v3.25.1
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Accounting Policies (Policies)
3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2025
New Accounting Pronouncements or Change in Accounting Principle [Line Items]  
Derivatives, Policy [Policy Text Block]
Derivative Instruments
We use a variety of derivative instruments to hedge a portion of our exposure to market risks, including interest rate, prepayment, extension and liquidity risks. The objective of our risk management strategy is to reduce fluctuations in net book value over a range of interest rate scenarios. In particular, we attempt to mitigate the risk of the cost of our variable rate liabilities increasing during a period of rising interest rates. The primary instruments that we use are interest rate swaps, options to enter into interest rate swaps ("swaptions"), U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. Treasury futures contracts. We also use forward contracts in the Agency RMBS "to-be-announced" market, or TBA securities, to invest in and finance Agency securities and to periodically reduce our exposure to Agency RMBS.
We account for derivative instruments in accordance with ASC Topic 815, Derivatives and Hedging ("ASC 815"). ASC 815 requires an entity to recognize all derivatives as either assets or liabilities in our accompanying consolidated balance sheets and to measure those instruments at fair value. None of our derivative instruments have been designated as hedging instruments for accounting purposes under the provisions of ASC 815, consequently changes in the fair value of our derivative instruments are reported in gain (loss) on derivative instruments and other securities, net in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
Our derivative agreements generally contain provisions that allow for netting or setting off derivative assets and liabilities with the counterparty; however, we report related assets and liabilities on a gross basis in our consolidated balance sheets. Derivative instruments in a gain position are reported as derivative assets at fair value and derivative instruments in a loss position are reported as derivative liabilities at fair value in our consolidated balance sheets. Changes in fair value of derivative instruments and periodic settlements related to our derivative instruments are recorded in gain (loss) on derivative instruments and other securities, net in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income. Net cash receipts from and payments on our derivative instruments are classified in our consolidated statements of cash flows according to the underlying nature or purpose of the derivative transaction, generally in the investing section.
Interest rate swap agreements
We use interest rate swaps to economically hedge the variable cash flows associated with our borrowings made under repurchase agreements. Under our interest rate swap agreements, we typically pay a fixed rate and receive a floating rate ("payer swaps") based on a short-term benchmark rate, such as the Secured Overnight Financing Rate ("SOFR") and Overnight Index Swap Rate ("OIS"). Our interest rate swaps typically have terms from one to 10 years. Our interest rate swaps are centrally cleared through a registered commodities exchange. The clearing exchange requires that we post an "initial margin" amount determined by the exchange. The initial margin amount is intended to be set at a level sufficient to protect the exchange from the interest rate swap's maximum estimated single-day price movement and is subject to adjustment based on changes in market volatility and other factors. We also exchange daily settlements of "variation margin" based upon changes in fair value, as measured by the exchange. Pursuant to rules governing central clearing activities, we recognize variation margin settlements as a direct reduction of the carrying value of the interest rate swap asset or liability.
Interest rate swaptions
We purchase interest rate swaptions to help mitigate the potential impact of larger, more rapid changes in interest rates on the performance of our investment portfolio. Interest rate swaptions provide us the option to enter into an interest rate swap agreement for a predetermined notional amount, stated term and pay and receive interest rates in the future. Our interest rate swaption agreements are not subject to central clearing. The difference between the premium paid and the fair value of the swaption is reported in gain (loss) on derivative instruments and other securities, net in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income. If a swaption expires unexercised, the realized loss on the swaption would be equal to the premium paid. If we sell or exercise a swaption, the realized gain or loss on the swaption would be equal to the difference between the cash or the fair value of the underlying interest rate swap and the premium paid.
TBA securities
A TBA security is a forward contract for the purchase or sale of Agency RMBS at a predetermined price, face amount, issuer, coupon and stated maturity on an agreed-upon future date. The specific Agency RMBS to be delivered into the contract are not known until shortly before the settlement date. We may choose, prior to settlement, to move the settlement of these securities out to a later date by entering into an offsetting TBA position, net settling the offsetting positions for cash, and simultaneously purchasing or selling a similar TBA contract for a later settlement date (together referred to as a "dollar roll transaction"). The Agency securities purchased or sold for a forward settlement date are typically priced at a discount to equivalent securities settling in the current month. This difference, or "price drop," is the economic equivalent of interest income on the underlying Agency securities, less an implied funding cost, over the forward settlement period (referred to as "dollar roll income"). Consequently, forward purchases of Agency securities and dollar roll transactions represent a form of off-balance sheet financing.
We account for TBA contracts as derivative instruments since either the TBA contracts do not settle in the shortest period of time possible or we cannot assert that it is probable at inception and throughout the term of the TBA contract that we will physically settle the contract on the settlement date. We account for TBA dollar roll transactions as a series of derivative transactions.
U.S. Treasury securities and US Treasury futures contracts
We use U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. Treasury futures contracts to mitigate the potential impact of changes in interest rates on the performance of our portfolio. We enter into short-sales of U.S. Treasury securities by borrowing the securities under reverse repurchase agreements and selling them into the market. We account for these as securities borrowing transactions and recognize an obligation to return the borrowed securities at fair value on our accompanying consolidated balance sheets based on the value of the underlying U.S. Treasury security as of the reporting date. Treasury futures contracts are standardized contracts that obligate us to sell or buy U.S. Treasury securities for future delivery. Gains and losses associated with U.S. Treasury securities and U.S. Treasury futures contracts are recognized in gain (loss) on derivative instruments and other securities, net in our consolidated statements of comprehensive income.
Investment, Policy [Policy Text Block]
Investment Securities
Agency RMBS consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations ("CMOs") guaranteed by the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae"), Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac," and together with Fannie Mae, the "GSEs") or the Government National Mortgage Association ("Ginnie Mae").
CRT securities are risk sharing instruments issued by the GSEs, and similarly structured transactions issued by third-party market participants, that synthetically transfer a portion of the risk associated with credit losses within pools of conventional residential mortgage loans from the GSEs and/or third parties to private investors. Unlike Agency RMBS, full repayment of the original principal balance of CRT securities is not guaranteed by a GSE or U.S. Government agency; rather, "credit risk transfer" is achieved by writing down the outstanding principal balance of the CRT securities if credit losses on a related pool
of loans exceed certain thresholds. By reducing the amount that they are obligated to repay to holders of CRT securities, the GSEs and/or other third parties offset credit losses on the related loans.
Non-Agency RMBS and CMBS (together, "Non-Agency MBS") are backed by residential and commercial mortgage loans, respectively, packaged and securitized by a private institution, such as a commercial bank. Non-Agency MBS typically benefit from credit enhancements derived from structural elements, such as subordination, over-collateralization or insurance, but nonetheless carry a higher level of credit exposure than Agency RMBS.
All of our securities are reported at fair value on our consolidated balance sheet. Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 320, Investments—Debt and Equity Securities, requires that at the time of purchase, we designate a security as held-to-maturity, available-for-sale or trading, depending on our ability and intent to hold such security to maturity. Alternatively, we may elect the fair value option of accounting for securities pursuant to ASC Topic 825, Financial Instruments. Prior to fiscal year 2017, we primarily designated our investment securities as available-for-sale. On January 1, 2017, we began electing the fair value option of accounting for all investment securities newly acquired after such date. Unrealized gains and losses on securities classified as available-for-sale are reported in accumulated other comprehensive income ("OCI"), whereas unrealized gains and losses on securities for which we elected the fair value option, or are classified as trading, are reported in net income through other gain (loss). Upon the sale of a security designated as available-for-sale, we determine the cost of the security and the amount of unrealized gain or loss to reclassify out of accumulated OCI into earnings based on the specific identification method. In our view, the election of the fair value option simplifies the accounting for investment securities and more appropriately reflects the results of our operations for a reporting period by presenting the fair value changes for these assets in a manner consistent with the presentation and timing of the fair value changes for our derivative instruments.
We generally recognize gains or losses through net income on available-for-sale securities only if the security is sold; however, if the fair value of a security declines below its amortized cost and we determine that it is more likely than not that we will incur a realized loss on the security when we sell the asset, we will recognize the difference between the amortized cost and the fair value in net income as a component of other gain (loss). We did not recognize any loss on available for sale securities through net income that we held as of March 31, 2025 because, as of such date, we neither intended to sell any securities in an unrealized loss position nor was it more likely than not that we would be required to sell such securities before recovery of their amortized cost basis. Since all of our available-for-sale designated securities consist of Agency RMBS, we do not have an allowance for credit losses. We have not recognized impairment losses on our available-for-sale securities through net income for the periods presented in our consolidated financial statements.
Interest Income [Policy Text Block]
Interest Income
Interest income is accrued based on the outstanding principal amount of the investment securities and their contractual terms. Premiums or discounts associated with the purchase of Agency RMBS and non-Agency MBS of high credit quality are amortized or accreted into interest income, respectively, over the projected lives of the securities, including contractual payments and estimated prepayments, using the effective interest method in accordance with ASC Subtopic 310-20, Receivables—Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs.
We estimate long-term prepayment speeds of our mortgage securities using a third-party service and market data. The third-party service provider estimates prepayment speeds using models that incorporate the forward yield curve, primary to secondary mortgage rate spreads, current mortgage rates, mortgage rates of the outstanding loans, age and size of the outstanding loans, loan-to-value ratios, interest rate volatility and other factors. We review the prepayment speeds estimated by the third-party service for reasonableness with consideration given to both historical prepayment speeds and current market conditions. If based on our assessment, we believe that the third-party model does not fully reflect our expectations of the current prepayment landscape we may make adjustments to the models. We review our actual and anticipated prepayment experience on at least a quarterly basis and effective yields are recalculated when differences arise between (i) our previous estimate of future prepayments and (ii) actual prepayments to date and our current estimate of future prepayments. We are required to record an adjustment in the current period to premium amortization / discount accretion for the cumulative effect of the difference in the effective yields as if the recalculated yield had been in place as of the security's acquisition date through the reporting date.
At the time we purchase CRT securities and non-Agency MBS that are not of high credit quality, we determine an effective yield based on our estimate of the timing and amount of future cash flows and our cost basis. Our initial cash flow estimates for these investments are based on our observations of current information and events and include assumptions related to interest rates, prepayment rates, collateral call provisions, and the impact of default and severity rates on the timing and amount of credit losses. On at least a quarterly basis, we review the estimated cash flows and make appropriate adjustments based on inputs and analysis received from external sources, internal models, and our judgment regarding such inputs and other
factors. Any resulting changes in effective yield are recognized prospectively based on the current amortized cost of the investment adjusted for credit impairments, if any.