Chimera Investment (CIM) 10-K2023 FY Annual report

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED:  December 31, 2023

OR

FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM                 TO

COMMISSION FILE NUMBER: 1-33796

CHIMERA INVESTMENT CORPORATION

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in its Charter)

(Registrant’s telephone number, including area code)

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

None

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

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

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:

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 files).

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has filed a report on and attestation to its management's assessment of the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting under Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (15 U.S.C. 7262(b)) by the registered public accounting firm that prepared or issued its audit report.

If securities are registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act, indicate by check mark whether the financial statements

Indicate by check mark whether any of those error corrections are restatements that required a recovery analysis of incentive-

based compensation received by any of the registrant’s executive officers during the relevant recovery period pursuant

At June 30, 2023, the aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the Registrant was $1,284,354,507 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, 2024 was 241,361,867.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive Proxy Statement for the 2023 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

FORM 10-K

TABLE OF CONTENTS

We make forward-looking statements in this report that are subject to risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about, among other things, 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:

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. If a change occurs, our business, financial condition, liquidity, results of operations and prospects 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.

PART I

We are a publicly traded REIT that is primarily engaged in the business of investing directly or having a beneficial interest in a diversified portfolio of mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans, Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, business purpose and investor loans, and other real estate-related assets. The MBS and other real estate-related securities we purchase may include investment-grade, non-investment grade, and non-rated classes.

We use leverage to increase potential returns from our investments. Subject to maintaining our REIT status and exemption from registration under the 1940 Act, we do not have any limitations on the amounts we may invest in any of our targeted asset classes.

Our principal business objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns through the generation of distributable income and through asset performance linked to mortgage credit fundamentals. We were incorporated in Maryland on June 1, 2007 and commenced operations on November 21, 2007.

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 is the interest income we earn on investments less the interest expense we incur on borrowed funds.

Our investment strategy is intended to take advantage of opportunities in the current interest rate and credit environment. We adjust our strategy in response to changing market conditions by shifting our asset allocations across various asset classes as interest rate and credit cycles change over time. We believe that our strategy will provide us an opportunity to pay dividends throughout changing market cycles.

We attempt to increase our potential returns and finance the acquisition of our assets by borrowing funds secured by our assets (leverage). 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 securitizations, secured borrowing through the use of warehouse facilities and repurchase agreements, as well as the issuance of debt and equity capital. We may 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.

During 2023, we focused our investment activities primarily on acquiring and securitizing pools of residential mortgage loans and, when we believed market or other conditions were favorable, exercising call options on existing securitizations to acquire the underlying mortgage loans and use additional securitization to re-finance those called mortgage loans. During 2024, we expect to continue acquiring and securitizing mortgage loans as well as calling our existing securitizations depending on market conditions. 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, most of these subordinate securities are subject to the Dodd-Frank Act and related laws and regulations relating to credit risk retention for securitizations, or the Risk Retention Rules,

which significantly limits the liquidity of these securities. See “ Risk Factors - Risks Associated with Our Investments - 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, which may require us to hold investments that we may otherwise desire to sell during times of severe market disruption in the mortgage, housing or related sectors” discussion in Item 1A “Risk Factors” section for more details. We generally finance these subordinate securities with secured financing agreements. The securities we do not retain are typically sold through securities underwriters. Other than the Risk Retention Rules, there is no limit on the amount we may retain of these below-investment-grade subordinate certificates. As discussed below, during 2023 our use of leverage with respect to the retained securities from the securitizations we sponsored remained low and we have entered into several new non-mark-to-market facilities to finance these retained securities.

In addition, we have purchased and expect to continue to purchase business purpose loans. We believe these business purpose loans strengthened our portfolio in 2023 because they are short duration assets and have a high average coupon, providing an attractive risk reward profile in times of rate volatility. Currently, we do not use term securitization to finance business purpose loans because of their short duration. We currently finance these loans using repurchase facilities, but we may look to finance these loans with revolving securitization structures in the future.

In 2024, in addition to our securitization and business purpose loan activities, we will explore opportunities to increase our Agency MBS portfolio. We have also financed and may continue to finance a portion of our loan portfolio with long-term secured financing facilities rather than securitization until the securitization market improves once the Fed begins rate cuts.

We currently have the following five securitization programs:

We did not sponsor any securitizations under our “J” and “INV” programs during the year ended December 31, 2023.

The table below sets forth certain information about our “R”, “NR” and the “I” securitizations we completed during the year ended December 31, 2023.

At December 31, 2023, based on the fair value of our interest earning assets, approximately 91% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 8% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, and 1% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS. At December 31, 2022, based on the fair value of our interest earning assets, approximately 88% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 9% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, and 3% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS. As discussed in “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” we reduced some of our Agency MBS positions during 2023.

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

We invest in residential mortgage loans (mortgage loans secured by residential real property) through secondary market purchases from banks, non-bank financial institutions, and the Agencies. Our residential mortgage loan portfolio is comprised primarily of reperforming residential mortgage loans, which have been outstanding, or seasoned, for more than 120 months, and typically have higher loan-to-value ratios and spottier pay histories.

Our residential mortgage loan portfolio also includes business purpose loans and investor loans. Our business purpose loans are loans to businesses that are secured by real property which will be renovated by the borrower. Upon completion of the renovation the property typically will be either (i) sold by the borrower, or (ii) refinanced by the borrower who may then subsequently sell or rent the property. Most, but not all, of the properties securing our business purpose loans are residential, and a portion of the loan is used to cover renovation costs. Our business purpose loans are included as a part of our Loans held for investment portfolio and are carried at fair value. Our business purpose loans tend to be short duration, often less than one year, and generally the coupon rate is higher than our residential mortgage loans.

Our investor loans are loans to individuals securing non-primary residences as well as to individuals or businesses who rent the residential properties secured by such loans. We acquire pools of such loans which are eligible for sale to one of the Agencies as well as pools of loans which are not eligible for such sales. In both cases, we securitize the investor loans as part of our loan securitization program.

We acquire residential mortgage loans primarily to securitize them, as discussed above, or to retain them in our portfolio as loans held for investment. Until we securitize our residential mortgage loans, we finance our residential mortgage loan portfolio through warehouse facilities and repurchase agreements, as discussed under “Our Financing Strategy” below.

Currently, we acquire mortgage loans in the secondary market that are originated by third parties and are not underwritten to our specifications. Third-party servicers service the mortgage loans in our portfolio. We conduct a due diligence review of each servicer before the servicer is retained and periodically thereafter. Servicing procedures typically follow Fannie Mae guidelines but are specified in each servicing agreement. In addition, we have purchased 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 files to assess the origination and servicing of the mortgage loans, as well as our ability to enforce the lien on the related mortgaged properties. We typically do not review all the loans in a pool, but rather select loans for diligence review utilizing random sampling based criteria such as property location, loan size, effective loan-to-value ratio, borrower’s credit score, delinquency status 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 loans as well as the enforceability of the lien on the related mortgaged properties. 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.

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 properties 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. We refer to residential mortgage-backed securities issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac as Agency RMBS.

We also invest in investment grade, non-investment grade and non-rated Non-Agency RMBS. We evaluate certain credit characteristics of these types of securities and the underlying mortgage loans, 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 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.

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 occurs as construction progresses on the property. Before each construction advance is funded, it is insured by the Federal Housing Administration, or 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.

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 non-Agency 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, ABS, mortgages, RMBS, CMBS, and other instruments.

We have invested in a limited partnership managed by a registered investment advisor in which we own a minority equity interest. The limited partnership invests in REIT eligible assets, primarily residential assets. We make other similar investments as well as invest in entities which originate or service mortgage loans.

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 periodically reviews our compliance with the investment guidelines. Our Board of Directors and its committees also review 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 its committees have adopted the following guidelines for our investments and borrowings:

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

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, 2023 and 2022, our ratio of debt-to-equity was 4.0:1 . 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 securitized debt and secured financing agreements.

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

We maintain a portion of our financing in non-mark-to-market facilities and mark-to-market holiday facilities (meaning, the market value of the collateral must drop below a threshold before a lender can issue a margin call) to finance a portion of our non-Agency RMBS, including risk retention securities. The percentage of our financing allocated to such facilities will vary depending on market conditions. We believe that non-mark-to-market facilities will continue to be a material portion of our financing 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:

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 asset values and net interest margins.

We have elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT, we must comply with the requirements under federal tax law, including that we must distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income (subject to certain adjustments) to our stockholders. 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. We have granted waivers to two mutual funds to own certain classes of our preferred stock above the 9.8% limitation. Also, we have elected to treat certain of our subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries, or TRS. In general, a TRS may hold assets and engage in activities that a REIT or qualified REIT subsidiary, or QRS, cannot hold or engage in directly and generally may engage in any real estate or non-real estate related business. A TRS is subject to U.S. federal income tax.

We continue to 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 (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 for private funds set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act.

If the value of securities issued by our subsidiaries that are excluded 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 the 40% test under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act, or if one or more of such subsidiaries fail to maintain an exclusion or exception 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 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 common stock, the sustainability of our business model, and our ability to make distributions. See “Risk Factors - Risks Related to Regulatory, Accounting and Our 1940 Exemption - 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.”

While we are not required to obtain licenses to purchase mortgage-backed securities, the purchase and sale 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 directly engage in loan servicing ourselves and do not expect to do so. As of December 31, 2023, we hold all required licenses or exempt status through two of our wholly owned subsidiaries in 22 states.. We are required to comply with various information reporting and other regulatory requirements to maintain those licenses and exemption statuses. Our failure to obtain or maintain required licenses or exemption statuses 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. In one or more states, in lieu of relying on such licenses, we may contribute our acquired residential mortgage loans to one or more trusts in which we or our subsidiaries hold beneficial interests; title to these residential mortgage loans may be held by one or more federally-charted banks as trustee, which may be exempt from state licensing requirements. There can be no assurance that the use of the trusts will satisfy an exemption from licensing requirements because regulatory agencies may adopt different interpretations of applicable laws.

The human capital objectives we focus on in managing our business include attracting, developing, and retaining key personnel. Our employees are critical to the success of our organization and we are committed to supporting our employees’ professional development. We believe our management team has the experience necessary to effectively implement our growth strategy and continue to drive shareholder value. We provide competitive compensation and benefits to attract and retain key personnel, while also providing a safe, inclusive and respectful workplace. We continue to have a focus on diversity initiatives. We offer internal training programs on financial markets, business ethics, government regulatory rules and other topics. We encourage personnel to attend industry sponsored or other conferences and have a tuition reimbursement program to help personnel to further develop their skills and to stay current on evolving trends impacting our industry.

We focus on attracting and retaining employees by providing compensation and benefits packages that are competitive within the applicable market, taking into account the job position’s location and responsibilities. We provide competitive financial benefits such as a 401(k) retirement plan with a company match and offer a comprehensive healthcare benefit plan and other tools to support our employees’ health and well-being. We also generally grant awards of restricted stock units on an annual basis to a meaningful portion of our employees. We have a matching gift program to encourage personnel to be charitable and to support 501(c)(3) organizations.

At December 31, 2023, we had 39 employees, all of whom were full-time. We believe that diversity and inclusion are conducive to a stronger workplace and better decision making. As of December 31, 2023, 72% of our workforce was either gender or racially diverse. We believe that our relationship with our employees is good. None of our employees are unionized or represented under a collective bargaining agreement.

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 compete with other mortgage REITs, specialty finance companies, savings and loan associations, banks, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, exchange traded funds, mutual funds, institutional investors, investment banking firms, financial institutions, hedge funds, governmental bodies (including the U.S. Federal Reserve) and other entities. 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. The existence of these entities, as well as the possibility of additional entities forming in the future, may increase the competition for the acquisition of residential mortgage assets, resulting in higher prices and lower yields on such assets.

Our investor relations website is www.chimerareit.com. We make available on the website under “Filings & Reports,” free of charge, our annual report on Form 10-K, our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, our current reports and investor presentations 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 our filed reports can be obtained at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.

Risks Related to Financing

Our ability to fund our operations, meet financial obligations and finance target asset acquisitions may be impacted by our ability to secure and maintain our master repurchase agreements, warehouse facilities and repurchase agreement facilities with our counterparties. Because repurchase agreements and warehouse facilities are short-term commitments of capital, lenders may respond to market conditions making it more difficult for us to renew or replace on a continuous basis our maturing short-term borrowings and have and may continue to impose more onerous conditions when rolling such financings. If we are not able to renew our existing facilities or arrange for new financing on terms acceptable to us, or if we default on our covenants or are otherwise unable to access funds under our financing facilities or if we are required to post more collateral or face larger haircuts, we may have to curtail our asset acquisition activities and/or dispose of assets at a loss.

Issues related to financing are exacerbated in times of significant dislocation in the financial markets, such as current conditions. It is possible our lenders will become unwilling or unable to provide us with financing and we could be forced to sell our assets at an inopportune time when prices are depressed. In addition, if the regulatory capital requirements imposed on our lenders change, they may be required to significantly increase the cost of the financing that they provide to us. Our lenders also have and may continue to revise their eligibility requirements for the types of assets they are willing to finance or the terms of such financings, including haircuts and requiring additional collateral in the form of cash, based on, among other factors, the regulatory environment and their management of actual and perceived risk, particularly with respect to assignee liability. Moreover, the amount of financing we receive under our repurchase agreements will be directly related to our lenders’ valuation of our target assets that cover the outstanding borrowings. Typically, repurchase agreements grant the lender the absolute right to reevaluate the fair market value of the assets that cover outstanding borrowings at any time. If a lender determines in its sole discretion that the value of the assets has decreased, it has the right to initiate a margin call. These valuations may be different than the values that we ascribe to these assets and may be influenced by recent asset sales and distressed levels by forced sellers. A margin call requires us to transfer additional assets or cash to a lender without any advance of funds from the lender for such transfer or to repay a portion of the outstanding borrowings.

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. Historically, we relied primarily on borrowings under repurchase agreements to finance our investments, which have short-term contractual maturities. In an effort to be less impacted by market dislocations, we have moved some of our financing to longer-term mark-to-market financing and longer-term non-market-to-market and limited mark-to-market financing which is more expensive than traditional short-term mark-to-market financing. 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. Starting in 2022, the Federal Reserve adopted monetary policies designed to address a rapid acceleration of inflation, raising the federal funds rates multiple times starting in 2022 and through a portion of 2023, and may do so again in the future, which could impact our borrowing costs and our ability to invest generally. During a period of rising interest rates and flattening or inverted yield curves such as the current market, 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. As these events occurred in 2023 and 2022, and are continuing, we have and may continue to experience an increase in our interest expense.

In general, the market value of our residential mortgage and MBS 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 or MBS 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.

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. 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. For example, in response to the changes in rates and margins calls we received during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, we entered into several non-mark-to-market and mark-to-market holiday financing facilities. Similarly, in 2023 and 2022, as the Federal Reserve increased interest rates we added more non-MTM facilities. These facilities typically have higher interest rates and cash trapping provisions which reduce the net cash we receive from these levered 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 risks associated with leverage are more acute during periods of economic slowdown or recession. The use of leverage to finance our investments involves many other risks, including, among other things, the following:

Our ability to meet cash needs depends on many factors, several of which are beyond our control. Ineffective management of liquidity levels could cause us to be unable to meet certain financial obligations. Potential conditions that could impair our liquidity include: unwillingness or inability of any of our potential lenders to provide us with or renew financing, margin calls, additional capital requirements applicable to our lenders, a disruption in the financial markets or declining confidence in our creditworthiness or in financial markets in general. These conditions could force us to sell our assets at inopportune times or otherwise cause us to potentially revise our strategic business initiatives.

We may not be able to readily raise capital from external sources in a timely manner or on favorable terms. Many of the same factors that could make the pricing for investments in real estate loans and securities attractive, such as the availability of assets from distressed owners who need to liquidate them at reduced prices, and uncertainty about credit risk, housing, and the economy, may limit investors’ and lenders’ willingness to provide us with additional capital on terms that are favorable to us, if at all. There may also be other reasons we are not able to readily raise capital in a timely manner or on favorable terms, and, as a result, may not be able to finance growth in our business and in our portfolio of assets and we could experience other adverse impacts. To the extent we need to raise capital on unfavorable terms, we may experience greater dilution of existing shareholders, higher interest costs, or higher transaction costs.

Risks Related to Hedging

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, we use various hedging strategies to reduce our exposure to losses from rising interest rates in the current market. 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 could 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:

The hedging transactions we undertake, 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.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, part of our financing strategy involves entering into hedging instruments that could require us to fund cash payments in certain circumstances (e.g., the early termination of a hedging instrument caused by an event of default or other voluntary or involuntary termination event or the decision by a hedging counterparty to request the posting of collateral that it is contractually owed under the terms of a hedging instrument). With respect to the termination of an existing swap, the amount due would generally be equal to the unrealized loss of the open swap position with the hedging counterparty and could also include other fees and charges. These economic losses will be reflected in our financial results of operations and our ability to fund these obligations will depend on the liquidity of our assets and access to capital at the time. Any losses we incur on our hedging instruments could materially adversely affect our earnings and thus our cash available for distribution to our stockholders.

As indicated above, from time to time we enter into swaps. Entities entering into swaps are exposed to credit losses in the event of non-performance by counterparties to these transactions. Rules issued by the Commodities Futures Trading Commission or, CFTC, that became effective in October 2012 require the clearing of all swap transactions through registered derivatives clearing organizations, or swap execution facilities, through standardized documents under which each swap counterparty transfers its position to another entity whereby the centralized clearinghouse effectively becomes the counterparty to each side of the swap. It is the intent of the Dodd-Frank Act that the clearing of swaps in this manner is designed to avoid concentration of swap risk in any single entity by spreading and centralizing the risk in the clearinghouse and its members. In addition to greater initial and periodic margin (collateral) requirements and additional transaction fees both by the swap execution facility and the clearinghouse, the swap transactions are now subjected to greater regulation by both the CFTC and the SEC. These additional fees, costs, margin requirements, documentation requirements, and regulations could adversely affect our business and results of operations.

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 (i.e., interest rate swaps) are traded may require us to post additional collateral against our hedging instruments. In the event that future adverse economic developments or market uncertainty (including those due to governmental, regulatory, or legislative action or inaction) result in increased margin requirements for our hedging instruments, it could materially adversely affect our liquidity position, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Changes in interest rates, the interrelationships between various interest rates, and interest rate volatility, such as the changes that have occurred during 2023 and may continue to occur as the Federal Reserve's interest rate policies in response to inflation continue to affect the financial markets, have had, and may continue to 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 may seek to hedge a majority of, 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 and increase the cost of our financing. 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.

Our investment portfolio contains a significant allocation to MBS, as well as Residential Loans. The relationship between short-term and longer-term interest rates is often referred to as the “yield curve.” In a normal yield curve environment, short-term interest rates are lower than longer-term interest rates, and an investment in such assets will generally decline in value if long-term interest rates increase. Declines in market value may ultimately reduce earnings or result in losses to us, which may negatively affect cash available for distribution to our stockholders. If short-term interest rates continue to, as has occurred in 2023, exceed longer-term interest rates (a yield curve inversion), our borrowing costs may exceed our interest income and we could incur operating losses. Additionally, to the extent cash flows from investments that return scheduled and unscheduled principal are reinvested, the spread between the yields on the new investments and available borrowing rates may decline, which would likely decrease our net income. A significant risk associated with our target assets is the risk that both long-term and short-term interest rates will increase significantly, as occurred during 2023. To the extent long-term rates increase significantly, the market value of these investments will decline, and the duration and weighted average life of the investments will increase. At the same time, an increase in short-term interest rates will increase the amount of interest owed on the repurchase agreements we enter into to finance the purchase of our investments. Additionally, a yield curve inversion may significantly influence the pace and volume of activity in securitization market, which may impact the profitability of any securitization transaction we perform.

Inflation by some measures remained elevated since 1982, and inflationary pressures have broadened from goods earlier in the pandemic to include shelter costs and a number of labor-intensive services. The rapid acceleration of inflation led to an abrupt shift in the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy stance. Persistent high inflation during the first half of 2023 and throughout 2022 continued to put pressure on the Federal Reserve to raise its benchmark interest rates at a faster pace than previously estimated. The Federal Reserve responded by undertaking a series of rate hikes throughout 2023 and 2022, which brought the Federal Funds Rate to a range of 5.25% to 5.50%, the highest level since 2008. As a result, mortgage rates continued to surge reaching the highest level in more than 15 years causing more home buyers to pull back from the market. This has negatively impacted both the primary and secondary markets for residential mortgages. As the Federal Reserve lifts the Federal Funds Rate, the margin between short and long-term rates could further compress. Given our reliance on short-term borrowings to generate interest income, if the curve continues to flatten or even invert, or if Federal Reserve finds itself falling behind on inflation and more aggressively tightens their current projections, our results of operations, financial condition and business could be materially adversely impacted.

A significant portion of our Non-Agency RMBS are subordinate classes we have acquired through securitization of mortgage loans. The mortgage loans we have securitized are generally recorded on our balance sheet as “securitized mortgage loans” for

GAAP purposes, but in effect we own these assets in the form of securities. A substantial portion of the mortgage loans that we securitize and the subordinate securities that we retain are not newly originated “prime mortgage loans” but rather seasoned reperforming mortgage loans and Non-QM loans that have less strict underwriting standards and are therefore subject to greater risk of loss, as discussed below.

When we securitize mortgage loans, we sell the most senior securities backed by those loans and retain the most subordinate classes of securities, which means we are the first-loss security holder and the securities we own represent a portion of the “securitized mortgage loans” on our balance sheet. 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 may own). Losses with respect to these investments, which are subject to significant credit risk, could increase or otherwise be higher than anticipated. For a description of the credit risk we are exposed to, see the Risk Factor below captioned “The nature of the mortgage loans we acquire and that underlie the MBS we acquire, exposes us to credit risk that could negatively affect the value of those assets and investments.”

In addition, many of our Non-Agency RMBS securities are first loss and subject to the Risk Retention Rules (see the Risk Factor below captioned “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, which may require us to hold investments that we may otherwise desire to sell during times of severe market disruption in the financial, mortgage, housing or related sectors.”) and are therefore illiquid for a period of time. The fair value of securities, especially our first loss credit risk retention securities, reperforming mortgage loans (loans that typically were significantly delinquent and subsequently modified), and other investments we make that are not frequently 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 valuation models 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 different 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 and these assets may be more difficult to finance. 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.

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 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, the 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.

A majority of the Non-Agency MBS we have acquired on the secondary market or retained in our securitizations are 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 especially during times of economic stress, which could materially adversely impact our results of operations, financial condition, and business.

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. The substantial majority of our investment assets are subject to various credit risks, as discussed below.

process, documentation errors, and other actions 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.

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.

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.

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, New York and Florida. For further information on the geographic concentration of our investments see Note 3 and Note 4 to the consolidated financial statements within this 2023 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. Recent years have seen frequent and severe natural disasters in the U.S., including wildfires, hurricanes, high winds, severe flooding and mudslides, the frequency and intensity of which may be indicative of the impact of climate change. The impacts of climate change, which are expected to persist and worsen in the future, could have a more significant localized effect in the areas where our borrowers are concentrated, resulting in a disproportionate impact on us. 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. 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.

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 2023 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 2023 Form 10-K. 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.

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 most, 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.

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. These assumptions may be more difficult to calculate during times of severe market disruption in the mortgage, housing or related sectors. For further information regarding our assets recorded at fair value see Note 5 to the consolidated financial statements within this 2023 Form 10-K. Use of different assumptions could materially affect our fair value calculations and our financial results and our actual experience may cause us to substantially revise our assumptions. Further discussion of the risk of our ownership and valuation of illiquid securities is set forth in the Risk Factors above and in this 2023 Form 10-K.

Our results of operations are materially affected by conditions in the markets for mortgages and mortgage-related assets, as well as the broader financial markets and the economy generally. In addition, concerns over actual or anticipated low economic growth rates, higher levels of unemployment, a reduction in housing market activity or uncertainty regarding future U.S. monetary policy may contribute to increased interest rate volatility and a decline in business volume. A reduction in our business volume can reduce our net interest income and adversely affect our financial results.

Global economic conditions can also adversely affect our business and financial results. Changes or volatility in market conditions resulting from deterioration in or uncertainty regarding global economic conditions can adversely affect the value of our assets, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, net worth and financial condition. To the extent

Risks Associated with Our Operations

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:

A significant part of our business and growth strategy is to engage in various securitization transactions related to residential mortgage loans. There are many factors that can have a significant impact on whether a securitization transaction is profitable to us or result 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 and availability 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 for which 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, changes in the projected yields required by investors to invest in securitization transactions, and increased delinquencies. Hedging against a decline in loan value due to changes in interest rates may impact the profitability of a securitization.

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 including the uncertainty, potential delinquencies, and lack of liquidity. In addition, the underwriter(s) or placement agent(s) we select for securitization transactions, 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.

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. The negative impact on the business and operations of such servicers or other parties responsible for funding such advances could be significant. Sources of liquidity typically available to servicers and other relevant parties for the purpose of funding advances of monthly mortgage payments, especially entities that are not depository institutions, may not be sufficient to meet the increased need that could result from significantly higher delinquency and/or forbearance rates. The extent of such liquidity pressures in the future is not known at this time and is subject to continual change.

We rely on third party servicers to service and manage the mortgage loans we beneficially own and that underlie our MBS. 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 beneficially 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, Accounting, 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.

For a majority of the loans that we beneficially own (other than securitized loans), we also beneficially own 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 into 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.

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. Volatility in any asset class, including real estate and mortgage-related assets, increases the likelihood of Third-Party Data being inaccurate as market participants attempt to value assets that have frequent, significant swings in pricing.

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, preventing foreclosures, forcing the modification of certain mortgages, or preventing the collection of interest or other charges from borrowers under certain circumstances.

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, such as those adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Certain mortgage lenders and third party servicers may also voluntarily, or as part of settlements with law enforcement authorities, establish 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.

Our business is highly dependent on our information and communications systems. These information and communications systems include hardware, software and cloud-based solutions. Our business is also highly dependent on the information and communications systems of third parties with whom we do business or that facilitate our business activities, including clearing agents, mortgage servicers, trustees, business counterparties, technology service providers and financial intermediaries. Our relationships with certain of these third-parties allow for the external storage and processing of our information, including personal information, and counterparty and borrower information, including on cloud-based systems. In addition, third parties may also share their confidential information, including personal information, with us, which information may be processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our computer systems and networks.

We may not be able to anticipate, detect or recognize threats to our systems and assets, or to implement effective preventive measures against all cyber threats, especially because the techniques used in cyber attacks are increasingly sophisticated, change frequently, are complex, and are often not recognized until launched. Cyber-attacks can occur and persist for an extended period of time without detection. Investigations of cyber-attacks are inherently unpredictable, and it takes time to complete an investigation and have full and reliable information. These and other challenges could further increase the costs and consequences of a cyber-attack and may inhibit our ability to provide rapid, complete and reliable information about a cyber-attack to our business partners, counterparties and regulators, as well as the public.

Any failure or interruption of our systems or those of key third parties or cyber-attacks or security breaches of our networks or systems could cause delays or other problems in our business or result in the disclosure or misuse of confidential or other information, including personal information, which could damage our reputation, result in regulatory sanctions and/or increase our costs and cause losses that have a material adverse impact on our business, financial results and financial condition. Cyber criminals are now deploying sophisticated techniques to conduct more advanced and persistent attacks. We have been and continue to be the target of such attacks. From time to time, third parties with whom we do business have experienced data breaches or other cybersecurity incidents. Such attacks, as well as an actual or perceived failure by us or third parties to comply with privacy, data protection and information security laws, regulations, standards, policies and contractual obligations could result in legal liabilities, fines, regulatory action and reputational harm that have a material adverse impact on our business, financial results and financial condition. We cannot assure you that our cybersecurity control and response plans will be sufficient to prevent or mitigate all potential risks of cybersecurity threats and incidents. Especially due to the current hybrid working environments, where more of our personnel are spending more time working from home, than they did prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an elevated risk of such events occurring.

Risks Related to Regulatory Matters, Accounting, and Our 1940 Act Exemption

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.

Our portfolio includes or may include investments in mortgage pass-through certificates issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac. The Federal Housing Finance Agency, or FHFA, and both houses of Congress have discussed and considered various measures intended to restructure the U.S. housing finance system and the operations of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Congress may continue to consider legislation that would significantly reform the country’s mortgage finance system, including, among other things, eliminating Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae and replacing them with a single new MBS insurance agency. Details remain unsettled, including the scope and costs of the agencies’ guarantee and their affordable housing mission, some of which could be addressed even in the absence of large-scale reform.

While the likelihood that major mortgage finance system reform will be enacted in the short term remains uncertain, it is possible that the adoption of any such reforms could adversely affect the types of assets we can buy, the costs of these assets and our business operations. A reduction in the ability of mortgage loan originators to access Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to sell their mortgage loans may adversely affect the mortgage markets generally and adversely affect the ability of mortgagors to refinance their mortgage loans. In addition, any decline in the value of securities issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may affect the value of MBS in general.

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. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, or CFPB, has broad authority over a wide range of consumer financial products and services, including mortgage lending and servicing. One portion of the Dodd-Frank Act, the Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act, or Mortgage Reform Act, contains underwriting and servicing standards for the mortgage industry and various other requirements related to mortgage origination and servicing. In addition, the Dodd-Frank Act grants enforcement authority and broad discretionary regulatory authority to the CFPB to prohibit or condition terms, acts or practices relating to residential mortgage loans that the CFPB finds abusive, unfair, deceptive or predatory, as well as to take other actions that the CFPB finds are necessary or proper to ensure responsible affordable mortgage credit remains available to consumers. The Dodd-Frank Act also affects the securitization of mortgages (and other assets) with requirements for risk retention by securitizers and requirements for regulating rating agencies.

Numerous regulations have been issued pursuant to the Dodd-Frank Act, including regulations regarding mortgage loan servicing, underwriting and loan originator compensation and others could be issued in the future. These requirements can and do change as statutes and regulations are enacted, promulgated, amended, and interpreted, and the recent trends among federal and state lawmakers and regulators have been toward increasing laws, regulations, and investigative proceedings concerning the mortgage industry generally. As a result, we are unable to fully predict at this time how the Dodd-Frank Act, as well as other laws or regulations that may be adopted in the future, will affect our business, results of operations and financial condition, or the environment for repurchase financing and other forms of borrowing, the investing environment for Agency MBS, Non-Agency MBS and/or residential mortgage loans, the securitization industry, swaps and other derivatives. We believe that the Dodd-Frank Act and the regulations promulgated thereunder are likely to continue to increase the economic and compliance costs for participants in the mortgage and securitization industries, including us.

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, wide-ranging legal protections for homeowners, including foreclosure moratoria and forbearance provisions, were enacted including through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (or CARES Act), which was signed into law on March 27, 2020, and rules and letters issued by the FHA and the CFPB. Availability for foreclosure and forbearance protections for borrowers with federally backed mortgage loans, regardless of delinquency status, were extended multiple times. If the COVID-19 pandemic resurges or another public health crisis breaks out in the future, similar measures may be reenacted, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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.

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.

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, which impacts our dividend distribution requirements, and, therefore, our GAAP results may not be an accurate indicator of future taxable income and dividend distributions.

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 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) or 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 subsidiaries’ securities are not Qualifying Real Estate Assets or real estate-related assets or otherwise believes such subsidiary does not satisfy the exemption under Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the 1940 Act, 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.

Certain of our subsidiaries may rely on the exemption provided by Section 3(c)(6) of the 1940 Act 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 may 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 guidance from the Division of Investment Management of the SEC 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.

We own 20.0% of a holding company that wholly owns a registered investment adviser and we are an 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 that we do not have significant control rights and none of our employees is an officer 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 and Risks Related to Our REIT Status

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 Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and regulations promulgated thereunder, or 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.

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.

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.

The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge our assets and related borrowings. Under these provisions, any income that we generate from transactions intended to hedge our interest rate, inflation and/or currency risks will be excluded from gross income for purposes of the REIT 75% and 95% gross income tests if the instrument hedges (1) interest rate risk on liabilities incurred to carry or acquire real estate or (2) risk of currency fluctuations with respect to any item of income or gain that would be qualifying income under the REIT 75% or 95% gross income tests, and such instrument is properly identified under applicable Treasury Department regulations. 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 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.

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.

We also indirectly own an entity that has elected to be taxed as a REIT under the U.S. federal income tax laws, or a "Subsidiary REIT." Our Subsidiary REIT is subject to the same REIT qualification requirements that are applicable to us. If our Subsidiary REIT were to fail to qualify as a REIT, then (i) that Subsidiary REIT would become subject to regular U.S. federal, state and local corporate income tax, (ii) our interest in such Subsidiary REIT would cease to be a qualifying asset for purposes of the REIT asset tests, and (iii) it is possible that we would fail certain of the REIT asset tests, in which event we also would fail to qualify as a REIT unless we could avail ourselves of certain relief provisions. While we believe that the Subsidiary REIT has qualified as a REIT under the Code, we have joined the Subsidiary REIT in filing a "protective" TRS election under Section 856(l) of the Code for each taxable year in which we have owned an interest in the Subsidiary REIT. We cannot assure you that such "protective" TRS election would be effective to avoid adverse consequences to us. Moreover, even if the "protective" election were to be effective, the Subsidiary REIT would be subject to regular corporate income tax, and we cannot assure you that we would not fail to satisfy the requirement that not more than 20% of the value of our total assets may be represented by the securities of one or more TRSs. See "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." below.

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.

Our charter provides that our Board of Directors may revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election, without the approval of our stockholders, if our Board of Directors determines that it is no longer in our best interest to attempt to, or continue to, qualify as a REIT. If we cease to qualify as a REIT, we would become subject to U.S. federal income tax on our net taxable income and we generally would no longer be required to distribute any of our net taxable income to our stockholders, which may have adverse consequences on the total return to our stockholders.

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,’’ (3) a tax-exempt stockholder has incurred debt to purchase or hold our capital stock, or (4) the residual REMIC interests, we buy (if any) generate “excess inclusion income,” 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.

We intend to structure our securitization and financing arrangements so as to not allocate “excess inclusion income” to our stockholders. 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:

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:

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. Also, our ability, or the ability of our subsidiaries, to deduct interest may be limited under Section 163(j) of the Code. To the extent that we generate such non-cash taxable income or have limitations on our deductions 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.

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 and could be subject to the 15% corporate alternative minimum tax on its adjusted financial statement income if certain income thresholds are met. 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.

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 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 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 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.

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

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

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

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” section 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 our common stock or any series of our preferred stock.

The declaration, amount and payment of any future dividends on shares of common stock will be at the sole discretion of our Board of Directors, and may depend 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. In light of these factors, our Board of Directors may adjust our quarterly cash dividend on our shares of common stock from prior quarters. The payment of dividends may be more uncertain during disruptions in the mortgage, housing or related sectors, such as the current rising interest rate environment.

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, with certain limited exceptions related to some financing facilities, 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.

In the future, we may attempt to increase our capital resources by making offerings of debt or additional offerings of equity or equity-linked securities, including commercial paper, warrants, 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 offerings of equity securities, including securities that may be converted into or exchanged for equity securities, 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, will 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.

Qualified dividend income payable to U.S. investors that are individuals, trusts, and estates is subject to the reduced maximum tax rate applicable to long-term capital gains. Dividends payable by REITs, however, generally are not eligible for the reduced qualified dividend rates. For taxable years beginning 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. 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 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.

We may engage in share repurchases of our common stock and preferred stock from time to time in accordance with authorizations from the Board of Directors. Our repurchase program does not have an expiration date and does not obligate us to repurchase any specific dollar amount or to acquire any specific number of shares. Further, our share repurchases could affect our share trading prices, increase their volatility, reduce our cash reserves and may be suspended or terminated at any time, which may result in a decrease in the trading prices of our stock.

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 stock ranking senior to our outstanding preferred stock.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 1C. Cybersecurity

We have a risk management process and strategy in place for assessing, identifying, and managing material risks from cybersecurity threats. Our cybersecurity risk management framework is closely aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (“NIST”)’s Cybersecurity Framework (“CSF”) and is incorporated into our enterprise risk management process, information systems, vendor engagement process and employee training programs. We focus on people, processes and technology to build a defensive posture against cybersecurity threats that minimizes disruption to our business while maximizing the security and resiliency of the organization.

We focus on people because we believe that one of the first lines of defense is our employees. All new employees are required to complete cybersecurity training. In addition, we provide quarterly cybersecurity training to existing employees, conduct simulated phishing tests, and perform security awareness proficiency assessments to create more effective and targeted training campaigns to strengthen the human firewall. Our employees are required to annually re-affirm adherence to company-wide IT and related policies designed to secure a safe information and communications systems environment. As part of our cybersecurity risk management process, we also conduct third-party led tabletop exercises to practice and prepare to respond to a confirmed or suspected security incident and to highlight any areas for potential improvement.

We focus on process, which includes policies, procedures and governance structures designed to help us identify, assess and response to cybersecurity risks. We have a written cybersecurity framework that closely aligns with NIST’s CSF. In addition, we maintain a cyber incident response plan to facilitate our response to cybersecurity incidents and formed an Incident Response Team composed of the Chief Information Security Officer, the Chief Legal Officer, the Chief Operating Officer, the Chief Risk Officer, the Head of Investor Relations, and the Associate General Counsel. The foregoing officers also include within their working teams, non-management employees who are best positioned to identify, assess, respond to and galvanize both internal and third-party resources necessary in the event of a cybersecurity incident. We test the resiliency of our systems through penetration and disaster recovery tests to continually improve our business continuity plan against an ever-changing threat landscape, create redundancies where appropriate for the protection of the Company’s assets, have engaged a security operations center to provide 24/7 monitoring of our environment to detect and respond to suspicious activities in the network, and have cybersecurity insurance. We periodically perform an independent third-party cybersecurity maturity assessment of our systems, policies and procedures focused on the NIST’s CSF and the SEC's Office of Compliance Inspections and Examinations cybersecurity guidance.

We have also implemented controls designed to identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats associated with our use of third-party service providers, including requiring key service providers to provide evidence that their systems meet appropriate cybersecurity requirements (collaborating with service providers to help assess the sufficiency of their cybersecurity measures, and requiring service providers to notify us promptly of cyber incidents that may affect our systems or data) .

Lastly, we use technology to minimize our exposure to cybersecurity vulnerabilities, implementing software patches in a timely manner and using other technology to promote a safe information and communications systems environment. We avail ourselves of third-party technologies and tools, including tools provided by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA), other government agencies and third-party cybersecurity experts.

To date, no risks from cybersecurity threats, including those resulting from any previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected us, or, to our knowledge are reasonably likely to materially affect us including our business strategy, results of operations or financial condition.

Our Board, in coordination with the Audit Committee and the Risk Committee, oversees management of cybersecurity risk. They receive regular reports from senior management and our Chief Information Security Office (“CISO”) on, among other things, the threat landscape, the Company’s cybersecurity program, infrastructure improvements, cybersecurity incident investigations and information security vulnerabilities. The Audit Committee focuses on cybersecurity risk, particularly as it relates to enterprise risk management within the audit and financial reporting process, while the Risk Committee focuses on cybersecurity risk within the Company’s overall business risk profile. Refer to Item 7A, "Quantitative or Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk - Risk Management" included in this 2023 Form 10-K for additional information on our enterprise risk management.

The Company’s CISO has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in information technology and more than 25 years of experience in the information technology space, including extensive experience leading our internal IT infrastructure and cybersecurity team. The CISO receives regular updates on cybersecurity matters from his internal IT infrastructure and cybersecurity team as well

as outside vendors and advisors that we have engaged. Employees outside of the IT infrastructure and cybersecurity team have also been instructed to elevate any potential cybersecurity issues, whether internal or at a third-party with whom we do business, to the CISO.

The Incident Response Team and the non-management employees who support the Incident Response Team are best positioned to identify, assess, respond to and galvanize both internal and third-party resources in the event of a cybersecurity incident. In the event of a potentially material cybersecurity event, all members of the Incident Response Team are notified and a preliminary assessment of the situation is made. Designated individuals within the Incident Response Team will notify the Chief Executive Officer, and if the situation so warrants, the Board of Directors, cybersecurity experts, outside counsel and other advisors to help further assess and formulate an appropriate response to the situation. A strong working relationship exists between the legal, accounting/finance, IT and business departments so that identified issues are addressed in a timely manner and incidents are reported to the appropriate regulatory bodies as required.

Item 2. Properties

As of December 31, 2023, we do not own any property. Our corporate headquarters is located in leased space at 630 Fifth Avenue, Ste 2400, New York, New York 10111, telephone (212) 626-2300. Our office lease expires in January 2027. We believe that this space is suitable and adequate for our current needs. In addition, we have leases through November 2026, 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, 2024, we had 241,361,867 shares of common stock issued and outstanding which were held by 177 holders of record.

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. 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.

Our Board of Directors declared dividends of $0.70 and $1.12 per share during 2023 and 2022, respectively.

In June 2023, the Company's Board of Directors increased the authorization of the Company's share repurchase program, or the Repurchase Program, by $73 million to $250 million. In January 2024, the Company's Board of Directors updated the authorization to include the Company's preferred stock into the Repurchase Program and increased the authorization by $33 million back up to $250 million.Such authorization does not have an expiration date, and at present, there is no intention to modify or otherwise rescind such authorization. Shares of the Company's common stock and preferred 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, or the Exchange Act. The timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases will be determined at the Company's 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 its common stock and preferred 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.

The company did not repurchase any of its common stock and preferred stock during the quarter ended December 31, 2023. The approximate dollar of shares that may yet to be purchased under the share repurchase program was $217 million as of December 31, 2023.

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, 2018 to December 31, 2023 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, 2018.

The share performance graph and table shall not be deemed, under either the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act, 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.

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 2023 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 2023 Form 10-K, our actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements.

This section of the 2023 Form 10-K generally discusses 2023 and 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022. Discussions of 2021 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2022 and 2021 that are not included in this 2023 Form 10-K can be found in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” in Part II, Item 7 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2022.

We are a publicly traded REIT that is primarily engaged in the business of investing directly or having a beneficial interest in a diversified portfolio of mortgage assets, including residential mortgage loans, Non-Agency RMBS, Agency RMBS, Agency CMBS, business purpose and investor loans, and other real estate-related assets. The MBS and other real estate-related securities we purchase may include investment-grade, non-investment grade, and non-rated classes. We use leverage to increase potential returns from our investments. Our principal business objective is to provide attractive risk-adjusted returns through the generation of distributable income and through asset performance linked to 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 currently focus our investment activities primarily on acquiring residential mortgage loans. In addition, we acquire and own Non-Agency RMBS and Agency mortgage-backed securities, or MBS. At December 31, 2023, based on the fair value of our interest earning assets, approximately 91% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 8% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, and 1% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS. At December 31, 2022, based on the fair value of our interest earning assets, approximately 88% of our investment portfolio was residential mortgage loans, 9% of our investment portfolio was Non-Agency RMBS, and 3% of our investment portfolio was Agency MBS.

We use leverage to seek to increase our potential returns and to finance the acquisition of our assets. We expect to finance our investments using a variety of financing sources, including securitizations, warehouse facilities and repurchase agreements. We may 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.

Our investment strategy is intended to take advantage of opportunities in the current interest rate and credit environment. We adjust our strategy in response to changing market conditions by shifting our asset allocations across various asset classes as interest rate and credit cycles change over time. We believe that our strategy will provide us an opportunity to pay dividends throughout changing market cycles. We expect to take a long-term view of assets and liabilities.

2023 was a dramatic year for the fixed income markets highlighted by geo-political events, tight monetary conditions, high interest rate volatility, and several regional bank failures. The year began with market optimism for an economic soft-landing, which gave way in March as bank failures induced an investor’s flight-to-quality driving interest rates lower and credit spreads wider. By summer, concerns about high inflation and a potential recession intensified. Interest rates subsequently reversed course and moved higher. The 10-year U.S. Treasury note reached a low yield of 3.3% in early April and then rose to a yearly high of 5% by the middle of October, a 50% increase in yield from the low. Market sentiment began to shift more favorably in November, as positive economic data suggested the Federal Reserve was beginning to win its battle with inflation. Products across the fixed income and equity markets rallied for the remainder of 2023 with investor expectations of the Federal Reserve easing interest rates in 2024.

The fourth quarter of 2023 was a pivotal quarter for the fixed income market. The 10-year Treasury yield dropped nearly 115 basis points within a month, resulting in a sweeping and powerful bond rally. Lower yields boosted equity valuations substantially, contributing to a broad-based rally, with the S&P 500 generating a 12% gain for the fourth quarter. Housing markets continued to show resiliency, with home price indices showing nationwide increases, although the overall volume of existing home sales remained low due to high mortgage rates and low housing inventory available for sale. The rate for 30-year mortgages reached a peak in 2023 of nearly 8%. The mortgage rate fell as a result of the late-year market rally and settled back to the high-6% range by the end of the year, creating some relief to the housing affordability crisis.

Higher interest rate volatility, along with a continued yield curve inversion in 2023, presented many challenges throughout the year impacting our business activity and performance. During 2023, we acquired $1.4 billion of residential mortgage loans, down from $1.7 billion in 2022 and $3.2 billion in 2021. We were diligent in diversifying our loan purchases in 2023. Of the settled loans, approximately 50% were seasoned re-performing loans ("RPL"), 33% were non-QM, and the remainder were Business Purpose Loans (BPL). Apart from BPLs, all loans purchased were financed for the long-term through securitization. The loan characteristics of the seasoned RPLs and BPLs were consistent with the characteristics which currently exist in our portfolio. During the fourth quarter we committed to purchasing $152 million residential BPLs which we expect to settle in the first quarter of 2024. Due to the short duration of these loans, we plan to finance them with our existing loan warehouse facilities.

Our financing costs continued to increase and remained high throughout 2023. The Federal Reserve increased its target rate four times for a total of 100 basis points and Fed officials provided additional commentary during the early part of 2023 for market participants to expect higher rates for a longer period. Managing our floating rate liabilities through this period of high volatility and increasing rates, remained amongst the top priorities of management. Management was keenly focused, throughout the year, on strengthening our liability structure through proactive portfolio management (selling non-core assets) and securitization, which provides long-term, fixed rate, non-recourse financing.

In January, we exited a maturing $141 million non-mark-to-market secured financing facility and separately entered a new non-mark-to-market secured facility with a different counterparty for principal amount borrowed of $125 million. The new facility has a maturity date in January 2025. While we were able to successfully obtain new financing on our maturing facility, the financing cost on the new facility was considerably higher due to market volatility and the overall interest rate environment at that time.

In the fourth quarter, we refinanced $250 million of an existing high cost, fixed-rate financing facility into a new two-year limited mark-to-market variable-rate facility. Although the new facility is variable-rate, it carries an interest rate cap that is significantly below the previous facility and will represent considerable interest expense savings through the term of the new facility.

On a year-over-year basis, our secured financing agreements (recourse liabilities) decreased by $1.0 billion while increasing our securitized debt (non-recourse liabilities) by $498 million. At year-end, we had no outstanding warehouse financing exposure (recourse liabilities) backed by residential re-performing loans ("RPL"). Our repo funding costs increased by 90 basis-points during the year, consistent with increases in the federal funds rates over the period.

The total market issuance of residential re-performing loans ("RPL") was substantially reduced on a year-over-year basis. We estimate a total gross issuance amongst all issuers of $9 billion RPL for all of 2023 relative to $17 billion RPL for 2022. RPL securitization represents 94% of our total loan securitizations. Despite lower issuance, Chimera maintained a top issuer status of RPL deals during 2023. Our ability to securitize is not limited to RPL and we will continue to seek to optimize our liability structure through securitization which provides long-term non-recourse financing for our residential mortgage loan portfolio.

During the year, we remained active in the securitization market and sold $841 million of re-performing loans into three securitizations in challenging market conditions. We issued $662 billion of new debt at an average advance rate of 80%, locking in long-term financing while giving the company the option to call the debt, and refinance when rates become more favorable in the future. We believe we were one of the top issuers of RPL deals during the year.

In addition, we sponsored two rated securitizations of Non-Agency Investor residential mortgage loans, having a principal balance of $475 million. Securities issued by these securitizations with an aggregate balance of approximately $408 million, were sold in a private placement to institutional investors. These securities represented approximately 86% of the capital structure. We retained an option to call the securitized mortgage loans at any time beginning in the second quarter 2026.

As part of our ongoing liquidity and liability initiative, during the year we were able to extract cash from some of our existing securitizations (due to deleveraging over the years) through re-securitization activity.

In January, we exercised our call rights and terminated four existing securitization trusts, CIM 2020-R4, CIM 2020-NR1, CIM 2018-R5 and CIM 2018-R6, and issued CIM Trust 2023-R1 and CIM Trust 2023-NR1 (commonly referred to as re-securitization). Though the interest rate was higher on the newly issued 2023 trusts, the re-securitizations enabled us to improve our balance sheet structure (as discussed above) and pay off maturing repo with Credit Suisse. We successfully converted $139

million of recourse financing into long-term, non-mark-to-market securitized debt while re-capturing approximately $90 million in cash from the terminated trusts. We estimate the re-securitization activity increased our cost of senior debt financing by approximately 250 basis points compared to the terminated trusts. Both securitizations are callable within two-years which gives us the ability to refinance the securitized debt should interest rates improve in the future.

In April, we exercised our call rights and terminated two existing securitization trusts: CIM 2017-7, and CMLTI 2019-E. In addition to the collateral received by calling these two securitizations, we added an additional $104 million in collateral and issued CIM Trust 2023-R3 and CIM Trust 2023-NR2 (commonly referred to as re-securitization). Though the interest rate was higher on the newly issued 2023 trusts, the interest rate on the senior debt from these deals called were due to an embedded step-up feature to a higher rate. We successfully converted $86 million of recourse financing into long-term, non-mark-to-market securitized debt while re-capturing approximately $43 million cash from the terminated trusts. We estimate the re-securitization activity increased our cost of senior debt financing by approximately 128 basis points compared to the terminated trusts. We were able to negotiate a two-year call on CIM 2023-R3 and a one-year call on CIM 2023-NR2. We are in a position to refinance these structures if rates are lower.

Over the full year 2023, we sponsored $2.6 billion in securitizations (including re-securitizations). These securitizations helped us further strengthen our balance sheet as we prepared for a higher-for-longer interest rate environment.

Given the challenging operating environment, ongoing liquidity needs, and opportunities to purchase new assets with higher yields, we rebalanced a portion of our investment portfolio that included the sale of some non-core assets. Overall, we sold $344 million Agency CMBS Securities. These sales resulted in a recognized loss of $31.2 million.

Considering the overall investment purchases, sales, and securitization activities, at year end our portfolio consisted of 91% residential mortgage loans, 8% Non-Agency RMBS, and 1% Agency MBS on a fair value basis. Our Agency portfolio was reduced by $328 million year-over-year through a combination of paydowns and sales activities.

We engaged in a series of interest rate hedges to help mitigate the impact of higher interest rates on our future financing and soften the impact of higher interest rates on the overall portfolio value. Our hedging strategies are dynamic. In 2023 we were focused on limiting the impact of higher interest rates, while maintaining optionality for our portfolio to benefit from lower interest rates in the future. The execution of this strategy was challenging due to heightened volatility from the events previously discussed, the magnitude of the overall rate movement and the shape of the yield curve. Over the year, we initiated and terminated a series of pay-fixed interest rate swaps and pay-fixed swaptions which created a realized loss of $45 million for the year. As of December 31, 2023, we maintained open positions in a $1.0 billion 3.26% pay-fixed interest rate swap maturing May 2024 and a $1.5 billion one-year option on a one-year pay-fixed interest rate swap "1 X 1" with maturities in early 2025. If the swaptions are executed, the 1-year interest swaps will carry a blended fixed rate of 3.56%. We believe these hedge positions will help us to achieve our goals.

Considering the velocity and magnitude of interest rate movements, in 2023 we also initiated a hedging program to manage the interest rate risk for the time differential between loan purchase commitment and the closing of loans into securitization. In addition, we used a combination of various U.S. Treasury futures contracts to hedge our exposure to future financing costs. Chimera’s hedging techniques attempt to mitigate the interest rate risk but do not capture the impact of credit spread risk. As of December 31, 2023, we did not have any loan and/or securitization commitments or related hedge positions.

2023 was an interesting year with many challenges and opportunities. To combat inflation, the Fed ramped up interest rates to levels we have not seen in decades. The stock market was expected to decline under this new interest rate environment but returns for all major indices were much stronger than expected. The last two years have been volatile, with stocks falling hard from their January 2022 peak and then whipsawing back throughout 2023. And we’re starting to see similar whipsaw action when it comes to mortgage rates. However mortgage rates haven’t returned to January 2022 levels, and the expectation is they will not return to those levels in 2024. Home prices are also holding up extremely well with prices a few percentage points higher than they were at this time last year. Overall, the housing market has been incredibly resilient in the face of economic uncertainty. The potential for Federal Reserve rate cuts in 2024 got most of the investor attention over the last few weeks of the fourth quarter, but several additional factors drove earning results this quarter including data on cooling inflation and the refinancing of our high-cost debt in October.

For the full year 2023, spreads on most fixed income sectors were volatile. Spreads then tightened in the later part of the year as investors received positive economic data regarding inflation. Securitized products spreads tightened substantially over the year, retracing much of the widening that occurred in 2022. Specific to the mortgage sectors, commercial real estate started to see some silver linings with lower cap rates, while Residential MBS and other ABS sectors saw tighter spreads and more

issuance (tempered in RMBS by low mortgage origination). The CLO market continued to see strong returns and Agency mortgage spreads tightened substantially as prepayment rates stabilized and interest rate volatility began to decrease.

The outlook for 2024 shows signs of a more stable interest rate landscape and more normalized returns. We are positioned for a higher-for-longer rate cycle, and we continue to believe the market can experience some headwinds due to large government deficit spending (and financing needs), geopolitical events and the upcoming 2024 presidential election.

Given the interest rate volatility during the year, the portfolio valuations remained volatile and ended the year with valuations ranging from flat to slightly down. However, realized losses on derivatives, net dilution from capital markets activity, asset sales as noted previously along with dividend distribution in excess of net income during the year lead to a decline in book value. Our book value per common share was $6.75, as of December 31, 2023, as compared to $7.49 as of December 31, 2022. We declared $0.70 common stock dividends per share in 2023. Our economic return on book value, which includes overall change in book value for the period plus dividends was -0.53% for the full year of 2023. The total rate of return on our common stock, including dividend reinvestment, was 3.0% for 2023.

Operating expenses for the year were lower by 17%, driven mainly by lower compensation of 38% during the year. G&A and servicing expenses remained consistent year over year. Transaction expenses were significantly lower during the second half of the year on account of limited securitization activity. As noted above, we have purchased additional hedges to protect our earnings against rising interest rates.

Persistently high and volatile interest rates through much of 2023 caused a significant decline in our earnings and a reduction in the common stock dividend brought it more in line with our earnings capability. During the fourth quarter, a less hawkish tone began to set in and while asset yields remained high, it provided us with an opportunity to raise equity and be able to invest in higher yielding assets.

We continue to manage our portfolio consistent with our belief that interest rates will be higher on a relative basis for longer, despite the change in market sentiment at the end of the year. For the full year we reduced our total recourse financing exposure by $1 billion. We continue to seek opportunities to finance our retained notes from securitizations with long-term, limited, or non-mark-to market finance facilities. We currently have 60% of our recourse financings with these facilities. To further manage our interest rate risk, we intend to use financial derivatives such as futures, interest rate swaps and swaptions to hedge against securitization executions, net interest margin compression and the protection of our book value.

Cash management is critical to our business. We monitor our ongoing needs for margin, repurchase financing maturities, liquidity, and new investments. Over time, we expect to continue to acquire and securitize mortgage loans as well as further implement the company’s call optimization strategy on our securitizations. With available funds, we plan to evaluate the merits of any new investments and compare them to the merits of repurchasing outstanding common and preferred stock, or reducing higher cost liabilities as they mature. The timing of these re-securitizations is impacted by many factors, including credit performance, prepayment speeds and interest rates.

As we navigate current market conditions, we are focused on maintaining low recourse leverage and managing our liquidity with a proper balance of both cash and unencumbered securities. Our credit portfolio continued to perform well in the fourth quarter. Our current credit performance on our portfolio continues to be within, or better than, our original investment expectations on mortgage delinquencies, default rates, and recoveries. We monitor our portfolio regularly and seek opportunities to improve upon our liquidity, capital structure and investment returns. We have historically achieved success

through re-securitization and have a substantial amount of capital that can be re-captured in the future. We believe there will be ample opportunity to extract additional portfolio value when interest rates moderate and the capital markets improve.

Over the course of the low-rate environment that persisted for many years (prior to the last two years of higher rates), our investment portfolio was able to generate an above market risk premium for our shareholders compared to the risk premium available on assets in the broad market. Over the last two years we have seen a decline in risk premium and a steep increase in financing costs due to Fed tightening and an inverted yield curve. We believe this will begin to reverse as the Fed eventually moves back to lower rates. Looking forward, we are committed to resetting, managing, executing, and aligning the risk premium to be in line with or above the market risk premium available for the investments available in the broad market.

The table below presents our net income (loss) on a GAAP basis for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021.

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

The volatility in the interest rate and MBS markets during 2023 as discussed above resulted in an increase in our interest expense and muted market pricing improvements on our portfolio as compared to 2022. For the year ended December 31, 2023, our net income available to common shareholders was $52 million, or $0.23 per average basic common share, compared to a net loss of $587 million, or $2.51 per average basic common share for the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, we had net interest income of $263 million and unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value of $34 million, offset in part by operating expenses of $104 million, preferred stock dividend of $74 million, realized losses on sales of investment of $31 million, and net losses derivative of $30 million. The increase in net income available to common shareholders for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022, was primarily driven by an increase in unrealized gains on financial instruments at fair value of $771 million which was partially offset by an increase in interest expense of $176 million.

The net loss available for the year ended December 31, 2022 was primarily driven by mark-to-market losses on our portfolio's asset prices due to continued increases in interest rates and credit spread widening. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we had net unrealized losses on financial instruments at fair value of $737 million, other expenses of $124 million and net realized losses on sale of investment of $76 million, partially offset by net interest income of $440 million.

Interest income remained relatively unchanged at $773 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, respectively. During the year ended December 31, 2023, the yields on our average interest earning assets increased by 10 basis points at 5.7%, as compared to 5.6% for the year ended December 31, 2022. Our average interest earning assets decreased by $268 million to $13.4 billion as compared to $13.6 billion from the same period of 2022.

We reduced our Agency MBS and Non-Agency RMBS positions by $381 million and $160 million, respectively, and increased our Loans held for investments by $273 million during 2023 as compared to 2022. Due to these changes in our portfolio our Agency MBS and Non-Agency RMBS interest income decreased by $30 million and $30 million, respectively, during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022. This decrease was offset by an increase in interest income of $53 million on our Loans held for investment portfolio during the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to 2022.

Interest expense increased by $177 million, or 53%, to $510 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to $333 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. This increase in our interest expense during the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the same period of 2022, was primarily driven by the increases in borrowing rates on our secured financing agreements and securitized debt, due to increases in the Federal Funds Rate.

The interest expense on our securitized debt increased by $83 million during the year ended December 31, 2023, as the average borrowing rates on our securitizations increased by 90 basis points as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. During the year ended December 31, 2023, our interest expense on secured financing agreements collateralized by Loans held for investments and Non-Agency RMBS increased by $42 million and $33 million, respectively, due to the higher Federal Funds Rate as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022.

Our Economic net interest income is a non-GAAP financial measure that equals GAAP net interest income adjusted for net periodic interest cost of interest rate swaps and excludes interest earned on cash. 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 gains (losses) on derivatives in our Consolidated Statements of Operations. Interest rate swaps are used to manage the increase in interest paid on secured financing 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 all components of interest expense and net interest income of our investment portfolio. 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, adjusting for any interest earned on

cash, is referred to as Economic interest expense. Where indicated, net interest income reflecting net periodic interest cost of interest rate swaps and any interest earned on cash, is referred to as Economic net interest income.

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

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.

Our Economic net interest income (which is a non-GAAP measure, see “Economic net interest income” discussion earlier for details) decreased by $165 million to $271 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 from $436 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. Our net interest rate spread, which equals the yield on our average interest-earning assets less the economic average cost of funds, decreased by 130 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the same period of 2022. 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, decreased by 120 basis points for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the same period of 2022. Our Average net interest-earning assets decreased by $240 million to $2.1 billion for the year ended December 31, 2023, compared to $2.4 billion for the same period of 2022. The decrease in our net interest rate spread for the year ended December 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 is primarily due to higher interest expense on our securitized debt collateralized by loans and secured financing agreements driven by higher Federal Funds Rate.

The borrowing rate at which we are able to finance our assets using secured financing agreements is typically correlated to SOFR and the term of the financing. The borrowing rate on the majority of our securitized debt is fixed and correlated to the term of the financing. The table below shows our average borrowed funds, Economic interest expense, average cost of funds (inclusive of periodic interest costs on swaps), average one-month SOFR, average three-month SOFR and average one-month SOFR relative to average three-month SOFR.

Average interest-bearing liabilities decreased by $28 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022. Economic interest expense increased by $157 million for the year ended December 31, 2023, as compared to the year ended December 31, 2022 due to the increases in our secured financing agreements and securitized debt borrowing rates driven by higher Federal Funds Rates. While we may use interest rate hedges to mitigate risks related to changes in interest rate, the hedges may not fully offset interest expense movements.

For the year ended December 31, 2023, we recorded an increase in provision for credit losses of $4 million, to $11 million, as compared to the provision of credit losses of $7 million for the year ended December 31, 2022. The increase in provision for credit losses for the year ended December 31, 2023 is primarily due to an increase in expected losses and delinquencies. In addition, certain Non-Agency RMBS positions, now have higher unrealized losses and resulted in the recognition of an allowance for credit losses which was previously limited by unrealized gains on these investments.

We use derivatives to economically hedge the effects of changes in interest rates on our portfolio, specifically our secured financing agreements. 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. 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, terminations and settlements of our swaps, swaptions and U.S. Treasury futures.

The table below shows a summary of our net gains (losses) on derivative instruments, for the years ended December 31, 2023, 2022, and 2021, respectively.

During the year ended December 31, 2023 and 2022, we recognized total net losses on derivatives of $30 million and $4 million, respectively. 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.

The weighted average pay rate on our interest rate swaps at December 31, 2023 was 3.26% and the weighted average receive rate was 5.40%. At December 31, 2023, the weighted average maturity on our interest rate swaps was less than one year. The weighted average pay rate on our interest rate swaps at December 31, 2022 was 4.07% and the weighted average receive rate was 4.30%. At December 31, 2022, the weighted average maturity on our interest rate swaps was 4 years.

We paid $45 million to terminate interest rate swaps with a notional value of $2.5 billion during the year ended December 31, 2023. The terminated swaps had original maturities ranging from 2025 to 2028. We paid $561 thousand to terminate interest rate swaps with a notional value of $1.0 billion during the year ended December 31, 2022. The terminated swaps had original maturity of 2024.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we entered into three swaption contracts for a one-year forward starting swaps with a total notional of $1.5 billion with a 3.56% strike rate. The underlying swap terms will allow us to pay a fix rate of 3.56% and receive floating overnight SOFR rate. Additionally, during the year ended December 31, 2023, we terminated our existing $1.0 billion notional swaption contract in exchange for a one-year swap. We also entered into and terminated three new swaptions contracts with $2.3 billion notional during the year ended December 31, 2023. We had net realized gains of $11 million on these swaption terminations. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we purchased a swaption contract for a one-year forward starting swap of $1.0 billion in notional amount with a weighted average strike rate of 3.26%. We paid a $6 million premium for the purchase of this swaption contract.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we entered into 6,000 short 5-year and 1,875 short 2-year U.S. Treasury futures contract with a notional of $600 million and $375 million, respectively, which we subsequently covered and had no outstanding U.S. Treasury futures contract at December 31, 2023. We had a net realized loss of $6 million on covering these short U.S. Treasury futures contract. We also entered into 400 call options on 2-year and 5-year U.S. Treasury futures and subsequently covered them during the year ended December 31, 2023 for a realized loss of $187 thousand.

Changes in our derivative positions were primarily a result of changes in our secured financing composition and changes in interest rates.

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, to 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.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we sold some of our Agency MBS investments as part of our portfolio optimization efforts and realized a loss of $31 million. During the year ended December 31, 2022, we sold some of our Agency IO and Non-Agency RMBS investments and realized a loss of $76 million.

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.

We did not acquire any securitized debt collateralized by Non-Agency RMBS during the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

During the year ended December 31, 2023, we acquired securitized debt collateralized by Loans held for investment with an amortized cost balance of $551 million for $545 million. These transactions resulted in net gain on extinguishment of debt of $6 million. We did not acquire any securitized debt collateralized by loans held for investment during the year ended December 31, 2022.

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

The Compensation and benefit costs were approximately $31 million and $49 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. The decrease in Compensation and benefit costs were primarily driven by lower performance based compensation costs.

The general and administrative expenses were approximately $25 million and $23 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. The G&A expenses are primarily comprised of legal, market data and research, auditing, consulting, information technology, and independent investment consulting expenses.

We incurred transaction expenses in relation to securitizations of $15 million and $16 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively.

The servicing fees and asset manager expenses were $33 million and $36 million for the year ended December 31, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. These servicing fees are primarily related to the servicing costs of the whole loans held in consolidated securitization vehicles and are paid from interest income earned by the VIEs. The servicing fees generally range from 2 to 50 basis points of unpaid principal balances of our consolidated VIEs.

Earnings available for distribution is a non-GAAP measure and is defined as GAAP net income excluding unrealized gains or losses on financial instruments carried at fair value with changes in fair value recorded in earnings, realized gains or losses on the sales of investments, gains or losses on the extinguishment of debt, changes in the provision for credit losses, other gains or losses on equity investments, and transaction expenses incurred. Transaction expenses are primarily comprised of costs only incurred at the time of execution of our securitizations and certain structured secured financing agreements and include costs such as underwriting fees, legal fees, diligence fees, bank fees and other similar transaction related expenses. These costs are all incurred prior to or at the execution of the transaction and do not recur. Recurring expenses, such as servicing fees, custodial fees, trustee fees and other similar ongoing fees are not excluded from earnings available for distribution. We believe that excluding these costs is useful to investors as it is generally consistent with our peer groups treatment of these costs in their non-GAAP measures presentation, mitigates period to period comparability issues tied to the timing of securitization and structured finance transactions, and is consistent with the accounting for the deferral of debt issue costs prior to the fair value election option made by us. In addition, we believe it is important for investors to review this metric which is consistent with how management internally evaluates the performance of the Company. Stock compensation expense charges incurred on awards to retirement eligible employees is reflected as an expense over a vesting period (generally 36 months) rather than reported as an immediate expense.

Earnings available for distribution is the Economic net interest income, as defined previously, reduced by compensation and benefits expenses (adjusted for awards to retirement eligible employees), general and administrative expenses, servicing and asset manager fees, income tax benefits or expenses incurred during the period, as well as the preferred dividend charges.

We view Earnings available for distribution as one measure of our investment portfolio's ability to generate income for distribution to common stockholders. Earnings available for distribution is one of the metrics, but not the exclusive metric, that our Board of Directors uses to determine the amount, if any, of dividends on our common stock. Other metrics that our Board of Directors may consider when determining the amount, if any, of dividends on our common stock include (among others) REIT taxable income, dividend yield, book value, cash generated from the portfolio, reinvestment opportunities and other cash needs. In addition, Earnings available for distribution is different than REIT taxable income and the determination of whether we have met the requirement to distribute at least 90% of our annual REIT taxable income (subject to certain adjustments) to our stockholders in order to maintain qualification as a REIT is not based on Earnings available for distribution. Therefore, Earnings available for distribution should not be considered as an indication of our REIT taxable income, a guaranty of our ability to pay dividends, or as a proxy for the amount of dividends we may pay. We believe Earnings available for distribution as described above helps us and investors evaluate our financial performance period over period without the impact of certain transactions. Therefore, Earnings available for distribution 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. In addition, our methodology for calculating Earnings available for distribution may differ from the methodologies employed by other REITs to calculate the same or similar supplemental performance measures, and accordingly, our Earnings available for distribution may not be comparable to the Earnings available for distribution reported by other REITs.

The following table provides GAAP measures of net income and net income per diluted share available to common stockholders for the periods presented and details with respect to reconciling the line items to Earnings available for distribution and related per average diluted common share amounts. Earnings available for distribution is presented on an adjusted dilutive shares basis.