan assets and liabilities funding these assets result in basis risk. The Company’s cash flow forecast assumes three-month LIBOR will exceed one-month LIBOR by 12 basis points for the
life of the portfolio, which approximates the historical relationship between these indices. If the forecast is computed assuming a spread of 24 basis points between three-month and one-month LIBOR for the life of the portfolio, the cash flow forecast would be reduced by approximately $50 million to $70 million. As the percentage of the Company's outstanding debt financed by three-month LIBOR declines, the Company's basis risk will be reduced. In addition, the Company attempts to mitigate the impact of this basis risk by entering into certain derivative instruments.
The Company uses the current forward interest rate yield curve to forecast cash flows. A change in the forward interest rate curve would impact the future cash flows generated from the portfolio. An increase in future interest rates will reduce the amount of fixed rate floor income the Company is currently receiving. The Company attempts to mitigate the impact of a rise in short-term rates by entering into certain derivative instruments. The forecasted cash flow does not include cash flows the Company expects to pay/receive related to derivative instruments used by the Company to manage interest rate risk. See Item 7A, "Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk - Interest Rate Risk - AGM Operating Segment" for additional information about various interest rate risks which may impact future cash flows from AGM's loan assets.
In addition, LIBOR is in the process of being discontinued as a benchmark rate, and the market transition away from the current LIBOR framework could result in significant changes to the forecasted cash flows from the Company's asset-backed securitizations. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors - Loan Portfolio - Interest rate risk - replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate."
Warehouse Facilities
Warehousing allows the Company to buy and manage loans prior to transferring them into more permanent financing arrangements.
The Company has a FFELP warehouse facility that, as of December 31, 2022, had an aggregate maximum financing amount available of $1.2 billion, of which $979.0 million was outstanding and $221.0 million was available for additional funding. The warehouse facility has a static advance rate until the expiration date of the liquidity provisions (May 22, 2023). In the event the liquidity provisions are not extended, the valuation agent has the right to perform a one-time mark to market on the underlying loans funded in this facility, subject to a floor. The loans would then be funded at this new advance rate until the final maturity date of the facility (May 22, 2024). As of December 31, 2022, the Company had $67.0 million advanced as equity support on this facility.
The Company has a private education loan warehouse facility that, as of December 31, 2022, had an aggregate maximum financing amount available of $64.4 million, an advance rate of 75%, liquidity provisions through June 30, 2023, and a final maturity date of December 31, 2023. As of December 31, 2022, $64.4 million was outstanding under this facility with no amount available for future funding, and the Company had $22.4 million advanced as equity support.
The Company also has a consumer loan warehouse facility that, as of December 31, 2022, had an aggregate maximum financing amount available of $250.0 million, an advance rate of 70%, liquidity provisions through November 14, 2024, and a final maturity date of November 14, 2025. As of December 31, 2022, $89.0 million was outstanding under this facility, $161.0 million was available for future funding, and the Company had $36.6 million advanced as equity support.
Upon termination or expiration of the warehouse facilities, the Company would expect to access the securitization market, obtain replacement warehouse facilities, use operating cash, consider the sale of assets, or transfer collateral to satisfy any remaining obligations.
Other Uses of Liquidity
The Company no longer originates FFELP loans, but continues to acquire FFELP loan portfolios from third parties and believes additional loan purchase opportunities exist, including opportunities to purchase private education, consumer, and other loans (or investment interests therein).
The Company plans to fund additional loan acquisitions and related investments using current cash; proceeds from the sale of certain investments; its unsecured line of credit, its Union Bank student loan participation agreement, its Union Bank student loan asset-backed securities participation agreement, and third-party repurchase agreements (each as described below), and/or establishing similar secured and unsecured borrowing facilities; using its existing warehouse facilities (as described above); increasing the capacity under existing and/or establishing new warehouse facilities; and continuing to access the asset-backed securities market.
Repurchase Agreements
In December 2020, Wells Fargo announced the sale of its approximately $10.0 billion portfolio of private education loans representing approximately 445,000 borrowers. The Company entered into a joint venture with other investors to acquire the loans, and under the joint venture, the Company had an approximately 8% interest in the loans and has a corresponding 8% interest in residual interests in the 2021 securitizations of the loans discussed below. The joint venture established a limited partnership that purchased the private education loans and funded such loans with a temporary warehouse facility.
During 2021, the Company sponsored four asset-backed securitization transactions to permanently finance a total of $8.7 billion of private education loans sold by Wells Fargo (which represented the total remaining loans originally purchased from Wells Fargo, factoring in borrower payments from the date of purchase). As sponsor, the Company is required to provide a certain level of risk retention, and has purchased bonds issued in such securitizations to satisfy this requirement. The bonds purchased to satisfy the risk retention requirement are reflected on the Company's consolidated balance sheet as "investments and notes receivable" and as of December 31, 2022, the fair value of these bonds was $306.5 million. The Company must retain these investment securities until the latest of (i) two years from the closing date of the securitization, (ii) the date the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the loans in the securitization is 33% or less of the initial loan balance, and (iii) the date the aggregate outstanding principal balance of the bonds is 33% or less of the aggregate initial outstanding principal balance of the bonds, at which time the Company can sell its investment securities (bonds) to a third party. The Company entered into repurchase agreements with third parties, of which a portion of the proceeds from such agreements were used to purchase the asset-backed investments, and such investments serve as collateral on the repurchase obligations.
In addition, as discussed above, the Company has repurchased certain of its own asset-backed securities in the secondary market that serve as collateral on amounts outstanding under the Company's repurchase agreements.
As of December 31, 2022, $567.3 million was outstanding on the Company's repurchase agreements, of which $291.3 million was borrowed to fund private education loan securitization bonds subject to the Company’s risk retention requirement and $276.0 million was borrowed to fund repurchased FFELP loan asset-backed securities. The repurchase agreements have various maturity dates (as of December 31, 2022) from January 4, 2023 through November 27, 2024, but one of the agreements is subject to early termination upon required notice provided by the Company or the applicable counterparty prior to the maturity dates. Subsequent to December 31, 2022, the maturities on these agreements were extended, and as of February 28, 2023, the maturity dates vary from March 8, 2023 through November 27, 2024. The Company is required to pay additional cash in the event the fair value of the securities subject to a repurchase agreement becomes less than the original purchase price of such securities.
Upon termination or expiration of the repurchase agreements, the Company would use cash and/or cash proceeds from its unsecured line of credit, consider the sale of assets (subject to any restrictions described above), or transfer collateral to satisfy any outstanding obligations subject to the repurchase agreements.
Union Bank Participation Agreement
The Company maintains an agreement with Union Bank, a related party, as trustee for various grantor trusts, under which Union Bank has agreed to purchase from the Company participation interests in student loans. As of December 31, 2022, $734.7 million of loans were subject to outstanding participation interests held by Union Bank, as trustee, under this agreement. The agreement automatically renews annually and is terminable by either party upon five business days' notice. This agreement provides beneficiaries of Union Bank’s grantor trusts with access to investments in interests in student loans, while providing liquidity to the Company. The Company can participate loans to Union Bank to the extent of availability under the grantor trusts, up to $900.0 million or an amount in excess of $900.0 million if mutually agreed to by both parties. Loans participated under this agreement have been accounted for by the Company as loan sales. Accordingly, the participation interests sold are not included on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets.
Asset-backed Securities Transactions
The Company, through its subsidiaries, has historically funded student loans by completing asset-backed securitizations. Depending on market conditions, the Company anticipates continuing to access the asset-backed securitization market. Such asset-backed securitization transactions would be used to refinance student loans included in its warehouse facilities, loans purchased from third parties, and/or student loans in its existing asset-backed securitizations.
There were no asset-backed securitization transactions completed during the year ended December 31, 2022
Liquidity Impact Related to Nelnet Bank
Nelnet Bank launched operations in November 2020. Nelnet Bank was funded by the Company with an initial capital contribution of $100.0 million and the Company contributed an additional $30.0 million to Nelnet Bank during 2022. In addition, the Company made a pledged deposit of $40.0 million with Nelnet Bank, as required under an agreement with the FDIC discussed below.
Prior to Nelnet Bank’s launch of operations, Nelnet Bank, Nelnet, Inc. (the parent), and Michael S. Dunlap (Nelnet, Inc.’s controlling shareholder) entered into a Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement and a Parent Company Agreement with the FDIC in connection with Nelnet, Inc.’s role as a source of financial strength for Nelnet Bank. As part of the Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement, Nelnet, Inc. is obligated to (i) contribute capital to Nelnet Bank for it to maintain capital levels that meet FDIC requirements for a “well capitalized” bank, including a leverage ratio of capital to total assets of at least 12%; (ii) provide and maintain an irrevocable asset liquidity takeout commitment for the benefit of Nelnet Bank in an amount equal to the greater of either 10% of Nelnet Bank’s total assets or such additional amount as agreed to by Nelnet Bank and Nelnet, Inc.; (iii) provide additional liquidity to Nelnet Bank in such amount and duration as may be necessary for Nelnet Bank to meet its ongoing liquidity obligations; and (iv) establish and maintain a pledged deposit of $40.0 million with Nelnet Bank.
Under the regulatory framework for prompt corrective action, Nelnet Bank is subject to various regulatory capital requirements administered by the FDIC and the UDFI and must meet specific capital standards. Failure to meet minimum capital requirements can initiate certain mandatory and possibly additional discretionary actions by regulators that, if undertaken, could have a direct material adverse effect on Nelnet Bank’s business, results of operations, or financial condition. On January 1, 2020, the Community Bank Leverage Ratio (CBLR) framework, as issued jointly by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, the Federal Reserve Board, and the FDIC, became effective. Any banking organization with total consolidated assets of less than $10 billion, limited amounts of certain types of assets and off-balance sheet exposures, and a community bank leverage ratio greater than 9% may opt into the CBLR framework quarterly. The CBLR framework allows banks to satisfy capital standards and be considered "well capitalized" under the prompt corrective action framework if their leverage ratio is greater than 9%, unless the banking organization's federal banking agency determines that the banking organization's risk profile warrants a more stringent leverage ratio. The FDIC has ordered Nelnet Bank to maintain at least a 12% leverage ratio. Nelnet Bank has opted into the CBLR framework for the quarter ended December 31, 2022 with a leverage ratio of 13.3%. Nelnet Bank intends to maintain at all times regulatory capital levels that meet both the minimum level necessary to be considered “well capitalized” under the FDIC’s prompt corrective action framework and the minimum level required by the FDIC.
Based on Nelnet Bank's business plan for growth and current financial condition, the Company believes it will make additional capital contributions to the bank in future periods.
Liquidity Impact Related to Nelnet Renewable Energy
The Company’s Nelnet Renewable Energy business makes solar tax equity investments. Through December 31, 2022, the Company has invested a total of $175.6 million (which excludes $102.8 million syndicated to third-party investors) in tax equity investments in renewable energy solar partnerships. These investments provide a federal income tax credit under the Internal Revenue Code, equaling either 26% or 30% of the eligible project costs, with the tax credit available when the project is placed-in-service. The Company is allowed to reduce its tax estimates paid to the U.S. Treasury based on the credits earned. Based on the timing of when the Company funds a project and decreases its tax estimate to the U.S. Treasury due to earning of the tax credit, the amount of capital committed to solar tax equity investments at any point in time is not significant and has a minimal impact on the Company’s liquidity.
In addition to solar tax equity investments, the Company has a strategy to own solar energy project assets. These assets provide long-term, predictable, and recurring cash flows. Accordingly, the Company has begun to execute a multi-faceted approach to originate, acquire, finance, own, and manage these assets.
As part of this strategy, on July 1, 2022, the Company acquired 80% of the ownership interest in GRNE and ENRG for total consideration of $33.9 million. GRNE is a solar contracting company that provides full-service engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) services to residential homes and commercial entities. GRNE contracts to build solar on a cost-plus-margin basis. ENRG is a development company that is primarily focused on the development of solar assets that the Company expects to own long-term. The Company plans to expand this business geographically across the United States, increase the team size and technical expertise to build larger projects, and serve new and existing customers on a go-forward basis. In addition to asset origination, the Company plans to begin acquiring solar assets that are in various stages of their project life-cycle with other development partners. The Company plans to fund a large portion of its current growth plans in owning solar energy projects using third-party debt and third-party tax equity. The collateral on any third-party debt would be limited to the assets of the
specific solar projects. Any capital requirements for the origination or purchase of solar projects not funded by third-party debt and third-party tax equity would be provided by the Company using operating cash, borrowings on its unsecured line of credit, and/or the sale of investments.
Liquidity Impact Related to ALLO
Upon the deconsolidation of ALLO on December 21, 2020, the Company recorded its 45% voting membership interests in ALLO at fair value, and accounts for such investment under the HLBV method of accounting. In addition, the Company recorded its remaining non-voting preferred membership units of ALLO at fair value, and accounts for such investment as a separate equity investment. As of December 31, 2022, the outstanding preferred membership interests of ALLO held by the Company was $145.9 million that earns a preferred annual return of 6.25%.
Agreements among the Company, SDC (a third-party global digital infrastructure investor), and ALLO provide that they will use commercially reasonable efforts (which excludes requiring ALLO to raise any additional equity financing or sell any assets) to cause the redemption, on or before April 2024, of the remaining non-voting preferred membership interests in ALLO held by the Company, plus the amount of accrued and unpaid preferred return on such interests. However, if the non-voting preferred membership interests are not redeemed on or before April 2024, the preferred annual return is increased from 6.25% to 10.00%.
If ALLO needs additional capital to support its growth in existing or new markets, the Company has the option to contribute additional capital to maintain its voting equity interest. Although ALLO has obtained third-party debt financing to fund a large portion of its current growth plans, the Company contributed $48.3 million of additional equity to ALLO in 2022. As a result of this equity contribution, the Company’s voting membership interests percentage did not materially change. Based on ALLO's business plan for growth and current financial condition, the Company believes it will make additional capital contributions to ALLO in future periods.
Liquidity Impact Related to Hedging Activities
The Company utilizes derivative instruments to manage interest rate sensitivity. By using derivative instruments, the Company is exposed to market risk which could impact its liquidity. Based on the derivative portfolio outstanding as of December 31, 2022, the Company does not anticipate any movement in interest rates having a material impact on its capital or liquidity profile, nor does the Company expect that any movement in interest rates would have a material impact on its ability to make variation margin payments to its third-party clearinghouse. However, if interest rates move materially and negatively impact the fair value of the Company's derivative portfolio, the replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate has significant adverse impacts on the Company's derivatives, or if the Company enters into additional derivatives for which the fair value becomes negative, the Company could be required to make variation margin payments to its third-party clearinghouse. The variation margin, if significant, could negatively impact the Company's liquidity and capital resources. In addition, clearing rules require the Company to post amounts of liquid collateral when executing new derivative instruments, which could prevent or limit the Company from utilizing additional derivative instruments to manage interest rate sensitivity and risks. See note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information on the Company's derivative portfolio.
Other Debt Facilities
As discussed above, the Company has a $495.0 million unsecured line of credit with a maturity date of September 22, 2026. As of December 31, 2022, the unsecured line of credit had no amount outstanding and $495.0 million was available for future use. Upon the maturity date of this facility, there can be no assurance that the Company will be able to maintain this line of credit, increase or maintain the amount outstanding under the line, or find alternative funding if necessary.
During 2020, the Company entered into an agreement with Union Bank, as trustee for various grantor trusts, under which Union Bank has agreed to purchase from the Company participation interests in federally insured student loan asset-backed securities. As of December 31, 2022, $395.4 million (par value) of student loan asset-backed securities were subject to outstanding participation interests held by Union Bank, as trustee, under this agreement. This participation agreement has been accounted for by the Company as a secured borrowing. Upon termination or expiration of this agreement, the Company would expect to use operating cash, consider the sale of assets, or transfer collateral to satisfy any remaining obligations.
For further discussion of these debt facilities described above, see note 5 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Stock Repurchases
The Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program to repurchase up to a total of five million shares of the Company's Class A common stock during the three-year period ending May 8, 2025. As of December 31, 2022, 4,467,021 shares remained authorized for repurchase under the Company's stock repurchase program. Shares may be repurchased from time to time on the open market, in private transactions (including with related parties), or otherwise, depending on various factors, including share prices and other potential uses of liquidity.
Shares repurchased by the Company during 2022 and 2021 are shown below. Certain of these repurchases were made pursuant to trading plans adopted by the Company in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Total shares repurchased Purchase price (in thousands) Average price of shares repurchased (per share)
Year ended December 31, 2022 1,162,533 $ 97,685 $ 84.03
Year ended December 31, 2021 713,274 58,111 81.47
Included in the shares repurchased during 2021 are a total of 337,717 shares of Class A common stock the Company purchased on August 10, 2021 from various estate planning trusts associated with Shelby J. Butterfield, a significant shareholder of the Company. The shares were purchased at a discount to the closing market price of the Company's Class A common stock as of August 9, 2021 and the transaction was approved by the Company's Board of Directors and its Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. Immediately prior to the Company's repurchase of such shares, certain of the repurchased shares were shares of the Company's Class B common stock that were converted to shares of Class A common stock.
Dividends
Dividends of $0.24 per share on the Company’s Class A and Class B common stock were paid on March 15, 2022, June 15, 2022, and September 15, 2022, respectively, and a dividend of $0.26 per share was paid on December 15, 2022.
The Company's Board of Directors declared a first quarter 2023 cash dividend on the Company's Class A and Class B common stock of $0.26 per share. The dividend will be paid on March 15, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 1, 2023.
The Company plans to continue making regular quarterly dividend payments, subject to future earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, and other factors.
CRITICAL ACCOUNTING POLICIES AND ESTIMATES
This Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations discusses the Company’s consolidated financial statements, which have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. The preparation of these financial statements requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the reported amounts of income and expenses during the reporting periods. The Company bases its estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that the Company believes are reasonable under the circumstances. Actual results may differ from these estimates under varying assumptions or conditions. Note 3 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report includes a summary of the significant accounting policies and methods used in the preparation of the consolidated financial statements.
On an on-going basis, management evaluates its estimates and judgments, particularly as they relate to accounting policies that management believes are most “critical” - that is, they are most important to the portrayal of the Company’s financial condition and results of operations and they require management’s most difficult, subjective, or complex judgments, often as a result of the need to make estimates about the effect of matters that are inherently uncertain. Management has identified the allowance for loan losses as a critical accounting policy and estimate.
Allowance for Loan Losses
The allowance for loan losses represents the Company’s estimate of the expected lifetime credit losses inherent in loan receivables as of the balance sheet date. The adequacy of the allowance for loan losses is assessed quarterly and the assumptions and models used in establishing the allowance are evaluated regularly. Because credit losses can vary substantially over time, estimating credit losses requires a number of assumptions about matters that are uncertain. Such assumptions are discussed below, and such uncertainty is due in part to the fact that the weighted average maturity of the Company’s loan portfolio is approximately 15 years, and actual credit losses will be affected by, among other things, future economic conditions
and future personal financial situations for borrowers, over that extended time frame. Changes in the Company’s assumptions affect “provision for loan losses” on the Company’s consolidated statements of income and the “allowance for loan losses” contained within “loans and accrued interest receivable, net of allowance for loan losses” on the Company’s consolidated balance sheets. For additional information regarding the Company’s allowance for loan losses, see notes 3 and 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
The Company estimates the allowance for loan losses for receivables that share similar risk characteristics based on a collective assessment using a combination of measurement models and management judgment. The models consider factors such as historical trends in credit losses, recent portfolio performance, and forward-looking macroeconomic conditions. The models vary by portfolio type including FFELP, private education, consumer, and other loans. If management does not believe the models reflect lifetime expected credit losses for the portfolio, an adjustment is made to reflect management judgment regarding qualitative factors including economic uncertainty, observable changes in portfolio performance, and other relevant factors.
The Company’s allowance for loan losses is based on various assumptions including: probability of default; loss given default; exposure at default; net loss rates for its consumer portfolio; contractual terms, including prepayments; forecast period; reversion method; reversion period; and macroeconomic factors, including unemployment rates, gross domestic product, and the consumer price index.
The allowance for loan losses is made at a specific point in time and based on relevant information as discussed above. The allowance for loan losses is maintained at a level management believes is appropriate to provide for expected lifetime credit losses inherent in loan receivables as of the balance sheet date. This evaluation is inherently subjective because it requires numerous estimates made by management. These estimates are subjective in nature and involve uncertainties and matters of significant judgement. Changes in estimates could significantly affect the Company's recorded balance for the allowance for loan losses. For additional information regarding changes in the Company’s allowance for loan losses for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020, see the caption “Activity in the Allowance for Loan Losses” in note 4 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
The Company considers a range of economic scenarios in its determination of the allowance for loan losses. These scenarios are constructed with interrelated projections of multiple economic variables, and loss estimates are produced that consider the historical correlation of those economic variables with credit losses, and also the expectation that conditions will eventually normalize over the longer run. Under the range of economic scenarios considered, the allowance for loan losses would have been lower by $16 million (12%) or higher by $9 million (7%). This range reflects the sensitivity of the allowance for loan losses specifically related to the scenarios and weights considered as of December 31, 2022, and does not consider other potential adjustments that could increase or decrease loss estimates calculated using alternative economic scenarios.
Because several quantitative and qualitative factors are considered in determining the allowance for loan losses, these sensitivity analyses do not necessarily reflect the nature and extent of future changes in the allowance for loan losses. They are intended to provide insights into the impact of adverse changes in the economy on the Company’s modeled loss estimates for the loan portfolio and do not imply any expectation of future deterioration in loss rates. Given current processes employed by the Company, management believes the loss model estimates currently assigned are appropriate. It is possible that others, given the same information, may at any point in time reach different reasonable conclusions that could be significant to the Company’s financial statements.
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
Financial Instruments - Credit Losses
In March 2022, the FASB issued accounting guidance which eliminates the troubled debt restructurings recognition and measurement guidance and instead requires an entity to evaluate whether the modification represents a new loan or a continuation of an existing loan. The guidance also enhances the disclosure requirements for certain modifications of receivables made to borrowers experiencing financial difficulty. The adoption of this standard by the Company on January 1, 2023, was immaterial to the Company’s consolidated financial statements and related disclosures.

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ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
(All dollars are in thousands, except share amounts, unless otherwise noted)
Interest Rate Risk - AGM Operating Segment
AGM’s primary market risk exposure arises from fluctuations in its borrowing and lending rates, the spread between which could impact AGM due to shifts in market interest rates.
The following table sets forth AGM’s loan assets and debt instruments by rate characteristics:
As of December 31, 2022 As of December 31, 2021
Dollars Percent Dollars Percent
Fixed-rate loan assets $ 1,339,900 9.5 % $ 7,434,068 42.6 %
Variable-rate loan assets 12,829,871 90.5 10,007,722 57.4
Total $ 14,169,771 100.0 % $ 17,441,790 100.0 %
Fixed-rate debt instruments $ 617,083 4.5 % $ 801,548 4.7 %
Variable-rate debt instruments 13,199,327 95.5 16,279,722 95.3
Total $ 13,816,410 100.0 % $ 17,081,270 100.0 %
FFELP loans originated prior to April 1, 2006 generally earn interest at the higher of the borrower rate, which is fixed over a period of time, or a floating rate based on the special allowance payment (SAP) formula set by the Department. The SAP rate is based on an applicable index plus a fixed spread that depends on loan type, origination date, and repayment status. The Company generally finances its FFELP student loan portfolio with variable rate debt. In low and/or declining interest rate environments, when the fixed borrower rate is higher than the SAP rate, the Company’s FFELP student loans earn at a fixed rate while the interest on the variable rate debt typically continues to reflect the low and/or declining interest rates. In these interest rate environments, the Company may earn additional spread income that it refers to as floor income.
Depending on the type of loan and when it was originated, the borrower rate is either fixed to term or is reset to an annual rate each July 1. As a result, for loans where the borrower rate is fixed to term, the Company may earn floor income for an extended period of time, which the Company refers to as fixed rate floor income, and for those loans where the borrower rate is reset annually on July 1, the Company may earn floor income to the next reset date, which the Company refers to as variable rate floor income. All FFELP loans first originated on or after April 1, 2006 effectively earn at the SAP rate, since lenders are required to rebate fixed rate floor income and variable rate floor income for those loans to the Department.
No variable-rate floor income was earned by the Company in 2022 or 2021.
A summary of fixed rate floor income earned by the AGM operating segment follows.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Fixed rate floor income, gross $ 57,380 142,606
Derivative settlements (a) 33,149 (19,729)
Fixed rate floor income, net $ 90,529 122,877
(a) Derivative settlements consist of settlements received (paid) related to the Company's derivatives used to hedge student loans earning fixed rate floor income.
Gross fixed rate floor income decreased in 2022 compared with 2021 due to higher interest rates in 2022 compared with 2021.
Absent the use of derivative instruments, a rise in interest rates will reduce the amount of floor income received and has an impact on earnings due to interest margin compression caused by increasing financing costs, until such time as the federally insured loans earn interest at a variable rate in accordance with their SAP formulas. In higher interest rate environments, where the interest rate rises above the borrower rate and fixed rate loans effectively become variable rate loans, the impact of the rate fluctuations is reduced.
The Company enters into derivative instruments to hedge student loans earning fixed rate floor income. The increase in net derivative settlements received by the Company during 2022 compared with net derivative settlements paid in 2021, was due to an increase in interest rates, partially offset by a decrease in the notional amount of derivatives outstanding. During 2022, the Company terminated $2.4 billion in notional amount of derivatives for net proceeds of $91.8 million.
The following graph depicts fixed rate floor income for a borrower with a fixed rate of 6.75% and a SAP rate of 2.64%:
The following table shows AGM’s federally insured student loan assets that were earning fixed rate floor income as of December 31, 2022:
Fixed interest rate range Borrower/lender weighted average yield Estimated variable conversion rate (a) Loan balance
6.5 - 6.99% 6.77% 4.13% $ 135,031
7.0 - 7.49% 7.18% 4.54% 69,205
7.5 - 7.99% 7.72% 5.08% 158,317
8.0 - 8.99% 8.18% 5.54% 363,579
> 9.0% 9.05% 6.41% 139,081
$ 865,213
(a) The estimated variable conversion rate is the estimated short-term interest rate at which loans would convert to a variable rate. As of December 31, 2022, the weighted average estimated variable conversion rate was 5.30% and the short-term interest rate was 397 basis points.
The following table summarizes the outstanding derivative instruments as of December 31, 2022 used by AGM to economically hedge loans earning fixed rate floor income.
Maturity Notional amount Weighted average fixed rate paid by the Company (a)
2024 $ 2,000,000 0.35 %
2026 500,000 1.02
2031 100,000 1.53
2032 (b) 200,000 2.92
$ 2,800,000 0.70 %
(a) For the interest rate derivatives maturing in 2032, the Company receives payments based on Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR) that resets quarterly. For all other interest rate derivatives, the Company receives payments based on three-month LIBOR that resets quarterly.
(b) These derivatives have forward effective start dates in November 2024.
AGM is also exposed to interest rate risk in the form of basis risk and repricing risk because the interest rate characteristics of AGM’s assets do not match the interest rate characteristics of the funding for those assets. The following table presents AGM’s FFELP student loan assets and related funding for those assets arranged by underlying indices as of December 31, 2022.
Index Frequency of variable resets Assets Funding of student loan assets
1 month LIBOR (a) Daily $ 12,688,933 -
3 month H15 financial commercial paper Daily 454,866 -
3 month Treasury bill Daily 422,674 -
1 month LIBOR Monthly - 8,113,302
3 month LIBOR (a) Quarterly - 3,754,888
Asset-backed commercial paper (b) Varies - 978,956
Fixed rate - - 594,051
Auction-rate (c) Varies - 178,960
Other (d) - 1,661,866 1,608,182
$ 15,228,339 15,228,339
(a) The Company has certain basis swaps outstanding in which the Company receives three-month LIBOR and pays one-month LIBOR plus or minus a spread as defined in the agreements (the "1:3 Basis Swaps"). The Company entered into these derivative instruments to better match the interest rate characteristics on its student loan assets and the debt funding such assets. The following table summarizes the 1:3 Basis Swaps outstanding as of December 31, 2022.
Maturity Notional amount (i)
2023 $ 750,000
2024 1,750,000
2026 1,150,000
2027 250,000
$ 3,900,000
(i) The weighted average rate paid by the Company on the 1:3 Basis Swaps as of December 31, 2022 was one-month LIBOR plus 9.7 basis points.
(b) The interest rate on the Company's FFELP warehouse facility is indexed to asset-backed commercial paper rates.
(c) As of December 31, 2022, the Company was sponsor for $179.0 million of outstanding asset-backed securities that were set and provide for interest rates to be periodically reset via a "dutch auction" (the “Auction Rate Securities”). Since the auction feature has essentially been inoperable for substantially all auction rate securities since 2008, the Auction Rate Securities generally pay interest to the holder at a maximum rate as defined by the indenture. While these rates will vary, they will generally be based on a spread to LIBOR or Treasury Securities, or the Net Loan Rate as defined in the financing documents.
(d) Assets include accrued interest receivable and restricted cash. Funding represents overcollateralization (equity) and other liabilities included in FFELP asset-backed securitizations and warehouse facility.
LIBOR is in the process of being discontinued as a benchmark rate, and the market transition away from the current LIBOR framework could result in significant changes to the interest rate characteristics of the Company's LIBOR-indexed assets and funding for those assets. See Item 1A, "Risk Factors - Loan Portfolio - Interest rate risk - replacement of LIBOR as a benchmark rate."
Sensitivity Analysis
The following tables summarize the effect on the Company’s consolidated earnings, based upon a sensitivity analysis performed on AGM’s assets and liabilities assuming hypothetical increases in interest rates of 100 basis points and 300 basis points while funding spreads remain constant. In addition, a sensitivity analysis was performed assuming the funding index increases 10 basis points and 30 basis points while holding the asset index constant, if the funding index is different than the asset index. The sensitivity analysis was performed on AGM’s variable rate assets (including loans earning fixed rate floor income) and liabilities. The analysis includes the effects of AGM’s derivative instruments in existence during these periods.
Interest rates Asset and funding index mismatches
Change from increase of
100 basis points Change from increase of
300 basis points Increase of
10 basis points Increase of
30 basis points
Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent Dollars Percent
Year ended December 31, 2022
Effect on earnings:
Decrease in pre-tax net income before impact of derivative settlements $ (19,344) (3.8) % $ (31,648) (6.2) % $ (4,773) (0.9) % $ (14,319) (2.8) %
Impact of derivative settlements 31,561 6.2 94,685 18.6 4,895 0.9 14,682 2.9
Increase (decrease) in net income before taxes $ 12,217 2.4 % $ 63,037 12.4 % $ 122 0.0 % $ 363 0.1 %
Increase (decrease) in basic and diluted earnings per share $ 0.25 $ 1.27 $ 0.00 $ 0.01
Year ended December 31, 2021
Effect on earnings:
Decrease in pre-tax net income before impact of derivative settlements $ (55,957) (11.1) % $ (103,742) (20.7) % $ (6,020) (1.2) % $ (18,063) (3.6) %
Impact of derivative settlements 43,059 8.6 129,176 25.7 5,961 1.2 17,884 3.6
Increase (decrease) in net income before taxes $ (12,898) (2.5) % $ 25,434 5.0 % $ (59) - % $ (179) - %
Increase (decrease) in basic and diluted earnings per share $ (0.25) $ 0.50 $ (0.00 ) $ (0.00 )
Financial Statement Impact - Derivatives
For a table summarizing the effect of derivative instruments in the consolidated statements of income, including the components of "derivative market value adjustments and derivative settlements, net" included in the consolidated statements of income, see note 6 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report.
Based on AGM’s interest rate swaps outstanding as of December 31, 2022 used to hedge loans earning fixed rate floor income, if the forward interest rate curve was 50 basis points lower for the remaining duration of these derivatives, we would have been required to pay $29.3 million in additional variation margin. In addition, if the forward basis curve between one-month and three-month LIBOR experienced a ten-basis point reduction in spread for the remaining duration of AGM’s 1:3 Basis Swaps (in which the Company pays one month LIBOR and receives three month LIBOR), we would have been required to pay $7.7 million in additional variation margin.
Interest Rate Risk - Nelnet Bank
To manage Nelnet Bank's risk from fluctuations in market interest rates, the Company actively monitors interest rates and other interest sensitive components to minimize the impact that changes in interest rates have on the fair value of assets, net income, and cash flow. To achieve this objective, the Company manages and mitigates Nelnet Bank’s exposure to fluctuations in market interest rates through several techniques, including managing the maturity, repricing, and mix of fixed and variable rate assets and liabilities.
The following table presents Nelnet Bank's loan assets, asset-backed security investments, and deposits by rate characteristics:
As of December 31, 2022 As of December 31, 2021
Dollars Percent Dollars Percent
Fixed-rate loan assets $ 341,776 $ 191,410
Fixed-rate investments 123,809 3,937
Total fixed-rate assets 465,585 52.2 % 195,347 38.8 %
Variable-rate loan assets 78,019 66,491
Variable-rate investments 347,559 241,038
Total variable rate assets 425,578 47.8 307,529 61.2
Total assets $ 891,163 100.0 % $ 502,876 100.0 %
Fixed-rate deposits $ 336,040 42.6 % $ 344,315 80.9 %
Variable-rate deposits 453,604 57.4 81,085 19.1
Total deposits $ 789,644 100.0 % $ 425,400 100.0 %
Interest Rate and Market Risk - Investments
The following table presents the rates earned on the Company’s available-for-sale debt securities (investments) and debt facilities used to fund a portion of such investments. The table below excludes the available-for-sale debt securities (investments) held by Nelnet Bank.
Year ended December 31,
2022 2021
Average balance Interest income/ expense Average yields/ rates Average balance Interest income/ expense Average yields/ rates
Investments:
Asset-backed securities available-for-sale (a)(b) $ 1,303,731 35,516 2.72 % $ 587,736 7,409 1.26 %
Debt funding asset-backed securities available-for-sale:
Participation agreement - variable rate $ 349,486 9,617 2.75 % $ 152,196 1,176 0.77 %
Repurchases agreements - variable rate 481,782 12,355 2.56 223,792 1,558 0.70
$ 831,268 21,972 2.64 $ 375,988 2,734 0.73
(a) The Company has repurchased certain of its own FFELP asset-backed securities (bonds and notes payable) in the secondary market. For accounting purposes, these notes are eliminated in consolidation and are not included in the Company's consolidated financial statements. However, these securities remain legally outstanding at the trust level and the Company could sell these notes to third parties or redeem the notes at par as cash is generated by the trust estate. Upon a sale of these notes to third parties, the Company would obtain cash proceeds equal to the market value of the notes on the date of such sale. The table above includes these repurchased bonds.
(b) The majority of the Company’s asset-backed securities earn floating rates with expected returns of approximately LIBOR + 100 to 350 basis points to maturity. As of December 31, 2022, $374.0 million (par value) of the Company’s asset-backed securities earn a weighted average fixed rate of 3.44%.
The Company’s portfolio of asset-backed securities has limited liquidity, and the Company could incur a significant loss if the investments were sold prior to maturity at an amount less than the original purchase price. As of December 31, 2022, the net unrealized losses on the Company’s available-for-sale debt securities was $52.6 million, and the aggregate fair value of available-for-sale debt securities with unrealized losses was $1.2 billion. The Company currently has the intent and ability to retain these investments, and none of the unrealized losses were due to credit losses. See note 7 of the notes to consolidated financial statements included in this report for additional information.

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ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA
Reference is made to the consolidated financial statements listed under the heading “(a) 1. Consolidated Financial Statements” of Item 15 of this report, which consolidated financial statements are incorporated into this report by reference in response to this Item 8.

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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
The Company’s management, with the participation of the Company's principal executive and principal financial officers, evaluated the effectiveness of the Company's disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) as of December 31, 2022. Based on this evaluation, the Company’s principal executive and principal financial officers concluded that the Company's disclosure controls and procedures were effective as of December 31, 2022.
Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
There were no changes in the Company's internal control over financial reporting during the fiscal quarter ended December 31, 2022 that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company's internal control over financial reporting.
Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting
Management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934) for the Company. The Company's internal control system is designed to provide reasonable assurance to the Company's management and board of directors regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation and fair presentation of published financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.
Management assessed the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022 based on the criteria for effective internal control described in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this assessment, management believes that, as of December 31, 2022, the Company's internal control over financial reporting is effective.
The effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022 has been audited by KPMG LLP, the Company's independent registered public accounting firm, as stated in their report included herein.
Inherent Limitations on Effectiveness of Internal Controls
The Company's management, including the chief executive and chief financial officers, understands that the disclosure controls and procedures and internal control over financial reporting are subject to certain limitations, including the exercise of judgment in designing, implementing, and evaluating the controls and procedures, the assumptions used in identifying the likelihood of future events, and the inability to eliminate misconduct completely. 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.
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders and Board of Directors
Nelnet, Inc.:
Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
We have audited Nelnet, Inc. and subsidiaries' (the Company) internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2022, based on criteria established in Internal Control - Integrated Framework (2013) issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission.
We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) (PCAOB), the consolidated balance sheets of the Company as of December 31, 2022 and 2021, the related consolidated statements of income, comprehensive income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the years in the three-year period ended December 31, 2022, and the related notes (collectively, the consolidated financial statements), and our report dated February 28, 2023 expressed an unqualified opinion on those consolidated financial statements.
Basis for Opinion
The Company’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting, included in the accompanying Management's Report on Internal Control over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.
We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit of internal control over financial reporting included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, and testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk. Our audit also included performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.
Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting
A company’s 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. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
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.
/s/ KPMG LLP
Lincoln, Nebraska
February 28, 2023

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ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION
During the fourth quarter of 2022, no information was required to be disclosed in a report on Form 8-K, but not reported.

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ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS, AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
The information required by this Item will be included in the Company’s definitive Proxy Statement to be filed on Schedule 14A with the SEC, no later than 120 days after the end of the Company's fiscal year, relating to the Company's 2023 Annual Meeting of Shareholders scheduled to be held on May 18, 2023 (the “Proxy Statement”), and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
The information required by this Item will be included in the Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein 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
The following table summarizes information about compensation plans under which equity securities are authorized for issuance.
Equity Compensation Plan Information
As of December 31, 2022
Plan category Number of shares to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options, warrants, and rights (a) Weighted-average exercise price of outstanding options, warrants, and rights (b) Number of shares remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plans (excluding securities reflected in column (a)) (c)
Equity compensation plans approved by shareholders
- - 1,233,938 (1)
Equity compensation plans not approved by shareholders
- - -
Total - - 1,233,938
(1) Includes 869,596, 21,617, and 342,725 shares of Class A Common Stock remaining available for future issuance under the Nelnet, Inc. Restricted Stock Plan, Nelnet, Inc. Directors Stock Compensation Plan, and Nelnet, Inc. Employee Share Purchase Plan, respectively.
The remaining information required by this Item will be included in the Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS
ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE
The information required by this Item will be included in the Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.

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ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES
ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES
The information required by this Item will be included in the Proxy Statement, and is incorporated herein by reference.
PART IV.

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ITEM 15. EXHIBITS, FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES
(a) 1. Consolidated Financial Statements
The following consolidated financial statements of Nelnet, Inc. and its subsidiaries and the Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm thereon are included in Item 8 above:
Page
Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
Consolidated Balance Sheets as of December 31, 2022 and 2021
Consolidated Statements of Income for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020
Consolidated Statements of Comprehensive Income for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020
Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows for the years ended December 31, 2022, 2021, and 2020
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements
2. Financial Statement Schedules
All schedules are omitted because they are not applicable or the required information is shown in the consolidated financial statements or notes thereto.
3. Exhibits
The exhibits listed in the accompanying index to exhibits are filed, furnished, or incorporated by reference as part of this report.
(b) Exhibits
Exhibit Index
Exhibit No. Description
3.1 Composite Third Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of Nelnet, Inc., as amended through August 8, 2022, filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and incorporated herein by reference.
3.2 Ninth Amended and Restated Bylaws of Nelnet, Inc., as amended as of May 24, 2018, filed as Exhibit 3.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 24, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
4.1 * Description of Securities Registered Under Section 12 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
4.2 Form of Class A Common Stock Certificate of Nelnet, Inc., filed on November 24, 2003 as Exhibit 4.1 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-108070) and incorporated herein by reference.
4.3 Certain instruments, including indentures of trust, defining the rights of holders of long-term debt of the registrant and its consolidated subsidiaries, none of which instruments authorizes a total amount of indebtedness thereunder in excess of 10% of the total assets of the registrant and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis, are omitted from this Exhibit Index pursuant to Item 601(b)(4)(iii)(A) of Regulation S-K. Certain of such instruments have been previously filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, and the registrant hereby agrees to furnish a copy of any such instrument to the Commission upon request.
4.4 Registration Rights Agreement, dated as of December 16, 2003, by and among Nelnet, Inc. and the shareholders of Nelnet, Inc. signatory thereto, filed on November 24, 2003 as Exhibit 4.11 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-108070) and incorporated herein by reference.
10.1 Composite Form of Amended and Restated Participation Agreement, dated as of June 1, 2001, between NELnet, Inc. (subsequently renamed National Education Loan Network, Inc.) and Union Bank and Trust Company, as amended by the First Amendment thereto dated as of December 19, 2001 through the Cancellation of the Fifteenth Amendment thereto dated as of March 16, 2011 (such Participation Agreement and each amendment through the Cancellation of the Fifteenth Amendment thereto have been previously filed as set forth in the Exhibit Index for the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2012, and are incorporated herein by reference), filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.2 Sixteenth Amendment of Amended and Restated Participation Agreement, dated as of March 23, 2012, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and National Education Loan Network, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.3 Seventeenth Amendment of Amended and Restated Participation Agreement, dated as of August 1, 2019, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and National Education Loan Network, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.4 Guaranteed Purchase Agreement, dated as of March 19, 2001, by and between NELnet, Inc. (subsequently renamed National Education Loan Network, Inc.) and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed on September 25, 2003 as Exhibit 10.36 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-108070) and incorporated herein by reference.
10.5 First Amendment of Guaranteed Purchase Agreement, dated as of February 1, 2002, by and between NELnet, Inc. (subsequently renamed National Education Loan Network, Inc.) and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed on September 25, 2003 as Exhibit 10.37 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-108070) and incorporated herein by reference.
10.6 Second Amendment of Guaranteed Purchase Agreement, dated as of December 1, 2002, by and between Nelnet, Inc. (f/k/a/ NELnet, Inc.) (subsequently renamed National Education Loan Network, Inc.) and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed on September 25, 2003 as Exhibit 10.38 to the registrant’s Registration Statement on Form S-1 (Registration No. 333-108070) and incorporated herein by reference.
10.7 Guaranteed Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 1, 2010, by and between Nelnet, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.8 First Amendment of Guaranteed Purchase Agreement, dated as of March 22, 2011, by and between Nelnet, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.9 Amendment of Agreements dated as of February 4, 2005, by and between National Education Loan Network, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on February 10, 2005 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.10+ Nelnet, Inc. Employee Share Purchase Plan, as amended through March 17, 2011, filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.11 Office Building Lease dated June 21, 1996 between Miller & Paine and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 16, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.12 Amendment to Office Building Lease dated June 11, 1997 between Miller & Paine and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 16, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.13 Lease Amendment Number Two dated February 8, 2001 between Miller & Paine and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 16, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.14 Lease Amendment Number Three dated May 23, 2005 between Miller & Paine, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on October 16, 2006 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.15 Lease Amendment Number Four dated November 13, 2007 between M & P Building, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.14 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.16 Lease Amendment Number Five entered into in September 2008 between M & P Building, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.15 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.17 Lease Amendment Number Six dated December 15, 2017 between Nelnet Real Estate Ventures, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.16 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.18# Office Building Lease dated January 5, 2021 between Union Bank and Trust Company and National Education Loan Network, filed as Exhibit 10.13 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.19+ Nelnet, Inc. Restricted Stock Plan, as amended through May 22, 2014, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 28, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.20+ Amendment to Nelnet, Inc. Restricted Stock Plan, effective as of February 11, 2020, filed as Exhibit 10.21 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.21+ Nelnet, Inc. Directors Stock Compensation Plan, as amended through March 21, 2018, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 24, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.22+ Nelnet, Inc. Executive Officers Incentive Compensation Plan, effective as of January 1, 2019, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 23, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.23 Loan Purchase Agreement, dated as of November 25, 2008, by and between Nelnet Education Loan Funding, Inc., f/k/a NEBHELP, INC., acting, where applicable, by and through Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, not individually but as Eligible Lender Trustee for the Seller under the Warehouse Agreement or Eligible Lender Trust Agreement, and Union Bank and Trust Company, acting in its individual capacity and as trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.71 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2008 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.24 Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2010 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.25 Modification of Contract dated effective as of June 17, 2014 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 18, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.26 Modification of Contract dated effective as of September 1, 2014 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 2, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.27 Modification of Contract dated effective as of June 16, 2019 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 17, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.28 Modification of Contract dated effective as of November 25, 2019 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 27, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.29 Modification of Contract dated effective as of December 15, 2020 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 15, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.30 Form of Modification of Contract dated effective as of June 15, 2021 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 10, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.31 Form of Modification of Contract entered into on September 24, 2021 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 27, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.32 Form of Modification of Contract entered into December 29, 2021 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Nelnet Servicing, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.32 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.33 Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 17, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.34 Modification of Contract dated effective as of May 21, 2014 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.7 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 17, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.35 Modification of Contract dated effective as of September 1, 2014 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.8 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 17, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.36 Modification of Contract dated effective as of June 16, 2019 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on May 17, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.37 Modification of Contract dated effective as of November 25, 2019 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on November 27, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.38 Modification of Contract dated effective as of December 15, 2020 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed on December 15, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.39 Form of Modification of Contract dated effective as of June 15, 2021 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on June 10, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.40 Form of Modification of Contract entered into on September 24, 2021 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 27, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.41 Form of Modification of Contract entered into on January 7, 2022 for Student Loan Servicing Contract between the United States Department of Education and Great Lakes Educational Loan Services, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.41 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.42 Management Agreement, dated effective as of May 1, 2011, by Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2011 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.43 Management Agreement, dated effective as of January 20, 2012, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.58 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2011 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.44 Management Agreement, dated effective as of October 27, 2015, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.25 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.45# Appendix A, dated July 29, 2020, to Management Agreement dated effective as of October 27, 2015, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.46 Management Agreement, dated effective as of January 4, 2016, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2016 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.47 Management Agreement, dated effective as of March 23, 2017, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.48 Amended Appendix A, dated May 8, 2019, to Management Agreement, dated effective as of March 23, 2017, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.49# Amended Appendix A, dated July 29, 2020, to Management Agreement dated effective as of March 23, 2017, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.5 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.50# Management Agreement dated effective as of July 29, 2020, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.6 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.51 Investment Management Agreement, dated effective as of February 10, 2012, by and among Whitetail Rock SLAB Fund I, LLC, Whitetail Rock Fund Management, LLC, and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.4 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2012 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.52 Investment Management Agreement, dated effective as of February 14, 2013, by and among Whitetail Rock SLAB Fund III, LLC, Whitetail Rock Fund Management, LLC, and Whitetail Rock Capital Management, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.31 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.53 Form of Custodian Agreement for Whitetail Rock SLAB Funds by and among the Fund, Whitetail Rock Fund Management, LLC, and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.27 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.54 Form of Administrative Services Agreement for Whitetail Rock SLAB Funds by and among the Fund, Whitetail Rock Fund Management, LLC, Adminisystems, Inc., and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.28 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.55 Subordination Agreement effective as of July 26, 2019, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company, Nelnet, Inc., and Agile Sports Technologies, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.7 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.56# Third Amended and Restated Credit Agreement dated as of September 22, 2021, among Nelnet, Inc., U.S. Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent; Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, as Syndication Agent, Royal Bank of Canada, as Documentation Agent, U.S. Bank National Association and Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, as Joint Lead Arrangers and Joint Book Runners; and various lender parties thereto, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 22, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.57 Third Amended and Restated Guaranty dated as of September 22, 2021, by each of the subsidiaries of Nelnet, Inc. signatories thereto, in favor of U.S. Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Current Report on Form 8-K filed on September 22, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.58 Guaranty Supplement to the Third Amended and Restated Guaranty, dated as of July 27, 2022, in favor of U.S. Bank National Association, as Administrative Agent, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2022 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.59 Aircraft Joint Ownership Agreement dated as of January 1, 2019, by and between National Education Loan Network, Inc. and MSD711, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.43 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.60 Aircraft Management Agreement, dated as of January 1, 2019, by and between Duncan Aviation, Inc. and National Education Loan Network, Inc. and MSD711, LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.44 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.61 Amended and Restated Consulting and Services Agreement made and entered into as of October 1, 2013, by and between Nelnet, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2013 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.62 Master Private Loan Program Agreement dated as of August 22, 2018, by and between Union Bank and Trust Company and Nelnet, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.63± Education Loan Marketing Agreement dated as of August 22, 2018, by and between Nelnet Consumer Finance, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.64± Private Student Loan Origination and Servicing Agreement dated as of August 22, 2018, by and between Nelnet Servicing, LLC, d/b/a Firstmark Services, and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.65±± Private Student Loan Purchase Agreement dated as of November 19, 2019, by and among National Education Loan Network, Inc., as Purchaser, Union Bank and Trust Company, as Purchaser Lender Trustee, and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Seller, filed as Exhibit 10.56 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.66 Private Loan Sale Agreement dated as of October 9, 2014, by and between Nelnet, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.47 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.67 Private Student Loan Servicing Agreement dated as of October 9, 2014, by and between Nelnet Servicing, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.48 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.68 First Amendment of Loan Servicing Agreement dated as of September 27, 2013, by and between Nelnet, Inc. and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.49 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2014 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.69 Private Loan Servicing Letter Agreement dated as of February 27, 2017, by and between Nelnet Servicing, LLC and Union Bank and Trust Company, filed as Exhibit 10.54 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.70 Form of Trust/Custodial/Safekeeping Agreement by and between National Education Loan Network, Inc., as Principal, and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.55 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.71 Form of Special Investment Directions by National Education Loan Network, Inc. and its affiliates, as Principal under the Form of Trust/Custodial/Safekeeping Agreement between Principal and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.56 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2017 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.72 Loan Participation Agreement dated as of January 1, 2018 between Union Bank and Trust Company and Union Bank and Trust Company as trustee for National Education Loan Network, Inc., filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.73 Amended and Restated Trust Agreement dated as of December 21, 2018 among Nelnet Private Student Loan Financing Corporation, as Depositor, Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, and U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Delaware Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.57 to the registrant's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.74±± Amended and Restated Trust Agreement, dated effective as of January 11, 2019, by and among Nelnet Private Student Loan Financing Corporation, as Depositor, Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, National Education Loan Network, Inc., as Administrator, and U.S. Bank Trust National Association, as Delaware Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.75±± Interim Trust Agreement, dated effective as of January 11, 2019, by and among ACM F Acquisition, LLC, as ACM Seller, National Education Loan Network, Inc., as NELN Seller, and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Interim Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2019 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.76 SLABS Participation Agreement, dated effective as of May 5, 2020, by and between National Education Loan Network, Inc., and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.77 First Amendment of SLABS Participation Agreement, dated effective as of October 1, 2021, by and between National Education Loan Network, Inc., and Union Bank and Trust Company, as Trustee, filed as Exhibit 10.77 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.78 Parent Company Agreement, dated as of June 26, 2020, by and among the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Nelnet, Inc., Michael Dunlap, and Nelnet Bank, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.79 Capital and Liquidity Maintenance Agreement, dated as of June 26, 2020, by and among the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Nelnet, Inc., Michael Dunlap, and Nelnet Bank, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.80++ Master Agreement entered into as of October 1, 2020, by and among SDC Allo Holdings, LLC, Nelnet, Inc., and ALLO Communications LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.1 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.81++ Membership Unit Purchase Agreement, dated as of October 1, 2020, by and among SDC Allo Holdings, LLC, Nelnet, Inc., and ALLO Communications LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.2 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.82 Omnibus Amendment dated as of October 15, 2020 to the Master Agreement and the Membership Unit Purchase Agreement, by and among SDC Allo Holdings, LLC, Nelnet, Inc., and ALLO Communications LLC, filed as Exhibit 10.3 to the registrant’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.83±± Form of Amended & Restated Limited Liability Company Operating Agreement for solar energy investments managed by a subsidiary of Nelnet, Inc. and in which certain parties referred to therein with other relationships with Nelnet, Inc. have participated, filed as Exhibit 10.83 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
10.84±± Form of Management Agreement for solar energy investments managed by a subsidiary of Nelnet, Inc. and in which certain parties referred to therein with other relationships with Nelnet, Inc. have participated, filed as Exhibit 10.84 to the registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2021 and incorporated herein by reference.
21.1* Subsidiaries of Nelnet, Inc.
23.1* Consent of KPMG LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm.
31.1* Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 of Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey R. Noordhoek.
31.2* Certification Pursuant to Section 302 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 of Chief Financial Officer James D. Kruger.
32** Certification Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as Adopted Pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002.
101.INS* Inline XBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCH* Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CAL* Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEF* Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LAB* Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PRE* Inline XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104* Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101).
* Filed herewith
** Furnished herewith
+ Indicates a management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement contemplated by Item 15(a)(3) of Form 10-K.
++ Pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K, certain schedules and similar attachments to the exhibit have been omitted. The exhibit is not intended to be, and should not be relied upon as, including disclosures regarding any facts and circumstances relating to the registrant or any of its subsidiaries or affiliates. The exhibit contains representations and warranties by the registrant and the other parties that were made only for purposes of the agreement set forth in the exhibit and as of specified dates. The representations, warranties, and covenants in the agreement were made solely for the benefit of the parties to the agreement, may be subject to limitations agreed upon by the contracting parties (including being qualified by confidential disclosures made for the purposes of allocating contractual risk between the parties to the agreement instead of establishing these matters as facts), and may apply contractual standards of materiality or material adverse effect that generally differ from those applicable to investors. In addition, information concerning the subject matter of the representations, warranties, and covenants may change after the date of the agreement, which subsequent information may or may not be fully reflected in the registrant's public disclosures.
± Certain portions of this exhibit have been redacted and are subject to a confidential treatment order granted by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission pursuant to Rule 24b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
±± Certain portions of this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(b)(10)(iv) of Regulation S-K.
# Schedules, exhibits, and similar attachments to this exhibit have been omitted pursuant to Item 601(a)(5) of Regulation S-K.