Document

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

(MARK ONE)

[X] ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED: DECEMBER 31, 2018

[ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15 (d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM TO

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 1-33796

CHIMERA INVESTMENT CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)



MARYLAND	26-0630461
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation of organization)	(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

520 Madison Avenue, 32^nd Floor
New York, New York	10022
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)	(Zip Code)

(212) 626-2300

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:



Title of Each Class	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered

Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share	New York Stock Exchange
8.00% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share	New York Stock Exchange
8.00% Series B Cumulative Fixed-to-Floating Rate Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share	New York Stock Exchange
7.75% Series C Cumulative Fixed-to-Floating Rate Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share	New York Stock Exchange
8.00% Series D Cumulative Fixed-to-Floating Rate Redeemable Preferred Stock, par value $0.01 per share	New York Stock Exchange

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:

None

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes þ No o

Indicate by check mark if the Registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes o No þ

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the Registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days:

Yes þ No o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

Yes þ No o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. þ

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “accelerated filer,” “large accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

Large accelerated filer þ Accelerated filer ☐ Non-accelerated filer ☐ Smaller reporting company ☐

Emerging growth company ☐

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act

Indicate by check mark whether the Registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes ☐ No þ

At June 30, 2018, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was $3,379,832,597 based on the closing sale price on the New York Stock Exchange on that date.

The number of shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock outstanding on January 31, 2019 was 187,053,396.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission under Regulation 14A within 120 days after the end of registrant’s fiscal year covered by this Annual Report, are incorporated by reference into Part III.

CHIMERA INVESTMENT CORPORATION

2018 FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS



	Part I
ITEM 1.	BUSINESS	3
ITEM 1A.	RISK FACTORS	7
ITEM 1B.	UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS	30
ITEM 2.	PROPERTIES	30
ITEM 3.	LEGAL PROCEEDINGS	30
ITEM 4.	MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES	30

	PART II

ITEM 5.	MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES	30
ITEM 6.	SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA	32
ITEM 7.	MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS	33
ITEM 7A.	QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK	58
ITEM 8.	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA	63
ITEM 9.	CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE	63
ITEM 9A.	CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES	63
ITEM 9B.	OTHER INFORMATION	64

	PART III

ITEM 10.	DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE	64
ITEM 11.	EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION	65
ITEM 12.	SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS	65
ITEM 13.	CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE	65
ITEM 14.	PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTANT FEES AND SERVICES	65

	PART IV

ITEM 15.	EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES	65

	FINANCIAL STATEMENTS	69
	SIGNATURES	122

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

We make forward-looking statements in this report that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations, plans and objectives. When we use the words ‘‘believe,’’ ‘‘expect,’’ ‘‘anticipate,’’ ‘‘estimate,’’ ‘‘plan,’’ ‘‘continue,’’ ‘‘intend,’’ ‘‘should,’’ ‘‘may,’’ ‘‘would,’’ ‘‘will’’ or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements. Statements regarding the following subjects, among others, are forward-looking by their nature:


•	our business and investment strategy;


•	availability of investment opportunities in real estate-related and other securities;


•	our expected investments;


•	changes in the value of our investments;


•	changes in interest rates and mortgage prepayment rates;


•	prepayments of the mortgage and other loans underlying our mortgage-backed securities, or RMBS, or other asset-backed securities, or ABS;


•	rates of default, delinquencies or decreased recovery rates on our investments;


•	general volatility of the securities markets in which we invest;


•	our ability to maintain existing financing arrangements and our ability to obtain future financing arrangements;


•	our ability to effect our strategy to securitize residential mortgage loans;


•	interest rate mismatches between our investments and our borrowings used to finance such purchases;


•	effects of interest rate caps on our adjustable-rate investments;


•	the degree to which our hedging strategies may or may not protect us from interest rate volatility;


•	the impact of and changes to various government programs;


•	impact of and changes in governmental regulations, tax law and rates, accounting guidance, and similar matters;


•	market trends in our industry, interest rates, the debt securities markets or the general economy;


•	estimates relating to our ability to make distributions to our stockholders in the future;


•	our understanding of our competition;


•	availability of qualified personnel;


•	our ability to maintain our classification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes;


•	our ability to maintain our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or 1940 Act;


•	our expectations regarding materiality or significance; and


•	the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures.

The forward-looking statements are based on our beliefs, assumptions and expectations of our future performance, taking into account all information currently available to us. You should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. These beliefs, assumptions and expectations can change as a result of many possible events or factors, not all of which are known to us. Some of these factors are described under the caption ‘‘Risk Factors’’ in our Form 10-K for fiscal year ended December 31, 2018. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations may vary materially from those expressed in our forward-looking statements. Any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which it is made. New risks and uncertainties arise from time to time, and it is impossible for us to predict those events or how they may affect us. Except as required by law, we are not obligated to, and do not intend to, update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

In this Annual Report on Form 10-K, references to “we,” “us,” “our” or “the Company” refer to Chimera Investment Corporation and its subsidiaries unless specifically stated otherwise or the context otherwise indicates. The following defines certain of the commonly used terms in this Annual Report on Form 10-K: Agency refers to a federally chartered corporation, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or an agency of the U.S. Government, such as Ginnie Mae; MBS refers to mortgage-backed securities secured by pools of residential or commercial mortgage loans; RMBS refers to mortgage-backed securities secured by pools of residential mortgage loans; CMBS refers to mortgage-backed securities secured by pools of commercial mortgage loans; Agency MBS refers to MBS that are issued or guaranteed by an Agency; Agency RMBS and Agency CMBS refer to MBS that are secured by pools of residential and commercial mortgage loans, respectively, and are issued or guaranteed by an Agency; Non-Agency RMBS refers to residential MBS that are not guaranteed by any agency of the U.S. Government or any Agency.

Part I

Item 1. Business

The Company

We have elected and believe that we are organized and operate in a manner that enables us to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, or the Code. As a REIT, we generally are not subject to U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income that is distributed to our stockholders. To ensure we qualify as a REIT, no person may own more than 9.8%, in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of the outstanding shares of any class or series of our capital stock, which includes our common stock and preferred stock, unless our Board of Directors waives this limitation.

Our Investment Strategy

Our objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns to our investors over the long-term, primarily through dividends. We intend to achieve this objective by investing in a diversified investment portfolio of residential mortgage loans, Agency CMBS, Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, real estate-related securities and various other asset classes, subject to maintaining our REIT status and exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. The MBS, and real estate-related securities we purchase may include investment-grade, non-investment grade, and non-rated classes.

We make investment decisions based on various factors, including expected cash yield, relative value, risk-adjusted returns, credit fundamentals, macroeconomic considerations, supply and demand, credit and market risk concentration limits, liquidity, cost of financing and financing availability, as well as maintaining our REIT qualification and our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. Our primary source of income is net interest income from our investment portfolio. Net interest income consists of the interest income we earn on investments less the interest expense we incur on borrowed funds and other liabilities.

Our investment decisions depend on prevailing market conditions and our business opportunities at such time and we expect that these will change over time. As a result, we cannot predict the percentage of our assets that will be invested in each asset class or whether we will invest in other classes of investments. We may change our investment strategy and policies without a vote of our stockholders.

Our investment strategy is intended to take advantage of opportunities in the current interest rate and credit environment. We expect to adjust our strategy to changing market conditions by shifting our asset allocations across these various asset classes as interest rate and credit cycles change over time. We believe that our strategy will enable us to pay dividends throughout changing market cycles. We expect to take a long-term view of assets and liabilities, and our reported earnings and estimates of the fair value of our investments at the end of a financial reporting period will not significantly impact our objective of providing attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders over the long-term.

We use leverage to seek to increase our potential returns and to finance the acquisition of our assets. Our income is generated primarily by the difference, or net spread, between the income we earn on our assets and the cost of our borrowings. We expect to finance our investments using a variety of financing sources including, when available, repurchase agreements, warehouse facilities and securitizations. We seek to manage our debt and interest rate risk by utilizing interest rate hedges, such as interest rate swaps, caps, options and futures to reduce the effect of interest rate fluctuations related to our financing sources.

Currently, we focus our investment activities primarily on acquiring Agency MBS and pools of residential mortgage loans, and at December 31, 2018, over 90% of our invested portfolio consisted of these two asset classes. We seek to acquire the loans at a discount to their face amount and utilize leverage to increase returns through securitization or other traditional financing arrangements. We also seek to acquire Non-Agency RMBS and Agency commercial mortgage backed securities subject to market conditions.

At December 31, 2018, based on the amortized cost balance of our interest earning assets, approximately 47% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 47% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS and 6% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, respectively. At December 31, 2017, based on the amortized cost balance of our interest earning assets, approximately 67% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 22% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS and 11% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, respectively.

As discussed in “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” the change in the composition of our assets during 2018 relates primarily to our strategy to acquire Agency MBS.

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT and operate our business to be exempt from registration under the 1940 Act and, therefore, we are required to invest a substantial majority of our assets in loans secured by mortgages on real estate and real estate-related assets. Subject to maintaining our REIT qualification and our 1940 Act exemption, we do not have any limitations on the amounts we may invest in any of our targeted asset classes.

Investment Portfolio

The following briefly discusses the principal types of investments that we have made and may in the future make:

Residential Mortgage Loans

We invest in residential mortgage loans (mortgage loans secured by residential real property) primarily through direct and secondary market purchases from banks, non-bank financial institutions, and the Agencies. We expect these loans to be secured primarily by residential properties in the United States.

We acquire residential mortgage loans primarily to securitize them and retain them in our portfolio as securitized mortgage loans. When we securitize mortgage loans, we typically retain the most subordinate classes of securities, which means we are the first-loss security holder. Losses on any residential mortgage loan securing our RMBS will be borne first by the owner of the property (i.e., the owner will first lose any equity invested in the property) and, thereafter, by us as the first-loss security holder, and then by holders of more senior securities. In addition, a portion of these subordinate securities are subject to risk retention rules which significantly limits the liquidity of these securities. We finance these subordinate securities with repurchase agreements. The securities we do not retain are sold through securities underwriters. There is no limit on the amount we may retain of these below-investment-grade subordinate certificates. Until we securitize our residential mortgage loans, we finance our residential mortgage loan portfolio through warehouse facilities and repurchase agreements.

We currently do not intend to establish a loan origination or loan servicing platform. We acquire loans originated by third parties primarily in the secondary market and typically are not underwritten to our specifications. We retain third-party servicers to service the mortgage loans we acquire. We conduct a due diligence review of each servicer before executing a servicing agreement. Servicing procedures would typically follow Fannie Mae guidelines but will be specified in each servicing agreement. We have previously purchased certain residential mortgage loans on a servicing-retained basis, which means a third-party servicer (which may or may not be the seller of the mortgage loans) retained the right to service the loans. In the future, however, we may decide to originate mortgage loans or other types of financing, and we may elect to service mortgage loans and other types of assets.

We engage a third party to perform an independent review of the mortgage file to assess the origination and servicing of the mortgage loan as well as our ability to enforce the mortgage. Depending on the size of the loans, we may not review all the loans in a pool, but rather select loans for diligence review based upon random sampling based criteria such as property location, loan size, effective loan-to-value ratio, borrower’s credit score and other criteria we believe to be important indicators of credit risk. Additionally, we typically obtain representations and warranties with respect to the mortgage loans from each seller, including the origination and servicing of the mortgage loan as well as the enforceability of the lien on the mortgaged property. If any of the representations and warranties with respect to a mortgage loan we acquire are breached, the related seller may be obligated to repurchase the loan from us.

Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities

We invest in mortgage pass-through certificates issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac which are securities representing interests in “pools” of mortgage loans secured by residential real property where payments of both interest and principal, plus pre-paid principal, on the securities are made monthly to holders of the security, in effect passing through monthly payments made by the individual borrowers on the mortgage loans that underlie the securities, net of fees paid to the issuer/guarantor and servicers of the securities. We may also invest in collateralized mortgage obligations, or CMOs, issued by the Agencies. CMOs consist of multiple classes of securities, with each class bearing different stated maturity dates. Monthly payments of principal, including prepayments, are first returned to investors holding the shortest maturity class; investors holding the longer maturity classes receive principal only after the first class has been retired.

Agency RMBS are collateralized by either fixed-rate mortgage loans, or FRMs, adjustable-rate mortgage loans, or ARMs, or hybrid ARMs. Hybrid ARMs are mortgage loans that have interest rates that are fixed for an initial period (typically three, five, seven or ten years) and thereafter reset at regular intervals subject to interest rate caps. Our allocation between securities collateralized by FRMs, ARMs or hybrid ARMs will depend on various factors including, but not limited to, relative value, expected future prepayment trends, supply and demand, costs of financing, costs of hedging, expected future interest rate volatility and the overall shape of the U.S. Treasury and interest rate swap yield curves. We take these factors into account when we make these types of investments.

We invest in investment grade and non-investment grade Non-Agency RMBS. We evaluate certain credit characteristics of these types of securities, including, but not limited to, loan balance distribution, geographic concentration, property type, occupancy, periodic and lifetime caps, weighted-average loan-to-value and weighted-average Fair Isaac Corporation, or FICO, score. Qualifying securities are then analyzed using base line expectations of expected prepayments and loss severities, the current state of the fixed-income market and the broader economy in general. Losses and prepayments are stressed simultaneously based on a credit risk-based model. Securities in this portfolio are monitored for variance from expected prepayments, severities, losses and cash flow. The due diligence process is particularly important and costly with respect to newly formed originators or issuers because there may be little or no information publicly available about these entities and investments. We may also invest in interest-only, or IO, Agency and Non-Agency RMBS. These IO RMBS represent the right to receive a specified proportion of the contractual interest flows of the collateral.

We have invested in and intend to continue to invest in Non-Agency RMBS which are typically pass-through certificates created by the securitization of a pool of mortgage loans that are collateralized by residential real estate properties. The respective bond class sizes are determined based on the review of the underlying collateral. The payments received from the underlying loans are used to make the payments on the RMBS. Based on the sequential payment priority, the risk of nonpayment for the investment grade RMBS is lower than the risk of nonpayment for the non-investment grade bonds. Accordingly, the investment grade class is typically sold at a lower yield compared to the non-investment grade or unrated classes which are sold at higher yields.

Agency CMBS

The Agency CMBS we acquire are Ginnie Mae Construction Loan Certificates, or CLCs, and the resulting project loan certificates, or PLCs, when the construction project is complete. Each CLC is backed by a single multifamily property or health care facility. The investor in the CLC is committed to fund the full amount of the project; however, actual funding generally occurs monthly as construction progresses on the property and only after each construction advance is insured by the FHA and issued by Ginnie Mae. The principal balance of the CLC increases as payments by the investor fund each construction advance. Each Ginnie Mae approved mortgage originator must provide the agency with supporting documentation regarding advances and disbursements before each construction advance is issued by Ginnie Mae. We also review this documentation prior to funding each Ginnie Mae guaranteed advance. Upon completion of the construction project, the CLC is replaced with a PLC. Ginnie Mae guarantees the timely payment of principal and interest on each CLC and PLC. This obligation is backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

As the holder of a CLC, we generally receive monthly payments of interest equal to a pro rata share of the interest payments on the underlying mortgage loan, less applicable servicing and guaranty fees. Ginnie Mae CLCs pay interest only during construction, and so there are no payments of principal. As a holder of a PLC, we generally receive monthly payments of principal and interest equal to the aggregate amount of the scheduled monthly principal and interest payments on the mortgage loans underlying that PLC, less applicable servicing and guaranty fees. In addition, such payments will include any prepayments and other unscheduled recoveries of principal of, and any prepayment penalties on, an underlying mortgage loan to the extent received by the Ginnie Mae Issuer during the month preceding the month of the payment. The mortgage loans underlying the PLCs generally contain a lock-out and prepayment penalty period of 10 years during which the related borrower must pay a prepayment penalty equal to a specified percentage of the principal amount of the mortgage loan in connection with voluntary and certain involuntary prepayments. Ginnie Mae does not guaranty the payment of prepayment penalties.

Other Real-Estate Related Assets

We may invest in commercial mortgage loans consisting of first or second lien loans secured by multifamily properties, which are residential rental properties consisting of five or more dwelling units, or by mixed residential or other commercial properties, retail properties, office properties or industrial properties. These loans may or may not conform to the Agency guidelines.

We may invest in CMBS, which are secured by, or evidence ownership interests in, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of mortgage loans secured by commercial properties. These securities may be senior, subordinated, investment grade or non-investment grade.

We may invest in securities issued in various collateralized debt obligation, or CDO, offerings to gain exposure to bank loans, corporate bonds, asset-backed securities, or ABS, mortgages, RMBS, CMBS, and other instruments.

Investment Guidelines

We have adopted a set of investment guidelines that set out the asset classes, risk tolerance levels, diversification requirements and other criteria used to evaluate the merits of specific investments as well as the overall portfolio composition. Our investment committee, or Investment Committee, periodically reviews our compliance with the investment guidelines. Our Risk and Audit Committee also reviews our investment portfolio and related compliance with our investment policies and procedures and investment guidelines at regularly scheduled Risk and Audit Committee meetings.

Our Board of Directors and our Investment Committee have adopted the following guidelines for our investments and borrowings:


•	No investment shall be made that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes;


•	No investment shall be made that would cause us to be regulated as an investment company under the 1940 Act;


•	With the exception of real estate and housing, no single industry shall represent greater than 20% of the securities or aggregate risk exposure in our portfolio; and


•	Investments in non-rated or deeply subordinated ABS or other securities that are non-qualifying assets for purposes of the 75% REIT asset test will be limited to an amount not to exceed 50% of our stockholders’ equity.

These investment guidelines may be changed from time to time by a majority of our Board of Directors without the approval of our stockholders.

Our Financing Strategy

We use leverage to increase potential returns to our stockholders. We are not required to maintain any specific debt-to-equity ratio as we believe the appropriate leverage for the particular assets we are financing depends on the credit quality and risk of those assets. At December 31, 2018, and 2017, our ratio of debt-to-equity was 6.1:1 and 4.6:1, respectively. For purposes of calculating this ratio, our equity is equal to the Total stockholders’ equity on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition, and our debt consists of repurchase agreements and securitized debt.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, we may use a number of sources to finance our investments, including the following primary sources:

•

Securitization. A significant element of our financing strategy is to acquire residential mortgage loans for our portfolio with the intention of securitizing them. In our securitizations, we generally create subordinate certificates, providing a specified amount of credit enhancement, which we intend to retain in our portfolio. We have acquired and may in the future acquire Non-Agency RMBS for our portfolio with the intention of re-securitizing them and retaining a portion of the re-securitized Non-Agency RMBS in our portfolio, typically the subordinate certificates.


•	Warehouse Facilities. We have utilized and may in the future utilize credit facilities for capital needed to fund our assets. We seek to maintain formal relationships with multiple counterparties to maintain warehouse lines on favorable terms.


•	Repurchase Agreements. We have financed certain of our assets through repurchase agreements. We anticipate that repurchase agreements will be one of the sources we will use to achieve our desired amount of leverage for our residential real estate assets. We seek to maintain formal relationships with many counterparties with the intent to obtain financing on the most favorable terms available.

Our Interest Rate Hedging and Risk Management Strategy

From time to time, we use derivative financial instruments to hedge all or a portion of the interest rate risk associated with our borrowings. Under the U.S. federal income tax laws applicable to REITs, we generally enter certain transactions to hedge indebtedness that we incur, or plan to incur, to acquire or carry real estate assets.

We may engage in a variety of interest rate management techniques that seek to mitigate changes in interest rates or other potential influences on the values of our assets. Our interest rate management techniques may include:


•	puts and calls on securities or indices of securities;


•	Eurodollar futures contracts and options on such contracts;


•	interest rate caps, swaps and swaptions;


•	U.S. Treasury futures, forward contracts, other derivative contracts and options on U.S. Treasury securities; and


•	other similar transactions.

We may attempt to reduce interest rate risks and to minimize exposure to interest rate fluctuations through match funded financing structures, when appropriate, whereby we seek (i) to match the maturities of our debt obligations with the maturities of our assets and (ii) to match the interest rates on our investments with similar debt directly or through interest rate swaps, caps or other financial instruments, or through a combination of these strategies. This helps us to minimize the risk that we have to refinance our liabilities before the maturities of our assets and to reduce the impact of changing interest rates on our earnings.

Compliance with REIT and Investment Company Requirements

We monitor our investment securities and the income from these securities and, to the extent we enter into hedging transactions, we monitor income from our hedging transactions as well, so as to ensure at all times that we maintain our qualification as a REIT and our exempt status under the 1940 Act.

Employees

At December 31, 2018, we had 38 employees, all of whom were full-time. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good. None of our employees are unionized or represented under a collective bargaining agreement.

Competition

Our net income depends, in large part, on our ability to acquire assets at favorable spreads over our borrowing costs. In acquiring real estate-related assets, we will compete with other mortgage REITs, specialty finance companies, savings and loan associations, banks, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, mutual funds, institutional investors, investment banking firms, financial institutions, hedge funds, governmental bodies (including the U.S. Federal Reserve) and other entities. In addition, there are numerous mortgage REITs with similar asset acquisition objectives, and others that may be organized in the future. These other REITs will increase competition for the available supply of mortgage assets suitable for purchase. Many of our competitors are significantly larger than we are, have access to greater capital and other resources and may have other advantages over us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more favorable relationships than we can. Current market conditions may attract more competitors, which may increase the competition for sources of financing. An increase in the competition for sources of funding could adversely affect the availability and cost of financing, and thereby adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Available Information

Our investor relations website is www.chimerareit.com. We make available on the website under "Investor - Filings & Reports," free of charge, our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports on Form 8-K and any other reports that we file with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, (including any amendments to such reports) as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file or furnish such materials to the SEC. Information on our website, however, is not part of or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In addition, all of our filed reports can be obtained at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Item 1A. Risk Factors

You should carefully consider the following factors, together with all the other information included in this 2018 Form 10-K, in evaluating our company and our business. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and

results of operations could be materially and adversely affected, and the value of our stock could decline. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations. As such, you should not consider this list to be a complete statement of all potential risks or uncertainties.

Risks Associated with Our Investments

The nature of the mortgage loans we acquire and that underlie the MBS we acquire, expose us to credit risk that could negatively affect the value of those assets and investments.

We assume credit risk primarily through the ownership of securities backed by residential, multi-family, and commercial real estate loans and through direct investments in residential real estate loans. Credit losses on residential real estate loans can occur for many reasons (many of which are beyond our control), including: fraud; poor underwriting; poor servicing practices; weak economic conditions; increases in payments required to be made by borrowers; declines in the value of homes; earthquakes, the effects of climate change (including flooding, drought, wildfire and severe weather), and other natural disaster events; uninsured property loss; borrower over-leveraging; costs of remediation of environmental conditions, such as indoor mold; changes in zoning or building codes and the related costs of compliance; acts of war or terrorism; changes in legal protections for borrowers and other changes in law or regulation; and personal events affecting borrowers, such as reduction in income and job loss. Additionally, the amount and timing of credit losses could be affected by loan modifications, delays in the liquidation process, documentation errors, and other action by servicers. Weakness in the U.S. economy or the housing market could cause our credit losses to increase beyond levels that we currently anticipate.

We have investments in Non-Agency RMBS that are the most subordinate securities making us the first-loss security holder in those securitizations.

A significant portion of our RMBS are subordinate classes we have acquired through securitization. When we securitize mortgage loans, we retain the most subordinate classes of securities, which means we are the first-loss security holder. Losses on any residential mortgage loan securing our RMBS will be borne first by the owner of the property (i.e., the owner will first lose any equity invested in the property) and, thereafter, by us as the first-loss security holder, and then by holders of more senior securities. If the losses incurred upon loan default exceed any reserve fund, letter of credit, and classes of securities junior to those we own (if any), we may not be able to recover our investment in such securities. Also, if the underlying properties have been overvalued by the originating appraiser or if the values subsequently decline resulting in less collateral available to satisfy interest and principal payments due on the related security, as the first-loss security holder, we may suffer a total loss of principal, followed by losses on the more senior securities (or other RMBS that we own).

A significant portion of the RMBS we acquire through securitization is subject to the U.S. credit risk retention rules which materially limit our ability to sell or hedge such investments as needed.

A significant part of our business and growth strategy is to engage in securitization transactions to finance the acquisition of residential mortgage loans. Pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act and related laws and regulations, or the Risk Retention Rules, when we sponsor a residential mortgage loan securitization, we are required to retain at least 5% of the fair value of the mortgage-backed securities issued in the securitization. We can retain either an “eligible vertical interest” (which consists of at least 5% of each class of securities issued in the securitization), an “eligible horizontal residual interest” (which is the most subordinate class of securities with a fair market value of at least 5% of the aggregate credit risk) or a combination of both totaling 5%, or the Required Credit Risk. We typically own the eligible horizontal residual interest. We are required to hold the Required Credit Risk until the later of (i) the fifth anniversary of the securitization closing date and (ii) the date on which the aggregate unpaid principal balance of the mortgage loans in such securitization has been reduced to 25% of the aggregate unpaid principal balance of the mortgage loans as of the securitization closing date, but no longer than the seventh anniversary of the closing date (such date, Sunset Date). In addition, before the Sunset Date, we may not engage in any hedging transactions if payments on the hedge instrument are materially related to the Required Credit Risk and the hedge position would limit our financial exposure to the Required Credit Risk. Also, we may not pledge our interest in any Required Credit Risk as collateral for any financing unless such financing is full recourse to us. We have financed our Required Credit Risk in full recourse transactions. Our Required Credit Risk subjects us to the first losses on our securitizations and is illiquid which may make it more difficult to meet our liquidity needs, each of which may materially and adversely affect our business and financing condition. Thus, the Risk Retention Rules materially limit our ability to sell and hedge a portion of our RMBS that we acquire through our securitizations and subjects us to the credit risk related to the retained RMBS that we otherwise may have sold.

We have investments in Non-Agency MBS collateralized by mortgage loans that do not meet the prime loan underwriting standards and are subject to increased risk of losses.

We have certain investments in Non-Agency MBS backed by collateral pools containing mortgage loans that were originated using underwriting standards that were less strict than those used in underwriting “prime mortgage loans.” These lower standards permitted mortgage loans, often with LTV ratios exceeding 80%, to be made to borrowers having impaired credit histories, lower credit scores, higher debt-to-income ratios or unverified income. Such mortgage loans are likely to experience delinquency, foreclosure, bankruptcy, and other losses at rates that are higher, may be substantially higher, than those experienced by prime mortgage loans. Thus, the performance of our Non-Agency MBS that are backed by these types of loans could be correspondingly lower than those backed by prime mortgage loans, which could materially adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition, and business.

A significant portion of our Non-Agency MBS and residential loans are secured by properties in a small number of geographic areas and may be disproportionately affected by economic or housing downturns, natural disasters, terrorist events, regulatory changes, or other adverse events specific to those markets.

A significant number of the mortgages underlying our Non-Agency MBS and Loans held for investments are concentrated in certain geographic areas. For example, we have significant exposure in California, Florida, New York, and New Jersey. For further information on the geographic concentration of our investments see Note 3 and 4 to the consolidated financial statements within this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Certain markets within these states (particularly in California and Florida) have experienced significant decreases in residential home values from time to time. Any event that adversely affects the economy or real estate market in any of these states could have a disproportionately adverse effect on our Non-Agency MBS and Loans held for investments. In general, any material decline in the economy or significant problems in a particular real estate market would likely cause a decline in the value of residential properties securing the mortgages in that market, thereby increasing the risk of delinquency, default, and foreclosure of mortgage loans underlying our Non-Agency MBS and residential loan investments and the risk of loss upon liquidation of these assets. This could have a material adverse effect on our Non-Agency MBS credit loss experience and residential loan investments in the affected market if higher-than-expected rates of default or higher-than-expected loss severities on such loans were to occur.

In addition, the occurrence of a natural disaster or a terrorist attack may cause a sudden decrease in the value of real estate in the area or areas affected and would likely reduce the value of the properties securing the mortgages collateralizing our Non-Agency MBS or Loans held for investments. Because certain natural disasters such as hurricanes or certain flooding are not typically covered by the standard hazard insurance policies maintained by borrowers, or the proceeds payable under any such policy are not sufficient to cover the related repairs, the affected borrowers may have to pay for any repairs themselves. Under these circumstances, borrowers may decide not to repair their property or may stop paying their mortgages under those circumstances. This would cause defaults and credit loss severities to increase.

Changes in local laws and regulations, fiscal policies, property taxes and zoning ordinances in such states can also have a negative impact on property values, which could result in borrowers’ deciding to stop paying their mortgages. This circumstance could cause defaults and loss severities to increase, thereby adversely impacting our results of operations.

The residential mortgage loans we acquire are subject to increased risks.

We acquire residential loans including reperforming loans, nonperforming loans (the borrower is severely delinquent), and non-qualified mortgage loans, or Non-QMs, which are subject to increased risk of loss. Unlike Agency RMBS, residential mortgage loans generally are not guaranteed by the U.S. Government or any government-sponsored enterprise such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Additionally, by directly acquiring residential loans, we do not receive the structural credit enhancements that benefit senior tranches of RMBS. A residential loan is directly exposed to losses resulting from the default. Therefore, the value of the underlying property, the creditworthiness and financial position of the borrower, and the priority and enforceability of the lien will significantly impact the value of such mortgage loan. In the event of a foreclosure, we may assume direct ownership of the underlying real estate. The liquidation proceeds upon sale of such real estate may not be sufficient to recover our cost basis in the loan, and any costs or delays involved in the foreclosure or liquidation process may increase losses. The value of residential loans is also subject to property damage caused by hazards, such as earthquakes or environmental hazards, not covered by standard property insurance policies and to a reduction in a borrower's mortgage debt by a bankruptcy court. In addition, claims may be assessed against us because of our position as a mortgage holder or property owner, including assignee liability, environmental hazards, and other liabilities. We could also be responsible for property taxes. In some cases, these claims may lead to losses exceeding the purchase price of the related mortgage or property. The occurrence of any of these risks could materially adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition, and business.

In addition, we may from time to time acquire Non-QMs that will not have the benefit of enhanced legal protections otherwise available to residential mortgage loans originated to a more restrictive credit standard than just determining a borrower’s ability to repay. The ownership of Non-QMs will subject us to legal, regulatory and other risks, including those arising under federal consumer protection laws and regulations designed to regulate residential mortgage loan underwriting and originators’ lending

processes, standards, and disclosures to borrowers. Failure of residential mortgage loan originators or servicers to comply with the ability-to-repay laws and regulations could subject us, as an assignee or purchaser of these loans (or as an investor in securities backed by these loans), to monetary penalties assessed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, through its administrative enforcement authority and by mortgagors through a private right of action against lenders or as a defense to foreclosure, including by recoupment or setoff of finance charges and fees collected, and could result in rescission of the affected residential mortgage loans, which could adversely impact our business and financial results.

Mortgage loan modification and refinancing programs and future legislative action may materially adversely affect the value of, and the returns on, our MBS and residential loan investments.

The U.S. Government, through the U.S. Federal Reserve, the U.S. Treasury Department, the Federal Housing Administration, or the FHA, and other agencies have implemented in the past, and may in the future, implement federal programs designed to assist homeowners. The U.S. Treasury Department, Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, FHA, and CFPB have issued guiding principles for future loss mitigation programs. In addition, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac implemented their Flex Modification foreclosure prevention program, developed at the direction of FHFA. Federal loss mitigation programs, as well as proprietary loss mitigation programs offered by investors and servicers, may involve, among other things, the modification of mortgage loans to reduce the principal amount of the loans (through forbearance or forgiveness) or the rate of interest payable on the loans, or to extend the payment terms of the loans. Especially with our Non-Agency MBS and residential loan investments, loan modifications, including those related to principal forgiveness and coupon reduction, could negatively impact the realized yields and cash flows on such investments. These loan modification programs, future legislative or regulatory actions, including possible amendments to the bankruptcy laws, that result in the modification of outstanding residential mortgage loans, as well as changes in the requirements necessary to qualify for refinancing mortgage loans with Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae, may materially adversely affect the value of, and the returns on, these assets.

Our investments in residential loans subject us to servicing-related risks.

We rely on third-party servicers to service and manage the mortgage loans we own and that underlie our RMBS. The ultimate returns generated by these investments may depend on the quality of the servicer. If a servicer is not vigilant in seeing that borrowers make their required monthly payments, borrowers may be less likely to make these payments, resulting in higher default rates. If a servicer takes longer than expected to liquidate non-performing loans, our losses related to those loans may be higher than originally anticipated. Any failure by servicers to service these mortgages or to competently manage and dispose of the related real properties could negatively impact the value of these investments and our financial performance. In addition, while we have contracted with third-party servicers to carry out the actual servicing of the loans we own, other than our securitized loans, (including all direct interface with the borrowers), we are nevertheless ultimately responsible, vis-à-vis the borrowers and state and federal regulators, for ensuring that the loans are serviced in accordance with the terms of the related notes and mortgages and applicable law and regulation (See “Risks Related to Regulatory Matters and Our 1940 Act Exemption” for further discussion). Considering the current regulatory environment, such exposure could be significant even though we might have contractual claims against our servicers for any failure to service the loans to the required standard.

When a residential loan we own is foreclosed upon, title to the underlying property is taken by a Company subsidiary. The foreclosure process, especially in judicial foreclosure states such as New York, Florida, and New Jersey, can be lengthy and expensive, and the delays and costs involved in completing a foreclosure, and then subsequently liquidating the foreclosed property through sale, may materially increase any related loss. In addition, when the title is taken to a foreclosed property, it may require more extensive rehabilitation than we estimated at acquisition. Thus, a material amount of foreclosed residential mortgage loans, particularly in the states mentioned above, could result in significant losses in our residential loan portfolio and could materially adversely affect our results of operations.

The expanding body of federal, state and local regulations and the investigations of servicers may increase their cost of compliance and the risks of noncompliance, and may adversely affect their ability to perform their servicing obligations.

We rely on third-party servicers to service the residential mortgage loans that we acquire through consolidated trusts and that underlie the MBS that we acquire. The mortgage servicing business is subject to extensive regulation by federal, state and local governmental authorities and is subject to various laws and judicial and administrative decisions imposing requirements and restrictions and increased compliance costs on a substantial portion of their operations. The volume of new or modified laws and regulations has increased in recent years. Some jurisdictions and municipalities have enacted laws that restrict loan servicing activities, including delaying or preventing foreclosures or forcing the modification of certain mortgages.

Federal laws and regulations have also been proposed or adopted which, among other things, could hinder the ability of a servicer to foreclose promptly on defaulted residential loans, and which could result in assignees being held responsible for violations in the residential loan origination process. Certain mortgage lenders and third-party servicers have voluntarily, or as

part of settlements with law enforcement authorities, established loan modification programs relating to loans they hold or service. These federal, state and local legislative or regulatory actions that result in modifications of our outstanding mortgages, or interests in mortgages acquired by us either directly through consolidated trusts or through our investments in residential MBS, may adversely affect the value of, and returns on, such investments. Mortgage servicers may be incented by the federal government to pursue such loan modifications, as well as forbearance plans and other actions intended to prevent foreclosure, even if such loan modifications and other actions are not in the best interests of the beneficial owners of the mortgages. The foregoing matters may cause our business, financial condition, results of operations and ability to pay dividends to be adversely affected.

The federal conservatorship of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and related efforts, along with any changes in laws and regulations affecting the relationship between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the U.S. Government, may materially adversely affect our business.

The payments of principal and interest we receive on our Agency MBS, which depend directly upon payments on the mortgages underlying such securities, are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are U.S. Government-sponsored entities, or GSEs, but their guarantees are not backed by the full faith and credit of the United States (although the FHFA largely controls their actions through its conservatorship of the two GSEs). Ginnie Mae is part of a U.S. Government agency and its guarantees are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States.

Although the U.S. Government has undertaken several measures to support the positive net worth of the GSEs since the financial crisis, there is no guarantee of continuing capital support, if such support were to become necessary. These uncertainties lead to questions about the availability of, and trading market for, Agency MBS. Despite the steps taken by the U.S. Government, GSEs could default on their guarantee obligations which would materially and adversely affect the value of our Agency MBS. Accordingly, if these government actions are inadequate in the future and the GSEs were to suffer losses, be significantly reformed, or cease to exist (as discussed below), our business, operations and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

The future roles of the GSEs may be reduced (perhaps significantly) and the nature of their guarantee obligations could be limited relative to historical measurements. Alternatively, it is possible that the GSEs could be dissolved entirely or privatized, and, as mentioned above, the U.S. Government could determine to stop providing liquidity support of any kind to the mortgage market. Any changes to the nature of the GSEs or their guarantee obligations could redefine what constitutes an Agency MBS and could have broad adverse implications for the market and our business, operations and financial condition. If Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac were eliminated, or their structures were to change radically (limiting or removing the guarantee obligation), we could be unable to acquire additional Agency MBS and our existing Agency MBS could be materially and adversely impacted.

We could be negatively affected in several ways depending on how events unfold for the GSEs. We could be unable to acquire additional Agency MBS or negatively affect the spreads at which they trade and the value of our Agency MBS could be materially adversely impacted. Also, we rely on our Agency MBS as collateral for a significant portion of our financings. Any decline in our Agency MBS value, or perceived market uncertainty about their value, would make it more difficult for us to obtain financing on our Agency MBS on acceptable terms or at all, or to maintain our compliance with the terms of any financing transactions.

Changes in prepayment rates could negatively affect the value of our investment portfolio, which could result in reduced earnings or losses and negatively affect the cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

There are seldom any restrictions on borrowers’ abilities to prepay their residential mortgage loans. Homeowners tend to prepay mortgage loans faster when interest rates decline. Consequently, owners of the loans have to reinvest the money received from the prepayments at the lower prevailing interest rates. Conversely, homeowners tend not to prepay mortgage loans when interest rates increase. Consequently, owners of the loans are unable to reinvest money that would have otherwise been received from prepayments at the higher prevailing interest rates. A significant portion of the loans underlying our RMBS was originated before the financial crisis and possess higher than current prevailing interest rates. Accordingly, we may experience higher prepayment rates even in a rising interest rate environment due to the strong economy and origination profiles of the loans underlying our RMBS.

Volatility in prepayment rates may affect our ability to maintain targeted amounts of leverage and return on our portfolio of residential mortgage loans and RMBS and may result in reduced earnings or losses for us and negatively affect the cash available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, if we purchased an investment at a premium, faster than expected prepayments will result in a faster than expected amortization of the premium paid, which would adversely affect our earnings. Conversely, if these investments were purchased at a discount, faster than expected prepayments accelerate our recognition of income.

Interest rate fluctuations may have various negative effects on us and may lead to reduced earnings and increased volatility in our earnings.

Changes in interest rates, the interrelationships between various interest rates, and interest rate volatility may have negative effects on our earnings, the fair value of our assets and liabilities, loan prepayment rates, and our access to liquidity. Changes in interest rates may harm the credit performance of our assets. We generally seek to hedge some but not all interest rate risks. Our hedging may not work effectively and we may change our hedging strategies or the degree or type of interest rate risk we assume.

Some of the loans and securities we own or may acquire have adjustable-rate coupons (i.e., they may earn interest at a rate that adjusts periodically based on an interest rate index) and some of the subordinate securities we own are entitled to cash flow only after the more senior securities have been paid and those senior securities have adjustable-rate coupons. As such, the cash flows, and earnings, we receive from these assets may vary as a function of interest rates. For example, if interest rates increase, the cash flow we receive from securities with adjustable-rate coupons is expected to increase while the cash flow we receive on securities that are subordinate to adjustable-rate securities may decrease. We also acquire loans and securities for future sale, as assets we are accumulating for securitization, or as a longer-term investment. We expect to fund assets, loans, and securities with a combination of equity and debt. If we use adjustable rate debt to fund assets that have a fixed interest rate (or use fixed rate debt to fund assets that have an adjustable interest rate), an interest rate mismatch could exist and we could earn less (and fair values could decline) if interest rates rise, at least for a time. We may seek to mitigate interest rate mismatches for these assets with hedges such as swaps and other derivatives, which may not be successful.

Higher interest rates generally reduce the fair value of many of our assets. This may affect our earnings results, reduce our ability to securitize, re-securitize, or sell our assets, or reduce our liquidity. Higher interest rates could reduce borrowers’ ability to make interest payments or to refinance their loans. Higher interest rates could reduce property values and increased credit losses could result. Higher interest rates could reduce mortgage originations, thus reducing our opportunities to acquire new assets. In addition, when short-term interest rates are high relative to long-term interest rates, an increase in adjustable-rate residential loan prepayments may occur, which would likely reduce our returns from owning interest-only securities backed by adjustable-rate residential loans.

New assets we acquire may not generate yields as attractive as yields on our current assets, which could result in a decline in our earnings per share over time.

We expect that the assets we acquire or invest in may not generate the economic returns and GAAP yields of our existing portfolio. A significant portion of our securitized residential mortgage loans was originated before the 2008 financial crisis and have mortgage interest rates exceeding mortgage interest rates currently available to newly originated residential mortgage loans. In addition, after the 2008 financial crisis, we acquired residential mortgage-backed securities at a significant discount and re-securitized them, retaining high-yielding subordinate securities.

To maintain our portfolio size and our earnings, we must reinvest in new assets a portion of the cash flows we receive from principal, interest, and loan sales. However, prepayments, defaults, and loan amortization have reduced the supply of these pre-crisis assets. Also, investors seeking higher-yielding assets have created a significant demand for the remaining assets which may make it difficult for us to acquire such assets and reducing the return on assets we do acquire. Accordingly, realized cash flow from new investments could be significantly lower than expected and returns from new investments and acquisitions could be negative. We may also sell assets from time to time as part of our portfolio and capital management strategies. Principal payments, calls, and sales reduce the size of our current portfolio and generate cash for us. If the assets we invest in or acquire in the future earn lower GAAP yields than do the assets we currently own, our reported earnings per share could decline over time as the older assets are paid down or are sold, assuming comparable expenses, credit costs, and market valuation adjustments.

The performance of the assets we own and the investments we make will vary and may not meet our earnings or cash flow expectations. In addition, the cash flows and earnings from, and market values of, securities, loans, and other assets we own may be volatile.

We seek to manage certain of the risks associated with acquiring, holding, selling, and managing real estate loans and securities and other real estate-related investments. No amount of risk management or mitigation, however, can change the variable nature of the cash flows of, fair values of, and financial results generated by these assets. Changes in the credit performance of, or the prepayments on, these investments, including real estate loans and the loans underlying these securities, and changes in interest rates impact the cash flows on these securities and investments, and the impact could be significant for our assets with concentrated risks. Changes in cash flows lead to changes in our return on investment and to potential variability in, and level

of reported income. The revenue recognized on some of our assets is based on an estimate of the yield over the remaining life of the asset. Thus, changes in our estimates of expected cash flow from an asset will result in changes in our reported earnings on that asset in the current reporting period. We may be forced to recognize adverse changes in expected future cash flows as a current expense, further adding to earnings volatility.

Changes in the fair values of our assets, liabilities, and derivatives can have various negative effects on us, including reduced earnings, increased earnings volatility, and volatility in our book value.

Fair values for our assets and liabilities, including derivatives, can be volatile and our revenue and income can be impacted by changes in fair values. The fair values can change rapidly and significantly and changes can result from changes in interest rates, perceived risk, supply, demand, and actual and projected cash flows, prepayments, and credit performance. A decrease in fair value may not necessarily be the result of deterioration in future cash flows. Fair values for illiquid assets can be difficult to estimate, which may lead to volatility and uncertainty of earnings and book value.

For GAAP purposes, we may mark to market some, but not all, of the assets and liabilities on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. In addition, valuation adjustments on certain consolidated assets and our derivatives are reflected in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Assets that are funded with certain liabilities and hedges may have different mark-to-market treatment than the liability or hedge. If we sell an asset that has not been marked to market through our Consolidated Statements of Operations at a reduced market price relative to its cost basis, our reported earnings will be reduced.

Our loan sale profit margins are generally reflective of gains (or losses) over the period from when we identify a loan for purchase until we subsequently sell or securitize the loan. These profit margins may encompass elements of positive or negative market valuation adjustments on loans, hedging gains or losses associated with related risk management activities, and any other related transaction expenses; however, under GAAP, the different elements may be realized unevenly over the course of one or more quarters for financial reporting purposes, with the result that our financial results may be more volatile and less reflective of the underlying economics of our business activity.

Our calculations of the fair value of the assets we own or consolidate are based upon assumptions that are inherently subjective and involve a high degree of management judgment.

We report the fair values of securities, loans, derivatives, and certain other assets on our Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition. In computing the fair values for these assets, we may make several market-based assumptions, including assumptions regarding future interest rates, prepayment rates, discount rates, credit loss rates, and the timing of credit losses. These assumptions are inherently subjective and involve a high degree of management judgment, particularly for illiquid securities and other assets for which market prices are not readily determinable. For further information regarding our assets recorded at fair value see Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements within this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Use of different assumptions could materially affect our fair value calculations and our financial results. Further discussion of the risk of our ownership and valuation of illiquid securities is set forth in the immediately following risk factor.

A significant portion of our investments are illiquid and may be difficult to value.

A significant portion of our investments are not publicly traded and are therefore illiquid. The fair value of securities, reperforming mortgage loans (loans that typically were significantly delinquent and subsequently modified so that the borrower started making payments), and other investments we make that are not publicly traded may not be readily determinable and it may be difficult to obtain third party pricing on such investments. Also, validating third party pricing for illiquid investments may be more subjective than more liquid investments and may not be reliable. Illiquid investments may also experience greater price volatility because an active market does not exist. We value our investments quarterly based on our judgment and in accordance with our valuation policy. Because such valuations are inherently uncertain, our fair value determination may differ materially from the values obtained from third parties or the values that would have been used, if an active trading market existed for these investments. Our results of operations, financial condition and business could be materially adversely affected if our fair value determinations of the investments were materially higher than the values that would exist if a ready market existed for these assets.

The illiquidity of our investments may make it difficult, or impossible for certain assets subject to the Risk Retention Rules, for us to sell. Also, if we quickly liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio (for example, to meet a margin call), we may realize significantly less than the value at which we have previously recorded our investments. Thus, our ability to adjust our portfolio in response to changes in economic and other conditions may be relatively limited, which could adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and the value of our capital stock. This risk may be more pronounced during any severe market disruption in the mortgage, housing or related sectors.

We have experienced, and may in the future experience, declines in the market value of our assets resulting in us recording impairments, which have had or may in the future have, an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

A decline in the market value of our MBS or other assets may require us to recognize an other-than-temporary impairment, or OTTI, against such assets under GAAP. When the fair value of our MBS is less than its amortized cost, the security is considered impaired. We assess our impaired securities on at least a quarterly basis and designate such impairments as either temporary or other-than-temporary. The determination as to whether an OTTI exists and, if so, the amount we consider other-than-temporarily impaired is subjective, as such determinations are based on both factual and subjective information available at the time of assessment. Thus, the timing and amount of OTTI constitute material estimates that are susceptible to significant change. In the future, we may experience declines in the fair value of our MBS and other assets that could result in additional OTTI that will be recognized in earnings.

Our GAAP financial results may not be an accurate indicator of taxable income and dividend distributions.

Generally, the cumulative net income we report over the life of an asset will be the same for GAAP and tax purposes, although the timing of this income recognition over the life of the asset could be materially different. Differences exist in the accounting for GAAP net income and REIT taxable income, which can lead to significant variances in the amount and timing of when income and losses are recognized under these two measures. Due to these differences, our reported GAAP financial results could materially differ from our determination of taxable income results, which impacts our dividend distribution requirements, and therefore, our GAAP results may not be an accurate indicator of future taxable income and dividend distributions.

Risks Related to Financing and Hedging

Our business strategy involves the use of leverage, and we may not achieve what we believe to be optimal levels of leverage or we may become overleveraged, which may materially adversely affect our liquidity, results of operations or financial condition.

Our business strategy involves the use of borrowing, or leverage. Pursuant to our leverage strategy, we borrow against a substantial portion of the market value of our assets and use the borrowed funds to finance our investment portfolio and the acquisition of additional investment assets. We are not required to maintain any particular debt-to-equity ratio. Future increases in the amount by which the collateral value is required to contractually exceed the amount borrowed in such leverage financing transactions, decreases in the market value of our residential mortgage investments, increases in interest rate volatility and changes in the availability of acceptable financing could cause us to be unable to achieve the amount of leverage we believe to be optimal. The return on our assets and cash available for distribution to our stockholders may be reduced to the extent that changes in market conditions prevent us from achieving the desired amount of leverage on our investments or cause the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income earned on our leveraged assets. If the interest income on the investments that we have purchased with borrowed funds fails to cover the interest expense of the related borrowings, we will experience net interest losses and may experience net losses from operations. Such losses could be significant because of our leveraged structure. The use of leverage to finance our investments involves many other risks, including, among other things, the following:

•

Adverse developments involving major financial institutions or involving one of our lenders could result in a rapid reduction in our ability to borrow and materially adversely affect our business, profitability, and liquidity. As of December 31, 2018, we had amounts outstanding under repurchase agreements with 30 separate lenders. A material adverse development involving one or more major financial institutions or the financial markets, in general, could result in our lenders reducing our access to funds available under our repurchase agreements or terminating such repurchase agreements altogether. Because substantially all our repurchase agreements are uncommitted and renewable at our lenders’ discretion, our lenders could determine to reduce or terminate our access to future borrowings at virtually any time, which could materially adversely affect our business and profitability. Furthermore, if a few of our lenders became unwilling or unable to continue to provide us with financing, we could be forced to sell assets, including assets in unrealized loss positions, to maintain liquidity. Forced sales, particularly under adverse market conditions, may result in lower sale prices than ordinary market sales made in the normal course of business. If our investments were liquidated at prices below our amortized cost of such assets, we would incur losses, which could adversely affect our earnings. In addition, uncertainty in the global finance market and weak economic conditions in Europe, including the United Kingdom’s decision to exit from the European Union (commonly referred to as “Brexit”), could cause the conditions described above to have a more pronounced effect on our European counterparties.

•

Our profitability may be materially adversely affected by a reduction in our leverage. As long as we earn a positive spread between interest and other income we earn on our leveraged assets and our borrowing costs, we believe that we can generally increase our profitability by using greater amounts of leverage. There can be no assurance, however, that repurchase financing will remain an efficient source of long-term financing for our assets. The amount of leverage that we use may be limited because our lenders might not make funding available to us at acceptable rates or they may require that we provide additional collateral to secure our borrowings. If our financing strategy is not viable, we will have to find alternative forms of financing for our assets which may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at acceptable rates. In addition, in response to certain interest rate and investment environments or to changes in market liquidity, we could adopt a strategy of reducing our leverage by selling assets or not reinvesting principal payments as MBS amortize or prepay, thereby decreasing the outstanding amount of our related borrowings. Such an action could reduce interest income, interest expense and net income, the extent of which would depend on the level of reduction in assets and liabilities as well as the sale prices for which the assets were sold.

•

A re-characterization of the repurchase agreements as sales for tax purposes rather than as secured lending transactions would adversely affect our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT and to maintain our 1940 Act exemption. When we enter a repurchase agreement, we generally sell assets to our counterparty to the agreement for cash. The counterparty is obligated to resell the assets back to us at the end of the transaction term, which is typically 30 to 90 days. We believe that for U.S. federal income tax purposes we will be treated as the owner of the assets that are the subject of repurchase agreements and that the repurchase agreements will be treated as secured lending transactions notwithstanding that such agreement may transfer record ownership of the assets to the counterparty during the term of the agreement. It is possible, however, that the IRS or the SEC could successfully assert that we did not own these assets during the term of the repurchase agreements, in which case we could fail to qualify as a REIT or fail to maintain our 1940 Act exemption, respectively.

•

A decline in the market value of our assets may result in margin calls that may force us to sell assets under adverse market conditions, which may materially adversely affect our liquidity and profitability. In general, the market value of our residential mortgage investments is impacted by changes in interest rates, prevailing market yields and other market conditions, including general economic conditions, home prices, and the real estate market generally. A decline in the market value of our residential mortgage investments may limit our ability to borrow against such assets or result in lenders initiating margin calls, which require a pledge of additional collateral or cash to re-establish the required ratio of borrowing to collateral value, under our repurchase agreements. Posting additional collateral or cash to support our credit will reduce our liquidity and limit our ability to leverage our assets, which could materially adversely affect our business. Thus, we could be forced to sell a portion of our assets, including MBS in an unrealized loss position, to maintain liquidity.

•

If a counterparty to our repurchase transactions defaults on its obligation to resell the underlying security back to us at the end of the transaction term or if we default on our obligations under the repurchase agreement, we could incur losses. When we engage in repurchase transactions, we generally sell assets to the counterparty to the agreement for cash. Because the cash we receive from the counterparty is less than the value of those securities (this difference is referred to as the “haircut”), if the lender defaults on its obligation to transfer the same securities back to us, we would incur a loss on the transaction equal to the amount of the haircut (assuming there was no change in the value of the securities). (See Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K, for further discussion regarding risks related to exposure to financial institution counterparties in light of recent market conditions.) Our exposure to defaults by counterparties may be more pronounced during periods of significant volatility in the market conditions for mortgages and mortgage-related assets as well as the broader financial markets. At December 31, 2018, there was no amount at risk with any counterparty greater than 10% of the Company's equity. In addition, generally, if we default on a repurchase transaction, we could incur a loss equal to the haircut and the counterparty can elect to terminate the transaction and cease entering into additional repurchase transactions with us. In addition, if we default on a transaction under any one agreement and fail to honor the related guarantee, the counterparties on our other repurchase agreements could also declare a default under their respective repurchase agreements. Any losses we incur on our repurchase transactions could materially adversely affect our earnings and thus our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

•

Our use of repurchase agreements to borrow money may give our lenders greater rights in the event of bankruptcy. In the event of our insolvency or bankruptcy, certain repurchase agreements may qualify for special treatment under the Bankruptcy Code, the effect of which, among other things, would be to allow the creditor under the agreement to avoid the automatic stay provisions of the Bankruptcy Code and take possession of, and liquidate, the collateral under such repurchase agreements without delay.

An increase in our borrowing costs relative to the interest we receive on our assets may materially adversely affect our profitability.

Our earnings are primarily generated from the difference between the interest income we earn on our investment portfolio, less net amortization of purchase premiums and discounts, and the interest expense we pay on our borrowings. We rely primarily on borrowings under repurchase agreements to finance our investments, which have short-term contractual maturities. In general, if the interest expense on our borrowings increases relative to the interest income we earn on our investments, our profitability may be materially adversely affected. Interest rates are highly sensitive to many factors, including fiscal and monetary policies and domestic and international economic and political conditions, as well as other factors beyond our control. In general, we finance the acquisition of our investments through borrowings in the form of repurchase transactions, which exposes us to interest rate risk on the financed assets. The cost of our borrowings is based on prevailing market interest rates. Because the terms of our repurchase transactions typically range from one to three months at inception, the interest rates on our borrowings generally adjust more frequently (as new repurchase transactions are entered upon the maturity of existing repurchase transactions) than the interest rates on our investments. During a period of rising interest rates (such as during 2018, which is expected to continue during 2019), our borrowing costs generally will increase at a faster pace than our interest earnings on the leveraged portion of our investment portfolio, which could result in a decline in our net interest spread and net interest margin. The severity of any such decline would depend on our asset/liability composition, including the impact of hedging transactions, at the time as well as the magnitude and period over which interest rates increase. Further, an increase in short-term interest rates could also have a negative impact on the market value of our investments. If any of these events happen, we could experience a decrease in net income or incur a net loss during these periods, which may negatively impact our distributions to stockholders.

Changes in banks’ inter-bank lending rate reporting practices or, the method pursuant to which LIBOR is determined or, elimination of LIBOR may adversely affect the value of the financial obligations to be held or issued by us that are linked to LIBOR as well as adjustable-rate mortgage loans we hold.

The interest rates on our repurchase agreements, as well as adjustable-rate mortgage loans in our securitizations, are generally based on LIBOR, which is subject to recent national, international, and other regulatory guidance and proposals for reform. Some of these reforms are already effective while others are still to be implemented. These reforms may cause such benchmarks to perform differently than in the past, or have other consequences which cannot be predicted. In particular, regulators and law enforcement agencies in the U.K. and elsewhere are conducting criminal and civil investigations into whether the banks that contribute information to the British Bankers’ Association, or BBA, in connection with the daily calculation of LIBOR may have been under-reporting or otherwise manipulating or attempting to manipulate LIBOR. A number of BBA member banks have entered settlements with their regulators and law enforcement agencies with respect to this alleged manipulation of LIBOR. Actions by the regulators or law enforcement agencies, as well as ICE Benchmark Administration (the current administrator of LIBOR), may result in changes to the way LIBOR is determined or the establishment of alternative reference rates. For example, on July 27, 2017, the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop persuading or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021.

Currently, it is not possible to predict the effect of any such changes, any establishment of alternative reference rates or any other reforms to LIBOR that may be implemented in the U.K. or elsewhere. Uncertainty as to the nature of such potential changes, alternative reference rates or other reforms may adversely affect the rates on our repurchase facilities, securitizations or residential loans held for longer-term investment. If LIBOR is discontinued or is no longer quoted, the applicable base rate used to calculate interest on our repurchase agreements will be determined using alternative methods. One such alternative rate being discussed and tested in the United States is the Secured Overnight Funding Rate, or SOFR. There are significant differences between LIBOR and SOFR such as LIBOR being an unsecured lending rate and SOFR a secured lending rate, another is SOFR is an overnight rate and LIBOR reflects term rates at different maturities. These and other differences create the potential for basis risk between the two rates. The impact of any basis risk difference between LIBOR and SOFR may negatively affect our net interest margin. Any of these alternative methods may result in interest rates that are higher than if the LIBOR Rate was available in its current form, which could have a material adverse effect on our net interest margin.

Our financing facilities may contain covenants that restrict our operations.

Certain financing facilities we may enter contain restrictions, covenants, and representations and warranties that, among other things, may require us to satisfy specified financial, asset quality, loan eligibility, and loan performance tests. If we fail to meet or satisfy any of these covenants or representations and warranties, we would be in default under these agreements and our lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under the agreements to be immediately due and payable, enforce their respective rights against collateral pledged under such agreements, and restrict our ability to make additional borrowings. Certain financing agreements may contain cross-default provisions by a guarantor so that if a default occurs under any guaranty agreement, the lenders under our other agreements could also declare a default under their respective agreements. Further,

under our agreements, we are typically required to pledge additional assets to our lenders in the event the estimated fair value of the existing pledged collateral under such agreements declines and such lenders demand additional collateral, which may take the form of additional securities, loans or cash. These restrictions may interfere with our ability to obtain financing or to engage in other business activities, which may have a significant negative impact on our business, financial condition, liquidity and results of operations. A default and resulting repayment acceleration could significantly reduce our liquidity, which could require us to sell our assets to repay amounts due and outstanding. This could also significantly harm our business, financial condition, results of operations, and our ability to make distributions, which could cause the value of our capital stock to decline. A default will also significantly limit our financing alternatives such that we will be unable to pursue our leverage strategy, which could curtail our investment returns.

Hedging against interest rate exposure may not be successful in mitigating the risks associated with interest rates and may adversely affect our earnings, which could reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, we pursue various hedging strategies to seek to reduce our exposure to losses from adverse changes in interest rates. Our hedging activity varies in scope based on the level and volatility of interest rates, the type of assets held, financing used, and other changing market conditions. There are no perfect hedging strategies, and interest rate hedging may fail to protect us from loss. Alternatively, we may fail to properly assess a risk to our investment portfolio or may fail to recognize a risk entirely, leaving us exposed to losses without the benefit of any offsetting hedging activities. The derivative financial instruments we select may not have the effect of reducing our interest rate risk. The nature and timing of hedging transactions may influence the effectiveness of these strategies. Poorly designed strategies or improperly executed transactions could increase our risk and losses. In addition, hedging activities could result in losses if the event against which we hedge does not occur. For example, interest rate hedging could fail to protect us or adversely affect us because among other things:


•	interest rate hedging can be expensive, particularly during periods of rising and volatile interest rates;


•	available interest rate hedges may not correlate directly with the interest rate risk for which protection is sought;


•	the duration of the hedge may not match the duration of the related liability;


•	the amount of income that a REIT may earn from hedging transactions to offset interest rate losses may be limited by U.S. federal tax provisions governing REITs;


•	the credit quality of the party owing money on the hedge may be downgraded to such an extent that it impairs our ability to sell or assign our side of the hedging transaction;


•	the party owing money in the hedging transaction may default on its obligation to pay; and


•	the value of derivatives used for hedging may be adjusted from time to time in accordance with accounting rules to reflect changes in fair value. Downward adjustments, or “mark-to-market losses,” would reduce our stockholders’ equity.

Our hedging transactions, which are intended to limit losses, may limit gains and increase our exposure to losses. Thus, our hedging activity may adversely affect our earnings, which could reduce our cash available for distribution to our stockholders. In addition, some hedging instruments involve risk since they are not currently traded on regulated exchanges, guaranteed by an exchange or its clearing house, or regulated by any U.S. or foreign governmental authorities.

Clearing facilities or exchanges upon which some of our hedging instruments are traded may increase margin requirements on our hedging instruments in the event of uncertainty or adverse developments in financial markets.

In response to events having or expected to have adverse economic consequences or which create market uncertainty, clearing facilities or exchanges upon which some of our hedging instruments, such as interest rate swaps, are traded may require us to post additional collateral against our hedging instruments. Generally, the independent margin goes up in times of interest rate volatility. If future adverse economic developments or market uncertainty result in increased margin requirements for our hedging instruments, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity position, business, financial condition and results of operations.

We have elected not to qualify for hedge accounting treatment for GAAP reporting.

We record derivative and hedge transactions in accordance with GAAP. Our interest rate swaps have not been designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes. Consequently, all changes in the fair value of swaps are reported as a component of net income in the Consolidated Statements of Operations, rather than Accumulated other comprehensive income, (or AOCI), a component of stockholders' equity, which can make our GAAP net income volatile.

Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.

The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and related borrowings. Under these provisions, our annual gross income from non-qualifying hedges, together with any other income not generated from qualifying real estate assets, cannot exceed 25% of our annual gross income. In addition, our aggregate gross income from non-qualifying hedges, fees, and certain other non-qualifying sources cannot exceed 5% of our annual gross income. As a result, we might have to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement certain hedges through a taxable REIT subsidiary, or a TRS. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear.

Risks Associated with Our Operations

Through certain of our wholly-owned subsidiaries we have engaged in the past, and expect to continue to engage in, securitization transactions relating to residential mortgage loans. These types of transactions and investments expose us to potentially material risks.

A significant part of our business and growth strategy is to engage in various securitization transactions related to mortgage assets, and such transactions expose us to potentially material risks, including without limitation:

Financing Risk: Engaging in securitization transactions and other similar transactions generally require us to incur short-term debt on a recourse basis to finance the accumulation of residential mortgage loans. If investor demand for securitization transactions weakens, we may be unable to complete the securitization of loans accumulated for that purpose, which may hurt our business or financial results.

Diligence Risk: We engage in due diligence with respect to the loans or other assets we are securitizing and make representations and warranties relating to those loans and assets. When conducting due diligence, we rely on resources and data available to us and on a review of the collateral by third parties, each of which may be limited. We may also only conduct due diligence on a sample of a pool of loans or assets we are acquiring and assume that the sample is representative of the entire pool. Our due diligence efforts may not reveal matters which could lead to losses. If our due diligence process is not robust enough, or the scope of our due diligence is limited, we may incur losses. Losses could occur because a counterparty that sold us a loan or other asset refuses or is unable (e.g., due to its financial condition) to repurchase that loan or asset or pay damages to us if we determine after purchase that one or more of the representations or warranties made to us was inaccurate or because we don’t get a representation or warranty that covers a discovered defect or violation. In addition, losses with respect to such loans will be borne by us as the holder of the “first-loss” securities in our securitizations.

Disclosure and Indemnity Risk: When engaging in securitization transactions, we also prepare marketing and disclosure documentation, including term sheets and prospectuses, that include disclosures regarding the securitization transactions, the securitization transaction agreements and the assets being securitized. If our marketing and disclosure documentation are alleged or found to contain inaccuracies or omissions, we may be liable under federal and state securities laws (or under other laws) for damages to third parties that invest in these securitization transactions, including in circumstances where we relied on a third party in preparing accurate disclosures, or we may incur other expenses and costs disputing these allegations or settling claims. Additionally, we typically retain various third-party service providers when we engage in securitization transactions, including underwriters, trustees, administrative and paying agents, servicers and custodians, among others. We frequently contractually agree to indemnify these service providers against various claims and losses they may suffer from providing these services to us or the securitization trust. If any of these service providers are liable for damages to third parties that have invested in these securitization transactions, we may incur costs and expenses because of these indemnities.

Documentation Defects: In recent years, there has also been debate as to whether there are defects in the legal process and legal documents governing transactions in which securitization trusts and other secondary purchasers take legal ownership of residential mortgage loans and establish their rights as priority lien holders on underlying mortgaged property. If there are problems with the establishment of title and lien priority rights or transferred, securitization transactions that we sponsored and third-party sponsored securitizations that we hold investments in may experience losses, which could expose us to losses and could damage our ability to engage in future securitization transactions.

Our ability to profitably execute or participate in future securitizations transactions, including securitizations of residential mortgage loans, is dependent on numerous factors and if we are not able to achieve our desired level of profitability or if we incur losses when executing or participating in future securitizations it could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial results.

There are many factors that can have a significant impact on whether a securitization transaction that we execute or participate in is profitable to us or results in a loss. One of these factors is the price we pay for the mortgage loans that we securitize, which, in the case of residential mortgage loans, is impacted by the level of competition in the marketplace for acquiring

residential mortgage loans and the relative desirability to originators or other financial institutions of retaining residential mortgage loans as investments or selling them to third parties such as us. The cost of the short-term debt we use to finance our mortgage loan before securitization impacts the profitability of our securitization transactions. This short-term debt cost is affected by several factors including its availability to us, its interest rate, its duration, and the percentage of our mortgage loans that third parties are willing to provide short-term financing.

After we acquire mortgage loans that we intend to securitize, we can also suffer losses if the value of those loans declines before securitization. Declines in the value of a residential mortgage loan, for example, can be due to, among other things, changes in interest rates, changes in the credit quality of the loan, and changes in the projected yields required by investors to invest in securitization transactions. To the extent we seek to hedge against a decline in loan value due to changes in interest rates, there is a cost of hedging that also affects whether a securitization is profitable.

The price that investors in mortgage-backed securities will pay for securities issued in our securitization transactions also has a significant impact on the profitability of the transactions to us, and these prices are impacted by numerous market forces and factors. In addition, the underwriter(s) or placement agent(s) we select for securitization transactions, and the terms of their engagement and the transaction costs incurred in such securitizations can also impact the profitability of our securitizations. Also, any liability that we may incur, or may be required to reserve for when executing a transaction can cause a loss to us. To the extent that we are not able to profitably execute future securitizations of residential mortgage loans or other assets, including for the reasons described above or for other reasons, it could have a material adverse impact on our business and financial results.

We rely on third parties to perform certain services particularly as it relates to servicing, comply with applicable laws and regulations, and carry out contractual covenants and terms, the failure of which by any of these third parties may adversely impact our business and financial results.

To conduct our business of acquiring loans, engaging in securitization transactions, and investing in third-party issued securities and other assets, we rely on third party service providers to perform certain services, comply with applicable laws and regulations, and carry out contractual covenants and terms. Thus, we are subject to the risks associated with a third party’s failure to perform, including failure to perform due to reasons such as fraud, negligence, errors, miscalculations, or insolvency. For example, if loan servicers experience higher volumes of delinquent loans than they have in the past, there is a risk that their operational infrastructures may not be able to properly process this increased volume. Many loan servicers have been accused of improprieties in the handling of the loan mitigation and foreclosure processes with respect to residential mortgage loans that have gone into default. If a third-party loan servicer fails to fully and properly perform its obligations, loans and securities that we hold as investments may experience losses and securitizations that we have sponsored may experience poor performance, and our ability to engage in future securitization transactions could be harmed.

For a majority of the loans that we hold and securitize, we hold the right to service those loans and we retain a sub-servicer to service those loans. In these circumstances, we are exposed to certain risks, including, without limitation, that we may not be able to enter sub-servicing agreements on favorable terms to us or at all, or that the sub-servicer may not properly service the loan in compliance with applicable laws and regulations or the contractual provisions governing their sub-servicing role, and that we would be held liable for the sub-servicer’s improper acts or omissions. Additionally, in its capacity as a servicer of residential mortgage loans, a sub-servicer will have access to borrowers’ non-public personal information, and we could incur liability for a data breach relating to a sub-servicer or misuse or mismanagement of data by a sub-servicer. We also rely on technology infrastructure and systems of third parties who provide services to us and with whom we transact business. To the extent any one sub-servicer counterparty services a significant percentage of the loans with respect to which we own the servicing rights, the risks associated with our use of that sub-servicer are concentrated around this single sub-servicer counterparty. To the extent that there are significant amounts of advances that need to be funded in respect of loans where we own the servicing right, it could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial results.

We also rely on corporate trustees to act on behalf of us in enforcing our rights as security holders. Under the terms of most RMBS we hold, we do not have the right to directly enforce remedies against the issuer of the security but instead must rely on a trustee to act on behalf of us and other security holders. Should a trustee not be required to act under the terms of the securities, or fail to act, we could experience losses.

We utilize third party analytical models and data to value our investments, and any incorrect, misleading or incomplete information used in connection therewith would subject us to potential risks.

Given the complexity of our investments and strategies, we rely heavily on analytical models and information and data supplied by third-parties, or Third Party Data. Third Party Data is used to value investments or potential investments and to hedge our investments. When we rely on Third Party Data that proves to be incorrect, misleading or incomplete, our decisions expose us

to potential risks. For example, by relying on Third Party Data, especially valuation models, we may be induced to buy certain investments at prices that are too high, to sell certain other investments at prices that are too low, or to miss favorable opportunities altogether. Similarly, any hedging based on faulty Third-Party Data may prove to be unsuccessful. Furthermore, any valuations of our investments that are based on valuation models may prove to be incorrect.

These risks include the following: (i) collateral cash flows and/or liability structures may be incorrectly modeled in all or only certain scenarios, or may be modeled based on simplifying assumptions that lead to errors; (ii) information about collateral may be incorrect, incomplete, or misleading; (iii) collateral or bond historical performance (such as historical prepayments, defaults, cash flows, etc.) may be incorrectly reported, or subject to interpretation (e.g., different issuers may report delinquency statistics based on different definitions of what constitutes a delinquent loan); or (iv) collateral or bond information may be outdated, in which case the models may contain incorrect assumptions as to what has occurred since the date information was last updated.

Some of the Third-Party Data we use, such as mortgage prepayment models or mortgage default models, are predictive in nature. The use of predictive models has inherent risks. For example, such models may incorrectly forecast future behavior, leading to potential losses on a cash flow and/or a mark-to-market basis. In addition, the predictive models we use may differ substantially from those models used by other market participants, with the result that valuations based on these predictive models may be substantially higher or lower for certain investments than actual market prices. Furthermore, since predictive models are usually constructed based on historical data supplied by third-parties, the success of relying on such models may depend heavily on the accuracy and reliability of the supplied historical data and the ability of these historical models to accurately reflect future periods.

All valuation models rely on correct market data inputs. Certain assumptions used as inputs to the models may be based on historical trends and these trends may not be indicative of future results. If incorrect market data is used, even a well-designed valuation model may result in incorrect valuations. Even if market data is appropriately captured in the model, the resulting “model prices” will often differ substantially from market prices, especially for securities with complex characteristics, such as derivative securities.

Risks Related to Regulatory Matters and Our 1940 Act Exemption

Our business is subject to extensive regulation.

Our business is subject to extensive regulation by federal and state governmental authorities, self-regulatory organizations, and securities exchanges. We are required to comply with numerous federal and state laws. The laws, rules and regulations comprising this regulatory framework change frequently, as can the interpretation and enforcement of existing laws, rules, and regulations. Some of the laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject are intended primarily to safeguard and protect consumers, rather than stockholders or creditors. From time to time, we may receive requests from federal and state agencies for records, documents, and information regarding our policies, procedures, and practices regarding our business activities. We incur significant ongoing costs to comply with these government regulations.

Although we do not originate or directly service residential mortgage loans, we must comply with various federal and state laws, rules, and regulations because we purchase residential mortgage loans. These rules generally focus on consumer protection and include, among others, rules promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Act and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999. These requirements can and do change as statutes and regulations are enacted, promulgated, amended, and interpreted, and the recent trend among federal and state lawmakers and regulators have been toward increasing laws, regulations, and investigative proceedings concerning the mortgage industry generally. Although we believe that we have structured our operations and investments to comply with existing legal and regulatory requirements and interpretations, changes in regulatory and legal requirements, including changes in their interpretation and enforcement by lawmakers and regulators, could materially and adversely affect our business and our financial condition, liquidity, and results of operations.

Loss of our 1940 Act exemption would adversely affect us and negatively affect the market price of shares of our capital stock and our ability to distribute dividends.

We conduct our operations so that neither we nor any of our subsidiaries are required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting, or trading in securities. Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act defines an investment company as any issuer that is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding, or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. Government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis, which we refer to as the 40% test. Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are U.S. government securities and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not

relying on the exclusion from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) of Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act.

Because we are a holding company that conducts its businesses primarily through wholly-owned subsidiaries and majority-owned subsidiaries, the securities issued by these subsidiaries that are excepted from the definition of “investment company” under Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act, together with any other investment securities we may own, may not have a combined value in excess of 40% of the value of our adjusted total assets on an unconsolidated basis. This requirement limits the types of businesses in which we may engage through our subsidiaries. In addition, the assets we and our subsidiaries may acquire are limited by the provisions of the 1940 Act, the rules and regulations promulgated under the 1940 Act and SEC staff interpretative guidance, which may adversely affect our performance.

If the value of securities issued by our subsidiaries that are excepted from the definition of “investment company” by Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act, together with any other investment securities we own, exceeds 40% of our adjusted total assets on an unconsolidated basis, or if one or more of such subsidiaries fail to maintain an exception or exemption from the 1940 Act, we could, among other things, be required either (a) to substantially change the manner in which we conduct our operations to avoid being required to register as an investment company or (b) to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act, either of which could have an adverse effect on us and the market price of our securities. If we were required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act, we would become subject to substantial regulation with respect to our capital structure (including our ability to use leverage), management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons (as defined in the 1940 Act), portfolio composition, including restrictions with respect to diversification and industry concentration, and other matters.

Certain of our subsidiaries rely on the exemption from registration provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act. Section 3(c)(5)(C) as interpreted by the staff of the SEC, requires us to invest at least 55% of our assets in “mortgages and other liens on and interest in real estate”, or Qualifying Real Estate Assets, and at least 80% of our assets in Qualifying Real Estate Assets plus real estate related assets. The assets that we acquire, therefore, are limited by the provisions of the 1940 Act and the rules and regulations promulgated under the 1940 Act. If the SEC determines that any of our securities are not Qualifying Real Estate Assets or real estate related assets or otherwise believes we do not satisfy the exemption under Section 3(c)(5)(C), we could be required to restructure our activities or sell certain of our assets. The net effect of these factors will be to lower our net interest income. If we fail to qualify for exemption from registration as an investment company, our ability to use leverage would be substantially reduced, and we would not be able to conduct our business as described. Our business will be materially and adversely affected if we fail to qualify for this exemption.

Certain of our subsidiaries may rely on the exemption provided by Section 3(c)(6) which excludes from the definition of “investment company” any company primarily engaged, directly or through majority-owned subsidiaries, in a business, among others, described in Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act (from which not less than 25% of such company’s gross income during its last fiscal year was derived) together with an additional business or additional businesses other than investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities. The SEC staff has issued little interpretive guidance with respect to Section 3(c)(6) and any guidance published by the staff could require us to adjust our strategy accordingly.

Certain of our subsidiaries may rely on Section 3(c)(7) for their 1940 Act exemption and, therefore our interest in each of these subsidiaries would constitute an “investment security” for purposes of determining whether we pass the 40% test.

Certain of our subsidiaries may rely on Rule 3a-7 which exempts certain securitization vehicles. There are numerous requirements that must be met to exclude such subsidiaries from the definition of an investment company. Our ability to manage assets held in a special purpose subsidiary that complies with Rule 3a-7 will be limited and we may not be able to purchase or sell assets owned by that subsidiary when we would otherwise desire to do so, which could lead to losses.

The determination of whether an entity is a majority-owned subsidiary of our company is made by us. The 1940 Act defines a majority-owned subsidiary of a person as a company of which 50% or more of the outstanding voting securities are owned by such person, or by another company which is a majority-owned subsidiary of such person. The 1940 Act further defines voting securities as any security presently entitling the owner or holder thereof to vote for the election of directors of a company. We treat companies in which we own at least a majority of the outstanding voting securities as majority-owned subsidiaries for purposes of the 40% test. We have not requested the SEC to approve our treatment of any company as a majority-owned subsidiary and the SEC has not done so. If the SEC were to disagree with our treatment of one or more companies as majority-owned subsidiaries, we would need to adjust our strategy and our assets to continue to pass the 40% test. Any such adjustment in our strategy could have a material adverse effect on us.

There can be no assurance that the laws and regulations governing the 1940 Act status of REITs, including the Division of Investment Management of the SEC providing more specific or different guidance regarding these exemptions, will not change

in a manner that adversely affects our operations. If we or our subsidiaries fail to maintain an exception or exemption from the 1940 Act, we could, among other things, be required either to (a) change the manner in which we conduct our operations to avoid being required to register as an investment company, (b) effect sales of our assets in a manner that, or at a time when, we would not otherwise choose to do so, or (c) register as an investment company, any of which could negatively affect the value of our capital stock, the sustainability of our business model, and our ability to make distributions which could have an adverse effect on our business and the market price for our shares of capital stock.

Rapid changes in the values of our MBS, residential mortgage loans, and other real estate-related investments may make it more difficult for us to maintain our qualification as a REIT or our exemption from the 1940 Act.

If the market value or income potential of our MBS, residential mortgage loans, and other real estate-related investments declines because of increased interest rates, prepayment rates or other factors, we may need to increase our real estate investments and income or liquidate our non-qualifying assets to maintain our REIT qualification or our exemption from the 1940 Act. If the decline in real estate asset values or income occurs quickly, this may be especially difficult to accomplish. This difficulty may be exacerbated by the illiquid nature of any non-real estate assets we may own. We may have to make investment decisions that we otherwise would not make absent the REIT and 1940 Act considerations.

We are required to obtain various state licenses to purchase mortgage loans in the secondary market and there is no assurance we will be able to obtain or maintain those licenses.

While we are not required to obtain licenses to purchase mortgage-backed securities, the purchase of residential mortgage loans in the secondary market may, in some circumstances, require us to maintain various state licenses. Acquiring the right to service residential mortgage loans may also, in some circumstances, require us to maintain various state licenses even though we currently do not expect to directly engage in loan servicing ourselves. Thus, we could be delayed in conducting certain business if we were first required to obtain a state license. We cannot assure you that we will be able to obtain all the licenses we need or that we would not experience significant delays in obtaining these licenses. Furthermore, once licenses are issued, we are required to comply with various information reporting and other regulatory requirements to maintain those licenses, and there is no assurance that we will be able to satisfy those requirements or other regulatory requirements applicable to our business of acquiring residential mortgage loans on an ongoing basis. Our failure to obtain or maintain required licenses or our failure to comply with regulatory requirements that are applicable to our business of acquiring residential mortgage loans may restrict our business and investment options and could harm our business and expose us to penalties or other claims.

We Have an Ownership Interest in a Registered Investment Adviser

We own 24.9% of a newly formed registered investment adviser and we are the sole investor in a fund managed by that adviser. While we believe we have structured our investment so that we are not deemed a “control person” with respect to that adviser such as our equity interest is non-voting; we do not have consent rights to the budget or other significant control rights; none of our employees is an officer of the adviser, or have any consent rights or other control of the adviser’s personnel; and we do not have a board seat or similar role in the oversight of the adviser, we cannot assure you that the SEC or a court will not determine that we are a “control person”. Control Persons may be held liable for violations committed by persons under their control. Sanctions the SEC may impose on control persons include industry bars and suspensions, financial penalties, disgorgement of financial proceeds obtained through the violation, and cease and desist orders. Civil litigants may recover financial compensation from control persons for damages suffered because of misconduct by controlled persons. Control persons are not automatically liable for violations committed by the persons under their control. It is a defense to regulatory and private civil liability if the control person acted in good faith and did not induce the act or acts constituting the violation or cause of action. This defense can be established by showing that the control person exercised due care in his supervision of the violator’s activities by maintaining and enforcing a reasonable and proper system of supervision and internal control.

U.S. Federal Income Tax Risks

Your investment has various U.S. federal income tax risks.

This summary of certain tax risks is limited to the U.S. federal tax risks addressed below. Additional risks or issues may exist that are not addressed in this Form 10-K and that could affect the U.S. federal tax treatment of us or our stockholders. This is not intended to be used and cannot be used by any stockholder to avoid penalties that may be imposed on stockholders under the Code. We strongly urge you to seek advice based on your particular circumstances from an independent tax advisor concerning the effects of U.S. federal, state and local income tax law on an investment in common stock or preferred stock and on your individual tax situation.

Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.

To maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy various tests regarding the sources of our income, the nature and diversification of our assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. To meet these tests, we may be required to forego investments we might otherwise make. We may be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Thus, compliance with the REIT requirements may hinder our investment performance.

Complying with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments.

To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we generally must ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter at least 75% of the value of our total assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualifying real estate assets, including certain mortgage loans and mortgage-backed securities. The remainder of our investments in securities (other than government securities and qualifying real estate assets) generally cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or more than 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer. In addition, in general, no more than 5% of the value of our assets (other than government securities, qualifying real estate assets, and stock in one or more TRSs) can consist of the securities of any one issuer, and no more than 20% of the value of our total assets can be represented by securities of one or more TRSs. If we fail to comply with these requirements at the end of any quarter, we must correct the failure within 30 days after the end of such calendar quarter or qualify for certain statutory relief provisions to avoid losing our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. Thus, we may be required to liquidate from our portfolio otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.

Failure to qualify as a REIT would subject us to U.S. federal income tax, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

We have elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and intend to operate so that we will qualify as a REIT. However, the U.S. federal income tax laws governing REITs are extremely complex, and interpretations of the U.S. federal income tax laws governing qualification as a REIT are limited. Qualifying as a REIT requires us to meet various tests regarding the nature of our assets and our income, the ownership of our outstanding stock, and the amount of our distributions on an ongoing basis. While we intend to operate so as to maintain our qualification as a REIT, given the highly complex nature of the rules governing REITs, the ongoing importance of factual determinations, including the tax treatment of certain investments we may make, and the possibility of future changes in our circumstances, no assurance can be given that we will so qualify for any particular year. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any calendar year and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we would be required to pay U.S. federal income tax on our taxable income at regular corporate income tax rates. We might need to borrow money or sell assets to pay any such tax. Our payment of income tax would decrease the amount of our income available for distribution to our stockholders. Furthermore, if we fail to maintain our qualification as a REIT and we do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we no longer would be required to distribute substantially all our REIT taxable income to our stockholders. Unless our failure to qualify as a REIT was excused under U.S. federal tax laws, we would be disqualified from taxation as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year during which qualification was lost.

Potential characterization of distributions or gain on sale may be treated as unrelated business taxable income to tax-exempt investors.

If (1) all or a portion of our assets are subject to the rules relating to taxable mortgage pools, (2) we are a ‘‘pension-held REIT,’’ or (3) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred debt to purchase or hold our capital stock, then a portion of the distributions to and, in the case of a stockholder described in clause (3), gains realized on the sale of capital stock by such tax-exempt stockholder may be subject to U.S. federal income tax as unrelated business taxable income under the Code.

Classification of our securitizations or financing arrangements as a taxable mortgage pool could subject us or certain of our stockholders to increased taxation.

We intend to structure our securitization and financing arrangements so as to not create a taxable mortgage pool. However, if we have borrowings with two or more maturities and, (1) those borrowings are secured by mortgages or mortgage-backed securities and (2) the payments made on the borrowings are related to the payments received on the underlying assets, then the borrowings and the pool of mortgages or mortgage-backed securities to which such borrowings relate may be classified as a taxable mortgage pool under the Code. If any part of our investments were to be treated as a taxable mortgage pool, then our REIT status would not be impaired, but a portion of the taxable income we recognize may, under regulations to be issued by the Treasury Department, be characterized as ‘‘excess inclusion’’ income and allocated among our stockholders to the extent of and generally in proportion to the distributions we make to each stockholder. Any excess inclusion income would:


•	not be allowed to be offset by a stockholder’s net operating losses;


•	be subject to a tax as unrelated business income if a stockholder were a tax-exempt stockholder;


•	be subject to the application of U.S. federal withholding tax at the maximum rate (without reduction for any otherwise applicable income tax treaty) with respect to amounts allocable to foreign stockholders; and


•	be taxable (at the highest corporate tax rate) to us, rather than to our stockholders, to the extent the excess inclusion income relates to stock held by disqualified organizations (generally, tax-exempt organizations not subject to tax on unrelated business income, including governmental organizations).

Failure to make required distributions would subject us to tax, which would reduce the cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

To maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must distribute to our stockholders each calendar year at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (excluding certain items of non-cash income in excess of a specified threshold), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. To the extent that we satisfy the 90% distribution requirement, but distribute less than 100% of our taxable income, we will be subject to federal corporate income tax on our undistributed income. In addition, we will incur a 4% nondeductible excise tax on the amount, if any, by which our distributions in any calendar year are less than the sum of:


•	85% of our REIT ordinary income for that year;


•	95% of our REIT capital gain net income for that year; and


•	any undistributed taxable income from prior years.

We intend to distribute our REIT taxable income to our stockholders in a manner intended to satisfy the 90% distribution requirement and to avoid both corporate income tax and the 4% nondeductible excise tax. REIT taxable income only includes after-tax TRS net income to the extent such TRS distributes a dividend to the REIT. Therefore, our REIT dividend distributions may or may not include after-tax net income from our TRSs.

Our taxable income may substantially exceed our net income as determined by GAAP. As an example, realized capital losses may be included in our GAAP net income, but may not be deductible in computing our taxable income. In addition, we may invest in assets that generate taxable income in excess of economic income or in advance of the corresponding cash flow from the assets. This may be more likely under the new rules regarding the timing of income on debt securities. To the extent that we generate such non-cash taxable income in a taxable year, we may incur corporate income tax and the 4% nondeductible excise tax on that income if we do not distribute such income to stockholders in that year. In that event, we may be required to use cash reserves, incur debt, or liquidate non-cash assets at rates or at times that we regard as unfavorable to satisfy the distribution requirement and to avoid corporate income tax and the 4% nondeductible excise tax in that year. Moreover, our ability to distribute cash may be limited by available financing facilities. Therefore, our dividend payment level may fluctuate significantly, and, under some circumstances, we may not pay dividends at all.

Our ownership of and relationship with our TRSs will be limited, and a failure to comply with the limits would jeopardize our REIT status and may result in the application of a 100% excise tax.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the equity of one or more TRSs. A TRS may earn income that would not be qualifying income if earned directly by the parent REIT. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a TRS. Overall, no more than 20% of the value of a REIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more TRSs. A TRS will pay U.S. federal, state and local income tax at regular corporate rates on any taxable income that it earns. In addition, the TRS rules impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a TRS and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm’s-length basis. Our TRS after-tax net income would be available for distribution to us but would not be required to be distributed to us. We anticipate that the aggregate value of the TRS stock and securities owned by us will be less than 20% of the value of our total assets (including the TRS stock and securities). Furthermore, we will monitor the value of our investments in our TRSs to ensure compliance with the rule that no more than 20% of the value of our assets may consist of TRS stock and securities (which is applied at the end of each calendar quarter). In addition, we will scrutinize all our transactions with TRSs to ensure that they are entered on arm’s-length terms to avoid incurring the 100% excise tax described above. There can be no assurance, however, that we will be able to comply with the 20% limitation discussed above or to avoid application of the 100% excise tax discussed above.

The tax on prohibited transactions will limit our ability to engage in transactions, including certain methods of securitizing mortgage loans, that would be treated as sales for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

A REIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, but including mortgage loans, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We might be subject to this tax if we sold or securitized our assets in a manner that was treated as a sale for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, to avoid the prohibited transactions tax, we may choose not to engage in certain sales of assets at the REIT level and may securitize assets only in transactions that are treated as financing transactions and not as sales for tax purposes even though such transactions may not be the optimal execution on a pre-tax basis. We could avoid any prohibited transactions tax concerns by engaging in securitization transactions through a TRS, subject to certain limitations described above. To the extent that we engage in such activities through domestic TRSs, the income associated with such activities will be subject to U.S. federal (and applicable state and local) corporate income tax. There can be no assurance, however, that we will avoid the application of the 100% tax on net income from prohibited transactions described above.

The interest apportionment rules may affect our ability to comply with the REIT asset and gross income tests.

The mortgage loans we acquire may be subject to the interest apportionment rules under Treasury Regulations Section 1.856-5(c), or the Interest Apportionment Regulation, which generally provides that if a mortgage is secured by both real property and other property, a REIT is required to apportion its annual interest income for purposes of the REIT 75% gross income test. If a mortgage is secured by both real property and personal property and the value of the personal property does not exceed 15% of the aggregate value of the property securing the mortgage, the mortgage is treated as secured solely by real property for this purpose.

For purposes of the asset tests applicable to REITs, Revenue Procedure 2014-51 provides a safe harbor under which the IRS will generally not challenge a REIT’s treatment of a loan as being in part a real estate asset in an amount equal to the lesser of the fair market value of the loan or the fair market value of the real property securing the loan at certain relevant testing dates. We believe that all of the mortgage loans that we acquire are secured only by real property. Therefore, we believe that the Interest Apportionment Regulation does not apply to our portfolio.

Nevertheless, if the IRS were to assert successfully that our mortgage loans were secured by property other than real estate, that the Interest Apportionment Regulation applied for purposes of our REIT testing, and that the position taken in Revenue Procedure 2014-51 should be applied to our portfolio, then we might not be able to meet the REIT 75% gross income test, and possibly the asset tests applicable to REITs. If we did not meet these tests, we could lose our REIT status or be required to pay a tax penalty to the IRS.

Even if we remain qualified as a REIT, we may face other tax liabilities that reduce our cash flow.

Even if we remain qualified for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income and assets, including taxes on any undistributed income, tax on income from some activities conducted because of a foreclosure, excise taxes, state or local income, property and transfer taxes, such as mortgage recording taxes, and other taxes. In addition, to meet the REIT qualification requirements, prevent the recognition of certain types of non-cash income, or to avert the imposition of a 100% tax that applies to certain gains derived by a REIT from dealer property or inventory, we may hold some of our assets through our TRSs or other subsidiary corporations that will be subject to corporate-level income tax at regular corporate rates. In certain circumstances, the ability of our TRSs to deduct net interest expense may be limited. Any of these taxes would decrease cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

We may be subject to adverse legislative or regulatory tax changes that could reduce the market price of our capital stock.

At any time, the U.S. federal income tax laws or regulations governing REITs or the administrative interpretations of those laws or regulations may be amended. We cannot predict when or if any new U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, or any amendment to any existing U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation, will be adopted, promulgated or become effective and any such law, regulation or interpretation may take effect retroactively. We and our stockholders could be adversely affected by any such change in, or any new, U.S. federal income tax law, regulation or administrative interpretation.

Risks Related to Our Organization and Structure

Certain provisions of Maryland Law, of our charter, and of our bylaws contain provisions that may inhibit potential acquisition bids that stockholders may consider favorable, and the market price of our capital stock may be lower as a result.

•

There are ownership limits and restrictions on transferability and ownership in our charter. To qualify as a REIT, not more than 50% of the value of our outstanding stock may be owned, directly or constructively, by five or fewer individuals during the second half of any calendar year. To assist us in satisfying this test, among other things, our charter generally prohibits any person or entity from beneficially or constructively owning more than 9.8% in value or number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of any class or series of our outstanding capital stock. This restriction may discourage a tender offer or other transactions or a change in the composition of our Board of Directors or control that might involve a premium price for our shares or otherwise be in the best interests of our stockholders and any shares issued or transferred in violation of such restrictions being automatically transferred to a trust for a charitable beneficiary, thereby resulting in a forfeiture of the additional shares.

•

Our charter permits our Board of Directors to issue stock with terms that may discourage a third party from acquiring us. Our charter permits our Board of Directors to amend the charter without stockholder approval to increase the total number of authorized shares of stock or the number of shares of any class or series and to issue common or preferred stock, having preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications, or terms or conditions of redemption as determined by our board. Thus, our board could authorize the issuance of stock with terms and conditions that could have the effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction in which holders of some or a majority of our shares might receive a premium for their shares over the then-prevailing market price of our shares.

•

Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act. Maryland law provides that holders of ‘‘control shares’’ of our company (defined as voting shares of stock which, when aggregated with all other shares controlled by the acquiring stockholder, entitle the stockholder to exercise one of three increasing ranges of voting power in electing directors) acquired in a “control share acquisition” (defined as the direct or indirect acquisition of ownership or control of “control shares”) have no voting rights except to the extent approved by our stockholders by the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of all the votes entitled to be cast on the matter, excluding all interested shares. Our bylaws provide that we are not subject to the “control share” provisions of Maryland law. Our Board, however, may elect to make the “control share” statute applicable to us at any time and may do so without stockholder approval.

•

Business Combinations. We are subject to the “business combination” provisions of Maryland law that, subject to limitations, prohibit certain business combinations (including a merger, consolidation, share exchange, or, in circumstances specified in the statute, an asset transfer or issuance or reclassification of equity securities) between us and an “interested stockholder” (defined generally as any person who beneficially owns 10% or more of our then outstanding voting capital stock or an affiliate or associate of ours who, at any time within the two‑year period before the date in question, was the beneficial owner of 10% or more of our then outstanding voting capital stock) or an affiliate thereof for five years after the most recent date on which the stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. After the five‑year prohibition, any business combination between us and an interested stockholder generally must be recommended by our board of directors and approved by the affirmative vote of at least (i) 80% of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of outstanding shares of our voting capital stock and (ii) two‑thirds of the votes entitled to be cast by holders of voting capital stock of the corporation other than shares held by the interested stockholder with whom or with whose affiliate the business combination is to be effected or held by an affiliate or associate of the interested stockholder. These super‑majority voting requirements do not apply if our common stockholders receive a minimum price, as defined under Maryland law, for their shares in the form of cash or other consideration in the same form as previously paid by the interested stockholder for its shares. These provisions of Maryland law also do not apply to business combinations that are approved or exempted by a board of directors before the time that the interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Pursuant to the statute, our board of directors has by resolution exempted business combinations between us and any other person, provided, that such business combination is first approved by our board of directors (including a majority of our directors who are not affiliates or associates of such person).

•

Unsolicited Takeovers: The “unsolicited takeover” provisions of Maryland law, permit our board of directors, without stockholder approval and regardless of what is currently provided in our charter or bylaws, to implement takeover defenses. These provisions may have the effect of inhibiting a third-party from making an acquisition proposal for us or of delaying, deferring, or preventing a change in control of us under the circumstances that otherwise could provide the holders of shares of common stock with the opportunity to realize a premium over the then current market price.

•

Staggered Board. Our Board of Directors is divided into three classes of directors. Directors of each class are chosen for three-year terms upon the expiration of their current terms, and each year one class of directors is elected by the stockholders. The staggered terms of our directors may reduce the possibility of a tender offer or an attempt at a change in control, even though a tender offer or change in control might be in the best interests of our stockholders.

Our rights and the rights of our stockholders to take action against our directors and officers are limited, which could limit stockholders’ recourse in the event of actions, not in their best interests.

Our charter limits the liability of our directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages, except for liability resulting from:


•	actual receipt of an improper benefit or profit in money, property or services; or


•	a final judgment based upon a finding of active and deliberate dishonesty by the director or officer that was material to the cause of action adjudicated for which Maryland law prohibits such exemption from liability.

In addition, our charter authorizes us to obligate our company to indemnify our present and former directors and officers for actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Our bylaws require us to indemnify each present or former director or officer, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made or threatened to be made, a party because of his or her service to us.

Risks Related to Our Capital Stock

The market price and trading volume of our shares of capital stock may be volatile.

The market price of shares of our capital stock, including our common and preferred stock, may be highly volatile and could be subject to wide fluctuations. Also, the trading volume in our shares of capital stock may fluctuate and cause significant price variations to occur. We cannot assure you that the market price of our shares of capital stock will not fluctuate or decline significantly in the future. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our shares of common and preferred stock include those set forth under “Risk Factors” and “Special Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements” and in the information incorporated and deemed to be incorporated by reference herein.

Capital stock eligible for future sale may have adverse consequences for investors and adverse effects on our share price.

We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of capital stock, or the availability of shares for future sales, on the market price of the capital stock. Sales of substantial amounts of capital stock, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect prevailing market prices for the common stock. In addition, we are not required to offer any such shares to existing shareholders on a pre-emptive basis. Therefore, it may not be possible for existing shareholders to participate in such future share issues, which may dilute the existing shareholders’ interests in us.

Future offerings of debt securities, which would rank senior to our capital stock upon liquidation, and future offerings of equity securities, which would dilute our existing stockholders and may be senior to our capital stock for the purposes of dividend and liquidating distributions, may adversely affect the market price of our capital stock.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making offerings of debt or additional offerings of equity securities, including commercial paper, senior or subordinated notes and series or classes of preferred stock or common stock. Upon liquidation, holders of our debt securities and shares of preferred stock, if any, and lenders with respect to other borrowings will receive a distribution of our available assets before the holders of our common stock. Additional equity offerings may dilute the holdings of our existing stockholders or reduce the market price of our capital stock, or both. Preferred stock, including our Series A, Series B, Series C, and Series D Preferred Stock may have a preference on liquidating distributions or a preference on dividend payments or both that could limit our ability to make a dividend distribution to the holders of our capital stock, including our common stock. Because our decision to issue securities in any future offering will depend on market conditions and other factors beyond our control, we cannot predict or estimate the amount, timing or nature of our future offerings. Thus, holders of our capital stock bear the risk of our future offerings reducing the market price of our capital stock and diluting their stock holdings in us.

There is a risk that you may not receive dividend distributions or those dividend distributions may decrease over time. Changes in the amount of dividend distributions we pay or in the tax characterization of dividend distributions we pay may adversely affect the market price of our common stock or may result in holders of our common stock being taxed on dividend distributions at a higher rate than initially expected.

Our dividend distributions are driven by a variety of factors, including our minimum dividend distribution requirements under the REIT tax laws and our REIT taxable income as calculated for tax purposes pursuant to the tax code. We generally intend to distribute to our common shareholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, although our reported financial results for GAAP purposes may differ materially from our REIT taxable income.

For 2018, we maintained a regular common dividend at a rate of $0.50 per share of common stock per quarter and in February 2019 our Board of Directors announced its intention to continue to pay regular dividends during 2019 at a rate of $0.50 per share of common stock per quarter. The announcement of the Board's intention does not create an obligation to maintain the regular quarterly common stock dividend at this rate, and despite this intention, we may reduce or eliminate our regular quarterly dividend during 2019. Our ability to pay a dividend of $0.50 per common share per quarter and the dividend on each series of our preferred stock at the stated dividend rate, per quarter in 2019 may be adversely affected by many factors, including the risk factors described herein. These same factors may affect our ability to pay other future dividends. In addition, to the extent we determine that future dividends would represent a return of capital to investors, rather than the distribution of income, we may determine to discontinue dividend payments until such time that dividends would again represent a distribution of income. Any reduction or elimination of our payment of dividend distributions would not only reduce the number of dividends you would receive as a holder of our common stock but could also have the effect of reducing the market price of our common stock.

We may not be able to pay dividends or other distributions on our Capital Stock.

Under Maryland law, no distributions on stock may be made if, after giving effect to the distribution, (i) the corporation would not be able to pay the indebtedness of the corporation as such indebtedness becomes due in the usual course of business or (ii) except in certain limited circumstances when distributions are made from net earnings, the corporation’s total assets would be less than the sum of the corporation’s total liabilities plus, unless the charter provides otherwise (which our charter does, with respect to any outstanding series of preferred stock), the amount that would be needed, if the corporation were to be dissolved at the time of the distribution, to satisfy the preferential rights upon dissolution of stockholders whose preferential rights on dissolution are superior to those receiving the distribution. There can be no guarantee that we will have sufficient cash to pay dividends on any series of our capital stock. Our ability to pay dividends may be impaired if any of the risks described in this Item 1A Risk Factors were to occur. In addition, payment of our dividends depends upon our earnings, our financial condition, maintenance of our REIT qualification and other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. We cannot assure you that our business will generate sufficient cash flow from operations or that future borrowings will be available to us in an amount sufficient to enable us to make distributions on any series of our preferred stock.

Dividends payable by REITs generally do not qualify for the reduced tax rates available for some dividends.

The maximum U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income payable to certain non-corporate U.S. holders is 20%. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced qualified dividend rates. For taxable years beginning after December 31, 2017 and before January 1, 2026, non-corporate taxpayers may deduct up to 20% of certain pass-through business income, including “qualified REIT dividends” (generally, dividends received by a REIT shareholder that are not designated as capital gain dividends or qualified dividend income), subject to certain limitations, resulting in an effective maximum U.S. federal income tax rate of 29.6% on such income. Although the reduced U.S. federal income tax rate applicable to qualified dividend income does not adversely affect the taxation of REITs or dividends payable by REITs, the more favorable rates applicable to regular corporate qualified dividends and the reduced corporate tax rate (currently 21%) could cause certain non-corporate investors to perceive investments in REITs to be relatively less attractive than investments in the stocks of non-REIT corporations that pay dividends, which could adversely affect the value of the shares of REITs, including our stock.

Holders of our Preferred Stock have limited voting rights.

The voting rights of holders of any series of our outstanding preferred stock are limited. Our common stock is the only class of our securities that currently carries full voting rights. Holders of any series of our preferred stock may vote only (i) to elect, voting together as a single class, with holders of parity stock having similar voting rights two additional directors to our board of directors if six full quarterly dividends (whether or not consecutive) payable on any series of our preferred stock are in arrears, (ii) on amendments to our charter, including the articles supplementary designating any series of our outstanding preferred stock, that materially and adversely affect the rights of the holders of such series or (iii) to authorize or create, or increase the authorized or issued amount of, additional classes or series of Senior Stock.

Other Business Risks

Market conditions for mortgages and mortgage-related assets as well as the broader financial markets may materially adversely affect the value of the assets in which we invest.

Our results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the markets for mortgages and mortgage-related assets, including MBS, as well as the broader financial markets and the economy generally. Any decline in the value of our investments, or perceived market uncertainty about their value, would likely make it difficult for us to obtain financing on

favorable terms or at all, or maintain our compliance with terms of any financing arrangements already in place. Renewed volatility or deterioration in the broader residential mortgage and RMBS markets could materially adversely affect the performance and market value of our investments.

Changes in accounting rules could occur at any time and could impact us in significantly negative ways that we are unable to predict or protect against.

The Financial Accounting Standards Board, or the FASB, and other regulatory bodies that establish the accounting rules applicable to us have recently proposed or enacted a wide array of changes to accounting rules. Moreover, in the future, these regulators may propose additional changes that we do not currently anticipate. Changes to accounting rules that apply to us could significantly impact our business or our reported financial performance in ways that we cannot predict or protect against. We cannot predict whether any changes to current accounting rules will occur or what impact any codified changes will have on our business, results of operations, liquidity or financial condition, directly or through their impact on our business partners or counterparties.

We operate in a highly competitive market for investment opportunities and competitors may be able to compete more effectively for investment opportunities than we can.

We compete with other REITs, public and private funds, commercial and investment banks and commercial finance companies for investment opportunities. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and have considerably greater financial, technical and marketing resources than we do. Several other REITs have investment objectives that overlap with ours, which may create competition for investment opportunities. Some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish more favorable relationships than us. We cannot assure you that the competitive pressures we face will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Also, this competition may keep us from taking advantage of attractive investment opportunities from time to time, and we can offer no assurance that we will be able to identify and make investments that are consistent with our investment objectives.

We are dependent on information systems and their failure could significantly disrupt our business.

Our business is highly dependent on our information and communications systems. Any failure or interruption of our systems or cyber-attacks or security breaches of our networks or systems could cause delays or other problems in our investment activities as well as subject us to penalties, fines and other regulatory actions, which could have a material adverse effect on operating results, the market price of our common stock and other securities and our ability to pay dividends. We also face the risk of operational failure, termination, or capacity constraints of any of the third parties with which we do business or that facilitate our business activities, including clearing agents or other financial intermediaries we use to facilitate our securities transactions.

We are dependent on our executive officers and other key personnel for our success.

Our success is dependent upon the efforts, experience, diligence, skill, and network of business contacts of our executive officers and key personnel. The departure of any of our executive officers or key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our operations and performance.

We may change our investment strategy, asset allocation, or financing plans without stockholder consent, which may result in riskier investments.

We may change our investment strategy, asset allocation, or financing plans at any time without the consent of our stockholders, which could result in our making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the investments described in this 2018 Form 10-K. A change in our investment strategy or financing plans may increase our exposure to interest rate and default risk and real estate market fluctuations. Furthermore, a change in our asset allocation could result in our making investments in asset categories different from those described in this 2018 Form 10-K. These changes could adversely affect the market price of our capital stock and our ability to make distributions to our stockholders.

We may engage in new business initiatives and invest in different types of assets that we are not accustomed to and these activities could expose us to new, different or increased risks.

We continually evaluate new business opportunities and investment strategies that may allow us to diversify our business. We have and may in the future invest in a variety of mortgage-related and other financial assets that may or may not be closely related to our existing business. Additionally, we may enter other operating businesses that may or may not be closely related to

our current business. These new assets or business operations may have new, different or increased risks than what we are currently exposed to in our business and we may not be able to manage these risks successfully. Additionally, when investing in new assets or businesses we will be exposed to the risk that those assets, or income generated by those assets or businesses, will affect our ability to meet the requirements to maintain our qualification as a REIT or our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act. If we are not able to successfully manage the risks associated with new asset types or businesses, it could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 2. Properties

As of December 31, 2018, we do not own any property. Our executive and administrative office is located in leased space at 520 Madison Avenue, 32^nd Floor, New York, New York 10022, telephone (212) 626-2300. Our office lease expires on August 2021. We believe that this space is suitable and adequate for our current needs. In addition, we have leases through November, 2021, for our off-site back-up facilities and data centers located in Wappingers Falls, New York and Norwalk, Connecticut.

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

None.

Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures

Not applicable.

Part II

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Our common stock began trading publicly on the NYSE under the trading symbol “CIM” on November 16, 2007. As of January 31, 2019, we had 187,053,396 shares of common stock issued and outstanding which were held by 243 holders of record.

Dividends

We pay quarterly dividends and distribute to our stockholders all or substantially all of our taxable income in each year (subject to certain adjustments). This enables us to qualify for the tax benefits accorded to a REIT under the Code. While our Board of Directors announced its intention to continue to pay regular dividends during 2019 at a rate of $0.50 per share of common stock per quarter, we have not established a set minimum dividend payment level and our ability to pay dividends may be adversely affected for the reasons described under the caption “Risk Factors.” All distributions will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on our taxable income, our financial condition, maintenance of our REIT status and such other factors as our Board of Directors may deem relevant from time to time.

The Board of Directors declared dividends of $2.00 per share during 2018 and 2017.

Purchases of Equity Securities

In February 2018, our Board of Directors reauthorized $100 million under our share repurchase program, or the Repurchase Program. Such authorization does not have an expiration date and, at present, there is no intention to modify or otherwise rescind such authorization. Shares of our common stock may be purchased in the open market, including through block purchases, through privately negotiated transactions, or pursuant to any trading plan that may be adopted in accordance with Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined at our discretion and the program may be suspended, terminated or modified at any time for any reason. Among other factors, the Company intends to only consider repurchasing shares of our common stock when the purchase price is less than the last publicly reported book value per common share. In addition, the Company does not intend to repurchase any shares from directors, officers or other affiliates. The program does not obligate the Company to acquire any specific number of

shares, and all repurchases will be made in accordance with Rule 10b-18, which sets certain restrictions on the method, timing, price and volume of stock repurchases.

Pursuant to our Repurchase Program, the Company repurchased approximately 883 thousand shares of its common stock at an average price of $16.81 per share for a total of $15 million during the year ended December 31, 2018.

Share Performance Graph

The following graph and table set forth certain information comparing the yearly percentage change in cumulative total return on our common stock to the cumulative total return of the Standard & Poor’s Composite-500 Stock Index or S&P 500 Index, and the Bloomberg REIT Mortgage Index, or BBG REIT Index, an industry index of mortgage REITs. The comparison is for the period from December 31, 2013 to December 31, 2018 and assumes the reinvestment of dividends. The graph and table assume that $100 was invested in our common stock and each of the two other indices on December 31, 2013.



	12/31/2013	12/31/2014	12/31/2015	12/31/2016	12/31/2017	12/31/2018
Chimera	100	122	120	176	211	228
S&P 500 Index	100	114	115	129	157	150
BBG REIT Index	100	119	108	132	158	154

The information in the share performance graph and table has been obtained from sources believed to be reliable, but neither its accuracy nor its completeness can be guaranteed. The historical information set forth above is not necessarily indicative of future performance. Accordingly, we do not make or endorse any predictions as to future share performance.

The share performance graph and table shall not be deemed, under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, to be (i) “soliciting material” or “filed” or (ii) incorporated by reference by any general statement into any filing made by us with the SEC, except to the extent that we specifically incorporate such share performance graph and table by reference.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

We have adopted a long term stock incentive plan, or Incentive Plan, to provide incentives to our independent directors and employees to stimulate their efforts towards our continued success, long-term growth and profitability and to attract, reward and retain personnel and other service providers. The Incentive Plan authorizes the Compensation Committee of the Board of

Directors to grant awards, including incentive stock options as defined under Section 422 of the Code, or ISOs, non-qualified stock options or the NQSOs, restricted shares and other types of incentive awards. The Incentive Plan authorizes the granting of awards for an aggregate of 8,000,000 shares of common stock. For a description of our Incentive Plan, see Note 12 to the Consolidated Financial Statements.

The following table provides information as of December 31, 2018 concerning shares of our common stock authorized for issuance under our existing Incentive Plan.



Plan Category	Number of Securities to be Issued Upon Exercise of Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights ⁽¹⁾	Weighted Average Exercise Price of Outstanding Options, Warrants, and Rights	Number of Securities Remaining Available for Future Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans ⁽²⁾
Equity Compensation Plans Approved by Stockholders	1,808,644	—	5,399,554
Equity Compensation Plans Not Approved by Stockholders (3)	—	—	—
Total	1,808,644	—	5,399,554
(1) Includes unvested RSUs, PSUs, deferred stock units and related dividends.
(2) Available shares are reduced by the items outstanding in column 1 plus shares previously vested and issued net of units withheld to cover tax withholding requirements.
(3) We do not have any equity plans that have not been approved by our stockholders.

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

The following selected financial data are as of and for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015 and 2014. The selected financial data should be read in conjunction with the more detailed information contained in the Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto contained in Part IV, Financial Statements, and “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7, included elsewhere in this 2018 Form 10-K.



Consolidated Statements of Financial Condition Highlights
(dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)
	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Non-Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities	$	2,486,130	$	2,851,316	$	3,330,063	$	3,675,841	$	3,404,149
Agency Mortgage-Backed securities	$	12,188,950	$	4,364,828	$	4,167,754	$	6,514,824	$	8,441,522
Securitized loans held for investment, net of allowance for loan losses	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	626,112
Loans held for investment, at fair value	$	12,572,581	$	13,678,263	$	8,753,653	$	4,768,416	$	4,699,215
Total assets	$	27,708,639	$	21,222,070	$	16,684,908	$	15,344,646	$	19,155,005
Repurchase agreements	$	14,030,465	$	7,250,452	$	5,600,903	$	7,439,339	$	8,455,381
Securitized debt, collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS	$	159,955	$	205,780	$	334,124	$	529,415	$	704,915
Securitized debt, loans held for investment	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	—	$	521,997
Securitized debt at fair value, loans held for investment	$	8,455,376	$	9,388,657	$	6,941,097	$	3,720,496	$	3,868,366
Total liabilities	$	24,004,810	$	17,587,093	$	13,561,375	$	12,398,458	$	15,547,315
Shareholders' equity	$	3,703,829	$	3,634,977	$	3,123,533	$	2,946,188	$	3,607,690
Book value per common share	$	15.90	$	16.85	$	15.87	$	15.70	$	17.55
Number of shares outstanding	187,052,398		187,809,288		187,739,634		187,711,868		205,546,144



Consolidated Statements of Operations Highlights
(dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)
	For the Year Ended
	December 31, 2018		December 31, 2017		December 31, 2016		December 31, 2015		December 31, 2014
Interest income	$	1,273,316	$	1,138,758	$	934,068	$	872,737	$	687,795
Interest expense	$	679,108	$	532,748	$	347,857	$	259,365	$	147,785
Net interest income	$	594,208	$	606,010	$	586,211	$	613,372	$	540,010
Net income	$	411,637	$	524,668	$	551,943	$	250,349	$	589,205
Income per share-basic	$	1.97	$	2.62	$	2.93	$	1.25	$	2.87
Core earnings per basic common share ⁽¹⁾	$	2.35	$	2.34	$	2.42	$	2.37	$	2.14
Average shares-basic	187,146,170		187,780,355		187,728,634		199,563,196		205,450,095
Dividends declared per share ⁽²⁾	$	2.00	$	2.00	$	2.44	$	1.92	$	1.80

(1) Core Earnings is a non-GAAP measure. See discussion of Core Earnings per basic common share in Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Core Earnings.

(2) For applicable period as reported in our earnings announcements.

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and notes to those statements included in Item 15 of this 2018 Form 10-K. The discussion may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Forward-looking statements are those that are not historical in nature. As a result of many factors, such as those set forth under “Risk Factors” in this 2018 Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

Executive Summary

We are a publicly traded real estate investment trust, or REIT, that is primarily engaged in the business of investing directly or indirectly through our subsidiaries, on a leveraged basis, in a diversified portfolio of mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans, Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, and other real estate related securities. Our principal business objective is to deliver shareholder value through the generation of distributable income and through asset performance linked to residential mortgage credit fundamentals. We selectively invest in residential mortgage assets with a focus on credit analysis, projected prepayment rates, interest rate sensitivity and expected return.

We focus our investment activities primarily on acquiring residential mortgage loans and on acquiring Non-Agency and Agency residential and commercial mortgage-backed securities, or MBS. At December 31, 2018, based on the amortized cost balance of our interest earning assets, approximately 47% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 47% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS and 6% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, respectively. At December 31, 2017, based on the amortized cost balance of our interest earning assets, approximately 67% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 22% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS and 11% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, respectively.

Our investment strategy is intended to take advantage of opportunities in the current interest rate and credit environment. We expect to adjust our strategy to changing market conditions by shifting our asset allocations across these various asset classes as interest rate and credit cycles change over time. During 2018, we saw an increase in the relative value of Agency MBS over the residential mortgage loans and shifted our asset mix significantly in favor of Agency MBS as compared to 2017. We believe that our strategy will enable us to pay dividends and preserve capital throughout changing market cycles. We expect to take a long-term view of assets and liabilities, and our reported earnings and estimates of the fair value of our investments at the end of a financial reporting period will not significantly impact our objective of providing attractive risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders over the long-term.

We use leverage to increase returns and to finance the acquisition of our assets. Our income is generated primarily by the difference, or net spread, between the income we earn on our assets and the cost of our borrowings. We expect to finance our investments using a variety of financing sources including, when available, securitizations, warehouse facilities, repurchase agreements, structured asset financing and offerings of our securities. We may manage our debt and interest rate risk by utilizing interest rate hedges, such as interest rate swaps, caps, options and futures to reduce the effect of interest rate fluctuations related to our financing sources.

Market Conditions and our Strategy

There are several key factors that impact our financial results, including the interest rate environment and changes in LIBOR rates, U.S. unemployment rates and residential home prices, as well as residential mortgage origination and refinance activity. The interest rate environment is sensitive to actual and anticipated U.S. Federal Reserve actions, availability of adequate and efficient financing sources, rate volatility as well as other market factors. We have operated over the past several years and continue to operate in a volatile interest rate environment.

Financial results were mixed in 2018 as the S&P 500 experienced gains early in 2018 following the trends of 2016 and 2017. The S&P 500 declined in late January but then generally rebounded through September before falling from that point through the end of the year. Overall the S&P lost 6% in 2018, snapping a multi-year streak of gains. The Federal Reserve continued its plan of increasing short term rates, increasing the Fed Funds Target rate four times in 2018 with hikes in March, June, September and December. Longer-term interest rates generally increased during the year, with the 10-year Treasury hitting peaks in October and November before falling to the end of the year. Overall, the short end of the yield curve was up approximately 100 basis points driven by the four rate hikes while the 10-year Treasury was up only 28 basis points, creating a flattening of the yield curve.

The Case-Shiller housing index showed continued strength but the pace of growth started to slow down after the first quarter of 2018. U.S. mortgage rates trended up for most of the year before slipping in November and most of December. The rate of unemployment continues to be historically low, which is generally supportive of the U.S. housing economy.

In 2018, we added approximately $6.9 billion of Agency pass throughs, $943 million of Agency CMBS and $1.7 billion of Loans held for investments. To finance these acquisitions, we added approximately $6.8 billion of repurchase agreements and $1.8 billion of securitized debt.

While the interest rate environment and investor demand was supportive of the value of the assets in our portfolio during 2018, the increase in short-term rates increased our economic interest expense and the cost to finance our portfolio. We added to our interest earning assets in 2018, growing from an average of $18.0 billion in 2017 to $21.8 billion in 2018 and reduced the asset yield by 50 basis points as our asset mix was shifted to lower yielding Agency MBS. Our average interest-bearing liabilities are up from $15.5 billion in 2017 to $18.9 billion in 2018 and economic borrowing costs are up approximately 10 basis points.

Our book value per common share was $15.90 as of December 31, 2018 down from $16.85 as of December 31, 2017 as year-end interest rate declines caused losses in our hedge portfolio. Given the economic environment, we continue to seek high yielding investment opportunities that will deliver a durable dividend to our shareholders while managing risk.

Business Operations

Net Income Summary

The table below presents our net income on a GAAP basis for the year ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.



Net Income
(dollars in thousands, except share and per share data)
	For the Year Ended
	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
Net interest income:
Interest income ⁽¹⁾	$	1,273,316		$	1,138,758		$	934,068
Interest expense ⁽²⁾	679,108			532,748			347,857
Net interest income	594,208			606,010			586,211
Other-than-temporary impairments:
Total other-than-temporary impairment losses	(2,556		)	(5,169		)	(9,589		)
Portion of loss recognized in other comprehensive income	(19,235		)	(56,687		)	(48,398		)
Net other-than-temporary credit impairment losses	(21,791		)	(61,856		)	(57,987		)
Other investment gains (losses):
Net unrealized gains (losses) on derivatives	(141,162		)	47,976			50,093
Realized gains (losses) on terminations of interest rate swaps	—			(16,143		)	(60,616		)
Net realized gains (losses) on derivatives	18,369			(25,645		)	(44,886		)
Net gains (losses) on derivatives	(122,793		)	6,188			(55,409		)
Net unrealized gains (losses) on financial instruments at fair value	46,632			111,410			59,552
Net realized gains (losses) on sales of investments	(2,743		)	9,123			18,155
Gains (losses) on extinguishment of debt	26,376			(35,274		)	(477		)
Total other gains (losses)	(52,528		)	91,447			21,821
Other income:
Other income	—			—			95,000
Total other income	—			—			95,000

Other expenses:
Compensation and benefits	35,114			30,212			26,901
General and administrative expenses	23,936			17,650			17,516
Servicing fees	40,773			41,690			31,178
Deal expenses	8,338			21,273			17,424
Total other expenses	108,161			110,825			93,019
Income (loss) before income taxes	411,728			524,776			552,026
Income taxes	91			108			83
Net income (loss)	$	411,637		$	524,668		$	551,943

Dividends on preferred stock	43,197			33,484			2,449

Net income (loss) available to common shareholders	$	368,440		$	491,184		$	549,494

Net income (loss) per share available to common shareholders:
Basic	$	1.97		$	2.62		$	2.93
Diluted	$	1.96		$	2.61		$	2.92

Weighted average number of common shares outstanding:
Basic	187,146,170			187,780,355			187,728,634
Diluted	187,748,862			188,287,320			188,024,838

Dividends declared per share of common stock	$	2.00		$	2.00		$	2.44

(1) Includes interest income of consolidated VIEs of $904,830, $914,022 and $678,623 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016 respectively. See Note 8 to consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

(2) Includes interest expense of consolidated VIEs of $395,255, $390,858 and $249,708 for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. See Note 8 to consolidated financial statements for further discussion.

Results of Operations for the Years Ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016.

Our primary source of income is interest income earned on our assets, net of interest expense paid on our financing liabilities.

Our net income available to common shareholders decreased by $123 million to $368 million, or $1.97 per average basic common share, for the year ended December 31, 2018 as compared to $491 million, or $2.62 per average basic common share, for the year ended December 31, 2017. The decrease in net income available to common shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2018 is primarily due to an increase in Net losses on derivatives of $129 million, and a decrease in Net unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value of $65 million, which was offset in part by an increase in Gains on extinguishment of debt of $62 million and a decrease in other than temporary impairment losses of $40 million, compared to the same period of, 2017.

Our net income available to common shareholders decreased by $58 million to $491 million, or $2.62 per average basic common share, for the year ended December 31, 2017 as compared to $549 million, or $2.93 per average basic common share, for the year ended December 31, 2016. The decrease in net income available to common shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2017 is primarily due to a decrease in other income of $95 million, which was a one-time receipt of additional remedies against other parties in the first quarter of 2016, an increase in losses on debt extinguishment of $35 million and an increase in preferred stock dividends of $31 million. These decreases to net income were offset in part by an increase in unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value of $52 million and an increase in unrealized gains on derivatives of $44 million, compared to the same period of 2016.

Interest Income

The changes in our interest income for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017, are primarily driven by the repositioning of our balance sheet by significantly increasing Agency MBS investments.

Interest income increased by $135 million, or 12%, to $1.3 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to $1.1 billion for the same period of 2017. The increase was primarily due to an increase in interest income earned on Agency MBS of $135 million and Loans held for investments of $51 million, which was driven by higher average Agency MBS and Loan held for investment balances, as compared to the same period of 2017. This increase was offset in part by a decrease in interest income on Non-Agency RMBS transferred to consolidated VIEs of $48 million, compared to the same period of 2017.

Interest income increased by $205 million, or 22%, to $1.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $934 million for the same period of 2016. The increase was primarily due to an increase in interest income earned on residential mortgage loans of $260 million as compared to the same period of 2016. This increase was offset in part by lower interest income on our Agency MBS of $30 million and Non-agency RMBS transferred to consolidated VIEs of $18 million, compared to the same period of 2016, as in 2017, we reduced our Agency MBS and Non-agency RMBS investments from 2016.

Interest Expense

Interest expense increased by $146 million, or 27%, to $679 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to $533 million for the same period of 2017. The increase was primarily due to higher interest expenses on repurchase agreements collateralized by Agency MBS of $85 million, repurchase agreements collateralized by RMBS from loan securitization of $38 million and securitized debt, collateralized by loans of $13 million, compared to the same period of 2017. Interest expense is also higher as a result of higher interest rates in 2018 compared to 2017. LIBOR rates have increased during the year ended 2018 following the increases in the Federal funds rate in March 2018, June 2018, September 2018 and December 2018. Interest expense for GAAP reporting does not include the periodic costs of our derivatives, which are reported separately in our GAAP financial statements.

Interest expense increased by $185 million, or 53%, to $533 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, as compared to $348 million for the same period of 2016. The increase was primarily due to increased interest expense on securitized debt, collateralized by seasoned subprime residential mortgage loans of $143 million and repurchase agreements collateralized by RMBS from loan securitization of $41 million, which were driven primarily by higher securitized debt and repurchase agreements collateralized by loan balances compared to the same period of 2016. Interest expense is also higher in 2017 as a result of higher interest rates compared to 2016. LIBOR rates increased during the year ended 2017 following the increases in the Federal fund rate in December 2016, March 2017, June 2017 and December 2017.

Economic Net Interest Income

Our “Economic net interest income” is a non-GAAP financial measure, that equals interest income, less interest expense and realized losses on our interest rate swaps. Realized losses on our interest rate swaps are the periodic net settlement payments made or received. For the purpose of computing economic net interest income and ratios relating to cost of funds measures throughout this section, interest expense includes net payments on our interest rate swaps, which is presented as a part of Net realized gains (losses) on derivatives in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Interest rate swaps are used to manage the increase in interest paid on repurchase agreements in a rising rate environment. Presenting the net contractual interest payments on interest rate swaps with the interest paid on interest-bearing liabilities reflects our total contractual interest payments. We believe this presentation is useful to investors because it depicts the economic value of our investment strategy by showing actual interest expense and net interest income. However, Economic net interest income should not be viewed in isolation and is not a substitute for net interest income computed in accordance with GAAP. Where indicated, interest expense, including interest payments on interest rate swaps, is referred to as economic interest expense. Where indicated, net interest income reflecting interest payments on interest rate swaps, is referred to as economic net interest income.

The following table reconciles the Economic net interest income to GAAP Net interest income for the periods presented.



	GAAP Interest Income		GAAP Interest Expense		Net Realized (Gains) Losses on Interest Rate Swaps			Economic Interest Expense		GAAP Net Interest Income		Net Realized Gains (Losses) on Interest Rate Swaps			Other⁽¹⁾			Economic Net Interest Income
For the Year Ended December 31, 2018	$	1,273,316	$	679,108	$	1,488		$	680,596	$	594,208	$	(1,488	)	$	760		$	593,480
For the Year Ended December 31, 2017	$	1,138,758	$	532,748	$	15,450		$	548,198	$	606,010	$	(15,450	)	$	(1,097	)	$	589,463
For the Year Ended December 31, 2016	$	934,068	$	347,857	$	28,107		$	375,964	$	586,211	$	(28,107	)	$	(882	)	$	557,222

For the Quarter Ended December 31, 2018	$	348,033	$	193,920	$	364		$	194,284	$	154,113	$	(364	)	$	(140	)	$	153,609
For the Quarter Ended September 30, 2018	$	321,715	$	174,671	$	(242	)	$	174,429	$	147,044	$	242		$	321		$	147,607
For the Quarter Ended June 30, 2018	$	306,436	$	161,266	$	(1,246	)	$	160,020	$	145,170	$	1,246		$	436		$	146,852
For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2018	$	297,132	$	149,251	$	2,612		$	151,863	$	147,881	$	(2,612	)	$	143		$	145,412

(1) Primarily interest expense/(income) on cash and cash equivalents.

Net Interest Rate Spread

The following table shows our average earning assets held, interest earned on assets, yield on average interest earning assets, average debt balance, economic interest expense, economic average cost of funds, economic net interest income, and net interest rate spread for the periods presented.



	For the Quarter Ended
	December 31, 2018						December 31, 2017
	(dollars in thousands)						(dollars in thousands)
	Average Balance		Interest		Average Yield/Cost		Average Balance		Interest		Average Yield/Cost
Assets:
Interest-earning assets ⁽¹⁾:
Agency MBS	$	10,577,238	$	95,941	3.6	%	$	3,847,658	$	28,812	3.0	%
Non-Agency RMBS	1,252,707		33,235		10.6	%	1,187,349		24,608		8.3	%
Non-Agency RMBS transferred to consolidated VIEs	555,314		39,394		28.4	%	940,931		55,916		23.8	%
Residential mortgage loans held for investment	12,228,206		179,323		5.9	%	13,048,375		192,560		5.9	%
Total	$	24,613,465	$	347,893	5.7	%	$	19,024,313	$	301,896	6.3	%

Liabilities and stockholders' equity:
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Repurchase agreements collateralized by:
Agency MBS⁽²⁾	$	9,535,298	$	62,788	2.6	%	$	3,090,155	$	15,651	2.0	%
Non-Agency RMBS⁽²⁾	533,696		5,138		3.9	%	497,073		3,896		3.1	%
Re-REMIC repurchase agreements	577,335		6,403		4.4	%	867,882		7,193		3.3	%
RMBS from loan securitizations	2,435,931		23,445		3.8	%	2,573,351		21,236		3.3	%
Securitized debt, collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS	164,043		2,259		5.5	%	219,446		3,796		6.9	%
Securitized debt, collateralized by loans	8,531,109		94,251		4.4	%	9,451,052		96,801		4.1	%
Total	$	21,777,412	$	194,284	3.6	%	$	16,698,959	$	148,573	3.6	%

Economic net interest income/net interest rate spread			$	153,609	2.1	%			$	153,323	2.7	%

Net interest-earning assets/net interest margin	$	2,836,053			2.5	%	$	2,325,354			3.2	%

Ratio of interest-earning assets to interest bearing liabilities	1.13						1.14

(1) Interest-earning assets at amortized cost
(2) Interest includes net cash paid/received on swaps



	For the Year Ended
	December 31, 2018						December 31, 2017
	(dollars in thousands)						(dollars in thousands)
	Average Balance		Interest		Average Yield/Cost		Average Balance		Interest		Average Yield/Cost
Assets:
Interest-earning assets (1):
Agency MBS	$	7,116,064	$	239,472	3.4	%	$	3,752,141	$	104,969	2.8	%
Non-Agency RMBS	1,175,108		111,584		9.5	%	1,286,329		112,969		8.8	%
Non-Agency RMBS transferred to consolidated VIEs	728,098		183,126		25.2	%	1,039,498		230,924		22.2	%
Residential mortgage loans held for investment	12,776,512		739,894		5.8	%	11,878,741		688,799		5.8	%
Total	$	21,795,782	$	1,274,076	5.8	%	$	17,956,709	$	1,137,661	6.3	%

Liabilities and stockholders' equity:
Interest-bearing liabilities:
Repurchase agreements collateralized by:
Agency MBS (2)	$	6,085,643	$	138,078	2.3	%	$	3,120,474	$	53,525	1.7	%
Non-Agency RMBS⁽²⁾	442,771		15,740		3.6	%	674,832		19,914		3.0	%
Re-REMIC repurchase agreements	699,380		28,591		4.1	%	578,206		19,114		3.3	%
RMBS from loan securitizations	2,588,376		102,933		4.0	%	1,950,662		64,785		3.3	%
Securitized debt, collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS	181,461		10,192		5.6	%	268,254		18,787		7.0	%
Securitized debt, collateralized by loans	8,903,820		385,062		4.3	%	8,920,108		372,073		4.2	%
Total	$	18,901,451	$	680,596	3.6	%	$	15,512,536	$	548,198	3.5	%

Economic net interest income/net interest rate spread			$	593,480	2.2	%			$	589,463	2.8	%

Net interest-earning assets/net interest margin	$	2,894,331			2.7	%	$	2,444,173			3.3	%

Ratio of interest-earning assets to interest bearing liabilities	1.15						1.16

(1) Interest-earning assets at amortized cost
(2) Interest includes net cash paid/received on swaps

Economic Net Interest Income and the Average Earning Assets

Our economic net interest income increased by $4 million to $593 million for the year ended December 31, 2018 from $589 million for the same period of 2017. Our net interest rate spread, which equals the yield on our average interest-earning assets less the economic average cost of funds decreased by 60 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017. The net interest margin, which equals the economic net interest income as a percentage of the net average balance of our interest-earning assets less our interest-bearing liabilities also decreased by 60 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017. Average net interest-earning assets increased by $450 million to $2.9 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the same period of 2017. This increase in average net interest-earning assets was primarily driven by an increase in our average investments in Agency MBS and residential mortgage loans, which was partially offset by an increase in our repurchase agreements.

Economic Interest Expense and the Cost of Funds

The borrowing rate at which we are able to finance our assets using repurchase agreements and securitized debt is typically correlated to LIBOR and the term of the financing. The table below shows our average borrowed funds, economic interest expense, average cost of funds (inclusive of realized losses on interest rate swaps), average one-month LIBOR, average three-month LIBOR and average one-month LIBOR relative to average three-month LIBOR.



	Average Debt Balance		Economic Interest Expense⁽¹⁾		Average Cost of Funds		Average One-Month LIBOR		Average Three-Month LIBOR		Average One-Month LIBOR Relative to Average Three-Month LIBOR
	(Ratios have been annualized, dollars in thousands)
For The Year Ended December 31, 2018	$	18,901,451	$	680,596	3.60	%	2.02	%	2.30	%	(0.28	)%
For The Year Ended December 31, 2017	$	15,512,536	$	548,198	3.53	%	1.11	%	1.26	%	(0.15	)%
For The Year Ended December 31, 2016	$	12,676,437	$	375,964	3.00	%	0.50	%	0.74	%	(0.24	)%

For The Quarter Ended December 31, 2018	$	21,777,412	$	194,284	3.57	%	2.35	%	2.62	%	(0.27	)%
For The Quarter Ended September 30, 2018	$	19,348,075	$	174,429	3.61	%	2.11	%	2.34	%	(0.23	)%
For The Quarter Ended June 30, 2018	$	17,883,143	$	160,020	3.58	%	1.97	%	2.34	%	(0.37	)%
For The Quarter Ended March 31, 2018	$	16,642,471	$	151,863	3.65	%	1.65	%	1.92	%	(0.27	)%

(1) Includes effect of realized losses on interest rate swaps.

Average interest-bearing liabilities increased by $3.4 billion for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017. Economic interest expense increased by $132 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017. The increase in average interest-bearing liabilities and economic interest expense is a result of the increase in the amount of our repurchase agreements as well as the increase in LIBOR.

Average one-month and three-month LIBOR were up 91 basis points and 104 basis points, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017, contributing to the increase in economic interest expense. While we do acquire interest rate hedges to mitigate changes in interest rate risks, the hedges may not fully offset interest expense movements.

Net Other-than-temporary Credit Impairment Losses

OTTI losses are generated when fair values decline below our amortized cost basis, an unrealized loss, and the expected future cash flows decline from prior periods, an adverse change. When an unrealized loss and an adverse change in cash flows occur, we will recognize an OTTI loss in earnings. In addition, if we intend to sell a security, or believe we will be required to sell a security in an unrealized loss position, we will recognize an OTTI loss in earnings equal to the unrealized loss.

OTTI losses were $22 million, $62 million and $58 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. Of these amounts, $19 million, $53 million and $39 million of the OTTI for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively, were related to securities included in our consolidated VIEs. As of December 31, 2018, we had three Non-agency RMBS securities subject to OTTI in an unrealized loss position totaling $513 thousand for which we did not recognize impairment. We continue to monitor our investment portfolio and will record an OTTI for all investments in an unrealized loss position for which we do not believe we will recover our amortized cost prior to maturity or sale.

Net Gains (losses) on derivatives

Our interest rate swaps are primarily used to economically hedge the effects of changes in interest rates on our portfolio, specifically our floating rate debt. Therefore, we included the periodic interest costs of the interest rate swaps for the years ended December 31, 2018 and 2017 on these economic hedges in our presentation of economic net interest income and our net interest spreads. As we do not account for these as hedges for GAAP presentation, we present these gains and losses separately in the Consolidated Statements of Operations. The decrease in the net periodic interest cost of the interest rate swaps are primarily due to the increase in interest rates and changes in our swap portfolio balance during the year.

The table below shows a summary of our net gains (losses) on derivative instruments, for the year ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively.



	For the Year Ended
	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
	(dollars in thousands)
Periodic interest cost of interest rate swaps, net	$	(1,488	)	$	(15,450	)	$	(28,106	)
Realized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net:
Treasury Futures	21,333			(4,061		)	(9,170		)
Swaptions	(1,476		)	(6,134		)	(7,044		)
Other Derivative Assets	—			—			(566		)
Swaps - Terminations	—			(16,143		)	(60,616		)
Total realized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net	19,857			(26,338		)	(77,396		)
Unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net:
Interest Rate Swaps	(125,595		)	43,697			47,170
Treasury Futures	(16,928		)	1,768			378
Swaptions	1,361			2,511			2,545
Total unrealized gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net:	(141,162		)	47,976			50,093
Total gains (losses) on derivative instruments, net	$	(122,793	)	$	6,188		$	(55,409	)

The net gains and losses on our derivatives include both unrealized and realized gains and losses. Realized gains and losses include the net cash paid and received on our interest rate swaps during the period as well as sales and settlements of our Treasury Futures and swaptions. The realized loss on our derivative instruments is primarily a result of the pay fixed leg of our swaps carried at a higher interest rate than the receive floating leg of these same swaps, resulting in a net payment on the periodic settlement of the swaps during the year.

Unrealized gains and losses include the change in market value, period over period, on our derivatives portfolio. Changes in market value are generally a result of changes in interest rates. We may or may not ultimately realize these unrealized derivative gains and losses depending on trade activity, changes in interest rates and the values of the underlying securities. During the year ended December 31, 2018, we recognized total net losses on derivatives of $123 million, compared to net gains on derivatives of $6 million during the year ended December 31, 2017. This was primarily driven by higher unrealized losses on interest rate swaps in 2018 as compared to 2017.

There were no swap terminations during the year ended December 31, 2018. We paid $16 million to terminate interest rate swaps with a notional value of $250 million during the year ended December 31, 2017. Our Treasury futures positions remained unchanged at $620 million of notional value during the year ended December 31, 2018 and 2017. We reduced our swaptions by $338 million of notional value to $53 million at December 31, 2018, as compared to the $391 million notional value at December 31, 2017.

Changes in our derivative positions were a result of changes in our portfolio composition and changes in interest rates.

We had net realized gains on our short futures positions of $21 million for the year ended December 31, 2018, and net realized losses of $4 million and $9 million during the years ended December 31, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The realized gains and losses were driven primarily by changes in interest rates during these periods, which affects the Treasury futures prices, resulting in realized gains or losses on our short futures positions. Treasury futures are not included in our economic interest expense and economic net interest income.

Net Unrealized Gains (Losses) on Financial Instruments at Fair Value

We have elected the fair value option with changes in fair value reflected in earnings for our IO MBS securities, certain Non-Agency RMBS securities which receive residual cash flows, Loans held for investment, and the related financing for the loans consolidated as a VIE in our statement of financial condition. In addition, we have elected to account for Agency MBS investments acquired on or after July 1, 2017 under the fair value option. All Agency MBS investments owned prior to July 1, 2017 will continue to be carried at fair value with changes in fair value reported in other comprehensive income (OCI) as available-for-sale investments.

IO MBS securities represent the right to receive the interest on a pool of mortgage backed securities, including both Agency and Non-Agency mortgage pools. The fair value of IO MBS securities are heavily impacted by changes in expected prepayment

rates. When IO securities prepay faster than expectations, the holder of the IO security will receive less interest on the investment due to the reduced principal.

We invest in overcollateralization classes of several seasoned pools of mortgage loans. These holdings generally do not have a traditional original and current face or notional face value amount and pay cash based on guidance in the trust documents when excess cash is available. Many of these holdings do not pay any interest and may never pay interest. We have elected to carry these overcollateralization classes at fair value with changes in fair value reflected in earnings.

The Net unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $47 million. The year to date 2018 gains on financial instruments at fair value were primarily driven by unrealized gains on Securitized debt collateralized by loans held for investment of $52 million and Non-Agency RMBS of $21 million, offset in part by unrealized losses on Loans held for investments of $27 million. For the year ended December 31, 2017, the Net unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value were $111 million, which were primarily driven by unrealized gains on Loans held for investment of $206 million, offset in part by unrealized losses on Securitized debt collateralized by loans held for investment of $78 million.

Gains and Losses on Sales of Assets and Extinguishment of Securitized Debt

For the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, we had net realized losses of $3 million, net realized gains of $9 million and $18 million, respectively, on sales of investments. We do not forecast sales of investments as we generally expect to invest for long term gains. However, from time to time, we may sell assets to create liquidity necessary to pursue new opportunities, achieve targeted leverage ratios as well as for gains when prices indicate a sale is most beneficial to us, or is the most prudent course of action to maintain a targeted risk adjusted yield for our investors.

When we acquire our outstanding securitized debt, we extinguish the outstanding debt and recognize a gain or loss based on the difference between the carrying value of the debt and the cost to acquire the debt which is reflected in the Consolidated Statements of Operations as a gain or loss on extinguishment of debt.

There were no securitized debt collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS acquisitions during the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS with an amortized cost balance of $166 thousand for $167 thousand. This transaction resulted in a net loss on the extinguishment of debt of $1 thousand, which is reflected in earnings for the year ended December 31, 2017. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS with an amortized cost balance of $10 million for $11 million. This transaction resulted in a net loss on the extinguishment of debt of $355 thousand, which is reflected in earnings for the year ended December 31, 2016.

During the year ended December 31, 2018, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by loans with an amortized cost balance of $861 million for $835 million. These transactions resulted in a net gain on the extinguishment of debt of $26 million, which is reflected in earnings for the year ended December 31, 2018. During the year ended December 31, 2017, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by loans with an amortized cost balance of $1.0 billion for $1.1 billion. This transaction resulted in a net loss on the extinguishment of debt of $35 million. During the year ended December 31, 2016, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by loans with an amortized cost balance of $609 million for $609 million. These transactions resulted in a net loss on the extinguishment of debt of $122 thousand. This loss is reflected in earnings for the year ended December 31, 2016. As our securitized debt is carried at fair value with changes in fair value reflected in earnings some of these losses were recognized during prior periods.

Compensation, General and Administrative Expenses and Deal Expenses

The table below shows our total compensation and benefit expense, general and administrative, or G&A expenses, and deal expenses as compared to average total assets and average equity for the periods presented.



	Total Compensation, G&A and Deal Expenses		Total Compensation, G&A and Deal Expenses/Average Assets		Total Compensation, G&A and Deal Expenses/Average Equity
	(Ratios have been annualized, dollars in thousands)
For The Year Ended December 31, 2018	$	67,388	0.28	%	1.81	%
For The Year Ended December 31, 2017	$	69,135	0.34	%	1.98	%
For The Year Ended December 31, 2016	$	61,841	0.38	%	2.06	%

For The Quarter Ended December 31, 2018	$	20,126	0.30	%	2.11	%
For The Quarter Ended September 30, 2018	$	15,629	0.26	%	1.65	%
For The Quarter Ended June 30, 2018	$	16,644	0.30	%	1.82	%
For The Quarter Ended March 31, 2018	$	14,988	0.28	%	1.64	%

Compensation and benefit costs were $35 million, $30 million and $27 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The increases in Compensation and benefit costs for each year were primarily driven by higher bonuses and stock based compensation.

G&A expenses were $24 million, $18 million and $18 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The G&A expenses are primarily comprised of auditing, information technology, legal and consulting expenses. The increases in G&A expenses during 2018, were primarily driven by higher legal expenses, due diligence fees and investment manager fees as compared to the same period of 2017. G&A expenses were relatively unchanged during 2017 as compared to 2016.

The Company incurred deal expenses of $8 million, $21 million and $17 million for the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. The decrease in deal expenses year ended December 31, 2018 was driven by lower securitization activity compared to the same period of 2017. The deal expenses increased during 2017 as compared to 2016, primarily due to increased securitization activity as during 2017.

Servicing Fees

Servicing fees expenses were $41 million, $42 million and $31 million during the years ended December 31, 2018, 2017 and 2016, respectively. These servicing fees are related to the consolidation of the whole loan securitization vehicles and are paid from interest income earned by the VIEs. The servicing fees range from 20 to 50 basis points of unpaid principal balances of our consolidated VIEs.

Core earnings

Core earnings is a non-GAAP measure and is defined as GAAP net income excluding unrealized gains on the aggregate portfolio, impairment losses, realized gains on sales of investments, realized gains or losses on futures, realized gains or losses on swap terminations, gain on deconsolidation, extinguishment of debt and certain other non-recurring gains or losses. As defined, core earnings include interest income and expense as well as realized losses on interest rate swaps used to hedge interest rate risk and other expenses. Management believes that the presentation of core earnings provides investors with a useful measure to facilitate comparisons of financial performance between our REIT peers, but has important limitations. We believe core earnings as described above helps evaluate our financial performance without the impact of certain transactions but is of limited usefulness as an analytical tool. Therefore, core earnings should not be viewed in isolation and is not a substitute for net income or net income per basic share computed in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides GAAP measures of net income and net income per basic share available to common stockholders for the periods presented and details with respect to reconciling the line items to core earnings and related per average basic common share amounts:



	For the Year Ended
	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017			December 31, 2016
	(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
GAAP Net income available to common stockholders	$	368,440		$	491,184		$	549,494
Adjustments:
Net other-than-temporary credit impairment losses	21,791			61,856			57,987
Net unrealized (gains) losses on derivatives	141,162			(47,976		)	(50,093		)
Net unrealized (gains) losses on financial instruments at fair value	(46,632		)	(111,410		)	(59,552		)
Net realized (gains) losses on sales of investments	2,743			(9,123		)	(18,155		)
(Gains) losses on extinguishment of debt	(26,376		)	35,274			477
Realized (gains) losses on terminations of interest rate swaps	—			16,143			60,616
Net realized (gains) losses on derivatives - Futures⁽¹⁾	(21,333		)	4,061			9,170
Total other (gains) losses	—			—			(95,000		)

Core Earnings	$	439,795		$	440,009		$	454,944

GAAP net income per basic common share	$	1.97		$	2.62		$	2.93
Core earnings per basic common share⁽²⁾	$	2.35		$	2.34		$	2.42



	For the Quarters Ended
	December 31, 2018			September 30, 2018			June 30, 2018			March 31, 2018			December 31, 2017
	(dollars in thousands, except per share data)
GAAP Net income available to common stockholders	$	(117,235	)	$	147,361		$	108,708		$	229,607		$	98,208
Adjustments:
Net other-than-temporary credit impairment losses	4,269			7,233			9,131			1,158			18,179
Net unrealized (gains) losses on derivatives	319,673			(71,197		)	(25,895		)	(81,419		)	(28,074		)
Net unrealized (gains) losses on financial instruments at fair value	(84,836		)	34,306			18,364			(14,466		)	47,637
Net realized (gains) losses on sales of investments	(1,213		)	6,123			(2,167		)	—			586
(Gains) losses on extinguishment of debt	(7,055		)	(9,263		)	(387		)	(9,670		)	(12,742		)
Net realized (gains) losses on Futures ⁽¹⁾	(4,320		)	(2,799		)	2,210			(16,424		)	(8,204		)
Core Earnings	$	109,283		$	111,764		$	109,964		$	108,786		$	115,590

GAAP net income per basic common share	$	(0.63	)	$	0.79		$	0.58		$	1.22		$	0.52
Core earnings per basic common share⁽²⁾	$	0.58		$	0.60		$	0.59		$	0.58		$	0.62

(1) Included in net realized gains (losses) on derivatives in the Consolidated Statements of Operations.
(2) We note that core and taxable earnings will typically differ, and may materially differ, due to differences on realized gains and losses on investments and related hedges, credit loss recognition,
timing differences in premium amortization, accretion of discounts, equity compensation and other items.

Our core earnings for the year ended December 31, 2018 were $440 million, or $2.35 per average basic common share, which remained relatively unchanged compared to $440 million, or $2.34 per average basic common share, for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Net Income (Loss) and Return on Total Stockholders' Equity

The table below shows our Net Income, Economic Net Interest Income and Core Earnings, each as a percentage of average stockholders' equity. Return on average equity is defined as our GAAP net income (loss) as a percentage of average equity. Average equity is defined as the average of our beginning and ending stockholders' equity balance for the period reported. Economic Net Interest Income and Core Earnings are non-GAAP measures as defined in previous sections.



	Return on Average Equity		Economic Net Interest Income/Average Equity *		Core Earnings/Average Equity
	(Ratios have been annualized)
For the Year Ended December 31, 2018	11.08	%	15.98	%	11.84	%
For the Year Ended December 31, 2017	15.00	%	16.85	%	12.58	%
For the Year Ended December 31, 2016	18.42	%	18.59	%	15.18	%

For the Quarter Ended December 31, 2018	(10.80	)%	16.13	%	11.48	%
For the Quarter Ended September 30, 2018	16.64	%	15.61	%	11.82	%
For the Quarter Ended June 30, 2018	12.91	%	16.05	%	12.02	%
For the Quarter Ended March 31, 2018	26.17	%	15.92	%	11.91	%

* Includes effect of realized losses on interest rate swaps.

Return on average equity decreased by 392 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2018, as compared to the same period of 2017. Economic net interest income as a percentage of average equity decreased by 87 basis points, driven primarily by higher interest expense related to the increase in LIBOR rates. Core earnings as a percentage of average equity decreased by 74 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2018 compared to the year ended December 31, 2017, which was primarily driven by a higher average equity balance due to preferred stock issuance.

Financial Condition

Portfolio Review

During the year ended December 31, 2018, on an aggregate basis, we purchased $9.7 billion of investments, sold $791 million of investments and received $2.9 billion in principal payments related to our Agency, Non-Agency RMBS and Loans held for investments portfolio.

The following table summarizes certain characteristics of our portfolio at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017.



	December 31, 2018			December 31, 2017
Interest earning assets at period-end ⁽¹⁾	$	27,247,661		$	20,894,407
Interest bearing liabilities at period-end	$	22,645,796		$	16,844,889
GAAP Leverage at period-end	6.1:1			4.6:1
GAAP Leverage at period-end (recourse)	3.8:1			2.0:1
Portfolio Composition, at amortized cost
Non-Agency RMBS	4.7		%	5.9		%
Senior	2.8		%	2.9		%
Senior, interest only	1.1		%	1.3		%
Subordinated	0.8		%	1.7		%
Subordinated, interest only	0.0		%	0.0		%
RMBS transferred to consolidated VIEs	2.1		%	4.6		%
Agency MBS	46.7		%	22.2		%
Residential	35.0		%	11.8		%
Commercial	11.2		%	9.8		%
Interest-only	0.5		%	0.6		%
Loans held for investment	46.5		%	67.3		%
Fixed-rate percentage of portfolio	95.8		%	93.7		%
Adjustable-rate percentage of portfolio	4.2		%	6.3		%

(1) Excludes cash and cash equivalents.

GAAP leverage at period-end is calculated as a ratio of our repurchase agreements and securitized debt liabilities over GAAP book value. GAAP recourse leverage is calculated as a ratio of our repurchase agreements over GAAP book value.

The following table presents details of each asset class in our portfolio at December 31, 2018 and December 31, 2017. The principal or notional value represents the interest income earning balance of each class. The weighted average figures are weighted by each investment’s respective principal/notional value in the asset class.



	December 31, 2018
	Principal or Notional Value at Period-End (dollars in thousands)		Weighted Average Amortized Cost Basis		Weighted Average Fair Value		Weighted Average Coupon		Weighted Average Yield at Period-End⁽¹⁾		Weighted Average 3 Month CPR at Period-End		Weighted Average 12 Month CPR at Period-End		Weighted Average Delinquency Pipeline 60+		Weighted Average Loss Severity⁽²⁾		Weighted Average Credit Enhancement		Principal Writedowns During the Quarter (dollars in thousands)
Non-Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities
Senior	$	1,122,782	$	65.10	$	82.79	4.7	%	11.5	%	11.4	%	14.0	%	16.8	%	42.7	%	7.7	%	$	4,145
Senior, interest only	$	5,642,053	$	5.05	$	4.45	1.2	%	8.3	%	10.8	%	13.4	%	10.9	%	53.3	%	—	%	$	—
Subordinated	$	394,037	$	56.60	$	70.16	4.0	%	9.9	%	11.3	%	15.6	%	10.3	%	44.3	%	9.4	%	$	3,478
Subordinated, interest only	$	221,549	$	4.48