AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2021 March (Form 10-Q)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
__________________________________________________
FORM 10-Q
__________________________________________________
(Mark One)
| ☒ | QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | ||||
For the quarterly period ended March 31, 2021
OR
| ☐ | TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 | ||||
For the transition period from to
Commission file number 001-35151
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AG MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST, INC.
_____________________________________________________________________
| Maryland | 27-5254382 | ||||
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) | (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) | ||||
245 Park Avenue, 26th Floor New York, New York | 10167 | ||||
| (Address of Principal Executive Offices) | (Zip Code) | ||||
(212) 692-2000
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant: (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 and 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 such files). Yes ý No ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company, or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer," "smaller reporting company" and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large Accelerated filer ¨ Accelerated filer ý Non-Accelerated filer ¨ Smaller reporting company ☒ Emerging growth company ☐
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).
Yes ☐ No ý
| Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act: | ||||||||||||||
| Title of each class: | Trading Symbols: | Name of each exchange on which registered: | ||||||||||||
| Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share | MITT | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||||||||||||
| 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | MITT PrA | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||||||||||||
| 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | MITT PrB | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||||||||||||
| 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | MITT PrC | New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) | ||||||||||||
As of May 4, 2021, there were 46,522,759 outstanding shares of common stock of AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc.
AG MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST, INC.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
| Page | ||||||||
PART I
ITEM 1. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets (Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share data)
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Assets | |||||||||||
| Real estate securities, at fair value: | |||||||||||
Agency - $915,423 and $460,949 pledged as collateral, respectively | $ | 915,423 | $ | 518,352 | |||||||
Non-Agency - $14,751 and $28,653 pledged as collateral, respectively | 16,371 | 38,406 | |||||||||
CMBS - $29,439 and $42,669 pledged as collateral, respectively | 45,838 | 56,788 | |||||||||
Residential mortgage loans, at fair value - $257,844 and $46,571 pledged as collateral, respectively (1) | 642,959 | 435,441 | |||||||||
| Commercial loans, at fair value | 58,209 | 111,549 | |||||||||
| Commercial loans held for sale, at fair value | — | 13,959 | |||||||||
| Investments in debt and equity of affiliates | 160,323 | 150,667 | |||||||||
| Excess mortgage servicing rights, at fair value | 3,000 | 3,158 | |||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | 51,637 | 47,926 | |||||||||
| Restricted cash | 39,918 | 14,392 | |||||||||
| Other assets | 8,922 | 9,407 | |||||||||
| Total Assets | $ | 1,942,600 | $ | 1,400,045 | |||||||
| Liabilities | |||||||||||
| Financing arrangements | $ | 1,132,200 | $ | 564,047 | |||||||
| Securitized debt, at fair value (1) | 344,429 | 355,159 | |||||||||
| Payable on unsettled trades | — | 51,136 | |||||||||
| Dividend payable | 2,791 | 1,243 | |||||||||
| Other liabilities | 7,875 | 18,755 | |||||||||
| Total Liabilities | 1,487,295 | 990,340 | |||||||||
| Commitments and Contingencies (Note 12) | |||||||||||
| Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||||||
Preferred stock - $0.01 par value; 50,000 shares authorized: | |||||||||||
8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock; 1,663 and 1,817 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively ($41,580 and $45,413 aggregate liquidation preference, respectively) | 40,110 | 43,808 | |||||||||
8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock; 3,814 and 4,165 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively ($95,353 and $104,118 aggregate liquidation preference, respectively) | 92,279 | 100,762 | |||||||||
8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, 3,883 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($97,079 aggregate liquidation preference) | 93,908 | 93,908 | |||||||||
Common stock, par value $0.01 per share; 450,000 shares of common stock authorized and 46,503 and 41,434 shares issued and outstanding at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively | 465 | 414 | |||||||||
| Additional paid-in capital | 710,746 | 688,871 | |||||||||
| Retained earnings/(deficit) | (482,203) | (518,058) | |||||||||
| Total Stockholders’ Equity | 455,305 | 409,705 | |||||||||
| Total Liabilities & Stockholders’ Equity | $ | 1,942,600 | $ | 1,400,045 | |||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
(1)See Note 4 for details related to variable interest entities.
3
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Operations (Unaudited)
(in thousands, except per share data)
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Net Interest Income | |||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 12,119 | $ | 40,268 | |||||||
| Interest expense | 4,061 | 19,971 | |||||||||
| Total Net Interest Income | 8,058 | 20,297 | |||||||||
| Other Income/(Loss) | |||||||||||
| Net realized gain/(loss) | (4,038) | (151,143) | |||||||||
| Net interest component of interest rate swaps | (741) | 923 | |||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | (6,658) | (313,897) | |||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | 26,507 | 5,686 | |||||||||
| Foreign currency gain/(loss), net | 14 | 1,649 | |||||||||
| Other income | 23 | 3 | |||||||||
| Total Other Income/(Loss) | 15,107 | (456,779) | |||||||||
| Expenses | |||||||||||
| Management fee to affiliate | 1,654 | 2,149 | |||||||||
| Other operating expenses | 3,983 | 930 | |||||||||
| Restructuring related expenses | — | 1,500 | |||||||||
| Excise tax | — | (815) | |||||||||
| Servicing fees | 615 | 579 | |||||||||
| Total Expenses | 6,252 | 4,343 | |||||||||
| Income/(loss) before equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 16,913 | (440,825) | |||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 26,336 | (44,192) | |||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) | 43,249 | (485,017) | |||||||||
| Gain on Exchange Offers, net (Note 11) | 358 | — | |||||||||
| Dividends on preferred stock | (4,924) | (5,667) | |||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) Available to Common Stockholders | $ | 38,683 | $ | (490,684) | |||||||
| Earnings/(Loss) Per Share - Basic | |||||||||||
| Total Earnings/(Loss) Per Share of Common Stock | $ | 0.91 | $ | (14.98) | |||||||
| Earnings/(Loss) Per Share - Diluted | |||||||||||
| Total Earnings/(Loss) Per Share of Common Stock | $ | 0.91 | $ | (14.98) | |||||||
| Weighted Average Number of Shares of Common Stock Outstanding | |||||||||||
| Basic | 42,348 | 32,749 | |||||||||
| Diluted | 42,348 | 32,749 | |||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
4
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Stockholders’ Equity (Unaudited)
(in thousands)
| For the Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Stock | 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Retained Earnings/(Deficit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2021 | 41,434 | $ | 414 | $ | 43,808 | $ | 100,762 | $ | 93,908 | $ | 688,871 | $ | (518,058) | $ | 409,705 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net proceeds from issuance of common stock | 2,235 | 22 | — | — | — | 10,011 | — | 10,033 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grant of restricted stock | 22 | — | — | — | — | 80 | — | 80 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (2,791) | (2,791) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series A dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (937) | (937) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series B dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (2,082) | (2,082) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series C dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (1,942) | (1,942) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Exchange Offers (Note 11) | 2,812 | 29 | (3,698) | (8,483) | — | 11,784 | 358 | (10) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) | — | — | — | — | — | — | 43,249 | 43,249 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2021 | 46,503 | $ | 465 | $ | 40,110 | $ | 92,279 | $ | 93,908 | $ | 710,746 | $ | (482,203) | $ | 455,305 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Common Stock | 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock | Additional Paid-in Capital | Retained Earnings/(Deficit) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Shares | Amount | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at January 1, 2020 | 32,742 | $ | 327 | $ | 49,921 | $ | 111,293 | $ | 111,243 | $ | 662,183 | $ | (85,921) | $ | 849,046 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Grant of restricted stock and amortization of equity based compensation | 7 | — | — | — | — | 303 | — | 303 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series A dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (1,067) | (1,067) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series B dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (2,300) | (2,300) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Preferred Series C dividends declared | — | — | — | — | — | — | (2,300) | (2,300) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) | — | — | — | — | — | — | (485,017) | (485,017) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance at March 31, 2020 | 32,749 | $ | 327 | $ | 49,921 | $ | 111,293 | $ | 111,243 | $ | 662,486 | $ | (576,605) | $ | 358,665 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
5
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (Unaudited)
(in thousands)
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Cash Flows from Operating Activities | |||||||||||
| Net income/(loss) | $ | 43,249 | $ | (485,017) | |||||||
| Adjustments to reconcile net income/(loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities: | |||||||||||
| Net amortization of premium/(discount) | (802) | (2,951) | |||||||||
| Net realized (gain)/loss | 4,038 | 151,143 | |||||||||
| Unrealized (gain)/loss on real estate securities and loans, net | 6,658 | 313,897 | |||||||||
| Unrealized (gain)/loss on derivative and other instruments, net | (26,507) | (5,686) | |||||||||
| Foreign currency (gain)/loss, net | (14) | (1,649) | |||||||||
| Equity based compensation to affiliate | — | 88 | |||||||||
| Equity based compensation expense | 80 | 215 | |||||||||
| (Income)/Loss from investments in debt and equity of affiliates in excess of distributions received | (20,403) | 45,459 | |||||||||
| Change in operating assets/liabilities: | |||||||||||
| Other assets | 321 | 3,489 | |||||||||
| Other liabilities | (143) | (10,831) | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) continuing operating activities | 6,477 | 8,157 | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) discontinued operating activities | — | (726) | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | 6,477 | 7,431 | |||||||||
| Cash Flows from Investing Activities | |||||||||||
| Purchase of real estate securities | (566,731) | (29,599) | |||||||||
| Purchase of residential mortgage loans | (208,927) | (481,470) | |||||||||
| Origination of commercial loans | (1,881) | (4,663) | |||||||||
| Purchase of commercial loans | (1,788) | (6,778) | |||||||||
| Investments in debt and equity of affiliates | (1,122) | (28,180) | |||||||||
| Proceeds from sales of real estate securities | 111,954 | 2,449,103 | |||||||||
| Proceeds from sales of residential mortgage loans | — | 8,679 | |||||||||
| Proceeds from sales of commercial loans | 74,579 | — | |||||||||
| Principal repayments on real estate securities | 14,337 | 97,694 | |||||||||
| Principal repayments on excess MSRs | 223 | 1,065 | |||||||||
| Principal repayments on commercial loans | 195 | — | |||||||||
| Principal repayments on residential mortgage loans | 12,294 | 22,674 | |||||||||
| Distributions received in excess of income from investments in debt and equity of affiliates | 12,325 | 19,509 | |||||||||
| Net settlement of interest rate swaps and other instruments | 27,469 | (73,338) | |||||||||
| Net settlement of TBAs | — | 4,218 | |||||||||
| Cash flows provided by (used in) other investing activities | 619 | (2,638) | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | (526,454) | 1,976,276 | |||||||||
| Cash Flows from Financing Activities | |||||||||||
| Net proceeds from issuance of common stock | 10,033 | — | |||||||||
| Borrowings under financing arrangements | 2,852,955 | 11,470,090 | |||||||||
| Repayments of financing arrangements | (2,284,802) | (13,391,832) | |||||||||
| Repayments of secured debt | (10,000) | — | |||||||||
| Principal repayments on securitized debt | (12,777) | (5,707) | |||||||||
| Net collateral received from (paid to) repurchase counterparty | — | (27,444) | |||||||||
| Dividends paid on common stock | (1,243) | (14,734) | |||||||||
| Dividends paid on preferred stock | (4,961) | (5,667) | |||||||||
| Net cash provided by continuing financing activities | 549,205 | (1,975,294) | |||||||||
6
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Net change in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | 29,228 | 8,413 | |||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, Beginning of Period | 62,318 | 125,369 | |||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash | 9 | (83) | |||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, End of Period | $ | 91,555 | $ | 133,699 | |||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information: | |||||||||||
| Cash paid for interest on financing arrangements | $ | 3,979 | $ | 27,253 | |||||||
| Cash paid for excise and income taxes | $ | — | $ | 1,010 | |||||||
| Supplemental disclosure of non-cash financing and investing activities: | |||||||||||
| Receivable on unsettled trades | $ | — | $ | 12,007 | |||||||
| Common stock dividends declared but not paid | $ | 2,791 | $ | — | |||||||
| Exchange Offer (Note 11) | $ | 12,181 | $ | — | |||||||
| Transfer of real estate securities in satisfaction of repurchase agreements | $ | — | $ | 340,267 | |||||||
| Change in repurchase agreements from transfer of real estate securities | $ | — | $ | 339,898 | |||||||
| Decrease in securitized debt | $ | — | $ | 1,193 | |||||||
| Transfer from residential mortgage loans to other assets | $ | 571 | $ | 206 | |||||||
| Transfer from investments in debt and equity of affiliates to CMBS | $ | — | $ | 320 | |||||||
The following table provides a reconciliation of cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash reported within the consolidated balance sheets that sum to the total of the same such amounts shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows:
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 51,637 | $ | 92,299 | |||||||
| Restricted cash | 39,918 | 41,400 | |||||||||
| Total cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash shown in the consolidated statements of cash flows | $ | 91,555 | $ | 133,699 | |||||||
The accompanying notes are an integral part of these unaudited consolidated financial statements.
7
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
1. Organization
AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. (the "Company") was incorporated in the state of Maryland on March 1, 2011. The Company is a hybrid mortgage REIT that opportunistically invests in a diversified risk adjusted portfolio of credit investments and agency investments, which contains the asset classes further described below.
The Company's investment groups are primarily comprised of the following:
| Investment Groups | Description | |||||||
| Credit - Residential | ||||||||
Residential mortgage loans | •Non-QM Loans are residential mortgage loans that are not deemed "qualified mortgage," or "QM," loans under the rules of the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau. •Performing, re-performing, and non-performing loans are residential mortgage loans collateralized by a first lien mortgage on residential mortgaged property. | |||||||
Non-Agency Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities ("RMBS") | •Non-Agency RMBS represent fixed- and floating-rate RMBS issued by entities other than U.S. government-sponsored entity ("GSE") or agency of the U.S. government. The mortgage loan collateral for Non-Agency RMBS consists of residential mortgage loans that do not generally conform to underwriting guidelines issued by a GSE or agency of the U.S. government. | |||||||
| Credit - Commercial | ||||||||
| Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities ("CMBS") | •CMBS represent investments of fixed- and floating-rate CMBS secured by, or evidencing an ownership interest in, a single commercial mortgage loan or a pool of commercial mortgage loans. Single-Asset/Single-Borrower securities are CMBS which securitize a single loan that is backed by a single asset (usually a large commercial property) or by a pool of cross collateralized mortgage obligations to a single borrower or related borrowers. Conduit CMBS are CMBS that are collateralized by commercial mortgage loans to multiple borrowers. | |||||||
| Commercial Loans | •Commercial loans are collateralized by an interest in commercial real estate and represent a contractual right to receive money on demand or on fixed or determinable dates. | |||||||
Agency RMBS | •Agency RMBS represent interests in pools of residential mortgage loans guaranteed by a GSE such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, or any agency of the U.S. Government such as Ginnie Mae. | |||||||
| Excess MSRs | •Excess MSRs represent the excess servicing spread related to mortgage servicing rights, whose underlying collateral is securitized in a trust held by a GSE or agency of the U.S. government ("Agency Excess MSR"). | |||||||
The Company refers to its residential and commercial mortgage loans as "mortgage loans" or "loans."
The Company refers to Agency RMBS, Non-Agency RMBS, and CMBS asset types as "real estate securities" or "securities."
Credit investments include loans, Non-Agency RMBS, and CMBS and agency investments include Agency RMBS and Agency Excess MSRs.
The Company conducts its business through one reportable segment, Securities and Loans, which reflects how the Company manages its business and analyzes and reports its results of operations. On November 15, 2019, the Company sold its portfolio of single-family rental properties ("SFR portfolio") to a third party, which was previously reported as a separate operating segment. The sale of the Company's SFR portfolio met the criteria for discontinued operations.
The Company is externally managed by AG REIT Management, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (the "Manager"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P. ("Angelo Gordon"), a privately-held, SEC-registered investment adviser, pursuant to a management agreement. The Manager has delegated to Angelo Gordon the overall responsibility of its day-to-day duties and obligations arising under the management agreement.
8
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The Company conducts its operations to qualify and be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code").
The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries. All intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
COVID-19 Impact
The novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") pandemic has caused, and will continue to cause, a significant disruption in the U.S. and world economies. To slow the spread of COVID-19, many countries, including the U.S., have implemented social distancing measures, which have substantially prohibited larger gatherings, including at sporting events, religious services and schools. Further, many regions, including the majority of U.S. states, implemented additional measures, such as shelter-in-place and stay-at-home orders. Many businesses moved to a remote working environment, temporarily suspended operations, laid off a significant percentage of their workforce and/or shut down completely. Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic and certain of the actions taken to reduce its spread have resulted in lost business revenue, rapid and significant increases in unemployment, changes in consumer behavior and significant reductions in liquidity and the fair value of many assets, including those in which the Company invests. Although many of the government restrictions were relaxed over the summer and early fall of 2020, these conditions, or some level thereof, are expected to continue over the near term and may continue throughout the remainder of 2021, depending on state and local outbreaks and the pace and effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccinations.
Beginning in mid-March 2020, the global pandemic associated with COVID-19 and related economic conditions caused financial and mortgage-related asset markets to come under extreme duress, resulting in credit spread widening, a sharp decrease in interest rates and unprecedented illiquidity in repurchase agreement financing and mortgage-backed securities ("MBS") markets. The illiquidity was exacerbated by inadequate demand for MBS among primary dealers due to balance sheet constraints. Refer to Note 2 "Financing arrangements" for further details related to the impact to the Company as a result of these economic conditions.
The full impact of COVID-19 on the mortgage REIT industry, the credit markets and consequently on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations for future periods is uncertain and cannot be predicted at the current time as it depends on several factors beyond the control of the Company including, but not limited to (i) the uncertainty around the severity, duration and spread of the outbreak, (ii) the effectiveness of the United States and global public health response, (iii) the pandemic’s impact on the U.S. and global economies, (iv) the timing, scope and effectiveness of additional governmental responses to the pandemic, including the availability of a treatment or the administration of vaccines, (v) the impact of government interventions, and (vi) the negative impact on the Company's borrowers, asset values and cost of capital.
2. Summary of significant accounting policies
The accompanying unaudited consolidated financial statements and related notes have been prepared on the accrual basis of accounting in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America ("GAAP") for interim financial reporting and the instructions to Form 10-Q and Rule 10-01 of Regulation S-X. In the opinion of management, all adjustments considered necessary for a fair presentation of the Company’s financial position, results of operations, and cash flows have been included for the interim period and are of a normal and recurring nature. The operating results presented for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any other interim period or for the entire year.
Cash and cash equivalents
Cash is comprised of cash on deposit with financial institutions. The Company classifies highly liquid investments with original maturities of three months or less from the date of purchase as cash equivalents. Cash equivalents includes cash invested in money market funds. Cash and cash equivalents are carried at cost, which approximates fair value. The Company places its cash with high credit quality institutions to minimize credit risk exposure. Cash pledged to the Company as collateral is unrestricted in use and, accordingly, is included as a component of "Cash and cash equivalents" on the consolidated balance sheets. Any cash held by the Company as collateral is included in the "Other liabilities" line item on the consolidated balance sheets and in cash flows from financing activities on the consolidated statement of cash flows. Any cash due to the Company in the form of principal payments is included in the "Other assets" line item on the consolidated balance sheets and in cash flows from operating activities on the consolidated statement of cash flows.
9
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Restricted cash
Restricted cash includes cash pledged as collateral for clearing and executing trades, derivatives, and financing arrangements, as well as restricted cash deposited into accounts held at certain consolidated trusts. Restricted cash is not available to the Company for general corporate purposes. Restricted cash may be returned to the Company when the related collateral requirements are exceeded or at the maturity of the derivative or financing arrangement. Restricted cash is carried at cost, which approximates fair value.
Use of estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results may differ from those estimates.
Earnings/(Loss) per share
In accordance with the provisions of Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 260, "Earnings per Share," the Company calculates basic income/(loss) per share by dividing net income/(loss) available to common stockholders for the period by weighted average shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding for that period. Diluted income per share takes into account the effect of dilutive instruments, such as stock options, warrants, unvested restricted stock and unvested restricted stock units but uses the average share price for the period in determining the number of incremental shares that are to be added to the weighted average number of shares outstanding. In periods in which the Company records a loss, potentially dilutive securities are excluded from the diluted loss per share calculation, as their effect on loss per share is anti-dilutive.
Valuation of financial instruments
The fair value of the financial instruments that the Company records at fair value is determined by the Manager, subject to oversight of the Company’s Board of Directors, and in accordance with ASC 820, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures." When possible, the Company determines fair value using third-party data sources. ASC 820 establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques giving the highest priority to readily available unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements) when market prices are not readily available or reliable.
The three levels of the hierarchy under ASC 820 are described below:
•Level 1 – Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.
•Level 2 – Prices determined using other significant observable inputs. These may include quoted prices for similar securities, interest rates, prepayment speeds, credit risk and others.
•Level 3 – Prices determined using significant unobservable inputs. In situations where quoted prices or observable inputs are unavailable (for example, when there is little or no market activity for an investment at the end of the period), unobservable inputs may be used. Unobservable inputs reflect the Company’s assumptions about the factors that market participants would use in pricing an asset or liability, and would be based on the best information available.
Transfers between levels are assumed to occur at the beginning of the reporting period.
At the beginning of the first quarter of 2020, the Manager completed a data collection and analysis effort, which supported an update to its Leveling policy under ASC 820. Among the data collected and analyzed were: (i) reports from TRACE, FINRA’s Trade Reporting and Compliance Engine, that reports over-the-counter secondary market transactions in eligible fixed income securities, (ii) information from pricing vendors regarding valuation approaches and observability of market color, (iii) data points collected from discussions with industry sources, including peer firms and audit firms, and (iv) its own data from back testing vendor pricing against its own trades. After analyzing this data, the Manager concluded that there was sufficient observability of market inputs used by its third-party pricing services for certain RMBS and CMBS positions previously categorized as Level 3 to meet the criteria for a Level 2 classification.
Accounting for loans
Investments in loans are recorded in accordance with ASC 310-10, "Receivables." The Company has chosen to make a fair
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
value election pursuant to ASC 825 for its loan portfolio. Electing the fair value option allows the Company to record changes in fair value in the consolidated statement of operations, which, in management's view, more appropriately reflects the results of operations for a particular reporting period as all loan activities will be recorded in a similar manner. As such, loans are recorded at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets and any periodic change in fair value is recorded in current period earnings on the consolidated statement of operations as a component of "Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net." The Company recognizes certain upfront costs and fees relating to loans for which the fair value option has been elected in current period earnings as incurred and does not defer those costs, which is in accordance with ASC 825-10-25. Purchases and sales of loans are recorded on the settlement date, concurrent with the completion of due diligence and the removal of any contingencies. Prior to the settlement date, the Company will include commitments to purchase loans within the Commitments and Contingencies footnote to the financial statements.
The Company amortizes or accretes any premium or discount over the life of the loans utilizing the effective interest method. On at least a quarterly basis, the Company evaluates the collectability of both interest and principal on its loans to determine whether they are impaired. A loan or pool of loans is impaired when, based on current information and events, it is probable that the Company will be unable to collect all amounts due according to the existing contractual terms. Income recognition is suspended for loans at the earlier of the date at which payments become 90-days past due or when, in the opinion of the Manager, a full recovery of income and principal becomes doubtful. When the ultimate collectability of the principal of an impaired loan or pool of loans is in doubt, all payments are applied to principal under the cost recovery method. When the ultimate collectability of the principal of an impaired loan is not in doubt, contractual interest is recorded as interest income when received, under the cash basis method until an accrual is resumed when the loan becomes contractually current and performance is demonstrated to be resumed. A loan is written off when it is no longer realizable and/or legally discharged.
Residential Mortgage Loans
At purchase, the Company may aggregate its residential mortgage loans into pools based on common risk characteristics. Once a pool of loans is assembled, its composition is maintained. When the Company purchases mortgage loans with evidence of credit deterioration since origination and it determines that it is probable it will not collect all contractual cash flows on those loans, it will apply the guidance found in ASC 310-30. Mortgage loans that are delinquent 60 or more days are considered non-performing.
The Company updates its estimate of the cash flows expected to be collected on at least a quarterly basis for loans accounted for under ASC 310-30. In estimating these cash flows, there are a number of assumptions that will be subject to uncertainties and contingencies including both the rate and timing of principal and interest receipts, and assumptions of prepayments, repurchases, defaults and liquidations. If based on the most current information and events it is probable that there is a significant increase in cash flows previously expected to be collected or if actual cash flows are significantly greater than cash flows previously expected, the Company will recognize these changes prospectively through an adjustment of the loan’s yield over its remaining life. The Company will adjust the amount of accretable yield by reclassification from the nonaccretable difference. The adjustment is accounted for as a change in estimate in conformity with ASC 250, "Accounting Changes and Error Corrections" with the amount of periodic accretion adjusted over the remaining life of the loan.
Commercial Loans
Commercial loans are classified as held for sale upon the Company determining that it intends to sell or liquidate the loan in the short-term and certain criteria have been met. Commercial loans meeting all criteria for reclassification are presented separately on the consolidated balance sheets in the "Commercial Loans Held for Sale" line item. Estimated costs incurred to sell a loan are included within the fair value of the loan.
Accounting for real estate securities
Investments in real estate securities are recorded in accordance with ASC 320-10, "Investments – Debt and Equity Securities," ASC 325-40, "Beneficial Interests in Securitized Financial Assets," or ASC 310-30, "Loans and Debt Securities Acquired with Deteriorated Credit Quality." The Company has chosen to make a fair value election pursuant to ASC 825, "Financial Instruments" for its real estate securities portfolio. Real estate securities are recorded at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets and the periodic change in fair value is recorded in current period earnings on the consolidated statement of operations as a component of "Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net." Purchases and sales of real estate securities are recorded on the trade date.
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
These investments meet the requirements to be classified as available for sale under ASC 320-10-25 which requires the securities to be carried at fair value on the consolidated balance sheets with changes in fair value recorded to other comprehensive income, a component of stockholders’ equity. Electing the fair value option allows the Company to record changes in fair value in the consolidated statement of operations, which, in management’s view, more appropriately reflects the results of operations for a particular reporting period as all securities activities will be recorded in a similar manner.
When the Company purchases securities with evidence of credit deterioration since origination, it will analyze the securities to determine if the guidance found in ASC 310-30 is applicable.
In June 2016, FASB issued ASU 2016-13, "Financial Instruments – Credit Losses" ("ASU 2016-13"). This guidance significantly changed how entities measure credit losses for most financial assets, including loans, that are not measured at fair value with changes in fair value recognized through net income. The Company adopted the guidance as of January 1, 2020. The guidance specifically excludes available-for-sale securities and loans measured at fair value, with changes in fair value recognized through net income. Accordingly, the impact of the guidance on accounting for the Company's debt securities and loans is limited to recognition of effective yield which was historically impacted by other than temporary impairment recorded under previous standards. As the guidance eliminates the accounting for other than temporary impairment, this guidance has impacted the Company's unrealized and realized gain/(loss) amounts. As the Company measures its debt securities and loans at fair value with any changes recognized through net income and updates its estimate of the cash flows expected to be collected on these asset classes on at least a quarterly basis recognizing changes in cash flows in interest income prospectively through an adjustment of an asset’s yield over its remaining life, the adoption of the standard did not have a material impact to the Company’s consolidated financial statements.
Realized gains or losses on sales of securities, loans and derivatives are included in the "Net realized gain/(loss)" line item on the consolidated statement of operations. The cost of positions sold is calculated using a first in, first out ("FIFO") basis. Realized gains and losses are recorded in earnings at the time of disposition.
Investments in debt and equity of affiliates
The Company’s unconsolidated ownership interests in affiliates are accounted for using the equity method. A majority of the Company’s investments held through affiliated entities are comprised of real estate securities, loans and its interest in AG Arc LLC. These types of investments may also be held directly by the Company. Certain entities have chosen to make a fair value election on their financial instruments and certain financing arrangements pursuant to ASC 825; as such, the Company will treat these financial instruments and financing arrangements consistently with this election.
Arc Home
On December 9, 2015, the Company, alongside private funds managed by Angelo Gordon, through AG Arc LLC, one of the Company’s indirect subsidiaries ("AG Arc"), formed Arc Home LLC ("Arc Home"). Arc Home originates conforming, Government, Jumbo, Non-QM, and other non-conforming residential mortgage loans and retains the mortgage servicing rights associated with the loans it originates. Arc Home is led by an external management team. The Company has chosen to make a fair value election with respect to its investment in AG Arc pursuant to ASC 825. The Company elected to treat its investment in AG Arc as a taxable REIT subsidiary. As a result, income or losses recognized by the Company from its investment in AG Arc are recorded in "Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates" line item on the Company's consolidated statement of operations net of income taxes.
From time to time, the Company acquires newly originated Non-QM Loans from Arc Home with the intent to securitize the assets and obtain non-recourse financing. In connection with the sale of loans from Arc Home to the Company, gains or losses recorded by Arc Home are consolidated into AG Arc. In accordance with ASC 323-10, for loans acquired from Arc Home that remain on the Company's consolidated balance sheet at period end, the Company eliminates any profits or losses typically recognized through the "Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates" line item on the Company's consolidated statement of operations and adjusts the cost basis of the underlying loans accordingly. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company eliminated $0.5 million of intra-entity profits recognized by Arc Home and also decreased the cost basis of the underlying loans by the same amount in connection with loan sales to the Company.
MATH
On August 29, 2017, the Company, alongside private funds managed by Angelo Gordon, formed Mortgage Acquisition Holding I LLC ("MATH") to conduct a residential mortgage investment strategy. MATH in turn sponsored the formation of an
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
entity called Mortgage Acquisition Trust I LLC ("MATT") to purchase predominantly Non-QM Loans. Non-QM Loans are not eligible for delivery to Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae. MATT made an election to be treated as a real estate investment trust beginning with the 2018 tax year.
LOTS
On May 15, 2019 and November 14, 2019, the Company, alongside private funds managed by Angelo Gordon, formed LOT SP I LLC and LOT SP II LLC, respectively, (collectively, "LOTS"). LOTS were formed to originate first mortgage loans to third-party land developers and home builders for the acquisition and horizontal development of land ("Land Related Financing").
Investments in debt and equity of affiliates
The below tables reconcile the fair value of investments to the "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on the Company's consolidated balance sheets (in thousands).
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assets | Liabilities | Equity | Assets | Liabilities | Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans (1) | $ | 149,039 | $ | (100,762) | $ | 48,277 | $ | 153,200 | $ | (111,135) | $ | 42,065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,718 | — | 22,718 | 22,824 | — | 22,824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other (2) | 46,001 | (13,236) | 32,765 | 41,940 | (5,588) | 36,352 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Real Estate Securities and Loans, at fair value | $ | 217,758 | $ | (113,998) | $ | 103,760 | $ | 217,964 | $ | (116,723) | $ | 101,241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc, at fair value | 52,138 | — | 52,138 | 45,341 | — | 45,341 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and Other assets/(liabilities) | 8,260 | (3,835) | 4,425 | 5,279 | (1,194) | 4,085 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in debt and equity of affiliates | $ | 278,156 | $ | (117,833) | $ | 160,323 | $ | 268,584 | $ | (117,917) | $ | 150,667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, Non-QM Loans excluded loans with an unpaid principal balance of $14.2 million and $17.3 million, respectively, whereby an affiliate of MATT has the right, but not the obligation, to repurchase loans from a trust that are 90 days or more delinquent at its discretion. These loans, which are eligible to be repurchased, would be recorded on the balance sheet of MATT, an unconsolidated equity method investee of the Company, with a corresponding and offsetting liability.
(2)Certain loans held in securitized form are presented net of non-recourse securitized debt.
The below table reconciles the net income/(loss) to the "Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates" line item on the Company's consolidated statements of operations (in thousands).
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans | $ | 14,646 | $ | (26,729) | ||||||||||
| AG Arc (1) | 6,340 | (10,026) | ||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 710 | 664 | ||||||||||||
| Other | 4,640 | (8,101) | ||||||||||||
Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | $ | 26,336 | $ | (44,192) | ||||||||||
(1)The earnings at AG Arc during the three months ended March 31, 2021 were primarily the result of $4.2 million of net income related to Arc Home's lending and servicing operations and $1.5 million related to changes in the fair value of the MSR portfolio held by Arc Home.
Investment consolidation and transfers of financial assets
For each investment made, the Company evaluates the underlying entity that issued the securities acquired or to which the Company makes a loan to determine the appropriate accounting. In performing the analysis, the Company refers to guidance in ASC 810-10, "Consolidation." In situations where the Company is the transferor of financial assets, the Company refers to the guidance in ASC 860-10 "Transfers and Servicing."
In variable interest entities ("VIEs"), an entity is subject to consolidation under ASC 810-10 if the equity investors (i) do not have sufficient equity at risk for the entity to finance its activities without additional subordinated financial support, (ii) are unable to direct the entity’s activities or (iii) are not exposed to the entity’s losses or entitled to its residual returns. VIEs within the scope of ASC 810-10 are required to be consolidated by their primary beneficiary. The primary beneficiary of a VIE is
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
determined to be the party that has both the power to direct the activities of a VIE that most significantly impact the VIE’s economic performance and the obligation to absorb losses of the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE or the right to receive benefits from the VIE that could potentially be significant to the VIE. This determination can sometimes involve complex and subjective analyses. Further, ASC 810-10 also requires ongoing assessments of whether an enterprise is the primary beneficiary of a VIE. In accordance with ASC 810-10, all transferees, including variable interest entities, must be evaluated for consolidation. If the Company determines that consolidation is not required, it will then assess whether the transfer of the underlying assets would qualify as a sale, should be accounted for as secured financings under GAAP, or should be accounted for as an equity method investment, depending on the circumstances. See Note 4 for more detail.
A Special Purpose Entity ("SPE") is an entity designed to fulfill a specific limited need of the company that organized it. SPEs are often used to facilitate transactions that involve securitizing financial assets or resecuritizing previously securitized financial assets. The objective of such transactions may include obtaining non-recourse financing, obtaining liquidity or refinancing the underlying securitized financial assets on improved terms. Securitization involves transferring assets to an SPE to convert all or a portion of those assets into cash before they would have been realized in the normal course of business through the SPE’s issuance of debt or equity instruments. Investors in an SPE usually have recourse only to the assets in the SPE and depending on the overall structure of the transaction, may benefit from various forms of credit enhancement, such as over-collateralization in the form of excess assets in the SPE, priority with respect to receipt of cash flows relative to holders of other debt or equity instruments issued by the SPE, or a line of credit or other form of liquidity agreement that is designed with the objective of ensuring that investors receive principal and/or interest cash flow on the investment in accordance with the terms of their investment agreement.
The Company entered into securitization transactions of certain of its re-performing and non-performing residential mortgage loans, which resulted in the Company consolidating the respective VIEs that were created to facilitate these transactions and to which the underlying assets in connection with these securitizations were transferred (the "August 2019 VIE" and the "September 2020 VIE"). Based on the evaluations of each VIE, the Company concluded that the VIEs should be consolidated and, as a result, transferred assets of these VIEs were determined to be secured borrowings. Upon consolidation, the Company elected the fair value option pursuant to ASC 825 for the assets and liabilities of the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE. Electing the fair value option allows the Company to record changes in fair value in the consolidated statement of operations, which, in management's view, more appropriately reflects the results of operations for a particular reporting period as all activities will be recorded in a similar manner. The Company applied the guidance under ASU 2014-13, "Measuring the Financial Assets and the Financial Liabilities of a Consolidated Collateralized Financing Entity," whereby the Company determines whether the fair value of the assets or liabilities of the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE are more observable as a basis for measuring the less observable financial instruments. The Company has determined that the fair value of the liabilities of the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE are more observable since the prices for these liabilities are more easily determined as similar instruments trade more frequently on a relative basis than the individual assets of the VIEs. See Note 4 for more detail regarding these VIEs. Refer to Note 5 related to the Company's determination of fair value for the assets and liabilities included within these VIEs.
From time to time the Company purchases residual positions where it consolidates the securitization and the positions are recorded on the Company's books as residential mortgage loans. There may be limited data available regarding the underlying collateral of such securitizations.
The Company may periodically enter into transactions in which it transfers assets to a third party. Upon a transfer of financial assets, the Company will sometimes retain or acquire senior or subordinated interests in the related assets. Pursuant to ASC 860-10, a determination must be made as to whether a transferor has surrendered control over transferred financial assets. That determination must consider the transferor’s continuing involvement in the transferred financial asset, including all arrangements or agreements made contemporaneously with, or in contemplation of, the transfer, even if they were not entered into at the time of the transfer. The financial components approach under ASC 860-10 limits the circumstances in which a financial asset, or portion of a financial asset, should be derecognized when the transferor has not transferred the entire original financial asset to an entity that is not consolidated with the transferor in the financial statements being presented and/or when the transferor has continuing involvement with the transferred financial asset. It defines the term "participating interest" to establish specific conditions for reporting a transfer of a portion of a financial asset as a sale.
Under ASC 860-10, after a transfer of financial assets that meets the criteria for treatment as a sale—legal isolation, ability of transferee to pledge or exchange the transferred assets without constraint and transferred control—an entity recognizes the financial and servicing assets it acquired or retained and the liabilities it has incurred, derecognizes financial assets it has sold and derecognizes liabilities when extinguished. The transferor would then determine the gain or loss on sale of financial assets by allocating the carrying value of the underlying mortgage between securities or loans sold and the interests retained based on
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
their fair value. The gain or loss on sale is the difference between the cash proceeds from the sale and the amount allocated to the securities or loans sold. When a transfer of financial assets does not qualify for sale accounting, ASC 860-10 requires the transfer to be accounted for as a secured borrowing with a pledge of collateral.
From time to time, the Company may securitize mortgage loans it holds if such financing is available. These transactions will be recorded in accordance with ASC 860-10 and will be accounted for as either a "sale" and the loans will be removed from the consolidated balance sheets or as a "financing" and will be classified as "residential mortgage loans" on the consolidated balance sheets, depending upon the structure of the securitization transaction. ASC 860-10 is a standard that may require the Company to exercise significant judgment in determining whether a transaction should be recorded as a "sale" or a "financing."
Interest income recognition
Interest income on the Company’s real estate securities portfolio and loan portfolio is accrued based on the actual coupon rate and the outstanding principal balance of such securities or loans. The Company has elected to record interest in accordance with ASC 835-30-35-2, "Imputation of Interest," using the effective interest method for all securities and loans accounted for under the fair value option in accordance with ASC 825, "Financial Instruments". As such, premiums and discounts are amortized or accreted into interest income over the lives of the securities or loans in accordance with ASC 310-20, "Nonrefundable Fees and Other Costs," ASC 320-10 or ASC 325-40, as applicable. Total interest income is recorded in the "Interest income" line item on the consolidated statement of operations.
For Agency RMBS, exclusive of interest-only securities, prepayments of the underlying collateral are estimated on a quarterly basis, which directly affect the speed at which the Company amortizes premiums on its securities. If actual and anticipated cash flows differ from previous estimates, the Company records an adjustment in the current period to the amortization of premiums for the impact of the cumulative change in the effective yield retrospectively through the reporting date.
Similarly, the Company also reassesses the cash flows on at least a quarterly basis for securities and loans, including Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS, interest-only securities, Non-QM Loans, and Excess MSRs. In estimating these cash flows, there are a number of assumptions made that are uncertain and subject to judgments and assumptions based on subjective and objective factors and contingencies. These include the rate and timing of principal and interest receipts (including assumptions of prepayments, repurchases, defaults and liquidations), the pass-through or coupon rate and interest rate fluctuations. In addition, interest payment shortfalls due to delinquencies on the underlying mortgage loans have to be estimated. Differences between previously estimated cash flows and current actual and anticipated cash flows are recognized prospectively through an adjustment of the yield over the remaining life of the security based on the current amortized cost of the investment.
For security and loan investments purchased with evidence of deterioration of credit quality for which it is probable, at acquisition, that the Company will be unable to collect all contractually required payments receivable, the Company will apply the provisions of ASC 310-30. For purposes of income recognition, the Company aggregates loans that have common risk characteristics into pools and uses a composite interest rate and expectation of cash flows expected to be collected for the pool. ASC 310-30 addresses accounting for differences between contractual cash flows and cash flows expected to be collected from an investor’s initial investment in loans or debt securities (loans) acquired in a transfer if those differences are attributable, at least in part, to credit quality. ASC 310-30 limits the yield that may be accreted (accretable yield) to the excess of the investor’s estimate of undiscounted expected principal, interest and other cash flows (cash flows expected at acquisition to be collected) over the investor’s initial investment in the loan. ASC 310-30 requires that the excess of contractual cash flows over cash flows expected to be collected (nonaccretable difference) not be recognized as an adjustment of yield, loss accrual or valuation allowance. Subsequent changes in cash flows expected to be collected generally should be recognized prospectively through an adjustment of the loan’s yield over its remaining life.
Financing arrangements
The Company finances the acquisition of certain assets within its portfolio through the use of financing arrangements. Financing arrangements include repurchase agreements and revolving facilities. Repurchase agreements and revolving facilities are treated as collateralized financing transactions and carried at their contractual amounts, including accrued interest, as specified in the respective agreements. The carrying amount of the Company’s repurchase agreements and revolving facilities approximates fair value.
The Company pledges certain securities, loans or properties as collateral under financing arrangements with financial institutions, the terms and conditions of which are negotiated on a transaction-by-transaction basis. The amounts available to be
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
borrowed under repurchase agreements and revolving facilities are dependent upon the fair value of the securities or loans pledged as collateral, which can fluctuate with changes in interest rates, type of security and liquidity conditions within the banking, mortgage finance and real estate industries. If the fair value of pledged assets declines due to changes in market conditions, lenders typically would require the Company to post additional securities as collateral, pay down borrowings or establish cash margin accounts with the counterparties in order to re-establish the agreed-upon collateral requirements, referred to as margin calls. The fair value of financial instruments pledged as collateral on the Company’s financing arrangements represents the Company’s fair value of such instruments which may differ from the fair value assigned to the collateral by its counterparties. The Company maintains a level of liquidity in order to meet these obligations. If the fair value of pledged assets increases due to changes in market conditions, counterparties may be required to return collateral to us in the form of securities or cash or post additional collateral to us. Financings pursuant to repurchase agreements and revolving facilities are generally recourse to the Company. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company had met all margin call requirements.
Forbearance and Reinstatement Agreements
On March 20, 2020, the Company notified its financing counterparties that it did not expect to be in a position to fund the anticipated volume of future margin calls under its financing arrangements in the near term as a result of market disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequent to March 23, 2020, the Company received notifications of alleged events of default and deficiency notices from several of its financing counterparties. Subject to the terms of the applicable financing arrangement, if the Company had failed to deliver additional collateral or otherwise meet margin calls when due, the financing counterparties may have been able to demand immediate payment by the Company of the aggregate outstanding financing obligations owed to such counterparties, and if such financing obligations were not paid, may have been permitted to sell the financed assets and apply the proceeds to the Company's financing obligations and/or take ownership of the assets securing the Company's financing obligations. During this period of market upheaval, the Company engaged in discussions with its financing counterparties with regard to entering into forbearance agreements pursuant to which each counterparty would agree to forbear from exercising its rights and remedies with respect to an event of default under the applicable financing arrangement for an agreed-upon period. On April 10, 2020, the Company entered into a forbearance agreement for an initial 15 day period, on April 27, 2020, a second forbearance agreement for an extended period ending on June 1, 2020, and a third forbearance agreement on June 1, 2020 for an additional period ending June 15, 2020 (collectively, the "Forbearance Agreement") with certain of its financing counterparties (the "Participating Counterparties"). Pursuant to the terms of the Forbearance Agreement, the Participating Counterparties agreed to forbear from exercising any of their rights and remedies in respect of events of default and any and all other defaults under the applicable financing arrangement with the Company for the duration of the forbearance period specified in the Forbearance Agreement (the "Forbearance Period").
On June 10, 2020, the Company and the Participating Counterparties entered into a Reinstatement Agreement, pursuant to which the parties agreed to terminate the Forbearance Agreement and each Participating Counterparty agreed to permanently waive all existing and prior events of default under its financing agreements with the Company (each, a “Bilateral Agreement”) and to reinstate each Bilateral Agreement, as it may be amended by agreement between the Participating Counterparty and the Company. As a result of the termination of the Forbearance Agreement and entry into the Reinstatement Agreement, default interest on the Company’s outstanding borrowings under each Bilateral Agreements has ceased to accrue as of June 10, 2020 and the interest rate was the non-default rate of interest or pricing rate, as set forth in the applicable Bilateral Agreements, all cash margin has been applied to outstanding balances owed by the Company, and the DTC repo tracker coding for each Bilateral Agreement has been reinstated, thereby allowing principal and interest payments on the underlying collateral to flow to and be used by the Company, just as it was before the prior forbearance agreements were put in place. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Reinstatement Agreement, the security interests granted to Participating Counterparties as additional collateral under the various forbearance agreements have been terminated and released. The Company also agreed to pay the reasonable fees and out-of-pocket expenses of counsel and other professional advisors for the Participating Counterparties and the collateral agent. Additionally, the Reinstatement Agreement provided a set of financial covenants that override and replace the financial covenants in each Bilateral Agreement and sets forth various reporting requirements from the Company to the Participating Counterparties, releases, certain netting obligations and cross-default provisions. In connection with the negotiation and execution of the Reinstatement Agreement, the Company entered into certain amendments to the Bilateral Agreements with certain of the Participating Counterparties to reflect current market terms. In general, the amendments reflect increased haircuts and higher coupons.
On June 10, 2020, the Company also entered a separate reinstatement agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank (the "JPM Reinstatement Agreement") on substantially the same terms as those set forth in the Reinstatement Agreement. The Reinstatement Agreement and the JPM Reinstatement Agreement collectively cover all of the Company’s existing financing arrangements as of the date of this report.
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Dividends on Preferred Stock
Holders of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock and Series C Preferred Stock are entitled to receive cumulative cash dividends at a rate of 8.25%, 8.00% and 8.000% per annum, respectively, of the $25.00 per share liquidation preference for each series. On and after September 17, 2024, dividends on the Series C Preferred Stock will accumulate at a percentage of the $25.00 liquidation preference equal to an annual floating rate of the then three-month LIBOR plus a spread of 6.476% per annum. If the Company’s Board of Directors does not declare a dividend in a given period, an accrual is not recorded on the balance sheet. However, undeclared preferred stock dividends are reflected in earnings per share as discussed in ASC 260-10-45-11. Preferred stock dividends that are not declared accumulate and are added to the liquidation preference as of the scheduled payment date for the respective series of the preferred stock. The undeclared and unpaid dividends on the Company’s preferred stock accrue without interest, and if dividends on the Company's preferred stock are in arrears, the Company cannot pay cash dividends with respect to its common stock. See Note 11 for further detail on the Company’s Preferred Stock.
Accounting for derivative financial instruments
Derivative contracts
The Company enters into derivative contracts as a means of mitigating interest rate risk or foreign currency risk rather than to enhance returns. The Company accounts for derivative financial instruments in accordance with ASC 815-10, "Derivatives and Hedging." ASC 815-10 requires an entity to recognize all derivatives as either assets or liabilities on the balance sheet and to measure those instruments at fair value. Additionally, if or when hedge accounting is elected, the fair value adjustments will affect either other comprehensive income in stockholders’ equity until the hedged item is recognized in earnings or net income depending on whether the derivative instrument is designated and qualifies as a hedge for accounting purposes and, if so, the nature of the hedging activity. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company did not have any interest rate derivatives designated as hedges. All derivatives have been recorded at fair value in accordance with ASC 820-10, with corresponding changes in value recognized in the consolidated statement of operations. The Company records derivative asset and liability positions on a gross basis with respect to its counterparties. During the period in which the Company unwinds a derivative, it records a realized gain/(loss) in the "Net realized gain/(loss)" line item in the consolidated statement of operations.
To-be-announced securities
A to-be-announced security ("TBA") is a forward contract for the purchase or sale of Agency RMBS at a predetermined price, face amount, issuer, coupon and stated maturity on an agreed-upon future date. The specific Agency RMBS delivered into or received from the contract upon the settlement date, published each month by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, are not known at the time of the transaction. The Company may also choose, prior to settlement, to move the settlement of these securities out to a later date by entering into an offsetting short or long position (referred to as a pair off), net settling the paired off positions for cash, simultaneously purchasing or selling a similar TBA contract for a later settlement date. This transaction is commonly referred to as a dollar roll. The Agency RMBS purchased or sold for a forward settlement date are typically priced at a discount to Agency RMBS for settlement in the current month. This difference, or discount, is referred to as the price drop. The price drop is the economic equivalent of net interest carry income on the underlying Agency RMBS over the roll period (interest income less implied financing cost) and is commonly referred to as dollar roll income/(loss). Consequently, forward purchases of Agency RMBS and dollar roll transactions represent a form of off-balance sheet financing. Dollar roll income is recognized in the consolidated statement of operations in the line item "Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net."
Variation margin
The Company may exchange cash "variation margin" with the counterparties to its derivative instruments on a daily basis based upon changes in the fair value of such derivative instruments as measured by the Chicago Mercantile Exchange ("CME") and the London Clearing House ("LCH"), the central clearinghouses ("CCPs") through which those derivatives are cleared. In addition, the CCPs require market participants to deposit and maintain an "initial margin" amount which is determined by the CCPs and is generally intended to be set at a level sufficient to protect the CCPs from the maximum estimated single-day price movement in that market participant’s contracts.
Receivables recognized for the right to reclaim cash initial margin posted in respect of derivative instruments are included in the "Restricted cash" line item in the consolidated balance sheets. The daily exchange of variation margin associated with a CCP instrument is legally characterized as the daily settlement of the derivative instrument itself, as opposed to a pledge of collateral.
17
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Accordingly, the Company accounts for the daily receipt or payment of variation margin associated with its centrally cleared derivative instruments as a direct reduction to the carrying value of the derivative asset or liability, respectively. The carrying amount of centrally cleared derivative instruments reflected in the Company’s consolidated balance sheets approximates the unsettled fair value of such instruments. As variation margin is exchanged on a one-day lag, the unsettled fair value of such instruments represents the change in fair value that occurred on the last day of the reporting period.
Manager compensation
The management agreement provides for payment to the Manager of a management fee as well as a reimbursement of certain expenses incurred by the Manager or its affiliates on behalf of the Company. The management fee and reimbursement are accrued and expensed during the period for which they are earned or for which the expenses are incurred, respectively. The management fee and reimbursement are included in the "Management fee" and "Other operating expenses" line items, respectively, on the consolidated statement of operations. For a more detailed discussion on the fees payable under the management agreement, see Note 10.
Income taxes
The Company conducts its operations to qualify and be taxed as a REIT. Accordingly, the Company will generally not be subject to federal or state corporate income tax to the extent that the Company makes qualifying distributions to its stockholders, and provided that it satisfies on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, the REIT requirements including certain asset, income, distribution and stock ownership tests. If the Company fails to qualify as a REIT, and does not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, it will be subject to U.S. federal, state and local income taxes and may be precluded from qualifying as a REIT for the four taxable years following the year in which the Company fails to qualify as a REIT.
The dividends paid deduction of a REIT for qualifying dividends to its stockholders is computed using the Company’s taxable income/(loss) as opposed to net income/(loss) reported on the Company’s GAAP financial statements. Taxable income/(loss), generally, will differ from net income/(loss) reported on the financial statements because the determination of taxable income/(loss) is based on tax principles and not financial accounting principles.
Cash distributions declared by the Company that do not exceed its current or accumulated earnings and profits will be considered ordinary income to stockholders for income tax purposes unless all or a portion of a distribution is designated by the Company as a capital gain dividend. Distributions in excess of the Company’s current and accumulated earnings and profits will be characterized as return of capital or capital gains.
The Company elected to treat certain domestic subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRSs") and may elect to treat other subsidiaries as TRSs. In general, a TRS may hold assets and engage in activities that the Company cannot hold or engage in directly and generally may engage in any real estate or non-real estate-related business.
A domestic TRS may declare dividends to the Company which will be included in the Company’s taxable income/(loss) which may necessitate a distribution to stockholders. Conversely, if the Company retains earnings at the domestic TRS level, no distribution is required and the Company can increase book equity of the consolidated entity. A domestic TRS is subject to U.S. federal, state and local corporate income taxes.
The Company elected to treat one of its foreign subsidiaries as a TRS and, accordingly, taxable income generated by this foreign TRS may not be subject to local income taxation, but generally will be included in the Company’s taxable income on a current basis as Subpart F income, whether or not distributed.
The Company’s financial results are generally not expected to reflect provisions for current or deferred income taxes, except for any activities conducted through one or more TRSs that are subject to corporate income taxation. The Company believes that it will operate in a manner that will allow it to qualify for taxation as a REIT. As a result of the Company’s expected REIT qualification, it does not generally expect to pay federal or state corporate income tax. Many of the REIT requirements, however, are highly technical and complex.
As a REIT, if the Company fails to distribute in any calendar year (subject to specific timing rules for certain dividends paid in January) at least the sum of (i) 85% of its ordinary income for such year, (ii) 95% of its capital gain net income for such year, and (iii) any undistributed taxable income from the prior year, the Company would be subject to a non-deductible 4% excise tax
18
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
on the excess of such required distribution over the sum of (i) the amounts actually distributed and (ii) the amounts of income retained and on which the Company has paid corporate income tax.
The Company evaluates uncertain income tax positions, if any, in accordance with ASC 740, "Income Taxes." The Company classifies interest and penalties, if any, related to unrecognized tax benefits as a component of provision for income taxes. See Note 9 for further details.
Deal related performance fees
The Company may incur deal related performance fees, payable to Arc Home and third-party operators, on certain of its CMBS, Excess MSRs, and Land Related Financing. The deal related performance fees are based on these investments meeting certain performance hurdles. The fees are accrued and expensed during the period for which they are incurred and are included in the "Other operating expenses" and "Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates" line items on the consolidated statement of operations.
Offering costs
The Company has incurred offering costs in connection with common stock offerings, registration statements, preferred stock offerings and exchanges. Where applicable, the offering costs were paid out of the proceeds of the respective offerings. Offering costs in connection with common stock offerings and costs in connection with registration statements have been accounted for as a reduction of additional paid-in capital. Offering costs in connection with preferred stock offerings have been accounted for as a reduction of their respective gross proceeds. Exchange costs in connection with the Company's preferred stock exchanges have been accounted for as a reduction to the Company's retained earnings.
Recent accounting pronouncements
In March 2020, FASB issued ASU 2020-04, "Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting." This ASU provides temporary optional guidance intended to ease the burden of reference rate reform on financial reporting. This ASU was effective upon its issuance on March 12, 2020 and applies to all entities that have contracts, hedging relationships and other transactions that reference LIBOR and certain other reference rates that are expected to be discontinued. However, it cannot be applied to contract modifications that occur after December 31, 2022. With certain exceptions, this ASU also cannot be applied to hedging relationships entered into or evaluated after that date. The guidance provides optional expedients and exceptions for applying existing guidance to contract modifications, hedging relationships and other transactions that are expected to be affected by reference rate reform and meet certain scope guidance. The Company is currently evaluating the effect this guidance will have on its consolidated financial statements.
19
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
3. Real Estate Securities
The following tables detail the Company’s real estate securities portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands). The gross unrealized gains/(losses) stated in the tables below represent inception to date unrealized gains/(losses).
| March 31, 2021 | Gross Unrealized | Weighted Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current Face | Premium / (Discount) | Amortized Cost | Gains | Losses | Fair Value | Coupon (1) | Yield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 906,892 | $ | 37,735 | $ | 944,627 | $ | — | $ | (29,204) | $ | 915,423 | 2.15 | % | 1.62 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | 6,816 | (4,629) | 2,187 | 390 | — | 2,577 | 3.50 | % | 14.20 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 16,282 | (9,379) | 6,903 | 4,542 | — | 11,445 | 4.25 | % | 14.16 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 420 | — | 420 | 7 | — | 427 | 5.61 | % | 5.61 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only (2) | 142,388 | (142,306) | 82 | 242 | (43) | 281 | 0.51 | % | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Securities | 1,608 | (167) | 1,441 | 200 | — | 1,641 | 5.25 | % | 20.92 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential Investments: | 167,514 | (156,481) | 11,033 | 5,381 | (43) | 16,371 | 1.36 | % | 14.38 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | 35,500 | (81) | 35,419 | — | (5,981) | 29,438 | 4.07 | % | 4.45 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K-Series CMBS | 22,327 | (11,709) | 10,618 | 1,662 | (53) | 12,227 | 3.83 | % | 9.23 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only (3) | 685,961 | (681,952) | 4,009 | 270 | (106) | 4,173 | 0.10 | % | 7.02 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Commercial Investments: | 743,788 | (693,742) | 50,046 | 1,932 | (6,140) | 45,838 | 0.33 | % | 5.96 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments: | 911,302 | (850,223) | 61,079 | 7,313 | (6,183) | 62,209 | 0.44 | % | 8.17 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 1,818,194 | $ | (812,488) | $ | 1,005,706 | $ | 7,313 | $ | (35,387) | $ | 977,632 | 1.34 | % | 2.04 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 | Gross Unrealized | Weighted Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Current Face | Premium / (Discount) | Amortized Cost | Gains | Losses | Fair Value | Coupon (1) | Yield | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 494,307 | $ | 22,368 | $ | 516,675 | $ | 1,794 | $ | (117) | $ | 518,352 | 2.10 | % | 1.17 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | 15,093 | (7,081) | 8,012 | 663 | (10) | 8,665 | 3.68 | % | 8.97 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 16,287 | (9,377) | 6,910 | 4,586 | — | 11,496 | 4.25 | % | 12.52 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 13,880 | — | 13,880 | 15 | (587) | 13,308 | 4.71 | % | 4.70 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. RMBS | 2,435 | 706 | 3,141 | 51 | (92) | 3,100 | 6.45 | % | 6.41 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only (2) | 157,590 | (157,513) | 77 | 207 | (48) | 236 | 0.53 | % | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Securities | 1,690 | (238) | 1,452 | 149 | — | 1,601 | 5.25 | % | 14.05 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential Investments: | 206,975 | (173,503) | 33,472 | 5,671 | (737) | 38,406 | 2.01 | % | 8.50 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conduit | 4,925 | (1,024) | 3,901 | — | (606) | 3,295 | 4.62 | % | 11.89 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | 50,480 | (1,494) | 48,986 | 668 | (9,464) | 40,190 | 4.15 | % | 4.81 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K-Series CMBS | 22,572 | (12,062) | 10,510 | 47 | (1,557) | 9,000 | 3.83 | % | 9.00 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only (3) | 687,077 | (682,961) | 4,116 | 256 | (69) | 4,303 | 0.10 | % | 6.93 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Commercial Investments: | 765,054 | (697,541) | 67,513 | 971 | (11,696) | 56,788 | 0.44 | % | 6.04 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments: | 972,029 | (871,044) | 100,985 | 6,642 | (12,433) | 95,194 | 0.65 | % | 7.04 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 1,466,336 | $ | (848,676) | $ | 617,660 | $ | 8,436 | $ | (12,550) | $ | 613,546 | 1.18 | % | 2.08 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Equity residual investments and principal only securities with a zero coupon rate are excluded from this calculation.
(2)Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only includes only two investments as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020. The overall impact of the investments' yields on the Company's portfolio is not meaningful.
(3)Comprised of Freddie Mac K-Series interest-only bonds.
20
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following tables detail the weighted average life of our real estate securities as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | Agency RMBS | Credit Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average Life (1) | Fair Value | Amortized Cost | Weighted Average Coupon | Fair Value | Amortized Cost | Weighted Average Coupon (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than or equal to 1 year | $ | — | $ | — | — | % | $ | 30,891 | $ | 36,803 | 4.11 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than one year and less than or equal to five years | — | — | — | 2,890 | 2,543 | 0.16 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than five years and less than or equal to ten years | 734,069 | 755,645 | 2.18 | % | 12,178 | 11,303 | 0.25 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than ten years | 181,354 | 188,982 | 2.00 | % | 16,250 | 10,430 | 4.25 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 915,423 | $ | 944,627 | 2.15 | % | $ | 62,209 | $ | 61,079 | 0.44 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 | Agency RMBS | Credit Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average Life (1) | Fair Value | Amortized Cost | Weighted Average Coupon | Fair Value | Amortized Cost | Weighted Average Coupon (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less than or equal to 1 year | $ | — | $ | — | — | % | $ | 31,166 | $ | 39,588 | 1.81 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than one year and less than or equal to five years | 181,947 | 181,209 | 2.29 | % | 20,131 | 21,634 | 0.33 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than five years and less than or equal to ten years | 336,405 | 335,466 | 2.00 | % | 20,310 | 20,808 | 0.36 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Greater than ten years | — | — | — | 23,587 | 18,955 | 4.18 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 518,352 | $ | 516,675 | 2.10 | % | $ | 95,194 | $ | 100,985 | 0.65 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)This is based on projected life. Typically, actual maturities are shorter than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by the contractual lives of the underlying mortgages, periodic payments of principal, and prepayments of principal.
(2)Equity residual investments and principal only securities with a zero coupon rate are excluded from this calculation.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company sold 27 real estate securities for total proceeds of $111.8 million, recording realized gains of $2.5 million and realized losses of $3.0 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company sold, directly or as a result of financing counterparty seizures, 229 real estate securities for total proceeds of $2.4 billion, with an additional $12.0 million of proceeds on six unsettled security sales, recording realized gains of $44.7 million and realized losses of $131.0 million.
4. Loans
Residential mortgage loans
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company purchased Non-QM Loans with a gross aggregate unpaid principal balance and a gross acquisition fair value of $198.4 million and $208.5 million, respectively. A portion of these loans was purchased from Arc Home. See Note 10 for more detail.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company did not sell any residential mortgage loans. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company sold one residential mortgage loan for total proceeds of $8.7 million, recording realized losses of $3.1 million.
21
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The table below details information regarding the Company’s residential mortgage loan portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| Gross Unrealized | Weighted Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of | Unpaid Principal Balance | Premium (Discount) | Amortized Cost | Gains | Losses | Fair Value | Coupon | Yield | Life (Years) (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re- and Non-Performing Loans | $ | 487,455 | $ | (66,657) | $ | 420,798 | $ | 19,284 | $ | (6,430) | $ | 433,652 | 3.37 | % | 5.89 | % | 7.09 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans | 198,371 | 9,493 | 207,864 | 1,446 | (3) | 209,307 | 5.36 | % | 4.00 | % | 4.66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total at March 31, 2021 (2) | $ | 685,826 | $ | (57,164) | $ | 628,662 | $ | 20,730 | $ | (6,433) | $ | 642,959 | 3.96 | % | 5.27 | % | 6.39 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 (3) | $ | 500,980 | $ | (69,007) | $ | 431,973 | $ | 13,640 | $ | (10,172) | $ | 435,441 | 3.58 | % | 5.69 | % | 6.67 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)This is based on projected life. Typically, actual maturities are shorter than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by the lives of the underlying mortgages, periodic payments of principal, and prepayments of principal.
(2)As of March 31, 2021, the Company’s residential mortgage loan portfolio was comprised of 3,560 loans with original loan balances between $5.6 thousand and $3.4 million. Additionally, the Company had residential mortgage loans that were in the process of foreclosure with a fair value of $33.7 million.
(3)As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s residential mortgage loan portfolio was comprised of 3,273 conventional loans with original loan balances between $5.6 thousand and $3.4 million. Additionally, the Company had residential mortgage loans that were in the process of foreclosure with a fair value of $37.1 million.
The table below details information regarding the Company’s residential mortgage loans as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Fair Value | Unpaid Principal Balance | Fair Value | Unpaid Principal Balance | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans | $ | 209,307 | $ | 198,371 | $ | — | $ | — | |||||||||||||||
| Re-Performing | 311,074 | 338,880 | 312,733 | 347,359 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Performing | 114,224 | 130,067 | 113,976 | 134,129 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Other (1) | 8,354 | 18,508 | 8,732 | 19,492 | |||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 642,959 | $ | 685,826 | $ | 435,441 | $ | 500,980 | ||||||||||||||||
(1)Represents residual positions where the Company consolidates a securitization and the positions are recorded in the Company's consolidated balance sheets as residential mortgage loans. There may be limited data available regarding the underlying collateral of such securitizations.
The Company’s residential mortgage loan portfolio consisted of mortgage loans on residential real estate located throughout the United States. The following is a summary of the geographic concentration of credit risk within the Company’s residential mortgage loan portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, excluding any loans classified as Other above:
| Geographic Concentration of Credit Risk | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||
| Percentage of fair value of mortgage loans secured by properties in the following states representing 5% or more of fair value: | |||||||||||
| California | 28 | % | 17 | % | |||||||
| Florida | 13 | % | 11 | % | |||||||
| New York | 10 | % | 10 | % | |||||||
| New Jersey | 5 | % | 6 | % | |||||||
22
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following is a summary of the changes in the accretable portion of discounts for the Company’s re-performing and non-performing loan portfolios for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, which is determined by the excess of the Company’s estimate of undiscounted principal, interest, and other cash flows expected to be collected over its initial investment in the mortgage loan (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Beginning Balance | $ | 170,291 | $ | 168,877 | |||||||
| Additions | — | 129,017 | |||||||||
| Accretion | (6,122) | (8,428) | |||||||||
| Reclassifications from/(to) non-accretable difference | 9,881 | (26,012) | |||||||||
| Disposals | 153 | (343) | |||||||||
| Ending Balance | $ | 174,203 | $ | 263,111 | |||||||
Variable interest entities
The following table details certain information related to the assets and liabilities of the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Assets | ||||||||||||||
| Residential mortgage loans, at fair value | $ | 425,158 | $ | 426,604 | ||||||||||
| Restricted cash | 2,106 | 2,110 | ||||||||||||
| Other assets | 2,730 | 3,705 | ||||||||||||
| Total assets | $ | 429,994 | $ | 432,419 | ||||||||||
| Liabilities | ||||||||||||||
| Financing arrangements | $ | 28,004 | $ | 25,590 | ||||||||||
| Securitized debt, at fair value | 344,429 | 355,159 | ||||||||||||
| Other liabilities | 510 | 519 | ||||||||||||
| Total liabilities | $ | 372,943 | $ | 381,268 | ||||||||||
The following table details additional information regarding residential mortgage loans and securitized debt related to the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| Weighted Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| As of: | Current Unpaid Principal Balance | Fair Value | Coupon | Yield | Life (Years) (1) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 2019 VIE | Residential mortgage loans | $ | 232,384 | $ | 219,806 | 3.56 | % | 5.49 | % | 7.33 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | 191,790 | 191,946 | 2.98 | % | 3.02 | % | 5.13 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 2020 VIE | Residential mortgage loans | $ | 236,422 | $ | 205,352 | 4.18 | % | 4.93 | % | 5.99 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | 152,063 | 152,483 | 2.98 | % | 2.98 | % | 1.33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| August 2019 VIE | Residential mortgage loans | $ | 238,487 | $ | 222,282 | 3.79 | % | 5.44 | % | 6.86 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | 197,955 | 196,338 | 2.97 | % | 3.01 | % | 5.20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| September 2020 VIE | Residential mortgage loans | $ | 242,859 | $ | 204,322 | 3.37 | % | 5.80 | % | 6.70 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | 158,676 | 158,821 | 2.98 | % | 2.98 | % | 2.17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)This is based on projected life. Typically, actual maturities are shorter than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by the contractual lives of the underlying mortgages, periodic payments of principal, and prepayments of principal.
23
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The holders of the securitized debt have no recourse to the general credit of the Company. The Company has no obligation to provide any other explicit or implicit support to the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE.
Commercial loans
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company sold two commercial loans for total proceeds of $74.3 million, recording realized losses of $2.9 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company did not sell any commercial loans.
During the fourth quarter of 2020, the Company and the borrower of Loan L entered into a modification agreement which, among other things, required the borrower to pay previously deferred interest in full, deferred interest for the 12-month period following the modification, and required funding of capital reserves by the borrower. The loan was placed on non-accrual status upon modification and was on non-accrual status as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020. As a result of the modification, the loan is classified as a troubled debt restructuring under GAAP.
The following tables present detail on the Company’s commercial loan portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands). The gross unrealized gains/(losses) columns in the tables below represent inception to date unrealized gains/(losses).
| March 31, 2021 | Weighted Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan (1)(2) | Current Face | Premium (Discount) | Amortized Cost | Gross Unrealized Losses | Fair Value (3) | Coupon (4) | Yield (5) | Life (Years) (6) | Extended Maturity Date (7) | Location | Collateral Type | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan K (8) | $ | 17,220 | $ | — | $ | 17,220 | $ | (500) | $ | 16,720 | 10.00 | % | 10.79 | % | 1.02 | February 22, 2024 | NY | Hotel, Retail | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan L (8) | 51,000 | (337) | 50,663 | (9,174) | 41,489 | N/A | N/A | 3.36 | July 22, 2024 | IL | Hotel, Retail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 68,220 | $ | (337) | $ | 67,883 | $ | (9,674) | $ | 58,209 | 2.52 | % | 3.10 | % | 2.77 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)The Company has the contractual right to receive a balloon payment for each loan.
(2)Refer to Note 12 "Commitments and Contingencies" for details on the Company's commitments on its Commercial Loans as of March 31, 2021.
(3)Fair value includes the value of unfunded commitments.
(4)Each commercial loan investment has a variable coupon rate.
(5)Yield includes any exit fees.
(6)Actual maturities may be shorter or longer than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by prepayments of principal.
(7)Represents the maturity date of the last possible extension option.
(8)Loan K and Loan L are comprised of first mortgage and mezzanine loans.
| December 31, 2020 | Weighted Average | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan (1) | Current Face | Premium (Discount) | Amortized Cost | Gross Unrealized Losses | Fair Value (2) | Coupon (3) | Yield (4) | Life (Years) (5) | Extended Maturity Date (6) | Location | Collateral Type | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans, at fair value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan G (7) | $ | 59,451 | $ | — | $ | 59,451 | $ | (3,940) | $ | 55,511 | 5.27 | % | 5.27 | % | 1.54 | July 9, 2022 | CA | Condo, Retail, Hotel | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan K (8) | 15,787 | — | 15,787 | (1,100) | 14,687 | 10.00 | % | 10.83 | % | 1.27 | February 22, 2024 | NY | Hotel, Retail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan L (8) | 51,000 | (337) | 50,663 | (9,312) | 41,351 | N/A | N/A | 3.61 | July 22, 2024 | IL | Hotel, Retail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 126,238 | (337) | 125,901 | (14,352) | 111,549 | 3.73 | % | 4.05 | % | 2.34 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans Held for Sale, at fair value | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan I (9) | 15,929 | (175) | 15,754 | (1,795) | 13,959 | 11.50 | % | 12.23 | % | 2.22 | February 9, 2023 | MN | Office, Retail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 142,167 | $ | (512) | $ | 141,655 | $ | (16,147) | $ | 125,508 | 4.60 | % | 4.96 | % | 2.33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)The Company has the contractual right to receive a balloon payment for each loan.
(2)Fair value includes the value of unfunded commitments.
(3)Each commercial loan investment has a variable coupon rate.
(4)Yield includes any exit fees.
(5)Actual maturities may be shorter or longer than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by prepayments of principal.
(6)Represents the maturity date of the last possible extension option.
(7)Loan G is a first mortgage loan.
(8)Loan K and Loan L are comprised of first mortgage and mezzanine loans.
(9)Loan I is a mezzanine loan.
24
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
5. Fair value measurements
As described in Note 2, the fair value of financial instruments determined by the Manager, subject to oversight of the Company’s Board of Directors, and in accordance with ASC 820, "Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures." When possible, management determines fair value using third-party data sources. ASC 820 establishes a hierarchy that prioritizes the inputs to valuation techniques giving the highest priority to readily available unadjusted quoted prices in active markets for identical assets (Level 1 measurements) and the lowest priority to unobservable inputs (Level 3 measurements) when market prices are not readily available or reliable.
Values for the Company’s securities, Excess MSRs, and derivatives are based upon prices obtained from third-party pricing services, which are indicative of market activity. The evaluation methodology of the Company’s third-party pricing services incorporates commonly used market pricing methods, including a spread measurement to various indices such as the one-year constant maturity treasury and LIBOR, which are observable inputs. The evaluation also considers the underlying characteristics of each investment, which are also observable inputs, including: coupon; maturity date; loan age; reset date; collateral type; periodic and life cap; geography; and prepayment speeds. The Company collects and considers current market intelligence on all major markets, including benchmark security evaluations and bid-lists from various sources, when available. As part of the Company’s risk management process, the Company reviews and analyzes all prices obtained by comparing prices to recently completed transactions involving the same or similar investments on or near the reporting date. If, in the opinion of the Manager, one or more prices reported to the Company are not reliable or unavailable, the Manager reviews the fair value based on characteristics of the investment it receives from the issuer and available market information.
In determining the fair value of the Company's mortgage loans and securitized debt relating to the August 2019 VIE and the September 2020 VIE, the Company considers data such as loan origination information, additional updated borrower information, loan servicing data, as available, forward interest rates, general economic conditions, home price index forecasts, and valuations of the underlying properties. The variables considered most significant to the determination of the fair value of the Company's mortgage loans include market-implied discount rates, projections of default rates, delinquency rates, prepayment rates, loss severity, loan-to-value ratios, and recovery rates. Projections of default and prepayment rates are impacted by other variables such as reperformance rates and timeline to liquidation. The Company uses loan level data and macro-economic inputs to generate loss adjusted cash flows and other information in determining the fair value of its mortgage loans. Because of the inherent uncertainty of such valuation, the fair value established for mortgage loans held by the Company may differ from the fair value that would have been established if a ready market existed for these mortgage loans.
Management may also base its valuation on prices obtained from a third-party pricing service provider to assess and corroborate the valuation of a selection of investments in the Company’s loan portfolio and the Company's investment in Arc Home on a periodic basis. These third-party pricing service providers conduct independent valuation analyses based on a review of source documents, available market data, and comparable investments. The analyses provided by valuation service providers are reviewed and considered by the Manager.
25
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following table presents the Company’s financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of March 31, 2021 (in thousands):
| Fair Value at March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | — | $ | 915,423 | $ | — | $ | 915,423 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (1) | — | 14,449 | 1,641 | 16,090 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only | — | 281 | — | 281 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS (2) | — | 41,665 | — | 41,665 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only | — | 4,173 | — | 4,173 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential mortgage loans | — | 2,220 | 640,739 | 642,959 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial loans | — | — | 58,209 | 58,209 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess mortgage servicing rights | — | — | 3,000 | 3,000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Derivative assets (3) | — | 28,722 | — | 28,722 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc (4) | — | — | 52,138 | 52,138 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets Measured at Fair Value | $ | — | $ | 1,006,933 | $ | 755,727 | $ | 1,762,660 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | $ | — | $ | — | $ | (344,429) | $ | (344,429) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Derivative liabilities (3) | — | (22) | — | (22) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Liabilities Measured at Fair Value | $ | — | $ | (22) | $ | (344,429) | $ | (344,451) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1)Non-Agency RMBS is comprised of Prime, Alt-A/Subprime, Credit Risk Transfer, and Re/Non-Performing Securities.
(2)CMBS is comprised of Single-Asset/Single-Borrower and Freddie Mac K-Series CMBS.
(3)As of March 31, 2021, the Company applied a reduction in fair value of $28.7 million and $21.7 thousand to its interest rate swap assets and liabilities, respectively, related to variation margin with a corresponding increase or decrease in restricted cash, respectively. Refer to Note 2 and Note 7 for more information on the Company's accounting policies with regard to derivatives.
(4)Refer to Note 2 for more information on the Company's accounting policies with regard to cash equivalents, if applicable, and AG Arc. The table above includes the Company's investment in AG Arc, which is included in its "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on the consolidated balance sheets, as the Company has chosen to elect the fair value option with respect to its investment pursuant to ASC 825.
26
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following table presents the Company’s financial instruments measured at fair value on a recurring basis as of December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| Fair value at December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Level 1 | Level 2 | Level 3 | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assets: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | — | $ | 518,352 | $ | — | $ | 518,352 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (1) | — | 35,070 | 3,100 | 38,170 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only | — | 236 | — | 236 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS (2) | — | 52,485 | — | 52,485 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only | — | 4,303 | — | 4,303 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential mortgage loans | — | 2,134 | 433,307 | 435,441 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial loans | — | — | 125,508 | 125,508 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess mortgage servicing rights | — | — | 3,158 | 3,158 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Derivative assets (3) | — | 1,356 | — | 1,356 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc (4) | — | — | 45,341 | 45,341 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Assets Measured at Fair Value | $ | — | $ | 613,936 | $ | 610,414 | $ | 1,224,350 | ||||||||||||||||||
| Liabilities: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | $ | — | $ | — | $ | (355,159) | $ | (355,159) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Derivative liabilities (3) | — | (294) | — | (294) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Liabilities Measured at Fair Value | $ | — | $ | (294) | $ | (355,159) | $ | (355,453) | ||||||||||||||||||
(1)Non-Agency RMBS is comprised of Prime, Alt-A/Subprime, Credit Risk Transfer, Non-US RMBS, and Re/Non-Performing Securities.
(2)CMBS is comprised of Conduit, Single-Asset/Single-Borrower, and Freddie Mac K-Series CMBS.
(3)As of December 31, 2020, the Company applied a reduction in fair value of $1.4 million and $0.2 million to its interest rate swap assets and liabilities, respectively, related to variation margin with a corresponding increase or decrease in restricted cash, respectively. Refer to Note 2 and Note 7 for more information on the Company's accounting policies with regard to derivatives.
(4)Refer to Note 2 for more information on the Company's accounting policies with regard to cash equivalents, if applicable, and AG Arc. The table above includes the Company's investment in AG Arc, which is included in its "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on the consolidated balance sheets, as the Company has chosen to elect the fair value option with respect to its investment pursuant to ASC 825.
The Company did not have any transfers of assets or liabilities between Levels 1 and 2 of the fair value hierarchy during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020.
Refer to the tables below for details on transfers between the Level 3 and Level 2 categories under ASC 820. Transfers into the Level 3 category of the fair value hierarchy occur due to instruments exhibiting indications of reduced levels of market transparency. Transfers out of the Level 3 category of the fair value hierarchy occur due to instruments exhibiting indications of increased levels of market transparency and updates to the Company's leveling policy, which are detailed in Note 2. Indications of increases or decreases in levels of market transparency include a change in observable transactions or executable quotes involving these instruments or similar instruments. Changes in these indications could impact price transparency, and thereby cause a change in level designations in future periods.
27
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following tables present additional information about the Company’s assets and liabilities which are measured at fair value on a recurring basis for which the Company has utilized Level 3 inputs to determine fair value:
| Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | Residential Mortgage Loans | Commercial Loans | Excess Mortgage Servicing Rights | AG Arc | Securitized debt | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | 3,100 | $ | 433,307 | $ | 125,508 | $ | 3,158 | $ | 45,341 | $ | (355,159) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transfers (1): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transfers out of level 3 | (1,499) | — | — | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases/Transfers | — | 208,060 | 3,669 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from sales of assets | — | — | (74,342) | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from settlement | (32) | (12,294) | (195) | — | — | 12,777 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total net gains/(losses) (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Included in net income | 72 | 11,666 | 3,569 | (158) | 6,797 | (2,047) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ending Balance | $ | 1,641 | $ | 640,739 | $ | 58,209 | $ | 3,000 | $ | 52,138 | $ | (344,429) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) for level 3 assets/liabilities still held as of March 31, 2021 (3) | $ | 72 | $ | 11,761 | $ | 738 | $ | (158) | $ | 6,797 | $ | (2,047) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Transfers are assumed to occur at the beginning of the period. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company transferred one Non-Agency RMBS into the Level 2 category from the Level 3 category under the fair value hierarchy of ASC 820.
(2) Gains/(losses) are recorded in the following line items in the consolidated statement of operations:
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | $ | 18,306 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | (2,205) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net realized gain/(loss) | (2,999) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 6,797 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 19,899 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (3) Unrealized gains/(losses) are recorded in the following line items in the consolidated statement of operations: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | $ | 12,571 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | (2,205) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 6,797 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 17,163 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Three Months Ended March 31, 2020 (in thousands) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only | CMBS | CMBS Interest Only | Residential Mortgage Loans | Commercial Loans | Excess Mortgage Servicing Rights | AG Arc | Securitized debt | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Beginning balance | $ | 630,115 | $ | 1,074 | $ | 366,566 | $ | 47,992 | $ | 417,785 | $ | 158,686 | $ | 17,775 | $ | 28,546 | $ | (72,415) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transfers (1): | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transfers into level 3 | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | (151,933) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Transfers out of level 3 | (210,709) | (1,074) | (170,816) | (22,054) | — | — | — | — | 7,230 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Purchases/Transfers | 1,559 | — | 3,540 | — | 479,195 | 11,441 | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from sales of assets and seizures of assets | (362,131) | — | (148,111) | (21,996) | (8,679) | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Proceeds from settlement | (9,710) | — | (9,367) | — | (22,674) | — | — | — | 5,706 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total net gains/(losses) (2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Included in net income | (43,591) | — | (41,812) | (3,942) | (98,667) | (12,076) | (3,709) | (10,027) | 20,066 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Ending Balance | $ | 5,533 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 766,960 | $ | 158,051 | $ | 14,066 | $ | 18,519 | $ | (191,346) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Change in unrealized appreciation/(depreciation) for level 3 assets/liabilities still held as of March 31, 2020 (3) | $ | (554) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | (95,655) | $ | (12,076) | $ | (3,701) | $ | (10,027) | $ | 20,066 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Transfers are assumed to occur at the beginning of the period. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company transferred 50 Non-Agency RMBS, two Non-Agency RMBS Interest Only securities, 32 CMBS, 15 CMBS Interest Only securities, and one securitized debt security into the Level 2 category from the Level 3 category under the fair value hierarchy of ASC 820. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company transferred one securitized debt security into the Level 3 category from the Level 2 category under the fair value hierarchy of ASC 820. Refer to Note 2 for more information on changes regarding the Company's leveling policy.
28
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
(2) Gains/(losses) are recorded in the following line items in the consolidated statement of operations:
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | $ | (145,817) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | 16,357 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Net realized gain/(loss) | (54,271) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | (10,027) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | (193,758) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| (3) Unrealized gains/(losses) are recorded in the following line items in the consolidated statement of operations: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | $ | (108,285) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | 16,365 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | (10,027) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | (101,947) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The following tables present a summary of quantitative information about the significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of investments for which the Company has utilized Level 3 inputs to determine fair value.
| Asset Class | Fair Value at March 31, 2021 (in thousands) | Valuation Technique | Unobservable Input | Range (Weighted Average) (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 8.56% - 8.56% (8.56%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | $ | 1,641 | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 5.28% - 5.28% (5.28%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 4.13% - 4.13% (4.13%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | -25.91% - -25.91% (-25.91%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 3.66% - 10.00% (5.36%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Mortgage Loans | $ | 480,759 | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 4.34% - 16.78% (8.12%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 0.10% - 4.90% (2.02%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | -12.85% - 25.21% (12.95%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 6,133 | Consensus Pricing | Offered Quotes | 83.57 - 109.77 (101.08) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 153,847 | Recent Transaction | Cost | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 11.22% - 42.08% (13.80%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans | $ | 58,209 | Discounted Cash Flow | Credit Spread | 1,009 bps - 3,470 bps (1,234 bps) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recovery Percentage (2) | 100.00% - 100.00% (100.00%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan-to-Value | 46.10% - 91.60% (72.31%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess Mortgage Servicing Rights | Discounted Cash Flow | Yield | 9.00% - 9.69% (9.08%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 2,931 | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 9.46% - 13.32% (10.33%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 69 | Consensus Pricing | Offered Quotes | 0.22 - 0.22 (0.22) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc | $ | 52,138 | Comparable Multiple | Book Value Multiple | 1.06x - 1.06x (1.06x) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Liability Class | Fair Value at March 31, 2021 (in thousands) | Valuation Technique | Unobservable Input | Range (Weighted Average) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 2.00% - 5.00% (2.74%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | $ | (344,429) | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 5.48% - 7.91% (6.83%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 1.67% - 3.36% (2.42%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | 8.90% - 16.31% (13.03%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Amounts are weighted based on fair value.
(2) Represents the proportion of the principal expected to be collected relative to the loan balances as of March 31, 2021.
29
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
| Asset Class | Fair Value at December 31, 2020 (in thousands) | Valuation Technique | Unobservable Input | Range (Weighted Average) (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 8.05% - 8.05% (8.05%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | $ | 1,601 | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 5.46% - 5.46% (5.46%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 5.37% - 5.37% (5.37%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | -20.89% - -20.89% (-20.89%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 1,499 | Consensus Pricing | Offered Quotes | 91.59 - 91.59 (91.59) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 4.50% - 10.00% (5.01%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Mortgage Loans | $ | 426,709 | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 4.30% - 9.31% (7.28%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 1.66% - 5.75% (2.58%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | -9.29% - 49.43% (15.68%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 6,598 | Consensus Pricing | Offered Quotes | 82.03 - 106.29 (99.96) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 10.95% - 39.54% (14.09%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans | $ | 125,508 | Discounted Cash Flow | Credit Spread | 1,001 bps - 3,304 bps (1,279 bps) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Recovery Percentage (2) | 100.00% - 100.00% (100.00%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Loan-to-Value | 43.60% - 97.50% (62.04%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess Mortgage Servicing Rights | Yield | 9.00% - 9.70% (9.08%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 3,073 | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 11.11% - 15.51% (12.49%) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| $ | 85 | Consensus Pricing | Offered Quotes | 0.25 - 0.25 (0.25) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc | $ | 45,341 | Comparable Multiple | Book Value Multiple | 1.05x - 1.05x (1.05x) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Liability Class | Fair Value at December 31, 2020 (in thousands) | Valuation Technique | Unobservable Input | Range (Weighted Average) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 2.45% - 5.50% (2.98%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Securitized debt | $ | (355,159) | Discounted Cash Flow | Projected Collateral Prepayments | 5.90% - 8.20% (7.17%) | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Losses | 1.94% - 3.46% (2.62%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Projected Collateral Severities | 12.70% - 20.03% (16.75%) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1) Amounts are weighted based on fair value.
(2) Represents the proportion of the principal expected to be collected relative to the loan balances as of December 31, 2020.
As further described above, fair value for the Company’s securities portfolio are based upon prices obtained from third-party pricing services. Broker quotations may also be used. The significant unobservable inputs used in the fair value measurement of the Company’s securities are yields, prepayment rates, probability of default, and loss severity in the event of default. Significant increases (decreases) in any of those inputs in isolation would result in a significantly lower (higher) fair value measurement. Generally, a change in the assumption used for the probability of default is accompanied by a directionally similar change in the assumption used for the loss severity and a directionally opposite change in the assumption used for prepayment rates.
Also, as described above, valuation of the Company’s loan portfolio is determined by the Manager using third-party pricing services where available, valuation analyses from third-party pricing service providers, or model-based pricing. The evaluation considers the underlying characteristics of each loan, which are observable inputs, including: coupon, maturity date, loan age, reset date, collateral type, periodic and life cap, geography, and prepayment speeds. The valuations of commercial loans also require significant judgments, which include assumptions regarding capitalization rates, re-performance rates, leasing, creditworthiness of major tenants, occupancy rates, availability of financing, exit plan, loan sponsorship, actions of other lenders, and other factors deemed necessary by management. Changes in the market environment and other events that may occur over the life of our investments may cause the gains or losses ultimately realized on these investments to be different than the valuations currently estimated. If applicable, analyses provided by valuation service providers are reviewed and considered by the Manager.
30
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
6. Financing arrangements
The following table presents a summary of the Company's financing arrangements as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands).
March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average | Collateral (1)(2)(3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carrying Value | Stated Maturity | Funding Cost | Life (Years) | Amortized Cost Basis | Fair Value | Carrying Value | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repurchase Agreements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS | $ | 874,612 | Apr 2021 | 0.14 | % | 0.04 | $ | 944,627 | $ | 915,423 | $ | 435,893 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | 8,231 | Apr 2021 | 1.84 | % | 0.03 | 10,100 | 14,751 | 14,550 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS | 18,081 | Apr 2021 | 2.29 | % | 0.02 | 35,419 | 29,439 | 24,881 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Mortgage Loans (4)(5) | 205,326 | Jun 2021 - Jan 2022 | 2.65 | % | 0.74 | 253,098 | 257,844 | 25,590 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Repurchase Agreements | $ | 1,106,250 | 0.65 | % | 0.17 | $ | 1,243,244 | $ | 1,217,457 | $ | 500,914 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revolving Facilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans (6)(7)(8) | $ | 25,950 | Aug 2023 | 3.23 | % | 2.36 | $ | 50,663 | $ | 41,489 | $ | 63,133 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Financing Arrangements | $ | 1,132,200 | 0.71 | % | 0.22 | $ | 1,293,907 | $ | 1,258,946 | $ | 564,047 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)The Company also had $6.1 million of cash pledged under repurchase agreements as of March 31, 2021.
(2)Under the terms of the Company’s financing agreements, the Company's financing counterparties may, in certain cases, sell or re-hypothecate the pledged collateral.
(3)Amounts pledged as collateral under Residential Mortgage Loans include certain of the Company's retained interests in securitizations. Refer to Note 4 for more information on the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE.
(4)The Company's Residential Mortgage Loan financing arrangements include a maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity of $250 million on a facility used to finance Non-QM Loans. Subsequent to quarter end, the Company amended this financing arrangement to increase the maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity to $400 million.
(5)The funding cost includes deferred financing costs. The stated rate on the Residential Mortgage Loans repurchase agreements was 2.58% as of March 31, 2021.
(6)The revolving facilities is interest only until maturity.
(7)The funding cost includes deferred financing costs. The stated rate on the Commercial Loans revolving facility was 2.19% as of March 31, 2021.
(8)The maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity on the commercial loan revolving facility is $100 million.
The following table presents contractual maturity information about the Company's borrowings under repurchase agreements and revolving facilities at March 31, 2021 (in thousands).
| Within 30 Days | Over 30 Days to 3 Months | Over 3 Months to 12 Months | Over 12 Months | Total | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repurchase Agreements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS | $ | 874,612 | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 874,612 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | 8,231 | — | — | — | 8,231 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS | 18,081 | — | — | — | 18,081 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Mortgage Loans | — | 28,004 | 177,322 | — | 205,326 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Repurchase Agreements | $ | 900,924 | $ | 28,004 | $ | 177,322 | $ | — | $ | 1,106,250 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Revolving Facilities | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Loans | $ | — | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 25,950 | $ | 25,950 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Total Financing Arrangements | $ | 900,924 | $ | 28,004 | $ | 177,322 | $ | 25,950 | $ | 1,132,200 | |||||||||||||||||||
Counterparties
The Company had exposure to five counterparties as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
31
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following tables present information as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 with respect to each counterparty that provides the Company with financing for which the Company had greater than 5% of its stockholders’ equity at risk, excluding stockholders’ equity at risk under financing through affiliated entities ($ in thousands).
| March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Counterparty | Stockholders’ Equity at Risk | Weighted Average Maturity (days) | Percentage of Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||||||||||||
| Barclays Capital Inc. | $ | 65,949 | 88 | 14.5 | % | |||||||||||||||
Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch | 29,000 | 54 | 6.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| BofA Securities, Inc. | 24,308 | 14 | 5.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Counterparty | Stockholders’ Equity at Risk | Weighted Average Maturity (days) | Percentage of Stockholders’ Equity | |||||||||||||||||
| BofA Securities, Inc. | $ | 28,091 | 19 | 6.9 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Credit Suisse AG, Cayman Islands Branch | 26,305 | 35 | 6.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||
| Barclays Capital Inc. | 24,890 | 15 | 6.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||
Financial Covenants
The Company’s financing arrangements generally include customary representations, warranties, and covenants, but may also contain more restrictive supplemental terms and conditions. Although specific to each financing arrangement, typical supplemental terms include requirements of minimum equity and liquidity, leverage ratios, and performance triggers. In addition, some of the financing arrangements contain cross default features, whereby default under an agreement with one lender simultaneously causes default under agreements with other lenders. To the extent that the Company fails to comply with the covenants contained in these financing arrangements or is otherwise found to be in default under the terms of such agreements, the counterparty has the right to accelerate amounts due under the associated agreement. Financings pursuant to repurchase agreements and revolving facilities are generally recourse to the Company. As of March 31, 2021, the Company is in compliance with all of its financial covenants.
7. Other assets and liabilities
The following table details certain information related to the Company's "Other assets" and "Other liabilities" line items on its consolidated balance sheet as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Other assets | ||||||||||||||
| Interest receivable | $ | 4,206 | $ | 2,962 | ||||||||||
| Other assets | 4,321 | 5,538 | ||||||||||||
| Due from broker | 395 | 907 | ||||||||||||
| Total Other assets | $ | 8,922 | $ | 9,407 | ||||||||||
| Other liabilities | ||||||||||||||
| Interest payable | $ | 776 | $ | 853 | ||||||||||
| Derivative liabilities, at fair value | — | 68 | ||||||||||||
| Due to affiliates (1) | 3,346 | 14,041 | ||||||||||||
| Accrued expenses | 2,692 | 2,521 | ||||||||||||
| Due to broker | 1,061 | 1,272 | ||||||||||||
| Total Other liabilities | $ | 7,875 | $ | 18,755 | ||||||||||
(1)Refer to Note 10 for more information.
32
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Derivatives
The following table presents the fair value of the Company's derivatives and other instruments and their balance sheet location at March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands).
| Derivatives and Other Instruments (1) | Designation | Balance Sheet Location | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pay Fix/Receive Float Interest Rate Swap Agreements (1) | Non-Hedge | Other liabilities | $ | — | $ | (68) | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1)As of March 31, 2021, the Company applied a reduction in fair value of $28.7 million and $21.7 thousand to its interest rate swap assets and liabilities, respectively, related to variation margin with a corresponding increase or decrease in restricted cash, respectively. As of December 31, 2020, the Company applied a reduction in fair value of $1.4 million and $0.2 million to its interest rate swap assets and liabilities, respectively, related to variation margin with a corresponding increase or decrease in restricted cash, respectively.
The following table summarizes information related to derivatives and other instruments (in thousands):
| Notional amount of non-hedge derivatives and other instruments: | Notional Currency | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||
| Pay Fix/Receive Float Interest Rate Swap Agreements | USD | $ | 1,108,000 | $ | 417,000 | |||||||||||||||
| Short positions on British Pound Futures (1) | GBP | — | 3,313 | |||||||||||||||||
(1)Each British Pound Future contract embodies £62,500 of notional value.
The following table summarizes gains/(losses) related to derivatives and other instruments (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Included within Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | ||||||||||||||
| Interest Rate Swaps | $ | 28,420 | $ | (11,588) | ||||||||||
| Swaptions | — | (692) | ||||||||||||
| British Pound Futures | 64 | (53) | ||||||||||||
| Euro Futures | — | 48 | ||||||||||||
| TBAs | — | 392 | ||||||||||||
| 28,484 | (11,893) | |||||||||||||
| Included within Net realized gain/(loss) | ||||||||||||||
| Interest Rate Swaps | — | (65,368) | ||||||||||||
| Swaptions | — | (1,386) | ||||||||||||
| British Pound Futures | (165) | 664 | ||||||||||||
| Euro Futures | — | 2 | ||||||||||||
| TBAs | — | 4,218 | ||||||||||||
| (165) | (61,870) | |||||||||||||
| Total income/(loss) | $ | 28,319 | $ | (73,763) | ||||||||||
Derivative and other instruments eligible for offset are presented gross on the consolidated balance sheets as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, if applicable. The Company has not offset or netted any derivatives or other instruments with any financial instruments or cash collateral posted or received.
The Company must post cash or securities as collateral on its derivative instruments when their fair value declines. This typically occurs when prevailing market rates change adversely, with the severity of the change also dependent on the term of the derivatives involved. The posting of collateral is generally bilateral, meaning that if the fair value of the Company’s derivatives increases, its counterparty will post collateral to it. As of March 31, 2021, the Company's restricted cash balance included $31.7 million of collateral related to certain derivatives, of which $3.0 million represents cash collateral posted by the Company and $28.7 million represents amounts related to variation margin. As of December 31, 2020, the Company's restricted
33
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
cash balance included $10.8 million of collateral related to certain derivatives, of which $9.7 million represents cash collateral posted by the Company and $1.1 million represents amounts related to variation margin.
Interest rate swaps
To help mitigate exposure to increases in interest rates, the Company may use currently-paying and forward-starting, one- or three-month LIBOR-indexed, pay-fixed, receive-variable, interest rate swap agreements. This arrangement hedges the Company's exposure to higher interest rates because the variable-rate payments received on the swap agreements largely offset additional interest accruing on the related borrowings due to the higher interest rate, leaving the fixed-rate payments to be paid on the swap agreements as the Company’s effective borrowing rate, subject to certain adjustments including changes in spreads between variable rates on the swap agreements and actual borrowing rates.
As of March 31, 2021, the Company’s interest rate swap positions consisted of pay-fixed interest rate swaps. The following table presents information about the Company’s interest rate swaps as of March 31, 2021 ($ in thousands):
| Maturity | Notional Amount | Weighted Average Pay-Fixed Rate | Weighted Average Receive-Variable Rate | Weighted Average Years to Maturity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | $ | 296,000 | 0.39 | % | 0.22 | % | 4.51 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2026 | 379,000 | 0.73 | % | 0.20 | % | 4.89 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2028 | 160,000 | 1.09 | % | 0.19 | % | 6.88 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2030 | 86,000 | 0.76 | % | 0.22 | % | 9.52 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2031 | 187,000 | 1.38 | % | 0.20 | % | 9.88 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total/Wtd Avg | $ | 1,108,000 | 0.80 | % | 0.20 | % | 6.28 | |||||||||||||||||||
As of December 31, 2020, the Company’s interest rate swap positions consisted of pay-fixed interest rate swaps. The following table presents information about the Company’s interest rate swaps as of December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| Maturity | Notional Amount | Weighted Average Pay-Fixed Rate | Weighted Average Receive-Variable Rate | Weighted Average Years to Maturity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025 | $ | 296,000 | 0.39 | % | 0.23 | % | 4.76 | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2026 | 20,000 | 0.45 | % | 0.24 | % | 5.01 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2030 | 86,000 | 0.76 | % | 0.23 | % | 9.77 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2031 | 15,000 | 0.95 | % | 0.24 | % | 10.01 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Total/Wtd Avg | $ | 417,000 | 0.49 | % | 0.23 | % | 5.99 | |||||||||||||||||||
TBAs
The Company did not hold any TBA positions for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The following tables present information about the Company’s TBAs for the three months ended March 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| For the Three Months Ended: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Beginning Notional Amount | Buys or Covers | Sales or Shorts | Ending Net Notional Amount | Net Fair Value as of Period End | Net Receivable/(Payable) from/to Broker | Derivative Asset | Derivative Liability | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2020 | TBAs - Long | $ | — | $ | 728,000 | $ | (728,000) | $ | — | $ | — | $ | 392 | $ | 2,740 | $ | (2,348) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
8. Earnings per share
Basic earnings per share ("EPS") is calculated by dividing net income/(loss) available to common stockholders for the period by the weighted average shares of the Company’s common stock outstanding for that period that participate in the Company’s common dividends. Diluted EPS takes into account the effect of dilutive instruments, such as stock options, warrants, unvested restricted stock and unvested restricted stock units but uses the average share price for the period in determining the number of incremental shares that are to be added to the weighted-average number of shares outstanding.
34
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
The following table presents a reconciliation of the earnings and shares used in calculating basic and diluted EPS for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 (in thousands, except per share data):
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Numerator: | ||||||||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) from Continuing Operations | $ | 43,249 | $ | (485,017) | ||||||||||
| Gain on Exchange Offers, net (Note 11) | 358 | — | ||||||||||||
| Dividends on preferred stock | (4,924) | (5,667) | ||||||||||||
| Net income/(loss) available to common stockholders | $ | 38,683 | $ | (490,684) | ||||||||||
| Denominator: | ||||||||||||||
| Basic weighted average common shares outstanding | 42,348 | 32,749 | ||||||||||||
| Diluted weighted average common shares outstanding (1) | 42,348 | 32,749 | ||||||||||||
| Earnings/(Loss) Per Share - Basic | ||||||||||||||
| Total Earnings/(Loss) Per Share of Common Stock | $ | 0.91 | $ | (14.98) | ||||||||||
| Earnings/(Loss) Per Share - Diluted | ||||||||||||||
| Total Earnings/(Loss) Per Share of Common Stock | $ | 0.91 | $ | (14.98) | ||||||||||
(1) Manager restricted stock units of 17.6 thousand were excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because its effect would be anti-dilutive for the three months ended March 31, 2020.
Restricted stock units issued to the Manager do not entitle the participant the rights of a shareholder of the Company’s common stock, such as dividend and voting rights, until shares are issued in settlement of the vested units. The restricted stock units are not considered to be participating shares. The dilutive effects of the restricted stock units are only included in diluted weighted average common shares outstanding. The Company had no unvested restricted stock units as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, respectively.
The following table details the Company's common stock dividends declared during the three months ended March 31, 2021:
| 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||
| 3/22/2021 | 4/1/2021 | 4/30/2021 | $ | 0.06 | ||||||||||||||||
The Company did not declare any common stock dividends during the three months ended March 31, 2020.
The following tables detail the Company's preferred stock dividends declared and paid during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020:
| 2021 | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | 8.25% Series A | 8.00% Series B | 8.000% Series C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2/16/2021 | 2/26/2021 | 3/17/2021 | $ | 0.51563 | $ | 0.50 | $ | 0.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | 8.25% Series A | 8.00% Series B | 8.000% Series C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2/14/2020 | 2/28/2020 | 3/17/2020 | $ | 0.51563 | $ | 0.50 | $ | 0.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
35
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
9. Income taxes
As a REIT, the Company is not subject to federal income tax to the extent that it makes qualifying distributions to its stockholders, and provided it satisfies on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, the REIT requirements including certain asset, income, distribution and stock ownership tests. Most states follow U.S. federal income tax treatment of REITs.
Excise tax represents a four percent tax on the required amount of the Company’s ordinary income and net capital gains not distributed during the year. The expense is calculated in accordance with applicable tax regulations. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company did not record any excise tax expense. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company recorded excise tax expense of $(0.8) million. The reversal of the previously accrued excise tax expense during the three months ended March 31, 2020 was a result of losses resulting from market conditions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Company files tax returns in several U.S jurisdictions. There are no ongoing U.S. federal, state or local tax examinations related to the Company.
Based on its analysis of any potential uncertain income tax positions, the Company concluded it did not have any uncertain tax positions that meet the recognition or measurement criteria of ASC 740 as of March 31, 2021. The Company’s federal income tax returns for the last three tax years are open to examination by the Internal Revenue Service. In the event that the Company incurs income tax related interest and penalties, its policy is to classify them as a component of provision for income taxes.
10. Related party transactions
Manager
The Company has entered into a management agreement with the Manager, which provided for an initial term and will be deemed renewed automatically each year for an additional one-year period, subject to certain termination rights. The Company is externally managed and advised by the Manager. Pursuant to the terms of the management agreement, which became effective July 6, 2011 (upon the consummation of the Company’s initial public offering (the "IPO")), the Manager provides the Company with its management team, including its officers, along with appropriate support personnel. Each of the Company’s officers is an employee of Angelo Gordon. The Company does not have any employees. The Manager, pursuant to a delegation agreement dated as of June 29, 2011, has delegated to Angelo Gordon the overall responsibility of its day-to-day duties and obligations arising under the Company’s management agreement. Below is a description of the fees and reimbursements provided in the management agreements.
Management fee
The Manager is entitled to a management fee equal to 1.50% per annum, calculated and paid quarterly, of the Company’s Stockholders’ Equity. For purposes of calculating the management fee, "Stockholders’ Equity" means the sum of the net proceeds from any issuances of equity securities (including preferred securities) since inception (allocated on a pro rata daily basis for such issuances during the fiscal quarter of any such issuance, and excluding any future equity issuance to the Manager), plus the Company’s retained earnings at the end of such quarter (without taking into account any non-cash equity compensation expense or other non-cash items described below incurred in current or prior periods), less any amount that the Company pays for repurchases of its common stock, excluding any unrealized gains, losses or other non-cash items that have impacted stockholders’ equity as reported in the Company’s financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP, regardless of whether such items are included in other comprehensive income or loss, or in net income, and excluding one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP, and certain other non-cash charges after discussions between the Manager and the Company’s independent directors and after approval by a majority of the Company’s independent directors. Stockholders’ Equity, for purposes of calculating the management fee, could be greater or less than the amount of stockholders’ equity shown on the Company’s financial statements.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, the Company incurred management fees of approximately $1.7 million and $2.1 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company recorded management fees payable of $1.7 million.
On April 6, 2020, the Company and the Manager executed an amendment to the management agreement pursuant to which the
36
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Manager agreed to defer the Company's payment of the management fee effective the first quarter of 2020 through September 30, 2020.
On September 24, 2020, the Company and the Manager executed another amendment (the "Second Management Agreement Amendment") to the management agreement, pursuant to which the Manager agreed to receive a portion of the deferred base management fee in shares of common stock. Pursuant to the Second Management Agreement Amendment, the Manager agreed to purchase (i) 1,215,370 shares of common stock in full satisfaction of the deferred base management fee of $3.8 million payable by the Company in respect to the first and second quarters of 2020 and (ii) 154,500 shares of common stock in satisfaction of $0.5 million of the base management fee payable by the Company in respect to the third quarter of 2020. The shares of common stock issued to the Manager were valued at $3.15 per share based on the midpoint of the estimated range of the Company’s book value per share as of August 31, 2020. The remaining third quarter 2020 management fee was paid in the normal course of business.
Termination fee
Upon the occurrence of (i) the Company’s termination of the management agreement without cause or (ii) the Manager’s termination of the management agreement upon a breach by the Company of any material term of the management agreement, the Manager will be entitled to a termination fee equal to three times the average annual management fee during the 24-month period prior to such termination, calculated as of the end of the most recently completed fiscal quarter. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, no event of termination of the management agreement had occurred.
Expense reimbursement
The Company is required to reimburse the Manager or its affiliates for operating expenses which are incurred by the Manager or its affiliates on behalf of the Company, including expenses relating to legal, accounting, due diligence and other services. The Company’s reimbursement obligation is not subject to any dollar limitation; however, the reimbursement is subject to an annual budget process which combines guidelines from the Management Agreement with oversight by the Company’s Board of Directors.
The Company reimburses the Manager or its affiliates for the Company’s allocable share of the compensation, including, without limitation, annual base salary, bonus, any related withholding taxes and employee benefits paid to (i) the Company’s chief financial officer based on the percentage of time spent on Company affairs, (ii) the Company’s general counsel based on the percentage of time spent on the Company’s affairs, and (iii) other corporate finance, tax, accounting, internal audit, legal, risk management, operations, compliance and other non-investment personnel of the Manager and its affiliates who spend all or a portion of their time managing the Company’s affairs based upon the percentage of time devoted by such personnel to the Company’s affairs. In their capacities as officers or personnel of the Manager or its affiliates, they devote such portion of their time to the Company’s affairs as is necessary to enable the Company to operate its business.
Of the $4.0 million and $0.9 million of Other operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, the Company has incurred $1.5 million and $2.0 million, respectively, representing a reimbursement of expenses. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a reimbursement payable to the Manager of $1.5 million and $1.8 million, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Manager agreed to waive its right to receive expense reimbursements of $0.8 million.
On April 6, 2020, the Company executed an amendment to the management agreement pursuant to which the Manager agreed to defer the reimbursement of expenses, effective the first quarter of 2020 through September 30, 2020. All deferred expense reimbursements were paid as of September 30, 2020.
Secured debt
On April 10, 2020, in connection with the first Forbearance Agreement, the Company issued a secured promissory note (the "Note") to the Manager evidencing a $10 million loan made by the Manager to the Company. Additionally, on April 27, 2020, in connection with the second Forbearance Agreement, the Company and the Manager entered into an amendment to the Note to reflect an additional $10 million loan by the Manager to the Company. The $10 million loan made by the Manager on April 10, 2020 was repaid in full with interest when it matured on March 31, 2021 and the $10 million loan made on April 27, 2020 was repaid in full with interest when it matured on July 27, 2020. The unpaid balance of the Note accrued interest at a rate of 6.0% per annum. Interest on the Note was payable monthly in kind through the addition of such accrued monthly interest to the
37
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
outstanding principal balance of the Note. The Note and accrued interest on the Note, when outstanding, were included within the due to affiliates amount, which is included within the "Other Liabilities" line item in the consolidated balance sheets. See Note 7 for a breakout of the "Other liabilities" line item.
Restricted stock grants
Effective on April 15, 2020 upon the approval of the Company's stockholders at its 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan provides for 2,000,000 shares of common stock to be issued. The maximum number of shares of common stock granted during a single fiscal year to any non-employee director, taken together with any cash fees paid to such non-employee director during any fiscal year, shall not exceed $300,000 in total value (calculating the value of any such awards based on the grant date fair value). As of March 31, 2021, 1,857,350 shares of common stock were available to be awarded under the Equity Incentive Plan.
Since its IPO, the Company has granted an aggregate of 105,794 and 142,650 shares of restricted common stock to its independent directors under its equity incentive plans, dated July 6, 2011 (the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans") and its 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, respectively. As of March 31, 2021, all shares of restricted common stock granted to its independent directors have vested. Further, since its IPO, the Company has issued 40,250 shares of restricted common stock and 120,000 restricted stock units to its Manager under the 2011 Equity Incentive Plans. As of July 1, 2020, all shares of restricted common stock and restricted stock units granted to its Manager have fully vested.
Director compensation
Beginning January 1, 2021, the annual base director's fee for each independent director decreased from $160,000 to $150,000, $70,000 of which is payable on a quarterly basis in cash and $80,000 of which is payable on a quarterly basis in shares of restricted common stock. The number of shares of restricted common stock to be issued each quarter to each independent director is determined based on the average of the high and low prices of the Company’s common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on the last trading day of each fiscal quarter. To the extent that any fractional shares would otherwise be issuable and payable to each independent director, a cash payment is made to each independent director in lieu of any fractional shares. All directors’ fees are paid pro rata (and restricted stock grants determined) on a quarterly basis in arrears, and shares issued are fully vested and non-forfeitable. These shares may not be sold or transferred by such director during the time of his service as an independent member of the Company’s board. As of March 31, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors consisted of four independent directors.
Pursuant to the Forbearance Agreement previously discussed, the Company, among other things, agreed to compensate its independent directors solely with common stock for the quarter ended March 31, 2020.
Investments in debt and equity of affiliates
The Company invests in credit sensitive residential assets through affiliated entities which hold an ownership interest in the assets. The Company is one investor, amongst other investors managed by affiliates of Angelo Gordon, in such entities and has applied the equity method of accounting for such investments. See Note 2 for the gross fair value of the Company's share of these investments as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and the net income/(loss) generated by these investments for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020.
The Company’s investment in AG Arc is reflected within the "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on its consolidated balance sheets. The Company has an approximate 44.6% interest in AG Arc. See Note 2 for the fair value of AG Arc as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
Arc Home may sell loans to the Company, to third parties, or to affiliates of the Manager. Arc Home may also enter into agreements with us, third parties, or affiliates of the Manager to sell rights to receive the excess servicing spread related to MSRs that it either purchases from third parties or originates. The Company, directly or through its subsidiaries, has entered into agreements with Arc Home to purchase rights to receive the excess servicing spread related to certain of Arc Home's MSRs. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, these Excess MSRs had a fair value of approximately $3.3 million and $3.5 million, respectively. See below "Transactions with affiliates" for details regarding the sale of a portion of the Company's Excess MSRs during the third quarter of 2020.
38
AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
During 2020, Arc Home began selling Non-QM Loans to a private fund under the management of Angelo Gordon. Arc Home sold Non-QM Loans with an unpaid principal balance of $76.8 million to this affiliate of the Manager during the three months ended March 31, 2021.
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, Arc Home sold Non-QM Loans with an unpaid principal balance of $57.7 million to the Company. See "Transactions with affiliates" below for details regarding sales of Non-QM Loans from Arc Home to the Company during the first quarter of 2021.
On April 3, 2020, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, restructured its financing arrangements in MATT ("Restructured Financing Arrangement"). The Restructured Financing Arrangement requires all principal and interest on the underlying assets in MATT be used to pay down principal and interest on the outstanding financing arrangement. As of April 3, 2020, the Restructured Financing Arrangement was no longer a mark-to-market facility with respect to margin calls and was non-recourse to the Company. The Restructured Financing Arrangement provided for a termination date of October 1, 2021. At the earlier of the termination date or the securitization or sale by the Company of the remaining assets subject to the Restructured Financing Arrangement, the financing counterparty (which is a non-affiliate) was entitled to 35% of the remaining equity in the assets. The Company evaluated this restructuring and concluded it was an extinguishment of debt. MATT chose to make a fair value election on this financing arrangement and the Company treated this arrangement consistently with this election.
On January 29, 2021, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, entered into an amendment with respect to its Restructured Financing Arrangement in MATT. The amendment serves to convert the existing financing to a mark-to-market facility that is recourse to the Company and the private funds managed by Angelo Gordon that invest in MATT up to the below mentioned commitment from MATH to MATT. Upon amending the agreement, the Company settled the premium recapture fee with the financing counterparty.
On January 29, 2021, the Company alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, entered into an amendment to the MATH LLC Agreement, which requires MATH to fund a capital commitment of $50.0 million to MATT. The Company, through its investment in MATH, is responsible for its pro-rata share of the capital commitment. Refer to Note 12 for additional information.
The Company's investment in LOTS require it to fund various commitments in connection with the origination of Land Related Financing. Refer to Note 12 for additional information. The Company has an approximate 47.5% and 50% interest in LOTS I and LOTS II, respectively.
Transactions with affiliates
In connection with the Company’s investments in residential mortgage loans, residential mortgage loans in securitized form which are issued by an entity in which the Company holds an equity interest in and which are held alongside other private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon (the "Re/Non-Performing Loans") and Non-QM Loans, the Company engages asset managers to provide advisory, consultation, asset management and other services. Beginning in November 2015, the Company also engaged Red Creek Asset Management LLC ("Asset Manager"), a related party of the Manager and direct subsidiary of Angelo Gordon, as the asset manager for certain of its Re/Non-Performing Loans. Beginning in September 2019, the Company engaged the Asset Manager as the asset manager for its Non-QM Loans. The Company pays the Asset Manager separate arm’s-length asset management fees as assessed and confirmed periodically by a third-party valuation firm for its Re/Non-Performing Loans and Non-QM Loans. In the third quarter of 2019, the third-party assessment of asset management fees resulted in the Company updating the fee amount for its Re/Non-Performing Loans. The Company also utilized the third-party valuation firm to establish the fee level for Non-QM Loans in the third quarter of 2019. The fees paid by the Company to the Asset Manager totaled $0.6 million and $0.3 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company deferred $0.1 million of fees owed to the Asset Manager, which were subsequently paid on September 30, 2020. These fees include amounts paid directly by the Company and amounts paid by trustees in securitizations that the Company owns residual interests.
In connection with the Company’s investments in Excess MSRs purchased through Arc Home, the Company pays an administrative fee to Arc Home. The administrative fees paid by the Company to Arc Home totaled $11.1 thousand and $0.1 million for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
In February 2020, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, participated through its unconsolidated ownership interest in MATT in a rated Non-QM Loan securitization, in which Non-QM Loans with a fair value
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
of $348.2 million were securitized. Certain senior tranches in the securitization were sold to third parties with the Company and private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon retaining the subordinate tranches, which had a fair value of $26.6 million as of March 31, 2020. The Company has a 44.6% interest in the retained subordinate tranches.
In July 2020, in accordance with the Company’s Affiliated Transactions Policy, the Company sold certain real estate securities to an affiliate of the Manager (the "July 2020 Acquiring Affiliate"). As of the date of the transaction, the real estate securities sold to the July 2020 Acquiring Affiliate had a total fair value of $1.9 million. The July 2020 Acquiring Affiliate purchased the real estate securities by submitting an offer to purchase the securities from the Company in a competitive bidding process. This allowed the Company to confirm third-party market pricing and best execution.
In August 2020, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, participated through its unconsolidated ownership interest in MATT in a rated Non-QM Loan securitization, in which Non-QM Loans with a fair value of $226.0 million were securitized. Certain senior tranches in the securitization were sold to third parties with the Company and private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon retaining the subordinate tranches, which had a fair value of $24.3 million as of September 30, 2020. The Company has a 44.6% interest in the retained subordinate tranches.
In August 2020, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, sold its Ginnie Mae Excess MSR portfolio to Arc Home for total proceeds of $18.9 million. The portfolio had a total unpaid principal balance of $3.5 billion. The Company's share of the total proceeds approximated $8.5 million, representing its approximate 45% ownership interest. Arc Home subsequently sold its Ginnie Mae MSR portfolio to a third party.
In October 2020, in accordance with the Company’s Affiliated Transactions Policy, the Company acquired certain real estate securities and Excess MSRs from an affiliate of the Manager (the "October 2020 Selling Affiliate"). As of the date of the transaction, the real estate securities and Excess MSRs acquired from the October 2020 Selling Affiliate had a total fair value of $0.5 million and $20.0 thousand, respectively. As procuring market bids for the real estate securities was determined to be impracticable in the Manager’s reasonable judgment, appropriate pricing was based on a valuation prepared by third-party pricing vendors. The third-party pricing vendors allowed the Company to confirm third-party market pricing and best execution.
During the first quarter of 2021, the Company purchased Non-QM Loans from Arc Home with an underlying unpaid principal balance and fair value of $57.7 million and $59.2 million, respectively.
In March 2021, in accordance with the Company’s Affiliated Transactions Policy, the Company sold certain real estate securities to an affiliate of the Manager (the "March 2021 Acquiring Affiliate"). As of the date of the transaction, the real estate securities sold to the March 2021 Acquiring Affiliate had a total fair value of $6.9 million. The March 2021 Acquiring Affiliate purchased the real estate securities by submitting an offer to purchase the securities from the Company in a competitive bidding process. This allowed the Company to confirm third-party market pricing and best execution.
11. Equity
Stock repurchase programs
On November 3, 2015, the Company’s Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program ("Repurchase Program") to repurchase up to $25.0 million of the Company's outstanding common stock. Such authorization does not have an expiration date. As part of the Repurchase Program, shares may be purchased in open market transactions, 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 Exchange Act. Open market repurchases will be made in accordance with Exchange Act Rule 10b-18, which sets certain restrictions on the method, timing, price and volume of open market stock repurchases. Subject to applicable securities laws, the timing, manner, price and amount of any repurchases of common stock under the Repurchase Program may be determined by the Company in its discretion, using available cash resources. Shares of common stock repurchased by the Company under the Repurchase Program, if any, will be cancelled and, until reissued by the Company, will be deemed to be authorized but unissued shares of its common stock as required by Maryland law. The Repurchase Program may be suspended or discontinued by the Company at any time and without prior notice and the authorization does not obligate the Company to acquire any particular amount of common stock. The cost of the acquisition by the Company of shares of its own stock in excess of the aggregate par value of the shares first reduces additional paid-in capital, to the extent available, with any residual cost applied against retained earnings. No shares were repurchased under the Repurchase Program during the three months
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
ended March 31, 2021 and 2020 and approximately $14.6 million of common stock remained authorized for future share repurchases under the Repurchase Program.
On February 22, 2021, the Company's Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program (the "Preferred Repurchase Program") pursuant to which the Company's Board of Directors granted a repurchase authorization to acquire shares of its 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, its 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, and its 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock having an aggregate value of up to $20 million. No shares were repurchased under the Repurchase Program during the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Equity distribution agreements
On May 5, 2017, the Company entered into an equity distribution agreement with each of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and JMP Securities LLC (collectively, the "Sales Agents"), which the Company refers to as the "Equity Distribution Agreements," pursuant to which the Company may sell up to $100.0 million aggregate offering price of shares of its common stock from time to time through the Sales Agents under the Securities Act of 1933. The Equity Distribution Agreements were amended on May 22, 2018 in conjunction with the filing of the Company’s 2018 Registration Statement, described below. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the Company issued 2.2 million shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements for net proceeds of approximately $10.0 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the Company did not issue any shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements. Since inception of the program, the Company has issued approximately 5.8 million shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements for gross proceeds of $45.0 million.
Shelf registration statement
On May 2, 2018, the Company filed a shelf registration statement, registering up to $750.0 million of its securities, including capital stock (the "2018 Registration Statement"). The 2018 Registration Statement became effective on May 18, 2018 and will expire on May 18, 2021.
Preferred stock
The Company’s Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock have no stated maturity and are not subject to any sinking fund or mandatory redemption. Under certain circumstances upon a change of control, the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock are convertible to shares of the Company’s common stock. Holders of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock have no voting rights, except under limited conditions, and holders are entitled to receive cumulative cash dividends at the respective stated rate per annum before holders of the common stock are entitled to receive any cash dividends. The dividend rate of the Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock is 8.25% and 8.00% per annum, respectively, of the $25.00 per share liquidation preference. The initial dividend rate for the Series C Preferred Stock, from and including the date of original issue to, but not including, September 17, 2024, is 8.000% per annum of the $25.00 per share liquidation preference. On and after September 17, 2024, dividends on the Series C Preferred Stock will accumulate at a percentage of the $25.00 liquidation preference equal to an annual floating rate of the then three-month LIBOR plus a spread of 6.476% per annum. Shares of the Company’s Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock are currently redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accumulated and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company’s option. Shares of the Company's Series C Preferred Stock are redeemable at $25.00 per share plus accumulated and unpaid dividends (whether or not declared) exclusively at the Company’s option commencing on September 17, 2024, or earlier under certain circumstances intended to preserve its qualification as a REIT for Federal income tax purposes. Dividends are payable quarterly in arrears on the 17th day of each March, June, September and December. The Company's Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock generally do not have any voting rights, subject to an exception in the event the Company fails to pay dividends on such stock for six or more quarterly periods (whether or not consecutive). Under such circumstances, holders of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock voting together as a single class with the holders of all other classes or series of its preferred stock upon which like voting rights have been conferred and are exercisable and which are entitled to vote as a class with the Company's Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock will be entitled to vote to elect two additional directors to the Company’s Board of Directors until all unpaid dividends have been paid or declared and set apart for payment. In addition, certain material and adverse changes to the terms of any series of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock cannot be made without the affirmative vote of holders of at least two-thirds of the outstanding shares of the series of the Company's Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock whose terms are being changed.
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
Dividends
On March 27, 2020, the Company announced that its Board of Directors approved a suspension of the Company's quarterly dividends on its 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, and 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, beginning with the preferred dividend that would have been declared in May 2020, in order to conserve capital and improve its liquidity position during the market volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic as well as a suspension of the quarterly dividend on the common stock, beginning with the dividend that normally would have been declared in March 2020. Under the terms of the Company's charter governing its series of preferred stock, the Company cannot pay cash dividends with respect to its common stock if dividends on its preferred stock are in arrears.
On December 17, 2020, the Company paid its Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock dividends that were in arrears as well as the full dividends payable on the preferred stock for the fourth quarter of 2020 in the amount of $1.54689, $1.50, and $1.50 per share, respectively. On December 22, 2020, the Company's Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.03 per common share for the fourth quarter 2020 which was paid on January 29, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 31, 2020. During the first quarter of 2021, the Company declared its preferred and common dividends in ordinary course. Refer to Note 8 for more information on dividends declared during the period.
Exchange offers
On August 14, 2020, the Company announced the commencement of an offer to exchange newly issued shares of common stock for up to 250,470 shares of its Series A Preferred Stock, up to 556,600 shares of its Series B Preferred Stock, and up to 556,600 shares of its Series C Preferred Stock. This offer had an expiration date of September 11, 2020. Based on the final count provided by the Exchange Agent, American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, LLC, a total of 42,820 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 31,085 Series B Preferred Stock and 29,355 Series C Preferred Stock were validly tendered and not properly withdrawn prior to the expiration of the offer. The Company accepted all such 103,260 validly tendered shares of preferred stock, and issued in exchange a total of 516,300 shares of common stock in reliance upon the exemption from registration provided under Section 3(a)(9) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.
On September 30, 2020, the Company agreed to issue an aggregate of 3,679,634 shares of its common stock and agreed to pay aggregate cash consideration of $6.3 million in exchange for 210,662 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 404,187 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, and 427,467 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, pursuant to a privately negotiated exchange agreement with existing holders of the preferred stock. After the transaction closed, the Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock exchanged pursuant to the exchange agreement were reclassified as authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock without designation as to class or series.
On October 2, 2020, the Company agreed to issue an aggregate of 900,000 shares of its common stock and agreed to pay aggregate cash consideration of $1.7 million in exchange for 260,000 shares of Series C Preferred Stock, pursuant to a privately negotiated exchange agreement with existing holders of the Series C Preferred Stock. After the transaction closed, the Series C Preferred Stock exchanged pursuant to the exchange agreement were reclassified as authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock without designation as to class or series.
On March 17, 2021, the Company agreed to issue an aggregate of 2,812,388 shares of its common stock in exchange for 153,325 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 350,609 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, pursuant to a privately negotiated exchange agreement with existing holders of the preferred stock. After the transaction closed, the Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock exchanged pursuant to the exchange agreement were reclassified as authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock without designation as to class or series.
As of March 31, 2021, the Company had outstanding 1,663,193 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 3,814,119 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, and 3,883,178 shares of Series C Preferred Stock.
Common stock issuance to the Manager
On September 24, 2020, the Company issued (i) 1,215,370 shares of common stock to the Manager in full satisfaction of the deferred base management fee of $3.8 million payable by the Company in respect to the first and second quarters of 2020 and (ii) 154,500 shares of common stock in satisfaction of $0.5 million of the base management fee payable by the Company in respect to the third quarter of 2020. The shares of Common Stock issued to the Manager were valued at $3.15 per share based
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AG Mortgage Investment Trust Inc. and Subsidiaries
Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (Unaudited)
March 31, 2021
on the midpoint of the estimated range of the Company’s book value per share as of August 31, 2020. The remaining third quarter management fee was paid in the normal course of business. Refer to Note 10 for more information on this transaction.
12. Commitments and Contingencies
From time to time, the Company may become involved in various claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. As of March 31, 2021, other than as set forth below, the Company was not involved in any material legal proceedings.
On March 25, 2020, certain of the Company's subsidiaries filed a suit in federal district court in New York seeking to enjoin Royal Bank of Canada and one of its affiliates ("RBC") from selling certain assets that the Company had on repo with RBC and seeking damages (AG MIT CMO et al. v. RBC (Barbados) Trading Corp. et al., 20-cv-2547, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York). On March 31, 2020, the Company withdrew, as moot, its request for injunctive relief in the complaint based on the court's ruling on March 25, 2020 relating to the sale at issue. As previously disclosed in a Form 8-K filed with the SEC on June 2, 2020, the Company entered into a settlement agreement with RBC on May 28, 2020, pursuant to which the Company and RBC mutually released each other from further claims related to the repurchase agreements at issue. As part of the settlement, and to resolve all claims by either party under the repurchase agreements, the Company paid RBC $5.0 million in cash and issued to RBC a secured promissory note in the principal amount of $2.0 million. On June 11, 2020, the Company repaid the secured promissory note due to RBC in full. The Company recognized this settlement in the "Net realized gain/(loss)" line item on the consolidated statement of operations in the second quarter of 2020. As a result, the Company has satisfied all of its payment obligations to RBC under the settlement agreement and promissory note, and, as previously reported, the federal lawsuit has been voluntarily dismissed with prejudice.
For the year ended December 31, 2020, the Company recorded a loss of $11.6 million related to deficiencies asserted by other counterparties. The Company recognized these losses in the "Net realized gain/(loss)" line item on the consolidated statement of operations. As of August 2020, MITT resolved and settled all deficiency claims with lenders.
The below table details the Company's outstanding commitments as of March 31, 2021 (in thousands):
| Commitment type | Date of Commitment | Total Commitment | Funded Commitment | Remaining Commitment | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial loan K (a) | February 22, 2019 | $ | 20,000 | $ | 17,220 | $ | 2,780 | |||||||||||||||||||
| LOTS (b) | Various | 32,345 | 20,604 | 11,741 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATH (b) | January 29, 2021 | 22,295 | — | 22,295 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 74,640 | $ | 37,824 | $ | 36,816 | ||||||||||||||||||||
(a)The Company entered into commitments on commercial loans relating to construction projects. See Note 4 for further details.
(b)Refer to Note 10 "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" for more information regarding LOTS and MATH.
13. Subsequent Events
Subsequent to quarter end, the Company purchased $154.2 million of Non-QM Loans, inclusive of $47.3 million which were purchased from Arc Home. The Company also amended or entered into financing arrangements to increase the maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity to finance Non-QM Loans to $800 million.
On April 20, 2021, in accordance with the Company’s Affiliated Transactions Policy, the Company sold certain CMBS to an affiliate of the Manager. As of the date of the transaction, the real estate securities sold to the affiliate had a total fair value of $16.8 million.
On May 5, 2021, the Company, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, participated through its unconsolidated ownership interest in MATT in a rated Non-QM Loan securitization, in which Non-QM Loans with a fair value of $171.4 million were securitized. Certain senior tranches in the securitization were sold to third parties with the Company and private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon retaining the subordinate tranches. Subsequent to this transaction, MATT had securitized all Non-QM Loans previously acquired and its remaining portfolio consisted of the subordinate tranches retained from this securitization and past securitizations. During the current year, the Company has begun acquiring Non-QM Loans directly which are recorded in the "Residential mortgage loans, at fair value" line item on the consolidated balance sheets.
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ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
In this quarterly report on Form 10-Q, or this "report," we refer to AG Mortgage Investment Trust, Inc. as "we," "us," the "Company," or "our," unless we specifically state otherwise or the context indicates otherwise. We refer to our external manager, AG REIT Management, LLC, as our "Manager," and we refer to the direct parent company of our Manager, Angelo, Gordon & Co., L.P., as "Angelo Gordon."
The following discussion should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes to our consolidated financial statements, which are included in Item 1 of this report, as well as the information contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020, and any subsequent filings.
Forward-Looking Statements
We make forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"), in this report that are subject to substantial known and unknown risks and uncertainties. These forward-looking statements include information about possible or assumed future results of our business, financial condition, liquidity, returns, results of operations, plans, yields, objectives, the composition of our portfolio, actions by governmental entities, including the Federal Reserve, and the potential effects of actual and proposed legislation on us, and our views on certain macroeconomic trends, and the impact of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19"). When we use the words "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "estimate," "plan," "continue," "intend," "should," "may" or similar expressions, we intend to identify forward-looking statements.
These forward-looking statements are based upon information presently available to our management and are inherently subjective, uncertain and subject to change. There can be no assurance that actual results will not differ materially from our expectations. Some, but not all, of the factors that might cause such a difference include, without limitation:
•the uncertainty and economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and of responsive measures implemented by various governmental authorities, businesses and other third parties;
•changes in our business and investment strategy;
•our ability to predict and control costs;
•changes in interest rates and the fair value of our assets, including negative changes resulting in margin calls relating to the financing of our assets;
•changes in the yield curve;
•changes in prepayment rates on the loans we own or that underlie our investment securities;
•increased rates of default or delinquencies and/or decreased recovery rates on our assets;
•our ability to obtain and maintain financing arrangements on terms favorable to us or at all;
•changes in general economic conditions, in our industry and in the finance and real estate markets, including the impact on the value of our assets;
•conditions in the market for Residential Investments, Agency RMBS, and Commercial Investments;
•legislative and regulatory actions by the U.S. Congress, U.S. Department of the Treasury, the Federal Reserve and other agencies and instrumentalities in response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic;
•the forbearance program included in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the "CARES Act");
•our ability to make distributions to our stockholders in the future;
•our ability to maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal tax purposes; and
•our ability to qualify for an exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
We caution investors not to rely unduly on any forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date made, and urge you to carefully consider the risks noted above and identified under the captions "Risk Factors," and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and any subsequent filings. 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. All forward-looking statements that we make, or that are attributable to us, are expressly qualified by this cautionary notice.
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Special Note Regarding COVID-19 Pandemic
On March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared the outbreak of the novel coronavirus ("COVID-19") a pandemic. On March 13, 2020, the U.S. declared a national emergency concerning the COVID-19 pandemic, and several states and municipalities have subsequently declared public health emergencies. These conditions have caused, and may continue to cause, a significant disruption in the U.S. and world economies.
Beginning in mid-March 2020, the global pandemic associated with COVID-19 and related economic conditions caused financial and mortgage-related asset markets to come under extreme duress, resulting in credit spread widening, a sharp decrease in interest rates and unprecedented illiquidity in repurchase agreement financing and MBS markets. The illiquidity was exacerbated by inadequate demand for MBS among primary dealers due to balance sheet constraints. These events, in turn, resulted in falling prices of our assets and increased margin calls from our repurchase agreement counterparties. To conserve capital, protect assets and to pause the escalating negative impacts caused by the market dislocation and allow the markets for many of our assets to stabilize, in April 2020, we entered into forbearance agreements with our repurchase agreement counterparties, which we subsequently exited on June 10, 2020 pursuant to a reinstatement agreement. These agreements are detailed in the "Financing activities–Forbearance and Reinstatement Agreements" section below.
In an effort to manage our portfolio through this unprecedented turmoil in the financial markets, to improve liquidity, and preserve capital, we reduced the size of our investment portfolio on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis by $2.9 billion and $3.0 billion, respectively, during 2020 through sales, either directly or as a result of financing counterparty seizures. During 2020, we also reduced our corresponding financing arrangement balance on a GAAP and non-GAAP basis by $2.7 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. In doing so, we recognized a significant amount of realized and unrealized losses which were due directly to the disruptions of the financial markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
We do not yet know the full extent of the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on our business, operations, personnel, or the U.S. economy as a whole. We cannot predict future developments, including the scope and duration of the pandemic, the effectiveness of our work from home arrangements, third-party providers' ability to support our operations, the nature and effect of any actions taken by governmental authorities and other third parties in response to the pandemic, and the other factors discussed throughout this report. Future developments with respect to the COVID-19 pandemic and the actions taken to reduce its spread could continue to materially and adversely affect our business, operations, operating results, financial condition, liquidity or capital levels.
Executive Summary
During the first quarter of 2021, we focused our efforts on continuing to grow our diversified risk-adjusted portfolio of Residential Credit Investments and Agency RMBS. In doing so, our primary focus is to invest in residential mortgage loans with the intent to securitize these assets as market conditions permit. During the quarter, we continued to grow the Non-QM Loans composition of our investment portfolio by purchasing loans from third parties as well as Arc Home. We also continued to invest in Agency RMBS while reallocating capital from our Commercial Investments and Non-Agency RMBS portfolios into the residential mortgage market. The information presented below provides a summary of investment and capital activity during the current quarter:
Investment Activity
•Purchased $208.5 million of Non-QM Loans, $59.2 million of which were purchased from Arc Home, a licensed mortgage originator we invest in alongside other Angelo Gordon funds;
◦During the quarter we amended certain financing arrangements to include a maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity to finance the acquisition of Non-QM Loans;
◦Subsequent to quarter end, we purchased an additional $154.2 million of Non-QM Loans, inclusive of $47.3 million which were purchased from Arc Home, while also increasing our maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity under certain financing arrangements to support our continued growth within the Non-QM Loan market;
•Purchased 30 Year Fixed Rate positions, increasing our Agency RMBS portfolio to $915.4 million;
•Sold two commercial real estate loans for total proceeds of $74.3 million, releasing unfunded commitments of approximately $28.8 million as of December 31, 2020; and
•Sold several Non-Agency RMBS and CMBS positions for total proceeds of $40.4 million.
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Capital Activity
•Utilized our ATM program to issue 2.2 million shares of common stock, raising net proceeds of approximately $10.0 million; and
•Entered into a privately negotiated exchange offer with existing holders of the preferred stock, issuing 2.8 million shares of common stock in exchange for 0.5 million shares of preferred stock.
Our company
We are a hybrid mortgage REIT that opportunistically invests in a diversified risk adjusted portfolio of Credit Investments and Agency RMBS. Our Credit Investments include Residential Investments and Commercial Investments. We are a Maryland corporation and are externally managed by our Manager, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Angelo Gordon, pursuant to a management agreement. Our Manager, pursuant to a delegation agreement dated as of June 29, 2011, has delegated to Angelo Gordon the overall responsibility of its day-to-day duties and obligations arising under the management agreement. We conduct our operations to qualify and be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT"), for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Accordingly, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income that we distribute currently to our stockholders as long as we maintain our intended qualification as a REIT, with the exception of our domestic taxable REIT subsidiaries ("TRS"). We also operate our business in a manner that permits us to maintain our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, or the Investment Company Act.
Our investment portfolio
Our investment portfolio is comprised of our Credit Investments and Agency RMBS. Our Credit Investments include Residential Investments and Commercial Investments. These investments are described in more detail below.
Credit Investments
Residential Investments
Our Residential Investments include:
•Non-QM Loans, which include:
◦Residential mortgage loans that do not qualify for the Consumer Finance Protection Bureau's (the "CFPB") safe harbor provision for "qualifying mortgages," or "QM." When held directly, these investments are included in the "Residential mortgage loans, at fair value" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
◦Non-QM Loans held alongside other private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon are held in one of our unconsolidated subsidiaries, Mortgage Acquisition Trust I LLC ("MATT") (see the "Contractual obligations" section below for more detail). These investments are included in the "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
◦Non-QM Loans in securitized form that are issued by MATT. The securitizations typically take the form of various classes of notes. These investments are included in the "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
•Re/Non-Performing Loans, which include:
◦RPLs or NPLs in securitized form issued by an entity in which we own an equity interest and that we hold alongside other private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon. The securitizations typically take the form of equity and various classes of notes. These investments are included in the "RMBS" and "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line items on our consolidated balance sheets.
◦RPLs or NPLs we hold through interests in certain consolidated trusts. These investments are secured by residential real property, including prime, Alt-A, and subprime mortgage loans, and are included in the "Residential mortgage loans, at fair value" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
•Land Related Financing includes first mortgage loans we originate to third-party land developers and home builders for purposes of the acquisition and horizontal development of land. These loans may be held through our unconsolidated subsidiaries. These loans are included in the "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
The Residential Investments that we own also include residential mortgage-backed securities ("RMBS") that are not issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae or a GSE. We collectively refer to these investments as our Non-Agency RMBS. The mortgage loan
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collateral for residential Non-Agency RMBS consists of residential mortgage loans that do not generally conform to underwriting guidelines issued by U.S. government agencies or U.S. government-sponsored entities. Our Non-Agency RMBS include investment grade and non-investment grade fixed and floating-rate securities.
Commercial Investments
Our Commercial Investments include:
•Fixed and floating rate commercial mortgage-backed securities ("CMBS") secured by commercial mortgage loans to multiple borrowers ("Conduit") or secured by a single commercial mortgage loan which is backed by a single asset (usually a large commercial property) or by a pool of cross collateralized mortgage obligations to a single borrower or related borrowers ("Single-Asset/Single-Borrower");
•Interest Only securities (CMBS backed by interest-only strips);
•Commercial real estate loans secured by commercial real property, including first mortgages and mezzanine loans for construction or redevelopment of a property; and
•CMBS, Interest-Only securities and CMBS principal-only securities which are regularly-issued by Freddie Mac as structured pass-through securities backed by multifamily mortgage loans ("Freddie Mac K-Series" or "K-Series").
Agency RMBS
Our investment portfolio includes RMBS. Certain of the assets in our RMBS portfolio have a guarantee of principal and interest by a U.S. government agency such as the Government National Mortgage Association, or Ginnie Mae, or by a government-sponsored entity such as the Federal National Mortgage Association, or Fannie Mae, or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation, or Freddie Mac (each, a "GSE"). We refer to these securities as Agency RMBS ("Agency RMBS"). Our Agency RMBS includes fixed rate securities held as mortgage pass-through securities, as well as excess mortgage servicing rights ("Excess MSRs"). Excess MSRs are interests in mortgage servicing rights ("MSR"), representing a portion of the interest payment collected from a pool of mortgage loans, net of a basic servicing fee paid to the mortgage servicer. An MSR provides a mortgage servicer with the right to service a mortgage loan or a pool of mortgages in exchange for a portion of the interest payments made on the mortgage or the underlying mortgages.
Investment classification
Throughout this report, (1) we use the terms "credit portfolio" and "credit investments" to refer to our Residential Investments and Commercial Investments, inclusive of investments held within affiliated entities but exclusive of AG Arc (discussed below); (2) we refer to our Re/Non-Performing Loans (exclusive of our RPLs or NPLs in securitized form), Non-QM Loans (exclusive of those in securitized form), Land Related Financing, and commercial real estate loans, collectively, as our "loans" (3) we use the term "credit securities" to refer to our credit portfolio, excluding loans; and (4) we use the term "real estate securities" or "securities" to refer to our Agency RMBS portfolio, exclusive of Excess MSRs, and our credit securities. Our "investment portfolio" refers to our combined Agency RMBS portfolio and credit portfolio and encompasses all of the investments described above.
We also use the term "GAAP investment portfolio" which consists of (i) our Agency RMBS, exclusive of (x) to-be-announced securities ("TBAs"), if any, and (y) any investment classified as "Other assets" on our consolidated balance sheets (our "GAAP Agency RMBS portfolio"), and (ii) our credit portfolio, exclusive of (x) all investments held within affiliated entities and (y) any investments classified as "Other assets" on our consolidated balance sheets (our "GAAP credit portfolio"). See Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements" for a discussion of our investments held within affiliated entities. For a reconciliation of our investment portfolio to our GAAP investment portfolio, see the GAAP Investment Portfolio Reconciliation Table below.
This presentation of our investment portfolio is consistent with how our management evaluates our business, and we believe this presentation, when considered with the GAAP presentation, provides supplemental information useful for investors in evaluating our investment portfolio and financial condition.
Arc Home LLC
We, alongside private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon, through AG Arc LLC, one of our indirect subsidiaries ("AG Arc"), formed Arc Home LLC ("Arc Home"). Arc Home originates conforming, Government, Jumbo, Non-QM, and other non-conforming residential mortgage loans and retains the mortgage servicing rights associated with the loans that it originates. From time to time, Arc Home may sell originated loans to us or other private funds under the management of
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Angelo Gordon. See Note 10 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for additional financial information regarding transactions with affiliates.
Market conditions
During the first quarter of 2021, the financial markets generally continued their recovery from the unprecedented dislocation caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the resulting economic shutdown across much of the U.S. economy. We believe several factors have contributed to the momentum of the ongoing rise in risk asset prices, most notably positive vaccine and reopening related news, demand for fixed income assets, and improving economic data. The Federal Reserve has also consistently signaled that it intends to maintain low interest rates for the foreseeable future. At the end of 2020, home price indices pointed to an annual increase of over 10% for national home prices, and in its first reading of 2021, the Case-Shiller index rose to over 11%. We expect that the mortgage and consumer sectors will continue to benefit from the unemployment support and stimulus disbursements, which were included in the Bipartisan-Bicameral Omnibus COVID Relief Deal bill, which was passed by Congress in December 2020.
Non-QM Whole Loans and Securitizations: In the first quarter of 2021, there were Non-QM Loan transactions totaling approximately $1.2 billion. In addition to offers from established sellers, the market saw its first widely syndicated sale of called collateral from a seasoned Non-QM securitization. We expect sale volumes to continue at this pace throughout the year even as rate increases lower overall mortgage origination volumes. In general, the price of residential whole loans continued to increase throughout the quarter as aggregators accounted for the decreased cost of funds in securitization, new government stimulus packages, and the demand for Non-QM assets remains outsized compared to originators ability to reach pre-COVID volumes.
Agency RMBS: Agency RMBS experienced some volatility during the first quarter as 10-year U.S. Treasury rates increased by 82 basis points. With the move in higher rates and the market’s expectation of slowing prepayment speeds, specified pool payups came under pressure during the quarter, resulting in better performance in the TBA market. Overall, strong bank demand and steady buying by the Federal Reserve continue to be broadly supportive of the sector.
Non-Agency RMBS: Overall, the factors discussed above contributed to increasingly tighter spreads over the course of the quarter, particularly with regard to the lower tranches of credit-related assets. Assets with more credit risk, which are generally those with the widest spreads, outperformed during the quarter. New-issue volume was notably stronger compared to the fourth quarter of 2020. The supply was well-absorbed by the market as offerings were often oversubscribed, particularly to start the year. Compared to the prior quarter, RMBS new issues grew 38% to nearly $30 billion.
CMBS: A continued recovery in the CMBS market was experienced in the first quarter of 2021. In addition to the factors that typically push CMBS spreads tighter, such as the need to invest newly allocated capital amounts into the market, we believe overall market dynamics in the first quarter were supplemented by a few additional considerations. One factor being that the recovery of CMBS has tended to lag other product types. Additionally, with the vaccination rollout picking up momentum, property valuation uncertainty has been mitigated to some degree. Finally, given a limited amount of maturities in 2021, issuance volumes are expected to remain below historical levels.
The overall CMBS delinquency rate continues to trend lower with March becoming the 9th consecutive month of improved loan performance. Not surprisingly the hardest hit sectors in 2020, which included hotel and retail, led the recovery during the current quarter and, in our opinion, the greatest area of uncertainly in the commercial real estate markets relates to the office sector and the long-term impacts of more remote or home working options for employees.
In light of various market uncertainties, in particular the pervasive uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic for the U.S. and global economy, there can be no assurance that the trends and conditions described above will not change in a manner materially adverse to the mortgage REIT industry and/or our Company.
Results of Operations
Our operating results can be affected by a number of factors and primarily depend on the size and composition of our investment portfolio, the level of our net interest income, the fair value of our assets and the supply of, and demand for, our investments in residential mortgages in the marketplace, among other things, which can be impacted by unanticipated credit events, such as defaults, liquidations or delinquencies, experienced by borrowers whose mortgage loans are included in our investment portfolio and other unanticipated events in our markets. Our primary source of net income or loss available to common stockholders is our net interest income, less our cost of hedging, which represents the difference between the interest
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earned on our investment portfolio and the costs of financing and economic hedges in place on our investment portfolio, as well as any income or losses from our equity investments in affiliates.
Three Months Ended March 31, 2021 compared to the Three Months Ended March 31, 2020
The table below presents certain information from our consolidated statements of operations for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | Increase/(Decrease) | ||||||||||||||||||
| Statement of Operations Data: | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Net Interest Income | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest income | $ | 12,119 | $ | 40,268 | $ | (28,149) | ||||||||||||||
| Interest expense | 4,061 | 19,971 | (15,910) | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Net Interest Income | 8,058 | 20,297 | (12,239) | |||||||||||||||||
| Other Income/(Loss) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Net realized gain/(loss) | (4,038) | (151,143) | 147,105 | |||||||||||||||||
| Net interest component of interest rate swaps | (741) | 923 | (1,664) | |||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net | (6,658) | (313,897) | 307,239 | |||||||||||||||||
| Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net | 26,507 | 5,686 | 20,821 | |||||||||||||||||
| Foreign currency gain/(loss), net | 14 | 1,649 | (1,635) | |||||||||||||||||
| Other income | 23 | 3 | 20 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Other Income/(Loss) | 15,107 | (456,779) | 471,886 | |||||||||||||||||
| Expenses | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Management fee to affiliate | 1,654 | 2,149 | (495) | |||||||||||||||||
| Other operating expenses | 3,983 | 930 | 3,053 | |||||||||||||||||
| Restructuring related expenses | — | 1,500 | (1,500) | |||||||||||||||||
| Excise tax | — | (815) | 815 | |||||||||||||||||
| Servicing fees | 615 | 579 | 36 | |||||||||||||||||
| Total Expenses | 6,252 | 4,343 | 1,909 | |||||||||||||||||
| Income/(loss) before equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 16,913 | (440,825) | 457,738 | |||||||||||||||||
| Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | 26,336 | (44,192) | 70,528 | |||||||||||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) | 43,249 | (485,017) | 528,266 | |||||||||||||||||
| Gain on Exchange Offers, net | 358 | — | 358 | |||||||||||||||||
| Dividends on preferred stock | (4,924) | (5,667) | 743 | |||||||||||||||||
| Net Income/(Loss) Available to Common Stockholders | $ | 38,683 | $ | (490,684) | $ | 529,367 | ||||||||||||||
Interest income
Interest income is calculated using the effective interest method for our GAAP investment portfolio and calculated based on the actual coupon rate.
Interest income decreased from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021 primarily due to a decrease in the weighted average cost of our portfolio. The weighted average cost of our GAAP investment portfolio decreased by $2.2 billion from $3.6 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to $1.4 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The decrease was driven by sales and seizures which occurred primarily during the first and second quarters of 2020 due to market volatility caused by the
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COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the weighted average yield of our GAAP investment portfolio decreased by 1.09% from 4.48% for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to 3.39% for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Interest expense
Interest expense is calculated based on the actual financing rate and the outstanding financing balance of our GAAP investment portfolio.
Interest expense decreased from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021 primarily due to a decrease in the weighted average financing balance on our GAAP investment portfolio during the period. The weighted average financing balance on our GAAP investment portfolio during the period decreased by $2.2 billion from $3.0 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to $0.8 billion for the three months ended March 31, 2021. The decrease was driven by financing removed on sales and seizures which occurred primarily during the first and second quarters of 2020 due to market volatility caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the weighted average financing rate on our GAAP investment portfolio decreased by 0.70% from 2.64% for the three months ended March 31, 2020 to 1.94% for the three months ended March 31, 2021. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, interest expense includes $0.2 million and $(0.2) million, respectively, of deferred financing costs that were excluded from core earnings in the "Transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees" line item. Refer to the "Financing activities" section below for a discussion of the material changes in our cost of funds.
Net realized gain/(loss)
Net realized gain/(loss) represents the net gain or loss recognized on any (i) sales and seizures, if any, of real estate securities out of our GAAP investment portfolio, including any associated deficiencies recognized, if any, (ii) sales of loans out of our GAAP investment portfolio, transfers of loans from our GAAP investment portfolio to real estate owned included in Other assets, and sales of Other assets, and (iii) settlement of derivatives and other instruments. The following table presents a summary of Net realized gain/(loss) for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Sales/Seizures of real estate securities | $ | (500) | $ | (86,305) | ||||||||||
| Sales of loans and loans transferred to or sold from Other assets | (3,373) | (2,967) | ||||||||||||
| Settlement of derivatives and other instruments | (165) | (61,871) | ||||||||||||
| Total Net realized gain/(loss) | $ | (4,038) | $ | (151,143) | ||||||||||
Net interest component of interest rate swaps
Net interest component of interest rate swaps represents the net interest income received or expense paid on our interest rate swaps.
Net interest component of interest rate swaps decreased from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021, primarily due to the difference in terms on the outstanding interest rate swaps during the periods. As of the March 31, 2021, we held an interest rate swap portfolio of $1.1 billion of notional with a weighted average receive-variable rate of 0.20% and a weighted average pay-fix rate of 0.80%.
Unrealized gain/(loss) on real estate securities and loans, net
During the three months ended March 31, 2021, we recognized $6.7 million in net unrealized losses comprised of unrealized losses on securities and unrealized gains on loans of $24.0 million and $17.3 million, respectively. The unrealized losses on securities primarily relates to losses on our Agency RMBS portfolio and the unrealized gains on loans primarily relates to gains on our Re/Non-performing loan portfolio.
During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we recognized $313.9 million net unrealized losses comprised of unrealized losses on securities and unrealized losses on loans of $203.4 million and $110.5 million, respectively. These losses were due directly to the disruptions of the financial markets caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and our response thereto, including $2.4 billion in asset sales and a significant decrease in asset valuations in March 2020.
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Unrealized gain/(loss) on derivative and other instruments, net
For the three months ended March 31, 2021, the gains of $26.5 million were comprised of unrealized gains of $28.5 million, primarily related to mark-to-market changes on our interest rate swap portfolio, offset by unrealized losses of $2.0 million on securitized debt.
For the three months ended March 31, 2020, the gain of $5.7 million was comprised of unrealized gains on securitized debt offset by unrealized losses on excess MSRs and derivatives.
Foreign currency gain/(loss), net
Foreign currency gain/(loss), net pertains to the effects of remeasuring the monetary assets and liabilities of our foreign investments into U.S. dollars using foreign currency exchange rates at the end of the reporting period. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the value of GBP relative to USD decreased, resulting in a gain on the liabilities held in foreign currencies. The decrease in gains from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021 is primarily as a result of a decreased foreign currency denominated portfolio throughout the current period. As of March 31, 2021, the Company no longer held any foreign currency denominated positions.
Management fee to affiliate
Our management fee is based upon a percentage of our Stockholders’ Equity. See the "Contractual obligations" section of this Item 2 for further detail on the calculation of our management fee and for the definition of Stockholders’ Equity. Management fees decreased from March 31, 2020 to March 31, 2021 primarily due to a decrease in our Stockholders' Equity as calculated pursuant to our Management Agreement.
Other operating expenses
This amount is primarily comprised of professional fees, directors’ and officers’ ("D&O") insurance and directors’ fees, as well as certain expenses reimbursable to the Manager. We are required to reimburse our Manager or its affiliates for operating expenses incurred by our Manager or its affiliates on our behalf, including certain salary expenses and other expenses relating to legal, accounting, due diligence, and other services. Refer to the "Contractual obligations" section below for more detail on certain expenses reimbursable to the Manager. The following table presents a summary of expenses within Other operating expenses broken out between non-investment related expenses and investment related expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Non Investment Related Expenses | ||||||||||||||
| Affiliate expense reimbursement - Operating expenses (1) | $ | 1,250 | $ | 1,879 | ||||||||||
| Professional fees | 1,225 | 545 | ||||||||||||
| D&O insurance | 394 | 174 | ||||||||||||
| Directors' compensation | 168 | 218 | ||||||||||||
| Equity based compensation to affiliate | — | 88 | ||||||||||||
| Other | 156 | 229 | ||||||||||||
| Total Corporate Expenses | 3,193 | 3,133 | ||||||||||||
| Investment Related Expenses | ||||||||||||||
| Affiliate expense reimbursement - Deal related expenses | 281 | 162 | ||||||||||||
| Professional fees | 28 | 47 | ||||||||||||
| Residential mortgage loan related expenses | 608 | 692 | ||||||||||||
| Transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees (2)(3) | (167) | (3,219) | ||||||||||||
| Other | 40 | 115 | ||||||||||||
| Total Investment Expenses | 790 | (2,203) | ||||||||||||
| Total Other operating expenses | $ | 3,983 | $ | 930 | ||||||||||
(1)For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Manager agreed to waive its right to receive expense reimbursements of
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$0.8 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2021, $0.2 million of the reduction in reimbursable expenses is included within the "Affiliated expense reimbursement - Operating expenses" line item above.
(2)The increase in Transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees from the three months ended March 31, 2020 to the three months ended March 31, 2021 is primarily a result of accrued deal related performance fees being reversed in the period ended March 31, 2020 due to a decline in the price of the related assets, as well as the seizure of such assets by financing counterparties.
(3)In computing core earnings, transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees are added back to Net Income/(Loss). For the three months ended March 31, 2021, total transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees excluded from core earnings were $(12) thousand, consisting of $(167) thousand recorded within the "Other operating expenses" line item, as detailed above, and $155 thousand recorded within the "Interest expense" line item, which relates to the amortization of deferred financing costs. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, total transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees excluded from core earnings were $(3.4) million, consisting of $(3.2) million recorded within the "Other operating expenses" line item, as detailed above, and $(0.2) million recorded within the "Interest expense" line item, which relates to the amortization of deferred financing costs.
Restructuring related expenses
Restructuring related expenses relate to legal and consulting fees primarily incurred in connection with executing the Forbearance Agreement and subsequent Reinstatement Agreement in 2020. Refer to the "Financing activities" section below for more information regarding the Forbearance Agreement and the Reinstatement Agreement.
Excise tax
Excise tax represents a four percent tax on the required amount of any ordinary income and net capital gains not distributed during the year. The expense is calculated in accordance with applicable tax regulations.
During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we reversed previously accrued excise taxes primarily as a result of losses associated with COVID-19. We did not record any excise taxes for the three months ended March 31, 2021.
Servicing fees
We incur servicing fee expenses in connection with the servicing of our Residential mortgage loans. As of March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, we owned Residential mortgage loans with a fair value of $643.0 million and $767.0 million, respectively. This decrease in the fair value of the Residential mortgage loans was a result of net sales of Residential mortgage loan pools in 2020 and 2021. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, our servicing fees remained relatively consistent.
Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates
Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates represents our share of earnings and profits of investments held within affiliated entities. A majority of these investments are comprised of real estate securities, loans, and our investment in AG Arc. The below table reconciles the net income/(loss) to the "Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates" line item on our consolidated statements of operations (in thousands).
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans (1) | $ | 14,646 | $ | (26,729) | ||||||||||
| AG Arc (2) | 6,340 | (10,026) | ||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 710 | 664 | ||||||||||||
| Other | 4,640 | (8,101) | ||||||||||||
Equity in earnings/(loss) from affiliates | $ | 26,336 | $ | (44,192) | ||||||||||
(1)The increase in earnings within MATT was the primarily the result of mark-to-market gains on the Non-QM Loan portfolio and related financing.
(2)The earnings at AG Arc during the three months ended March 31, 2021 were primarily the result of $4.2 million of net income related to Arc Home's lending and servicing operations and $1.5 million related to changes in the fair value of the MSR portfolio held by Arc Home.
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Gain on Exchange Offers, net
We completed a privately negotiated exchange offer during the three months ended March 31, 2021. As a result of the exchange offer, we exchanged 153,325 shares of our 8.25% Series A Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock ("Series A Preferred Stock") and 350,609 shares of our 8.00% Series B Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock ("Series B Preferred Stock") for a total of 2,812,388 shares of common stock. We recognized a gain of $0.4 million in connection with the offer. Refer to the "Liquidity and capital resources" section below for more information on the exchange offers.
Book value and Adjusted book value per share
Per share amounts for book value are calculated using all outstanding common shares in accordance with GAAP, including all vested shares issued to our Manager, and our independent directors under our equity incentive plans as of quarter-end. As of March 31, 2021, the net proceeds for the Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and our 8.000% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock ("Series C Preferred Stock") were $40.1 million, $92.3 million, and $93.9 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2021, the liquidation preference for the issued and outstanding Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock was $41.6 million, $95.4 million, and $97.1 million, respectively.
As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our book value per common share calculated using stockholders’ equity less net proceeds on our preferred stock as the numerator was $4.92 and $4.13, respectively. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, our adjusted book value per common share calculated using stockholders’ equity less the liquidation preference of our preferred stock as the numerator was $4.76 and $3.94, respectively
Presentation of investment, financing and hedging activities
In the "Investment activities," "Financing activities," "Hedging activities," and "Liquidity and capital resources" sections of this Item 2, where we disclose our investment portfolio and the related financing arrangements, we have presented this information inclusive of (i) unconsolidated ownership interests in affiliates that are accounted for under GAAP using the equity method and (ii) TBAs, which are accounted for as derivatives under GAAP. Our investment portfolio and the related financing arrangements are presented along with a reconciliation to GAAP. This presentation of our investment portfolio is consistent with how our management team evaluates the business, and we believe this presentation, when considered with the GAAP presentation, provides supplemental information useful for investors in evaluating our investment portfolio and financial condition. See Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for a discussion of investments in debt and equity of affiliates.
Net interest margin and leverage ratio
GAAP net interest margin and non-GAAP net interest margin, a non-GAAP financial measure, are calculated by subtracting the weighted average cost of funds from the weighted average yield for our GAAP investment portfolio or our investment portfolio, respectively, both of which exclude cash held by us and any net TBA position. The weighted average yield on our credit portfolio and our Agency RMBS portfolio represents an effective interest rate, which utilizes all estimates of future cash flows and adjusts for actual prepayment and cash flow activity as of quarter-end. The calculation of weighted average yield is weighted on fair value at quarter-end. The weighted average cost of funds is the sum of the weighted average funding costs on total financing arrangements outstanding at quarter-end, including all non-recourse financing arrangements, and our weighted average hedging cost, which is the weighted average of the net pay rate on our interest rate swaps. Both elements of cost of funds are weighted by the outstanding financing arrangements on our GAAP investment portfolio or our investment portfolio and securitized debt at quarter-end.
As our capital allocation shifts, our weighted average yields and weighted average cost of funds will also shift. Our Agency Investments, given their liquidity and high credit quality, are eligible for higher levels of leverage, while our Credit Investments, with less liquidity and/or more exposure to credit risk and prepayment, utilize lower levels of leverage. As a result, our leverage ratio is determined by our portfolio mix as well as many additional factors, including the liquidity of our portfolio, the availability and price of our financing, the diversification of our counterparties and their available capacity to finance our assets, and anticipated regulatory developments. Our debt-to-equity ratio is directly correlated to the composition of our portfolio; specifically, the higher percentage of Agency Investments we hold, the higher our leverage ratio is, while the higher percentage of Credit Investments we hold, the lower our leverage ratio is.
Net interest margin and leverage ratio are metrics that management believes should be considered when evaluating the performance of our investment portfolio. See the "Financing activities" section below for more detail on our leverage ratio.
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The chart below sets forth the net interest margin and leverage ratio from our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 and a reconciliation to our GAAP investment portfolio:
| March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average | GAAP Investment Portfolio | Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | Investment Portfolio (a) | |||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 3.31 | % | 13.09 | % | 4.44 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Cost of Funds (b) | 1.83 | % | 2.73 | % | 1.77 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Net Interest Margin | 1.48 | % | 10.36 | % | 2.67 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Leverage Ratio (c) | 3.2x | (d) | 2.6x | |||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average | GAAP Investment Portfolio | Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | Investment Portfolio (a) | |||||||||||||||||
| Yield | 5.20 | % | 8.42 | % | 5.96 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Cost of Funds (b) | 2.88 | % | 4.94 | % | 3.25 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Net Interest Margin | 2.32 | % | 3.48 | % | 2.71 | % | ||||||||||||||
| Leverage Ratio (c) | 3.1x | (d) | 3.3x | |||||||||||||||||
(a)Excludes any net TBA position.
(b)Includes cost of non-recourse financing arrangements.
(c)The leverage ratio on our GAAP investment portfolio represents GAAP leverage. The leverage ratio on our investment portfolio represents Economic Leverage as defined below in the "Financing Activities" section.
(d)Refer to the "Financing activities" section below for an aggregate breakout of leverage.
Core Earnings
We define Core Earnings, a non-GAAP financial measure, as Net Income/(loss) available to common stockholders excluding (i) (a) unrealized gains/(losses) on real estate securities, loans, derivatives and other investments, inclusive of our investment in AG Arc, and (b) net realized gains/(losses) on the sale or termination of such instruments, (ii) any transaction related expenses incurred in connection with the acquisition or disposition of our investments, (iii) accrued deal-related performance fees payable to Arc Home and third party operators to the extent the primary component of the accrual relates to items that are excluded from Core Earnings, such as unrealized and realized gains/(losses), (iv) realized and unrealized changes in the fair value of Arc Home's net mortgage servicing rights and the derivatives intended to offset changes in the fair value of those net mortgage servicing rights, (v) deferred taxes recognized at our taxable REIT subsidiaries, if any, (vi) any foreign currency gain/(loss) relating to monetary assets and liabilities, (vii) income from discontinued operations, and (viii) any gains/(losses) associated with exchange transactions on our common and preferred stock. Items (i) through (viii) above include any amount related to those items held in affiliated entities. Management considers the transaction related expenses referenced in (ii) above to be similar to realized losses incurred at the acquisition or disposition of an asset and does not view them as being part of its core operations. Management views the exclusion described in (iv) above to be consistent with how it calculates Core Earnings on the remainder of its portfolio. Management excludes all deferred taxes because it believes deferred taxes are not representative of current operations.
As defined, Core Earnings include the net interest income and other income earned on our investments on a yield adjusted basis, including TBA dollar roll income or any other investment activity that may earn or pay net interest or its economic equivalent. One of our objectives is to generate net income from net interest margin on the portfolio, and management uses Core Earnings to help measure our performance against this objective. Management believes that this non-GAAP measure, when considered with our GAAP financial statements, provides supplemental information useful for investors as it enables them to evaluate our current core performance using the same methodology that management uses to operate the business. This metric, in conjunction with related GAAP measures, provides greater transparency into the information used by our management team in its financial and operational decision-making. Our presentation of Core Earnings may not be comparable to similarly-titled measures of other companies, who may use different calculations. This non-GAAP measure should not be considered a substitute for, or superior to, the financial measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. Our GAAP financial results and the reconciliations from these results should be carefully evaluated. Refer to the "Results of Operations" section above for a detailed discussion of our GAAP financial results.
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A reconciliation of "Net Income/(loss) available to common stockholders" to Core Earnings for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 is set forth below (in thousands, except per share data):
Three Months Ended | |||||||||||
March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | ||||||||||
| Net Income/(loss) available to common stockholders | $ | 38,683 | $ | (490,684) | |||||||
| Add (Deduct): | |||||||||||
| Net realized (gain)/loss | 4,038 | 151,143 | |||||||||
| Unrealized (gain)/loss on real estate securities and loans, net | 6,658 | 313,897 | |||||||||
| Unrealized (gain)/loss on derivative and other instruments, net | (26,507) | (5,686) | |||||||||
| Transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees (1) | (12) | (3,412) | |||||||||
| Equity in (earnings)/loss from affiliates | (26,336) | 44,192 | |||||||||
| Net interest income and expenses from equity method investments (2)(3) | 7,322 | 1,233 | |||||||||
| Foreign currency (gain)/loss, net | (14) | (1,649) | |||||||||
| (Gains) from Exchange Offer, net | (358) | — | |||||||||
| Drop income | — | 322 | |||||||||
| Core Earnings (3) | $ | 3,474 | $ | 9,356 | |||||||
| Core Earnings, per Diluted Share (3) | $ | 0.08 | $ | 0.29 | |||||||
(1)Refer to changes in Interest expense and Other operating expenses in our "Results of Operations" section above for a breakout of transaction related expenses and deal related performance fees for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020.
(2)For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020, $2.6 million or $0.06 per share and $(4.6 million) or $(0.14) per share, respectively, of realized and unrealized changes in the fair value of Arc Home's net mortgage servicing rights and corresponding derivatives net of taxes were excluded from Core Earnings per diluted share.
(3)The three months ended March 31, 2021 included a cumulative retrospective adjustment of $0.5 million or $0.01 per diluted share on the premium amortization for investments accounted for under ASC 320-10.
We did not disclose Core Earnings during the first three quarters of 2020 as we determined that this measure, as we have historically calculated it, did not appropriately capture our business, liquidity, results of operations, financial condition, or our ability to make distributions to our stockholders. During the fourth quarter of 2020, we began disclosing Core Earnings in conjunction with the reinstatement of our dividends on our common stock and preferred stock.
Investment activities
Overall, our intention is to allocate capital to investment opportunities with attractive risk/return profiles in our target asset classes. Historically, our investment portfolio has consisted of Residential Investments, Agency RMBS, and Commercial Investments. Our capital allocation to each of these investments is set forth in more detail below. Our investment and capital allocation decisions depend on prevailing market conditions and compliance with Investment Company Act and REIT tests, among other factors, and may change over time in response to opportunities available in different economic and capital market environments. The risk-reward profile of our investment opportunities changes continuously with the market, with labor, housing and economic fundamentals, and with U.S. monetary policy, among others. As a result, in reacting to market conditions and taking into account a variety of other factors, including liquidity, duration, interest rate expectations and hedging, the mix of our assets changes over time as we opportunistically deploy capital.
Our credit investments are subject to risk of loss with regard to principal and interest payments. We evaluate each investment in our credit portfolio based on the characteristics of the underlying collateral, the securitization structure, expected return, geography, collateral type, and the cost and availability of financing, among others. We maintain a comprehensive portfolio management process that generally includes day-to-day oversight by the portfolio management team and a quarterly credit review process for each investment that examines the need for a potential reduction in accretable yield, missed or late contractual payments, significant declines in collateral performance, prepayments, projected defaults, loss severities and other data that may indicate a potential issue in our ability to recover our capital from the investment. These processes are designed to enable our Manager to evaluate and proactively to manage asset-specific credit issues and identify credit trends on a portfolio-wide basis. Nevertheless, we cannot be certain that our review will identify all issues within our portfolio due to, among other things, adverse economic conditions or events adversely affecting specific assets. Therefore, potential future losses may also stem from issues with our investments that are not identified by our credit reviews.
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We evaluate investments in Agency RMBS using factors including, among others, expected future prepayment trends, supply of and demand for Agency RMBS, costs of financing, costs of hedging, liquidity, expected future interest rate volatility and the overall shape of the U.S. Treasury and interest rate swap yield curves. Prepayment speeds, as reflected by the CPR, and interest rates vary according to the type of investment, conditions in financial markets, competition and other factors, none of which can be predicted with any certainty. In general, as prepayment speeds on our Agency RMBS portfolio increase, the related purchase premium amortization increases, thereby reducing the net yield on such assets.
The following table presents a detailed break-down of our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 and a reconciliation to our GAAP Investment Portfolio ($ in thousands):
| Fair Value | Percent of Investment Portfolio Fair Value | Leverage Ratio (a) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS | $ | 918,753 | $ | 521,843 | 48.4 | % | 37.4 | % | 7.8x | 6.1x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | 876,758 | 691,478 | 46.2 | % | 49.5 | % | 0.9x | 0.2x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | 104,047 | 182,296 | 5.4 | % | 13.1 | % | 0.7x | 0.9x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: Investment Portfolio | $ | 1,899,558 | $ | 1,395,617 | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | 2.6x | 1.5x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates (b) | $ | 217,758 | $ | 217,964 | N/A | N/A | (c) | (c) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Investment Portfolio | $ | 1,681,800 | $ | 1,177,653 | N/A | N/A | 3.2x | 2.4x | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(a)The leverage ratio on our investment portfolio represents Economic Leverage as defined below in the "Financing Activities" section and is calculated by dividing each investment type's total recourse financing arrangements by its allocated equity (described in the chart below). Cash posted as collateral has been allocated pro-rata by each respective asset class's Economic Leverage amount. The Economic Leverage Ratio excludes any fully non-recourse financing arrangements. The leverage ratio on our Agency RMBS includes any net receivables on TBA. The leverage ratio on our GAAP Investment Portfolio represents GAAP leverage.
(b)Certain Re/Non-Performing Loans held in securitized form are presented net of non-recourse securitized debt.
(c)Refer to the "Financing activities" section below for an aggregate breakout of leverage.
We allocate our equity by investment using the fair value of our investment portfolio, less any associated leverage, inclusive of any long TBA position (at cost). We allocate all non-investment portfolio related assets and liabilities to our investment portfolio based on the characteristics of such assets and liabilities in order to sum to stockholders' equity per the consolidated balance sheets. Our equity allocation method is a non-GAAP methodology and may not be comparable to the similarly titled measure or concepts of other companies, who may use different calculations and allocation methodologies.
The following table presents a summary of the allocated equity of our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| Allocated Equity | Percent of Equity | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS | $ | 110,986 | $ | 80,854 | 24.4 | % | 19.7 | % | |||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | 281,863 | 229,183 | 61.9 | % | 56.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | 62,456 | 99,668 | 13.7 | % | 24.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 455,305 | $ | 409,705 | 100.0 | % | 100.0 | % | |||||||||||||||
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The following table presents a reconciliation of our Investment Portfolio to our GAAP Investment Portfolio as of March 31, 2021 ($ in thousands):
| Instrument | Current Face | Amortized Cost | Unrealized Mark- to-Market | Fair Value (1) | Weighted Average Coupon (2) | Weighted Average Yield | Weighted Average Life (Years) (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 906,892 | $ | 944,627 | $ | (29,204) | $ | 915,423 | 2.15 | % | 1.62 | % | 9.23 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess MSR | 552,192 | 4,734 | (1,404) | 3,330 | N/A | 4.13 | % | 6.17 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Agency RMBS | 1,459,084 | 949,361 | (30,608) | 918,753 | 2.15 | % | 1.63 | % | 8.07 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | 6,816 | 2,187 | 390 | 2,577 | 3.50 | % | 14.20 | % | 10.86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 16,282 | 6,903 | 4,542 | 11,445 | 4.25 | % | 14.16 | % | 9.50 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 420 | 420 | 7 | 427 | 5.61 | % | 5.61 | % | 7.91 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest Only and Excess MSR | 173,638 | 269 | 81 | 350 | 0.51 | % | 2.16 | % | 2.12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Loans | 566,760 | 460,086 | 20,809 | 480,895 | 3.45 | % | 7.03 | % | 6.42 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans (4) | 198,371 | 207,864 | 1,443 | 209,307 | 5.36 | % | 4.00 | % | 4.66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATT Non-QM Loans | 1,159,556 | 145,535 | 3,504 | 149,039 | 1.16 | % | 11.57 | % | 0.96 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,718 | 22,718 | — | 22,718 | 14.60 | % | 14.60 | % | 0.66 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential Investments | 2,144,561 | 845,982 | 30,776 | 876,758 | 2.75 | % | 7.38 | % | 2.94 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | 35,500 | 35,419 | (5,981) | 29,438 | 4.07 | % | 4.45 | % | 0.43 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K-Series | 22,327 | 10,618 | 1,609 | 12,227 | 3.83 | % | 9.23 | % | 10.06 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only (5) | 685,961 | 4,009 | 164 | 4,173 | 0.10 | % | 7.02 | % | 4.00 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Real Estate Loans (6) | 68,220 | 67,883 | (9,674) | 58,209 | 2.52 | % | 3.10 | % | 2.77 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Commercial Investments | 812,008 | 117,929 | (13,882) | 104,047 | 0.52 | % | 4.36 | % | 3.91 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments | 2,956,569 | 963,911 | 16,894 | 980,805 | 1.97 | % | 4.68 | % | 3.20 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: Investment Portfolio | $ | 4,415,653 | $ | 1,913,272 | $ | (13,714) | $ | 1,899,558 | 2.02 | % | 4.44 | % | 4.81 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | $ | 1,341,627 | $ | 206,574 | $ | 11,184 | $ | 217,758 | 1.79 | % | 13.09 | % | 1.35 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Investment Portfolio | $ | 3,074,026 | $ | 1,706,698 | $ | (24,898) | $ | 1,681,800 | 2.09 | % | 3.31 | % | 6.32 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Refer to Note 2 to the "Notes of the Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more detail on what is included in our "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on our consolidated balance sheets. Our assets held through Investments in debt and equity of affiliates are included in the "Excess MSR," "Re/Non-Performing Loans," "MATT Non-QM Loans," and "Land Related Financing" line items above.
(2)Equity residuals, principal only securities and Excess MSRs with a zero coupon rate are excluded from this calculation.
(3)Weighted average life is based on projected life. Typically, actual maturities are shorter than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by the contractual lives of the underlying mortgages, periodic payments of principal, and prepayments of principal.
(4)Prior to 2021, we acquired Non-QM Loans through our equity method investment in MATT. This line item represents direct purchases of Non-QM Loans, which began in Q1 2021.
(5)Comprised of Freddie Mac K-Series interest-only bonds.
(6)Yield on Commercial Real Estate Loans includes any exit fees.
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The following table presents a reconciliation of our Investment Portfolio to our GAAP Investment Portfolio as of December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands):
| Instrument | Current Face | Amortized Cost | Unrealized Mark- to-Market | Fair Value (1) | Weighted Average Coupon (2) | Weighted Average Yield | Weighted Average Life (Years) (3) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 494,307 | $ | 516,675 | $ | 1,677 | $ | 518,352 | 2.10 | % | 1.17 | % | 5.55 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess MSR | 642,377 | 4,986 | (1,495) | 3,491 | N/A | 3.80 | % | 6.08 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Agency RMBS | 1,136,684 | 521,661 | 182 | 521,843 | 2.10 | % | 1.19 | % | 5.85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Investments: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | 15,093 | 8,012 | 653 | 8,665 | 3.68 | % | 8.97 | % | 12.99 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 16,287 | 6,910 | 4,586 | 11,496 | 4.25 | % | 12.52 | % | 9.70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 13,880 | 13,880 | (572) | 13,308 | 4.71 | % | 4.70 | % | 5.86 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. RMBS | 2,435 | 3,141 | (41) | 3,100 | 6.45 | % | 6.41 | % | 4.59 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Interest Only and Excess MSR | 191,362 | 265 | 55 | 320 | 0.53 | % | 3.44 | % | 0.70 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Loans | 582,329 | 470,440 | 8,125 | 478,565 | 3.62 | % | 6.49 | % | 6.17 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATT Non-QM Loans | 1,271,998 | 156,109 | (2,909) | 153,200 | 1.08 | % | 4.95 | % | 1.29 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,824 | 22,824 | — | 22,824 | 14.59 | % | 14.59 | % | 0.84 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential Investments | 2,116,208 | 681,581 | 9,897 | 691,478 | 2.37 | % | 6.51 | % | 2.76 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Investments | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conduit | 4,925 | 3,901 | (606) | 3,295 | 4.62 | % | 11.89 | % | 3.51 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | 50,480 | 48,986 | (8,796) | 40,190 | 4.15 | % | 4.81 | % | 2.27 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K-Series | 22,572 | 10,510 | (1,510) | 9,000 | 3.83 | % | 9.00 | % | 10.32 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS Interest Only (4) | 687,077 | 4,116 | 187 | 4,303 | 0.10 | % | 6.93 | % | 4.12 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Real Estate Loans (5) | 142,167 | 141,655 | (16,147) | 125,508 | 4.60 | % | 4.96 | % | 2.33 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Commercial Investments | 907,221 | 209,168 | (26,872) | 182,296 | 1.10 | % | 5.30 | % | 3.88 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments | 3,023,429 | 890,749 | (16,975) | 873,774 | 1.87 | % | 6.26 | % | 3.10 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: Investment Portfolio | $ | 4,160,113 | $ | 1,412,410 | $ | (16,793) | $ | 1,395,617 | 1.91 | % | 4.36 | % | 3.85 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | $ | 1,466,453 | $ | 216,450 | $ | 1,514 | $ | 217,964 | 1.67 | % | 7.78 | % | 1.68 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Investment Portfolio | $ | 2,693,660 | $ | 1,195,960 | $ | (18,307) | $ | 1,177,653 | 2.01 | % | 3.73 | % | 5.03 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Refer to Note 2 to the "Notes of the Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more detail on what is included in our "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" line item on our consolidated balance sheets. Our assets held through Investments in debt and equity of affiliates are included in the "Excess MSR," "Re/Non-Performing Loans," "MATT Non-QM Loans," and "Land Related Financing" line items above.
(2)Equity residuals, principal only securities and Excess MSRs with a zero coupon rate are excluded from this calculation.
(3)Weighted average life is based on projected life. Typically, actual maturities are shorter than stated contractual maturities. Maturities are affected by the contractual lives of the underlying mortgages, periodic payments of principal, and prepayments of principal.
(4)Comprised of Freddie Mac K-Series interest-only bonds.
(5)Yield on Commercial Real Estate Loans includes any exit fees.
Agency RMBS
The following table presents the fair value ($ in thousands) and the Constant Prepayment Rate ("CPR") experienced on our GAAP Agency RMBS portfolio for the periods presented.
| Fair Value | CPR (1)(2) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Agency RMBS | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 915,423 | $ | 518,352 | 3.3 | % | 2.7 | % | ||||||||||||||||||
(1)Represents the weighted average monthly CPRs published during the period for our in-place portfolio.
(2)Source: Bloomberg.
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Credit Investments
The following table presents the fair value of the securities and loans in our credit portfolio, and a reconciliation to our GAAP credit portfolio (in thousands):
| Fair Value | ||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Residential loans (1) | $ | 764,969 | $ | 563,263 | ||||||||||
| Commercial real estate loans | 58,209 | 125,508 | ||||||||||||
| Total loans | 823,178 | 688,771 | ||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (2) | $ | 111,789 | $ | 128,215 | ||||||||||
| CMBS (3) | 45,838 | 56,788 | ||||||||||||
| Total Credit securities | 157,627 | 185,003 | ||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments | $ | 980,805 | $ | 873,774 | ||||||||||
| Less: Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | $ | 217,359 | $ | 217,547 | ||||||||||
| Total GAAP Credit Portfolio | $ | 763,446 | $ | 656,227 | ||||||||||
(1)Includes Re/Non-Performing Loans, Non-QM Loans, and Land Related Financing not held in securitized form.
(2)Includes Prime, Alt-A/Subprime, Credit Risk Transfer, Non-U.S RMBS, Interest-Only and Excess MSR, Re/Non-Performing Loans, and Non-QM Loans held in securitized form.
(3)Includes Conduit, Single-Asset/Single-Borrower, Freddie Mac K-Series, and Interest-Only investments.
Residential loans
The following tables present certain information regarding credit quality for certain categories within our Residential loan portfolio ($ in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | Weighted Average (1)(2) | Aging by Unpaid Principal Balance (1)(2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unpaid Principal Balance | Fair Value | Current LTV Ratio | Current FICO (3) | Current | 30-59 Days | 60-89 Days | 90+ Days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Loans (4) | $ | 493,197 | $ | 438,783 | 79.06 | % | 631 | $ | 311,279 | $ | 37,526 | $ | 13,642 | $ | 112,242 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-QM Loans (5) | 198,371 | 209,307 | 69.32 | % | 739 | 198,371 | — | — | — | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATT Non-QM Loans (6) | 89,824 | 94,161 | 59.68 | % | 720 | 72,968 | 4,045 | 1,206 | 11,605 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,718 | 22,718 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential loans | $ | 804,110 | $ | 764,969 | 74.22 | % | 669 | $ | 582,618 | $ | 41,571 | $ | 14,848 | $ | 123,847 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | 118,284 | 122,010 | 61.27 | % | 713 | 75,536 | 4,360 | 1,387 | 14,283 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total GAAP Residential Loans | $ | 685,826 | $ | 642,959 | 76.10 | % | 663 | $ | 507,082 | $ | 37,211 | $ | 13,461 | $ | 109,564 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Weighted average and aging data excludes residual positions where we consolidate a securitization and the positions are recorded on our balance sheet as Re/Non-Performing Loans. There may be limited data available regarding the underlying collateral of the residual positions.
(2)Weighted average and aging data excludes Land Related Financing.
(3)Weighted average current FICO excludes borrowers where FICO scores were not available.
(4)In our Re/Non-Performing Loan portfolio, 30% of the population has requested COVID-19-related assistance as of March 31, 2021; approximately 59% of the population requesting assistance is being reported as contractually current as of period end as this population no longer owes any past due payments.
(5)In our Non-QM Loan portfolio, 11% of the population has requested COVID-19-related assistance as of March 31, 2021; the entire population requesting assistance is being reported as contractually current as of period end as this population no longer owes any past due payments.
(6)MATT Non-QM Loans includes Non-QM Loans not held in securitized form. In our MATT Non-QM Loan portfolio, 53% of the population has requested COVID-19-related assistance as of March 31, 2021; approximately 75% of the population requesting assistance is being reported as contractually current as of period end as this population no longer owes any past due payments.
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| December 31, 2020 | Weighted Average (1)(2) | Aging by Unpaid Principal Balance (1)(2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Unpaid Principal Balance | Fair Value | Current LTV Ratio | Current FICO (3) | Current | 30-59 Days | 60-89 Days | 90+ Days | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Loans (4) | $ | 506,799 | $ | 440,175 | 79.58 | % | 627 | $ | 288,350 | $ | 44,761 | $ | 25,506 | $ | 128,690 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATT Non-QM Loans (5) | 98,204 | 100,264 | 59.57 | % | 707 | 73,285 | 4,856 | 651 | 19,412 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,824 | 22,824 | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | N/A | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential loans | $ | 627,827 | $ | 563,263 | 76.23 | % | 640 | $ | 361,635 | $ | 49,617 | $ | 26,157 | $ | 148,102 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Less: Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | 126,847 | 127,822 | 61.09 | % | 700 | 75,615 | 5,329 | 902 | 22,177 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total GAAP Residential Loans | $ | 500,980 | $ | 435,441 | 79.50 | % | 627 | $ | 286,020 | $ | 44,288 | $ | 25,255 | $ | 125,925 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Weighted average and aging data excludes residual positions where we consolidate a securitization and the positions are recorded on our balance sheet as Re/Non-Performing Loans. There may be limited data available regarding the underlying collateral of the residual positions.
(2)Weighted average and aging data excludes Land Related Financing.
(3)Weighted average current FICO excludes borrowers where FICO scores were not available.
(4)In our Re/Non-Performing Loan portfolio, 28% of the population has requested COVID-19-related assistance as of December 31, 2020; approximately 48% of the population requesting assistance is being reported as contractually current as of period end as this population no longer owes any past due payments.
(5)MATT Non-QM Loans includes Non-QM Loans not held in securitized form. In our MATT Non-QM Loan portfolio, 34% of the population has requested COVID-19-related assistance as of December 31, 2020; approximately 67% of the population requesting assistance is being reported as contractually current as of period end as this population no longer owes any past due payments.
See Note 4 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for a breakout of geographic concentration of credit risk within loans we include in the "Residential mortgage loans, at fair value" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
Commercial loans
Refer to Note 4 to the "Notes of the Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" section for more detail on what is included in our "Commercial Loans" line item on our consolidated balance sheets.
Credit securities
The following table presents the fair value of our credit securities portfolio by credit rating as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| Credit Rating - Credit Securities (1) | March 31, 2021 (2)(3) | December 31, 2020 (2)(3) | ||||||||||||
| AAA | $ | 611 | $ | 630 | ||||||||||
| BB | 5,699 | 9,037 | ||||||||||||
| B | 18,366 | 25,318 | ||||||||||||
| Below B | 14,090 | 17,046 | ||||||||||||
| Not Rated | 118,861 | 132,972 | ||||||||||||
| Total: Credit Securities | $ | 157,627 | $ | 185,003 | ||||||||||
| Less: Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | $ | 95,349 | $ | 89,725 | ||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Basis | $ | 62,278 | $ | 95,278 | ||||||||||
(1)Represents the minimum rating for rated assets of S&P, Moody and Fitch credit ratings, stated in terms of the S&P equivalent.
(2)Certain Re/Non-Performing Loans held in securitized form are presented net of non-recourse securitized debt.
(3)As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, includes $0.1 million of credit Excess MSRs.
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The following tables present the geographic concentration of the underlying collateral for our credit securities portfolio ($ in thousands).
| March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | CMBS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State | Fair Value (1) | Percentage (1) | State | Fair Value | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | $ | 37,317 | 33.4 | % | Texas | $ | 5,588 | 12.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 18,347 | 16.4 | % | California | 4,774 | 10.4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 10,347 | 9.3 | % | Florida | 3,218 | 7.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | 3,839 | 3.4 | % | New Jersey | 2,566 | 5.6 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Maryland | 3,489 | 3.1 | % | Missouri | 2,473 | 5.4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | 38,450 | 34.4 | % | Other | 27,219 | 59.4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 111,789 | 100.0 | % | Total | $ | 45,838 | 100.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Non-Agency RMBS fair value includes $0.1 million of credit Excess MSRs where there was no data regarding the underlying collateral. These positions were excluded from the percent calculation.
| December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS | CMBS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| State | Fair Value (1) | Percentage (1) | State | Fair Value | Percentage | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| California | $ | 40,593 | 32.5 | % | Texas | $ | 6,454 | 11.4 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| New York | 17,742 | 14.2 | % | New York | 6,264 | 11.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Florida | 10,982 | 8.8 | % | California | 4,801 | 8.5 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas | 4,216 | 3.4 | % | Florida | 4,014 | 7.1 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| New Jersey | 4,028 | 3.2 | % | Missouri | 2,753 | 4.8 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Other | 50,654 | 37.9 | % | Other | 32,502 | 57.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total | $ | 128,215 | 100.0 | % | Total | $ | 56,788 | 100.0 | % | |||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Non-Agency RMBS fair value includes $3.2 million of investments where there was no data regarding the underlying collateral, including $0.1 million of credit Excess MSRs. These positions were excluded from the percent calculation.
The following tables present certain information regarding credit quality for certain categories within our Non-Agency RMBS and CMBS portfolios ($ in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Category | Fair Value | Weighted Average 60+ Days Delinquent | Weighted Average Loan Age (Months) | Weighted Average Credit Enhancement | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | $ | 2,577 | 12.0 | % | 185.0 | 10.3 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 11,445 | 5.9 | % | 164.0 | — | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 427 | 0.2 | % | 30.0 | 0.9 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | $ | 29,438 | — | % | 25.1 | 5.2 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K Series CMBS | 12,227 | 0.1 | % | 28.9 | — | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
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| December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Category | Fair Value | Weighted Average 60+ Days Delinquent | Weighted Average Loan Age (Months) | Weighted Average Credit Enhancement | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Prime | $ | 8,665 | 4.0 | % | 26.4 | 2.9 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Alt-A/Subprime | 11,496 | 9.5 | % | 95.0 | 0.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Credit Risk Transfer | 13,308 | 6.8 | % | 5.3 | 0.4 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-U.S. RMBS | 3,100 | 2.4 | % | 41.4 | 1.3 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Conduit | $ | 3,295 | 10.6 | % | 81.0 | 8.7 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
| Single-Asset/Single-Borrower | 40,190 | — | % | 29.2 | 6.1 | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Freddie Mac K Series CMBS | 9,000 | 0.2 | % | 25.9 | — | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Sources: Intex, Trepp
Investments in debt and equity of affiliates
The below table details our investments in debt and equity of affiliates as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
| March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Assets | Liabilities | Equity | Assets | Liabilities | Equity | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Excess MSR | $ | 399 | $ | — | $ | 399 | $ | 417 | $ | — | $ | 417 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Agency RMBS | 399 | — | 399 | 417 | — | 417 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Re/Non-Performing Loans (1) | 45,602 | (13,236) | 32,366 | 41,523 | (5,588) | 35,935 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| MATT Non-QM Loans (2) | 149,039 | (100,762) | 48,277 | 153,200 | (111,135) | 42,065 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Land Related Financing | 22,718 | — | 22,718 | 22,824 | — | 22,824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Residential Investments | 217,359 | (113,998) | 103,361 | 217,547 | (116,723) | 100,824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Credit Investments | 217,359 | (113,998) | 103,361 | 217,547 | (116,723) | 100,824 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Investments excluding AG Arc | 217,758 | (113,998) | 103,760 | 217,964 | (116,723) | 101,241 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| AG Arc, at fair value | 52,138 | — | 52,138 | 45,341 | — | 45,341 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and Other assets/(liabilities) (3) | 8,260 | (3,835) | 4,425 | 5,279 | (1,194) | 4,085 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in debt and equity of affiliates | $ | 278,156 | $ | (117,833) | $ | 160,323 | $ | 268,584 | $ | (117,917) | $ | 150,667 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)Certain Re/Non-Performing Loans held in securitized form are presented net of non-recourse securitized debt.
(2)As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, Non-QM Loans excluded loans with an unpaid principal balance of $14.2 million and $17.3 million, respectively, whereby an affiliate of MATT has the right, but not the obligation, to repurchase loans from a trust that are 90 days or more delinquent at its discretion. These loans, which are eligible to be repurchased, would be recorded on the balance sheet of MATT, an unconsolidated equity method investee of the Company, with a corresponding and offsetting liability.
(3)Includes financing arrangements of $(9.4) thousand on real estate owned as of December 31, 2020.
Financing activities
We use leverage to finance the purchase of our investment portfolio. In 2021 and 2020, our leverage has primarily been in the form of repurchase agreements, revolving facilities, and securitized debt. Repurchase agreements involve the sale and a simultaneous agreement to repurchase the transferred assets or similar assets at a future date. The amount borrowed generally is equal to the fair value of the assets pledged less an agreed-upon discount, referred to as a "haircut." The size of the haircut reflects the perceived risk associated with the pledged asset. Haircuts may change as our financing arrangements mature or roll
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and are sensitive to governmental regulations. We experienced fluctuations in our haircuts that caused us to alter our business and financing strategies for the year ended December 31, 2020. As previously described, this resulted in us raising liquidity and reducing the risk within our portfolio. We had outstanding financing arrangements with five counterparties as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020.
Our repurchase agreements are accounted for as financings and require the repurchase of the transferred securities or loans or repayment of the advance at the end of each agreement’s term, typically 30 to 90 days. If we maintain the beneficial interest in the specific assets pledged during the term of the borrowing, we receive the related principal and interest payments. If we do not maintain the beneficial interest in the specific assets pledged during the term of the borrowing, the lender will remit to us the related principal and interest payments. Interest rates on borrowings are fixed based on prevailing rates corresponding to the terms of the borrowings, and interest is paid at the termination of the borrowing at which time we may enter into a new borrowing arrangement at prevailing market rates with the same counterparty or repay that counterparty and negotiate financing with a different counterparty.
We have also entered into revolving facilities to purchase certain loans in our investment portfolio. These facilities typically have longer stated maturities than repurchase agreements. Interest rates on these facilities are based on prevailing rates corresponding to the terms of the borrowings, and interest is paid on a monthly basis.
Our financing arrangements generally include customary representations, warranties, and covenants, but may also contain more restrictive supplemental terms and conditions. Although specific to each financing arrangement, typical supplemental terms include requirements of minimum equity and liquidity, leverage ratios, and performance triggers. In addition, some of the financing arrangements contain cross default features, whereby default under an agreement with one lender simultaneously causes default under agreements with other lenders. To the extent that we fail to comply with the covenants contained in these financing arrangements or is otherwise found to be in default under the terms of such agreements, the counterparty has the right to accelerate amounts due under the associated agreement. Financings pursuant to repurchase agreements and revolving facilities are generally recourse to us. As of March 31, 2021, we are in compliance with all of our financial covenants.
In response to declines in fair value of pledged assets due to changes in market conditions, lenders typically require us to post additional assets as collateral, pay down borrowings or establish cash margin accounts with the counterparties in order to re-establish the agreed-upon collateral requirements, referred to as margin calls. Refer to "Liquidity and capital resources" section below for more information.
The balance on our financing arrangements can reasonably be expected to (i) increase as the size of our investment portfolio increases primarily through equity capital raises and as we increase our investment allocation to Non-QM Loans not held in securitized form and Agency RMBS and (ii) decrease as the size of our portfolio decreases through asset sales, principal paydowns, and as we increase our investment allocation to credit investments, excluding Non-QM Loans not held in securitized form. Due to their risk profile, credit investments generally have lower leverage ratios than Agency RMBS, which restricts our financing counterparties from providing as much financing to us and lowers the balance of our total financing.
Forbearance and Reinstatement Agreements
On March 20, 2020, we notified our financing counterparties that we did not expect to be in a position to fund the anticipated volume of future margin calls under our financing arrangements in the near term as a result of market disruptions created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Subsequent to March 23, 2020, we received notifications of alleged events of default and deficiency notices from several of our financing counterparties. Subject to the terms of the applicable financing arrangement, if we had failed to deliver additional collateral or otherwise meet margin calls when due, the financing counterparties may have been able to demand immediate payment by us of the aggregate outstanding financing obligations owed to such counterparties, and if such financing obligations were not paid, may have been permitted to sell the financed assets and apply the proceeds to our financing obligations and/or take ownership of the assets securing our financing obligations. During this period of market upheaval, we engaged in discussions with our financing counterparties with regard to entering into forbearance agreements pursuant to which each counterparty would agree to forbear from exercising its rights and remedies with respect to an event of default under the applicable financing arrangement for an agreed-upon period. On April 10, 2020, we entered into a forbearance agreement for an initial 15 day period, on April 27, 2020, a second forbearance agreement for an extended period ending on June 1, 2020, and a third forbearance agreement on June 1, 2020 for an additional period ending June 15, 2020 (collectively, the "Forbearance Agreement") with certain of our financing counterparties (the "Participating Counterparties"). Pursuant to the terms of the Forbearance Agreement, the Participating Counterparties agreed to forbear from exercising any of their rights and remedies in respect of events of default and any and all other defaults under the applicable financing arrangement with us for the duration of the forbearance period specified in the Forbearance Agreement (the "Forbearance Period").
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On June 10, 2020, we and the Participating Counterparties entered into a Reinstatement Agreement, pursuant to which the parties agreed to terminate the Forbearance Agreement and each Participating Counterparty agreed to permanently waive all existing and prior events of default under its financing agreements with us (each, a "Bilateral Agreement" and to reinstate each Bilateral Agreement, as it may be amended by agreement between the Participating Counterparty and us. As a result of the termination of the Forbearance Agreement and entry into the Reinstatement Agreement, default interest on our outstanding borrowings under each Bilateral Agreements has ceased to accrue as of June 10, 2020 and the interest rate was the non-default rate of interest or pricing rate, as set forth in the applicable Bilateral Agreements, all cash margin has been applied to outstanding balances owed by us, and the DTC repo tracker coding for each Bilateral Agreement has been reinstated, thereby allowing principal and interest payments on the underlying collateral to flow to and be used by us, just as it was before the prior forbearance agreements were put in place. In addition, pursuant to the terms of the Reinstatement Agreement, the security interests granted to Participating Counterparties as additional collateral under the various forbearance agreements have been terminated and released. We also agreed to pay the reasonable fees and out-of-pocket expenses of counsel and other professional advisors for the Participating Counterparties and the collateral agent. Additionally, the Reinstatement Agreement provided a set of financial covenants that override and replace the financial covenants in each Bilateral Agreement and sets forth various reporting requirements from us to the Participating Counterparties, releases, certain netting obligations and cross-default provisions. In connection with the negotiation and execution of the Reinstatement Agreement, we entered into certain amendments to the Bilateral Agreements with certain of the Participating Counterparties to reflect current market terms. In general, the amendments reflect increased haircuts and higher coupons.
On June 10, 2020, we also entered a separate reinstatement agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank (the "JPM Reinstatement Agreement") on substantially the same terms as those set forth in the Reinstatement Agreement. The Reinstatement Agreement and the JPM Reinstatement Agreement collectively cover all of our existing financing arrangements as of the date of this report.
Refer to Note 12 in the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more information on deficiencies that are now settled.
Recourse and non-recourse financing
We utilize both recourse and non-recourse debt to finance our portfolio. Non-recourse financing includes securitized debt and other non-recourse financing. Recourse financing includes the secured debt from our Manager, as further described in the "Contractual obligations–Secured debt" section below, and other recourse financing. The below table provides detail on the breakout between recourse and non-recourse financing as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 (in thousands):
March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | |||||||||||||
| Recourse financing | $ | 1,167,731 | $ | 580,037 | ||||||||||
| Non-recourse financing | 422,896 | 466,294 | ||||||||||||
| Total (1) | 1,590,627 | 1,046,331 | ||||||||||||
| Recourse financing - Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | 35,531 | 5,597 | ||||||||||||
| Non-recourse financing - Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates (2) | 78,467 | 111,135 | ||||||||||||
| Total Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | 113,998 | 116,732 | ||||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Basis | $ | 1,476,629 | $ | 929,599 | ||||||||||
(1)As of March 31, 2021, total financing includes $1.2 billion of financing arrangements, collateralized by various asset types in our investment portfolio and $344.4 million of securitized debt, collateralized by Re/Non-Performing Loans. As of December 31, 2020, total financing includes $680.8 million of financing arrangements, collateralized by various asset types in our investment portfolio; $355.2 million of securitized debt, collateralized by Re/Non-Performing Loans; and $10.4 million of secured debt.
(2)On January 29, 2021, we and private funds under the management of Angelo Gordon entered into an amendment with respect to our Restructured Financing Arrangement in MATT. The amendment serves to convert the existing financing to a mark-to-market facility with respect to margin calls that is recourse to us and the private funds managed by Angelo Gordon that invest in MATT up to our and each funds' allocation of the $50.0 million commitment to MATH, which is further described in the "Contractual Obligations–MATT Financing Arrangement Restructuring" section below and Note 12 to the "Notes of the Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)".
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The following table presents a summary of the financing arrangements on our investment portfolio as of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020 ($ in thousands).
March 31, 2021 | December 31, 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weighted Average | Collateral (1)(2)(3) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Carrying Value | Stated Maturity | Funding Cost | Life (Years) | Amortized Cost Basis | Fair Value | Carrying Value | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repurchase Agreements | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repurchase Agreements on Agency RMBS | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 30 Year Fixed Rate | $ | 874,612 | Apr 2021 | 0.14 | % | 0.04 | $ | 944,627 | $ | 915,423 | $ | 435,893 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Repurchase Agreements on Credit Investments | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Non-Agency RMBS (4) | 46,249 | Apr 2021 | 2.40 | % | 0.10 | 80,402 | 92,579 | 37,744 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Loans (5)(6)(7) | 205,326 | Jun 2021 - Jan 2022 | 2.65 | % | 0.74 | 253,098 | 257,844 | 25,590 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 251,575 | 2.60 | % | 0.62 | 333,500 | 350,423 | 63,334 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| CMBS (8) | 18,081 | Apr 2021 | 2.29 | % | 0.02 | 35,419 | 29,439 | 24,881 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Repurchase Agreements | 1,144,268 | 0.71 | % | 0.17 | 1,313,546 | 1,295,285 | 524,108 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Revolving Facilities (9) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Commercial Real Estate Loans (10)(11) | 25,950 | Aug 2023 | 3.23 | % | 2.36 | 50,663 | 41,489 | 63,133 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Residential Loans (5)(12)(13) | 75,980 | Jul 2021 - Jan 2022 | 2.84 | % | 0.82 | 97,252 | 98,555 | 93,528 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Real Estate Owned | — | N/A | — | % | — | — | — | 9 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total Revolving Facilities | 101,930 | 2.94 | % | 1.21 | 147,915 | 140,044 | 156,671 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: Non-GAAP Basis | $ | 1,246,198 | 0.90 | % | 0.25 | $ | 1,461,461 | $ | 1,435,329 | $ | 680,779 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates | $ | 113,998 | 2.73 | % | 0.58 | $ | 167,554 | $ | 176,383 | $ | 116,732 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Total: GAAP Basis | $ | 1,132,200 | 0.71 | % | 0.22 | $ | 1,293,907 | $ | 1,258,946 | $ | 564,047 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
(1)We also had $6.1 million of cash pledged under repurchase agreements as of March 31, 2021, which included $44.2 thousand pledged under repurchase agreements held at Investments in Debt and Equity of Affiliates.
(2)Under the terms of our financing agreements, our financing counterparties may, in certain cases, sell or re-hypothecate the pledged collateral.
(3)Amounts pledged as collateral under Residential Loans include certain of our retained interests in securitizations. Refer to Note 4 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more information on the August 2019 VIE and September 2020 VIE.
(4)Includes repurchase agreements on Prime, Alt-A/Subprime, Credit Risk Transfer, Interest-Only and Excess MSR, Re/Non-Performing Loans, and Non-QM Loans held in securitized form.
(5)Includes financing on Re/Non-Performing Loans, and Non-QM Loans not held in securitized form.
(6)Our Residential Loan financing arrangements include a maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity of $250 million on a facility used to finance Non-QM Loans. Subsequent to quarter end, we amended this financing arrangement to increase the maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity to $400 million.
(7)The funding cost includes deferred financing costs. The stated rate on the Residential Loans repurchase agreements was 2.58% as of March 31, 2021.
(8)Includes repurchase agreements on Conduit, Single-Asset/Single-Borrower, Freddie Mac K-Series, and Interest-Only investments.
(9)All revolving facilities listed are interest only until maturity.
(10)The funding cost includes deferred financing costs. The stated rate on the Commercial Real Estate Loans revolving facility was 2.19% as of March 31, 2021.
(11)The maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity on the Commercial Real Estate Loans revolving facility is $100 million.
(12)The funding cost includes deferred financing costs. The stated rate on the Residential Loans revolving facilities was 2.73% as of March 31, 2021.
(13)The maximum uncommitted borrowing capacity on the Residential Loans revolving facility is $111.6 million.
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Other financing transactions
In addition to our financing arrangements, we also finance our Re/Non-performing loans with securitized debt. From time to time, we enter into securitization transactions of certain Re/Non-performing loans where special purpose entities ("SPEs") are created to facilitate the transactions. These SPEs are considered variable interest entities ("VIEs"), which should be consolidated under ASC 810-10. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we have recorded secured financing in connection with these VIEs of $344.4 million and $355.2 million, respectively, on the consolidated balance sheets in the "Securitized debt, at fair value" line item. See Note 2 and Note 4 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more detail on securitized debt and our consolidated VIEs.
Leverage
We define GAAP leverage as the sum of (1) our GAAP financing arrangements, net of any restricted cash posted on such financing arrangements, (2) the amount payable on purchases that have not yet settled less the financing remaining on sales that have not yet settled, and (3) securitized debt, at fair value. We define Economic Leverage, a non-GAAP metric, as the sum of: (i) our GAAP leverage, exclusive of any fully non-recourse financing arrangements, (ii) financing arrangements held through affiliated entities, net of any restricted cash posted on such financing arrangements, exclusive of any financing utilized through AG Arc, any adjustment related to unsettled trades as described in (2) in the previous sentence, and any non-recourse financing arrangements and (iii) our net TBA position (at cost), if any.
The calculations in the tables below divide GAAP leverage and Economic Leverage by our GAAP stockholders’ equity to derive our leverage ratios. The following tables present a reconciliation of our Economic Leverage ratio back to GAAP ($ in thousands).
| March 31, 2021 | Leverage | Stockholders’ Equity | Leverage Ratio | |||||||||||||||||
| GAAP Leverage | $ | 1,470,528 | $ | 455,305 | 3.2x | |||||||||||||||
| Financing arrangements through affiliated entities | 113,954 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-recourse financing arrangements | (422,896) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Economic Leverage | $ | 1,161,586 | $ | 455,305 | 2.6x | |||||||||||||||
(1) Non-recourse financing arrangements include securitized debt and other non-recourse financing held within MATT.
| December 31, 2020 | Leverage | Stockholders’ Equity | Leverage Ratio | |||||||||||||||||
| GAAP Leverage | $ | 979,303 | $ | 409,705 | 2.4x | |||||||||||||||
| Financing arrangements through affiliated entities | 116,688 | |||||||||||||||||||
| Non-recourse financing arrangements | (466,294) | |||||||||||||||||||
| Economic Leverage | $ | 629,697 | $ | 409,705 | 1.5x | |||||||||||||||
(1) Non-recourse financing arrangements include securitized debt and other non-recourse financing held within MATT.
Hedging activities
Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT and our Investment Company Act exemption, to the extent leverage is deployed, we may utilize derivative instruments in an effort to hedge the interest rate risk associated with the financing of our portfolio. Specifically, we may seek to hedge our exposure to potential interest rate mismatches between the interest we earn on our investments and our borrowing costs caused by fluctuations in short-term interest rates. We may utilize interest rate swaps, swaption agreements, and other financial instruments such as short positions in U.S. Treasury securities. In addition, we may utilize Eurodollar Futures, U.S. Treasury Futures, British Pound Futures and Euro Futures (collectively, "Futures"). In utilizing leverage and interest rate derivatives, our objectives are to improve risk-adjusted returns and, where possible, to lock in, on a long-term basis, a spread between the yield on our assets and the costs of our financing and hedging. Derivatives have not been designated as hedging instruments for GAAP. See Note 7 in the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more information.
Dividends
Federal income tax law generally requires that a REIT distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT ordinary taxable income, without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates
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to the extent that it annually distributes less than 100% of its net taxable income. Before we pay any dividend, whether for U.S. federal income tax purposes or otherwise, we must first meet both our operating requirements and debt service on our financing arrangements and other debt payable. If our cash available for distribution is less than our net taxable income, we could be required to sell assets or borrow funds to make required cash distributions or we may make a portion of the required distribution in the form of a taxable stock distribution or distribution of debt securities.
As described above, our distribution requirements are based on taxable income rather than GAAP net income. Differences between taxable income and GAAP net income include (i) unrealized gains and losses associated with investment and derivative portfolios which are marked-to-market in current income for GAAP purposes, but excluded from taxable income until realized or settled, (ii) temporary differences related to amortization of premiums and discounts paid on investments, (iii) the timing and amount of deductions related to stock-based compensation, (iv) temporary differences related to the recognition of realized gains and losses on sold investments and certain terminated derivatives, (v) taxes and (vi) methods of depreciation. Undistributed taxable income is based on current estimates and is not finalized until we file our annual tax return for that tax year, typically in October of the following year. We did not have any undistributed taxable income as of March 31, 2021. Refer to the "Results of operations" section above for more detail.
On March 27, 2020, we announced that our Board of Directors approved a suspension of our quarterly dividends on our Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock, beginning with the preferred dividend that would have been declared in May 2020, in order to conserve capital and improve its liquidity position during the market volatility due to the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as a suspension of the quarterly dividend on the common stock, beginning with the dividend that normally would have been declared in March 2020. Under the terms of the Articles Supplementary governing our series of preferred stock, we cannot pay cash dividends with respect to our common stock if dividends on our preferred stock are in arrears.
On December 17, 2020, we paid our Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock, and Series C Preferred Stock dividends that were in arrears as well as the full dividends payable on the preferred stock for the fourth quarter of 2020 in the amount of $1.54689, $1.50 and $1.50 per share, respectively. On December 22, 2020, our Board of Directors declared a dividend of $0.03 per common share for the fourth quarter 2020 which was paid on January 29, 2021 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 31, 2020. During the first quarter of 2021, we declared its preferred and common dividends in the ordinary course of business.
The following table details our common stock dividends declared during the three months ended March 31, 2021:
| 2021 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||
| 3/22/2021 | 4/1/2021 | 4/30/2021 | $ | 0.06 | ||||||||||||||||
We did not declare any common stock dividends during the three months ended March 31, 2020.
The following tables detail our preferred stock dividends declared and paid during the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020:
| 2021 | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | 8.25% Series A | 8.00% Series B | 8.000% Series C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2/16/2021 | 2/26/2021 | 3/17/2021 | $ | 0.51563 | $ | 0.50 | $ | 0.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2020 | Cash Dividend Per Share | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Declaration Date | Record Date | Payment Date | 8.25% Series A | 8.00% Series B | 8.000% Series C | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2/14/2020 | 2/28/2020 | 3/17/2020 | $ | 0.51563 | $ | 0.50 | $ | 0.50 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Liquidity and capital resources
Our liquidity determines our ability to meet our cash obligations, including distributions to our stockholders, payment of our expenses, financing our investments and satisfying other general business needs.
Our principal sources of cash as of March 31, 2021 consisted of borrowings under financing arrangements, principal and
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interest payments we receive on our investment portfolio, cash generated from our operating results, and proceeds from capital market transactions. We typically use cash to repay principal and interest on our financing arrangements, to purchase real estate securities, loans and other real estate related assets, to make dividend payments on our capital stock, and to fund our operations. At March 31, 2021, we had $51.6 million of liquidity, which consisted entirely of cash. Refer to the "Contractual obligations" section of this Item 2 for additional obligations that could impact our liquidity.
Margin requirements
The fair value of our real estate securities and loans fluctuate according to market conditions. When the fair value of the assets pledged as collateral to secure a financing arrangement decreases to the point where the difference between the collateral fair value and the financing arrangement amount is less than the haircut, our lenders may issue a "margin call," which requires us to post additional collateral to the lender in the form of additional assets or cash. Under our repurchase facilities, our lenders have full discretion to determine the fair value of the securities we pledge to them. Our lenders typically value assets based on recent transactions in the market. Lenders also issue margin calls as the published current principal balance factors change on the pool of mortgages underlying the securities pledged as collateral when scheduled and unscheduled paydowns are announced monthly. We experience margin calls in the ordinary course of our business. In seeking to manage effectively the margin requirements established by our lenders, we maintain a position of cash and, when owned, unpledged Agency RMBS. We refer to this position as our "liquidity." The level of liquidity we have available to meet margin calls is directly affected by our leverage levels, our haircuts and the price changes on our securities. Typically, if interest rates increase or if credit spreads widen, then the prices of our collateral (and our unpledged assets that constitute our liquidity) will decline, we will experience margin calls, and we will need to use our liquidity to meet the margin calls. There can be no assurance that we will maintain sufficient levels of liquidity to meet any margin calls. If our haircuts increase, our liquidity will proportionately decrease. In addition, if we increase our borrowings, our liquidity will decrease by the amount of additional haircut on the increased level of indebtedness. We intend to maintain a level of liquidity in relation to our assets that enables us to meet reasonably anticipated margin calls but that also allows us to be substantially invested in the residential mortgage market. We may misjudge the appropriate amount of our liquidity by maintaining excessive liquidity, which would lower our investment returns, or by maintaining insufficient liquidity, which may force us to liquidate assets into potentially unfavorable market conditions and harm our results of operations and financial condition. Further, an unexpected rise in interest rates and a corresponding fall in the fair value of our securities may also force us to liquidate assets under difficult market conditions, thereby harming our results of operations and financial condition, in an effort to maintain sufficient liquidity to meet increased margin calls.
Similar to the margin calls that we receive on our borrowing agreements, we may also receive margin calls on our derivative instruments when their fair value declines. This typically occurs when prevailing market rates change adversely, with the severity of the change also dependent on the terms of the derivatives involved. We may also receive margin calls on our derivatives based on the implied volatility of interest rates. Our posting of collateral with our counterparties can be done in cash or securities, and is generally bilateral, which means that if the fair value of our interest rate hedges increases, our counterparty will be required to post collateral with us. Refer to the "Liquidity risk – derivatives" section of Item 3 below for a further discussion on margin.
Refer to the "Financing activities–Forbearance and Reinstatement Agreements" section above for information on the impact of COVID-19 on margin calls in 2020.
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Cash Flows
The below details changes to our cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 (in thousands).
| Three Months Ended | ||||||||||||||||||||
| March 31, 2021 | March 31, 2020 | Change | ||||||||||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, Beginning of Period | $ | 62,318 | $ | 125,369 | $ | (63,051) | ||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (1) | 6,477 | 7,431 | (954) | |||||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities (2) | (526,454) | 1,976,276 | (2,502,730) | |||||||||||||||||
| Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities (3) | 549,205 | (1,975,294) | 2,524,499 | |||||||||||||||||
| Net change in cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash | 29,228 | 8,413 | 20,815 | |||||||||||||||||
| Effect of exchange rate changes on cash | 9 | (83) | 92 | |||||||||||||||||
| Cash and cash equivalents and restricted cash, End of Period | $ | 91,555 | $ | 133,699 | $ | (42,144) | ||||||||||||||
(1)Cash provided by operating activities is primarily attributable to net interest income less operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
(2)Cash used in investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was primarily attributable to purchases of investments less sales of investments and principal repayments of investments. Cash provided by investing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to sales of investments and principal repayments of investments, offset by purchases of investments. The difference period over period is primarily due to significant sales in 2020 as a result of the global COVID-19 pandemic.
(3)Cash provided by financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2021 was primarily attributable to borrowings under financing arrangements offset by repayments of financing arrangements and dividend payments. Cash used in financing activities for the three months ended March 31, 2020 was primarily attributable to repayments of financing arrangements offset by borrowings under financing arrangements. The difference period over period is primarily due to a reduction in financing arrangements as a result of significant sales in 2020 due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.
Equity distribution agreements
On May 5, 2017, we entered into an equity distribution agreement with each of Credit Suisse Securities (USA) LLC and JMP Securities LLC (collectively, the "Sales Agents"), which we refer to as the "Equity Distribution Agreements," pursuant to which we may sell up to $100.0 million aggregate offering price of shares of our common stock from time to time through the Sales Agents, under the Securities Act of 1933. The Equity Distribution Agreements were amended on May 2, 2018 in conjunction with the filing of our shelf registration statement registering up to $750.0 million of our securities, including capital stock (the "2018 Registration Statement"). For the three months ended March 31, 2021, we issued 2.2 million shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements for net proceeds of approximately $10.0 million. For the three months ended March 31, 2020, we did not issue any shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements. Since inception of the program, we have issued approximately 5.8 million shares of common stock under the Equity Distribution Agreements for gross proceeds of $45.0 million.
Exchange Offers
On March 17, 2021, we agreed to issue an aggregate of 2,812,388 shares of our common stock in exchange for 153,325 shares of Series A Preferred Stock and 350,609 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, pursuant to a privately negotiated exchange agreement with existing holders of the preferred stock. After the transaction closed, the Series A Preferred Stock and Series B Preferred Stock exchanged pursuant to the exchange agreement were reclassified as authorized but unissued shares of preferred stock without designation as to class or series.
As of March 31, 2021, we had outstanding 1,663,193 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 3,814,119 shares of Series B Preferred Stock, and 3,883,178 shares of Series C Preferred Stock outstanding.
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Common stock issuance to the Manager
Refer to "Contractual obligations–Management agreement" below for more detail related to the Second Management Agreement Amendment.
Forward-looking statements regarding liquidity
Based upon our current portfolio, leverage and available borrowing arrangements, we believe the net proceeds of our common equity offerings, preferred equity offerings, and private placements, combined with cash flow from operations and our available borrowing capacity will be sufficient to enable us to meet our anticipated liquidity requirements, including funding our investment activities, paying fees under our management agreement, funding our distributions to stockholders and paying general corporate expenses.
Contractual obligations
Management agreement
On June 29, 2011, we entered into a management agreement with our Manager, pursuant to which our Manager is entitled to receive a management fee and the reimbursement of certain expenses. The management fee is calculated and payable quarterly in arrears in an amount equal to 1.50% of our Stockholders’ Equity, per annum.
For purposes of calculating the management fee, "Stockholders’ Equity" means the sum of the net proceeds from any issuances of equity securities (including preferred securities) since inception (allocated on a pro rata daily basis for such issuances during the fiscal quarter of any such issuance, and excluding any future equity issuance to the Manager), plus our retained earnings at the end of such quarter (without taking into account any non-cash equity compensation expense or other non-cash items described below incurred in current or prior periods), less any amount that we pay for repurchases of our common stock, excluding any unrealized gains, losses or other non-cash items that have impacted stockholders’ equity as reported in our financial statements prepared in accordance with GAAP, regardless of whether such items are included in other comprehensive income or loss, or in net income, and excluding one-time events pursuant to changes in GAAP, and certain other non-cash charges after discussions between the Manager and our independent directors and after approval by a majority of our independent directors. Stockholders’ Equity, for purposes of calculating the management fee, could be greater or less than the amount of stockholders’ equity shown on our financial statements. For the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, we incurred management fees of approximately $1.7 million and $2.1 million, respectively. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we have recorded management fees payable of $1.7 million.
Our Manager uses the proceeds from its management fee in part to pay compensation to its officers and personnel, who, notwithstanding that certain of them also are our officers, receive no compensation directly from us. We are required to reimburse our Manager or its affiliates for operating expenses incurred by our Manager or its affiliates on our behalf, including certain salary expenses and other expenses relating to legal, accounting, due diligence and other services. Our reimbursement obligation is not subject to any dollar limitation; however, the reimbursement is subject to an annual budget process which combines guidelines from the Management Agreement with oversight by our Board of Directors and discussions with our Manager. Of the $4.0 million and $0.9 million of Other operating expenses for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively, we have incurred $1.5 million and $2.0 million, respectively, representing a reimbursement of expenses. As of March 31, 2021 and December 31, 2020, we recorded a reimbursement payable to our Manager of $1.5 million and $1.8 million, respectively. For the year ended December 31, 2021, the Manager agreed to waive its right to receive expense reimbursements of $0.8 million.
On April 6, 2020, we executed an amendment to the management agreement, pursuant to which the Manager agreed to defer our payment of the management fee and reimbursement of expenses, effective the first quarter of 2020 through September 30, 2020. All deferred expense reimbursements were paid as of September 30, 2020.
On September 24, 2020, we executed an amendment (the "Second Management Agreement Amendment") to the management agreement, pursuant to which the Manager agreed to receive a portion of the deferred base management fee in shares of common stock. Pursuant to the Second Management Agreement Amendment, the Manager agreed to purchase (i) 1,215,370 shares of common stock in full satisfaction of the deferred base management fee of $3.8 million payable by us in respect to the first and second quarters of 2020 and (ii) 154,500 shares of common stock in satisfaction of $0.5 million of the base management fee payable by us in respect to the third quarter of 2020. The shares of common stock issued to the Manager were valued at $3.15 per share based on the midpoint of the estimated range of our book value per share as of August 31, 2020. The remaining third quarter 2020 management fee was paid in the normal course of business.
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Secured debt
On April 10, 2020, in connection with the first Forbearance Agreement, we issued a secured promissory note (the "Note") to the Manager evidencing a $10 million loan made by the Manager to us. Additionally, on April 27, 2020, in connection with the second Forbearance Agreement, we entered into an amendment to the Note to reflect an additional $10 million loan by the Manager to us. The $10 million loan made by the Manager on April 10, 2020 was repaid in full with interest when it matured on March 31, 2021, and the $10 million loan made on April 27, 2020 was repaid in full with interest when it matured on July 27, 2020. The unpaid balance of the Note accrued interest at a rate of 6.0% per annum. Interest on the Note was payable monthly in kind through the addition of such accrued monthly interest to the outstanding principal balance of the Note. The Note and accrued interest on the Note, when outstanding, were included within the due to affiliates amount, which is included within the "Other Liabilities" line item in the consolidated balance sheets.
Share-based compensation
Effective on April 15, 2020 upon the approval of our stockholders at our 2020 annual meeting of stockholders, the 2020 Equity Incentive Plan provides for 2,000,000 shares of common stock to be issued. The maximum number of shares of common stock granted during a single fiscal year to any non-employee director, taken together with any cash fees paid to such non-employee director during any fiscal year, shall not exceed $300,000 in total value (calculating the value of any such awards based on the grant date fair value). As of March 31, 2021, 1,857,350 shares of common stock were available to be awarded under the Equity Incentive Plan.
Since our IPO, we have granted an aggregate of 105,794 and 142,650 shares of restricted common stock to our independent directors under our equity incentive plans, dated July 6, 2011 (the "2011 Equity Incentive Plans") and our 2020 Equity Incentive Plan, respectively. As of March 31, 2021, all shares of restricted common stock granted to our independent directors have vested. Further, since our IPO, we have issued 40,250 shares of restricted common stock and 120,000 restricted stock units to our Manager under our 2011 Equity Incentive Plans. As of July 1, 2020, all shares of restricted common stock and restricted stock units granted to our Manager have fully vested.
Unfunded commitments
See Note 12 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for detail on our commitments as of March 31, 2021.
MATT Financing Arrangement Restructuring
See Note 10 and Note 12 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for detail on the MATT Restructured Financing Arrangement and our commitments as of March 31, 2021.
Off-balance sheet arrangements
Our investments in debt and equity of affiliates primarily consist of real estate securities, loans, and our interest in AG Arc. Investments in debt and equity of affiliates are accounted for using the equity method of accounting. See Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for a discussion of investments in debt and equity of affiliates.
In addition to our investments in debt and equity of affiliates described above, we also have commitments outstanding on certain loans. For additional information on our commitments as of March 31, 2021, refer to Note 12 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)." Exclusive of our investments in debt and equity of affiliates described above, we do not expect these commitments, taken as a whole, to be significant to, or to have a material impact on, our overall liquidity or capital resources or our operations.
Critical accounting policies
We prepare our consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP, which requires the use of estimates and assumptions that affect reported amounts of assets and liabilities and disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. These estimates are based, in part, on our judgment and assumptions regarding various economic conditions that we believe are reasonable based on facts and circumstances existing at the time of reporting. We believe that the estimates, judgments and assumptions utilized in the preparation of our consolidated financial statements are prudent and reasonable. Although our estimates contemplate
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conditions as of March 31, 2021 and how we expect them to change in the future, it is reasonably possible that actual conditions could be different than anticipated in arriving at those estimates, which could materially affect reported amounts of assets, liabilities and accumulated other comprehensive income at the date of the consolidated financial statements and the reported amounts of income, expenses and other comprehensive income during the periods presented.
Our consolidated financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP, which requires the use of estimates that involve the exercise of judgment and the use of assumptions as to future uncertainties. A discussion of the critical accounting policies and the possible effects of changes in estimates on our consolidated financial statements is included in Item 8 of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and in Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)." Our most critical accounting policies are believed to include (i) Valuation of financial instruments, (ii) Accounting for real estate securities, (iii) Accounting for loans, (iv) Interest income recognition, and (v) Financing arrangements.
See Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)" for more detail on these critical accounting policies. These policies involve decisions and assessments that could affect our reported assets and liabilities, as well as our reported revenues and expenses. We believe that all of the decisions and assessments upon which our consolidated financial statements are based are reasonable at the time made and based upon information available to us at that time. We rely upon third-party pricing of our assets at each-quarter end to arrive at what we believe to be reasonable estimates of fair value, whenever available. For more information on our fair value measurements, see Note 5 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)". For a review of our significant accounting policies and the recent accounting pronouncements that may impact our results of operations, see Note 2 to the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)."
Inflation
Virtually all of our assets and liabilities are interest rate sensitive in nature. As a result, interest rates and other factors influence our performance far more than inflation. Changes in interest rates do not necessarily correlate with inflation rates or changes in inflation rates.
Compliance with Investment Company Act and REIT tests
We intend to conduct our business so as to maintain our exempt status under, and not to become regulated as an investment company for purposes, of the Investment Company Act. Under Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the Investment Company Act, a company is an investment company if it is, or holds itself out as being, engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. Under Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the Investment Company Act, a company is deemed to be an investment company if it 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 its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis (the "40% Test"). "Investment securities" do not include, among other things, U.S. government securities, and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that (i) are not investment companies and (ii) are not relying on the exceptions from the definition of investment company provided by Section 3(c)(1) or 3(c)(7) of the Investment Company Act (the so called "private investment company" exemptions). As of December 31, 2020 and for the three months ended March 31, 2021, we determined that we maintained compliance with the 40% test requirements.
If we failed to comply with the 40% Test or another exemption under the Investment Company Act and became regulated as an investment company, our ability to, among other things, use leverage would be substantially reduced and, as a result, we would be unable to conduct our business as described in this Report. Accordingly, in order to maintain our exempt status, we monitor our subsidiaries' compliance with Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Investment Company Act, which exempts from the definition of "investment company" entities primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate. The staff of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, generally requires an entity relying on Section 3(c)(5)(C) to invest at least 55% of its portfolio in "qualifying assets" and at least another 25% in additional qualifying assets or in "real estate-related" assets (with no more than 20% comprised of miscellaneous assets). As of December 31, 2020 and for the three months ended March 31, 2021, we determined that our subsidiaries maintained compliance with both the 55% Test and the 80% Test requirements.
We calculate that at least 75% of our assets were real estate assets, cash and cash items and government securities for the year ended December 31, 2020. We also calculate that a sufficient portion of our revenue qualifies for the 75% gross income test and for the 95% gross income test rules for the year ended December 31, 2020. Overall, we believe that we met the REIT income and asset tests. We also believe that we met all other REIT requirements, including the ownership of our stock and the
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distribution of our taxable income. Therefore, for the year ended December 31, 2020, we believe that we qualified as a REIT under the Code.
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ITEM 3. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
The primary components of our market risk relate to interest rates, liquidity, prepayment rates, real estate, credit and basis risk. While we do not seek to avoid risk completely, we seek to assume risk that can be reasonably quantified from historical experience and to actively manage that risk, to earn sufficient returns to justify taking those risks and to maintain capital levels consistent with the risks we undertake. Many of these risks have become particularly heightened due to the COVID-19 pandemic and related economic and market conditions.
Interest rate risk
Interest rate risk is highly sensitive to many factors, including governmental monetary, fiscal and tax policies, domestic and international economic and political considerations and other factors beyond our control. We are subject to interest rate risk in connection with both our investments and the financing under our financing arrangements. We generally seek to manage this risk by monitoring the reset index and the interest rate related to our investment portfolio and our financings; by structuring our financing arrangements to have a range of maturity terms, amortizations and interest rate adjustment periods; and by using derivative instruments to adjust interest rate sensitivity of our investment portfolio and borrowings. Our hedging techniques can be highly complex, and the value of our investment portfolio and derivatives may be adversely affected as a result of changing interest rates.
Interest rate effects on net interest income
Our operating results depend in large part upon differences between the yields earned on our investments and our cost of borrowing and upon the effectiveness of our interest rate hedging activities. The majority of our financing arrangements are short term in nature with an initial term of between 30 and 90 days. The financing rate on these agreements will generally be determined at the outset of each transaction by reference to prevailing rates plus a spread. As a result, our borrowing costs will tend to increase during periods of rising interest rates as we renew, or "roll", maturing transactions at the higher prevailing rates. When combined with the fact that the income we earn on our fixed interest rate investments will remain substantially unchanged, this will result in a narrowing of the net interest spread between the related assets and borrowings and may even result in losses. We have obtained term financing on certain borrowing arrangements. The financing on term facilities generally are fixed at the outset of each transaction by reference to a pre-determined interest rate plus a spread.
In an attempt to offset the increase in funding costs related to rising interest rates, our Manager may cause us to enter into hedging transactions structured to provide us with positive cash flow in the event interest rates rise. Our Manager accomplishes this through the use of interest rate derivatives. Some hedging strategies involving the use of derivatives are highly complex, may produce volatile returns and may expose us to increased risks relating to counterparty defaults.
Interest rate effects on fair value
Another component of interest rate risk is the effect that changes in interest rates will have on the fair value of the assets that we acquire.
Generally, in a rising interest rate environment, the fair value of our real estate securities and loan portfolios would be expected to decrease, all other factors being held constant. In particular, the portion of our real estate securities and loan portfolios with fixed-rate coupons would be expected to decrease in value more severely than that portion with a floating-rate coupon. This is because fixed-rate coupon assets tend to have significantly more duration, or price sensitivity to changes in interest rates, than floating-rate coupon assets. Fixed-rate assets currently represent a majority of our portfolio.
The fair value of our investment portfolio could change at a different rate than the fair value of our liabilities when interest rates change. We measure the sensitivity of our portfolio to changes in interest rates by estimating the duration of our assets and liabilities. Duration is the approximate percentage change in fair value for a 100 basis point parallel shift in the yield curve. In general, our assets have higher duration than our liabilities. In order to reduce this exposure, we use hedging instruments to reduce the gap in duration between our assets and liabilities.
We calculate estimated effective duration (i.e., the price sensitivity to changes in risk-free interest rates) to measure the impact of changes in interest rates on our portfolio value. We estimate duration based on third-party models. Different models and methodologies can produce different effective duration estimates for the same securities. We allocate the net duration by asset type based on the interest rate sensitivity. Duration does not include our investment in AG Arc LLC.
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The following chart details information about our duration gap as of March 31, 2021:
| Duration (1) | Years | ||||
| Agency RMBS | 3.47 | ||||
| Residential Loans (2) | 0.88 | ||||
| Hedges | (4.05) | ||||
| Subtotal | 0.30 | ||||
| Credit Investments, excluding Residential Loans (2) | 0.16 | ||||
| Duration Gap | 0.46 | ||||
(1)Duration related to financing arrangements is netted within its respective line items.
(2)Residential Loans include Re/Non Performing Loans, Non-QM Loans, and Land Related Financing.
The following table quantifies the estimated percent changes in GAAP equity, the fair value of our assets, and projected net interest income should interest rates go up or down instantaneously by 25, 50, and 75 basis points, assuming (i) the yield curves of the rate shocks will be parallel to each other and the current yield curve and (ii) all other market risk factors remain constant. These estimates were compiled using a combination of third-party services and models, market data and internal models. All changes in equity, assets and income are measured as percentage changes from the projected net interest income and GAAP equity from our base interest rate scenario. The base interest rate scenario assumes spot and forward interest rates existing as of March 31, 2021. Actual results could differ materially from these estimates.
Agency RMBS assumptions attempt to predict default and prepayment activity at projected interest rate levels. To the extent that these estimates or other assumptions do not hold true, actual results will likely differ materially from projections and could result in percentage changes larger or smaller than the estimates in the table below. Moreover, if different models were employed in the analysis, materially different projections could result. In addition, while the table below reflects the estimated impact of interest rate increases and decreases on a static portfolio as of March 31, 2021, our Manager may from time to time sell any of our investments as a part of the overall management of our investment portfolio.
Change in Interest Rates (basis points) (1)(2) | Change in Fair Value as a Percentage of GAAP Equity | Change in Fair Value as a Percentage of Assets | Percentage Change in Projected Net Interest Income (3) | |||||||||||||||||
| 75 | (2.3) | % | (0.5) | % | 1.1 | % | ||||||||||||||
| 50 | (1.3) | % | (0.3) | % | 0.8 | % | ||||||||||||||
| 25 | (0.5) | % | (0.1) | % | 0.4 | % | ||||||||||||||
| (25) | 0.3 | % | 0.1 | % | (2.9) | % | ||||||||||||||
| (50) | 0.1 | % | — | % | (9.2) | % | ||||||||||||||
| (75) | (0.3) | % | (0.1) | % | (15.7) | % | ||||||||||||||
(1)Includes investments held through affiliated entities that are reported as "Investments in debt and equity of affiliates" on our consolidated balance sheet, but excludes AG Arc.
(2)Does not include cash investments, which typically have overnight maturities and are not expected to change in value as interest rates change.
(3)Interest income includes trades settled as of March 31, 2021.
The information set forth in the interest rate sensitivity table above and all related disclosures constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act and Section 21E of the Exchange Act. Actual results could differ significantly from those estimated in the foregoing interest rate sensitivity table. See below for additional risks which may impact the fair value of our assets, GAAP equity and net income.
Liquidity risk
Our primary liquidity risk arises from financing long-maturity assets with shorter-term financings primarily in the form of financing arrangements. Our Manager seeks to mitigate our liquidity risks by maintaining a prudent level of leverage, monitoring our liquidity position on a daily basis and maintaining a substantial cushion of cash and unpledged real estate securities and loans in our portfolio in order to meet future margin calls. In addition, our Manager seeks to further mitigate our
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liquidity risk by (i) maintaining relationships with a broad number of financing counterparties and (ii) monitoring the ongoing financial stability of our financing counterparties.
As discussed throughout this report, the COVID-19 pandemic-driven disruptions in the real estate, mortgage and financial markets have negatively affected and may continue to negatively affect our liquidity. During the three months ended March 31, 2020, we observed a mark-down of a portion of our assets by the counterparties to our repurchase agreements, resulting in us having to pay cash or additional securities to counterparties to satisfy margin calls that were well beyond historical norms. To conserve capital, protect assets and to pause the escalating negative impacts caused by the market dislocation and allow the markets for many of our assets to stabilize, on March 20, 2020 we notified our repurchase agreement counterparties that we did not expect to fund the existing and anticipated future margin calls under our repurchase agreements and commenced discussions with our counterparties with regard to entering into forbearance agreements.
In response to these conditions, we sold assets, reduced the amount of our outstanding financing arrangements and the number of our financing counterparties, and entered into forbearance agreements with our largest financing counterparties. As previously described, on June 10, 2020, we entered into a Reinstatement Agreement, pursuant to which the parties thereto agreed to terminate the Forbearance Agreement and to permanently waive all existing and prior events of default under our financing agreements and to reinstate each Bilateral Agreement, as each may be amended by agreement. For additional information related to the Forbearance Agreement and the Reinstatement Agreement, see Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Financing activities.
Liquidity risk – financing arrangements
We pledge real estate securities or mortgage loans and cash as collateral to secure our financing arrangements. Should the fair value of our real estate securities or mortgage loans pledged as collateral decrease (as a result of rising interest rates, changes in prepayment speeds, widening of credit spreads or otherwise), we will likely be subject to margin calls for additional collateral from our financing counterparties. Should the fair value of our real estate securities or mortgage loans decrease materially and suddenly, margin calls will likely increase causing an adverse change to our liquidity position which could result in substantial losses. In addition, we cannot be assured that we will always be able to roll our financing arrangements at their scheduled maturities, which could cause material additional harm to our liquidity position and result in substantial losses. Further, should funding conditions tighten as they did in 2007, 2009 and more recently in March of 2020, our financing arrangement counterparties may increase our margin requirements on new financings, including repurchase transactions that we roll at maturity with the same counterparty. This would require us to post additional collateral and would reduce our ability to use leverage and could potentially cause us to incur substantial losses.
Liquidity risk - derivatives
The terms of our interest rate swaps require us to post collateral in the form of cash or Agency RMBS to our counterparties to satisfy two types of margin requirements: variation margin and initial margin.
We and our swap counterparties are both required to post variation margin to each other depending upon the daily moves in prevailing benchmark interest rates. The amount of this variation margin is derived from the mark to market valuation of our swaps. Hence, as our swaps lose value in a falling interest rate environment, we are required to post additional variation margin to our counterparties on a daily basis; conversely, as our swaps gain value in a rising interest rate environment, we are able to recall variation margin from our counterparties. By recalling variation margin from our swaps counterparties, we are able to partially mitigate the liquidity risk created by margin calls on our repurchase transactions during periods of rising interest rates.
Initial margin works differently. Collateral posted to meet initial margin requirements is intended to create a safety buffer to benefit our counterparties if we were to default on our payment obligations under the terms of the swaps and our counterparties were forced to unwind the swap. For trades executed on a bilateral basis, the initial margin is set at the outset of each trade as a fixed percentage of the notional amount of the trade. This means that once we post initial margin at the outset of a bilateral trade, we will have no further posting obligations as it pertains to initial margin. However, the initial margin on our centrally cleared trades varies from day to day depending upon various factors, including the absolute level of interest rates and the implied volatility of interest rates. There is a distinctly positive correlation between initial margin, on the one hand, and the absolute level of interest rates and implied volatility of interest rates, on the other hand. As a result, in times of rising interest rates or increasing rate volatility, we anticipate that the initial margin required on our centrally-cleared trades will likewise increase, potentially by a substantial amount. These margin increases will have a negative impact on our liquidity position and will likely impair the intended liquidity risk mitigation effect of our swaps and futures discussed above.
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Real estate value risk
Residential and commercial property values are subject to volatility and may be affected adversely by a number of factors outside of our control, including, but not limited to, national, regional and local economic conditions (which may be adversely affected by industry slowdowns and other factors); local real estate conditions (such as an oversupply of housing or commercial real estate); construction quality, age and design; demographic factors; and retroactive changes to building or similar codes. Decreases in property values could cause us to suffer losses and reduce the value of the collateral underlying our RMBS and CMBS portfolios as well as the potential sale proceeds available to repay our loans in the event of a default. In addition, substantial decreases in property values can increase the rate of strategic defaults by residential mortgage borrowers which can impact and create significant uncertainty in the recovery of principal and interest on our investments. Given the combination of low interest rates, government stimulus and high unemployment, and other disruptions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, it has become more difficult to predict prepayment levels for the securities in our portfolio.
Credit risk
We are exposed to the risk of potential credit losses from an unanticipated increase in borrower defaults as well as general credit spread widening on any Non-Agency assets in our portfolio, including residential and commercial mortgage loans as well as Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS, Excess MSRs and Interest Only investments related to Non-Agency and CMBS. We seek to manage this risk through our Manager’s pre-acquisition due diligence process and, if available, through the use of non-recourse financing, which limits our exposure to credit losses to the specific pool of collateral which is the subject of the non-recourse financing. Our Manager’s pre-acquisition due diligence process includes the evaluation of, among other things, relative valuation, supply and demand trends, the shape of various yield curves, prepayment rates, delinquency and default rates, recovery of various sectors and vintage of collateral.
Concern surrounding the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and certain of the actions taken to reduce its spread have caused and may continue to cause business shutdowns, limitations on commercial activity and financial transactions, labor shortages, supply chain interruptions, increased unemployment and property vacancy and lease default rates, reduced profitability and ability for property owners to make loan, mortgage and other payments, and overall economic and financial market instability, all of which may cause an increase in credit risk of our credit sensitive assets. Any future period of payment deferrals, forbearance, delinquencies, defaults, foreclosures or losses will likely adversely affect our net interest income from residential loans, mezzanine loans and RMBS and CMBS investments, the fair value of these assets, our ability to liquidate the collateral that may underlie these investments and obtain additional financing and the future profitability of our investments. Further, in the event of delinquencies, defaults and foreclosure, regulatory changes and policies designed to protect borrowers and renters may slow or prevent us from taking remediation actions.
Prepayment risk
Premiums arise when we acquire real estate assets at a price in excess of the principal balance of the mortgages securing such assets (i.e., par value). Conversely, discounts arise when we acquire assets at a price below the principal balance of the mortgages securing such assets. Premiums paid on our assets are amortized against interest income and accretable purchase discounts on our assets are accreted to interest income. Purchase premiums on our assets, which are primarily carried on our Agency RMBS, are amortized against interest income over the life of each respective asset using the effective yield method, adjusted for actual prepayment activity. An increase in the prepayment rate, as measured by the CPR, will typically accelerate the amortization of purchase premiums, thereby reducing the yield or interest income earned on such assets. Generally, if prepayments on our Non-Agency RMBS or mortgage loans are less than anticipated, we expect that the income recognized on such assets would be reduced due to the slower accretion of purchase discounts.
As further discussed in Note 2 of the "Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)," differences between previously estimated cash flows and current actual and anticipated cash flows caused by changes to prepayment or other assumptions are adjusted retrospectively through a "catch up" adjustment for the impact of the cumulative change in the effective yield through the reporting date for securities accounted for under ASC 320-10 (generally, Agency RMBS) or adjusted prospectively through an adjustment of the yield over the remaining life of the investment for investments accounted for under ASC 325-40 (generally, Non-Agency RMBS, CMBS, Excess MSR and interest-only securities) and mortgage loans accounted for under ASC 310-30.
In addition, our interest rate hedges are structured in part based upon assumed levels of future prepayments within our real estate securities or mortgage loan portfolio. If prepayments are slower or faster than assumed, the life of the real estate
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securities or mortgage loans will be longer or shorter than assumed, respectively, which could reduce the effectiveness of our Manager’s hedging strategies and may cause losses on such transactions.
Our Manager seeks to mitigate our prepayment risk by investing in real estate assets with a variety of prepayment characteristics.
Basis risk
Basis risk refers to the possible decline in book value triggered by the risk of incurring losses on the fair value of Agency RMBS as a result of widening market spreads between the yields on Agency RMBS and the yields on comparable duration Treasury securities. The basis risk associated with fluctuations in fair value of Agency RMBS may relate to factors impacting the mortgage and fixed income markets other than changes in benchmark interest rates, such as actual or anticipated monetary policy actions by the Federal Reserve, market liquidity, or changes in required rates of return on different assets. Consequently, while we use interest rate swaps and other hedges to protect against moves in interest rates, such instruments will generally not protect our net book value against basis risk.
Capital Market Risk
We are exposed to risks related to the equity capital markets, and our related ability to raise capital through the issuance of our common stock, preferred stock or other equity instruments. We are also exposed to risks related to the debt capital markets, and our related ability to finance our business through revolving facilities or other debt instruments. As a REIT, we are required to distribute a significant portion of our taxable income annually, which constrains our ability to accumulate operating cash flow and therefore may require us to utilize debt or equity capital to finance our business. We seek to mitigate these risks by monitoring the debt and equity capital markets to inform our decisions on the amount, timing, and terms of capital we raise.
ITEM 4. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES
(a) Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining disclosure controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information the Company is required to disclose in the reports that it files or submits under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the SEC’s rules and forms. Disclosure controls and procedures include controls and procedures designed to ensure that the Company’s management, including its principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate, allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
We have evaluated, with the participation of our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, the effectiveness of our disclosure controls and procedures as of March 31, 2021. There are inherent limitations to the effectiveness of any system of disclosure controls and procedures, including the possibility of human error and the circumvention or overriding of the controls and procedures. Accordingly, even effective disclosure controls and procedures can only provide reasonable assurance of achieving their control objectives. Based upon our evaluation, our principal executive officer and principal financial officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures were effective to provide reasonable assurance that information required to be disclosed by us in the reports that we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified in the applicable rules and forms, and that it is accumulated and communicated to our management, including our principal executive officer and principal financial officer, as appropriate to allow for timely decisions regarding required disclosure.
(b) Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting
No change occurred in our internal control over financial reporting (as defined in Rule 13a-15(f) and 15d-15(f) of the Exchange Act) during the period covered by this quarterly report that has materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.
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PART II — OTHER INFORMATION
| ITEM 1. | LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. | |||||||
We are at times subject to various legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of business. In addition, in the ordinary course of business, we can be and are involved in governmental and regulatory examinations, information gathering requests, investigations, proceedings and settlements. As of the date of this report, we are not party to any litigation or legal proceedings, or to our knowledge, any threatened litigation or legal proceedings, which we believe, individually or in the aggregate, would have a material adverse effect on our results of operations or financial condition.
| ITEM 1A. | RISK FACTORS. | |||||||
Refer to the risks identified under the caption "Risk Factors", in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2020 and our subsequent filings, which are available on the Securities and Exchange Commission’s website at www.sec.gov, and in the "Forward-Looking Statements" and "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" sections herein.
ITEM 2. | UNREGISTERED SALES OF EQUITY SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS. | |||||||
On January 4, 2021, in connection with our non-employee director compensation policy, the Company granted an aggregate of 22,330 shares of restricted common stock to its independent directors under the Company's 2020 Equity Incentive Plan in a private transaction exempt from registration pursuant to Section 4(a)(2) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended. The shares of restricted common stock were fully vested upon grant.
| ITEM 3. | DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES. | |||||||
None.
| ITEM 4. | MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES | |||||||
None.
| ITEM 5. | OTHER INFORMATION. | |||||||
None.
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| ITEM 6. | EXHIBITS. | |||||||
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31.1* | ||||||||
31.2* | ||||||||
32.1* | ||||||||
32.2* | ||||||||
| 101.INS | XBRL Instance Document | |||||||
| 101.SCH | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document | |||||||
| 101.CAL | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document | |||||||
| 101.DEF | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document | |||||||
| 101.LAB | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document | |||||||
| 101.PRE | XBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document | |||||||
| 104 | Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL) | |||||||
| * | Filed herewith. | |||||||
| † | Management contract or compensatory plan or arrangement. | |||||||
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned thereunto duly authorized.
| AG MORTGAGE INVESTMENT TRUST, INC. | ||||||||
| May 7, 2021 | By: | /s/ DAVID N. ROBERTS | ||||||
| David N. Roberts | ||||||||
| Chief Executive Officer (principal executive officer) | ||||||||
| May 7, 2021 | By: | /s/ ANTHONY W. ROSSIELLO | ||||||
| Anthony W. Rossiello | ||||||||
| Chief Financial Officer (principal financial officer and principal accounting officer) | ||||||||
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