ANH Anworth Mortgage Asset Dashboard

Risks

• Adverse developments in the residential mortgage market, the real estate market, and the broader financial and capital markets, as well as in the U.S. economy and the broader global economy, may adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
• The U.S. government may make substantial changes to fiscal, tax, and other federal policies that may adversely affect our business.
• New laws may be passed affecting the relationship between Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, on the one hand, and the federal government, on the other, which could adversely affect the price of Agency MBS.
• A failure by the U.S. government to reduce its budget deficit or resolve future debt ceiling or government funding crises, or a further downgrade of U.S. sovereign debt and government-sponsored agency debt, could have a material adverse impact on our borrowings and the valuations of our mortgage-related assets and may have a material adverse impact on our stock price, financial condition and results of operations.
• We are subject to the risk that domestic and international crises, despite efforts by global governments to address such crises, may affect interest rates and the availability of financing in general, which could adversely affect our financing and our operating results.
• Mortgage loan modification programs and future legislative action may adversely affect the value of, and the returns on, mortgage-related assets in which we invest.
• A change in the LIBOR setting process could affect the interest rates that borrowing agreement counterparties charge on borrowings in general. Any such change could affect our borrowing agreements and could have an adverse impact on our net interest income.
• Government use of eminent domain to seize underwater mortgages could materially and adversely affect the value of, and the returns on, our Non-Agency MBS and residential mortgage loans.
• If we are unable to negotiate favorable terms and conditions on future borrowing arrangements with one or more of our lenders, our ability to acquire investments for our portfolio, our financial condition and earnings could be negatively impacted.
• Our leveraging strategy increases the risks of our operations.
• We may incur increased borrowing costs related to repurchase agreements and other borrowing facilities that would adversely affect our profitability and our book value.
• Any borrowing arrangements that we use to finance our assets may require us to provide additional collateral or pay down debt, and if these requirements are not met, our financial condition and prospects could deteriorate rapidly.
• Our use of repurchase agreements and other credit facilities to borrow funds may give our lenders greater rights in the event that either we or a lender files for bankruptcy.
• Our hedging strategies may not be successful in mitigating our risks associated with interest rates.
• The characteristics of hedging instruments present various concerns, including illiquidity, enforceability, and counterparty risks, which could adversely affect our business and results of operations.
• Competition may prevent us from acquiring mortgage-related assets at favorable yields, and that would negatively impact our profitability.
• A decrease or lack of liquidity in our investments may adversely affect our business, including our ability to value and sell our assets.
• If we are unable to find suitable investments, we may not be able to achieve our investment objectives or pay dividends.
• An increase in interest rates may harm our book value, which could adversely affect the cash available for distribution to you and could cause the price of our securities to decline.
• A flat or inverted yield curve may negatively affect our operations, book value and profitability due to its potential impact on investment yields and the supply of adjustable-rate mortgage products.
• Interest rate mismatches between our adjustable-rate investments and our borrowings used to fund our purchases of these assets may reduce our income during periods of changing interest rates.
• We may experience reduced net interest income from holding fixed-rate investments during periods of rising interest rates.
• Interest rate caps on our adjustable-rate MBS may reduce our income or cause us to suffer a loss during periods of rising interest rates.
• New assets we acquire may not generate yields as attractive or be as accretive to book value as have been experienced historically.
• Increased levels of prepayments from Agency MBS may decrease our net interest income.
• The timing and amount of prepayments could adversely affect our liquidity and our profitability.
• A decline in the fair market value of our Non-Agency MBS could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.
• Our investments in Non-Agency MBS and residential mortgage loans involve credit risk, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations.
• We may have significant credit risk, especially on Non-Agency MBS and residential mortgage loans in certain geographic areas and may be disproportionately affected by economic or housing downturns, natural disasters, terrorist events, adverse climate changes or other adverse events specific to those markets.
• We invest in Non-Agency MBS that are collateralized by loans of lower credit quality, such as Alt-A loans or securitized non-performing loans, which, due to lower underwriting standards, are subject to increased risk of losses.
• We may generate taxable income that differs from our GAAP income on our mortgage-related investments, which may result in significant timing differences in the recognition of income and losses.
• Generally, Non-Agency MBS have greater price sensitivity than Agency MBS, which could cause fluctuations in our net income. Such price fluctuations could cause repurchase agreement lenders to require greater amounts of collateral and higher margin requirements, which could affect our results of operations and could cause us to sell our Non-Agency MBS at potentially distressed prices in periods of significant price fluctuation. It could also cause repurchase agreement lenders to withdraw their financing from such investments.
• Our subordinated mortgage assets may be in the “first loss” position, subjecting us to greater risks of loss.
• If our Manager underestimates the collateral loss on our investments, we may experience losses.
• The servicing of the mortgage loans that are the underlying collateral of our mortgage-related assets is outside of our control, and if this servicing is not successful in limiting future delinquencies, defaults and losses, it could adversely affect our results of operations.
• We invest in securities in the developing Credit risk transfer sector that are subject to mortgage credit risk.
• We may invest in leveraged mortgage derivative securities that generally experience greater volatility in market prices, thus exposing us to greater risk with respect to their rate of return.
• We are dependent upon information systems and communication systems and their failure could significantly disrupt our business.
• We have no employees and our Manager is responsible for making all of our investment decisions. The employees of our Manager are not required to devote any specific amount of time to our business.
• We are completely dependent upon our Manager, who provides services to us through the Management Agreement, and we may not find suitable replacements for our Manager if the Management Agreement is terminated or such key personnel are no longer available to us. The loss of any key personnel of our Manager could harm our operations.
• The Management Agreement was not negotiated on an arm’s-length basis and the terms, including fees payable, may not be as favorable to us as if it were negotiated with an unaffiliated third party.
• If the Merger is not consummated, and we elect to not renew the Management Agreement without cause, we would be required to pay our Manager a substantial termination fee.
• If we do not renew the Management Agreement for any reason, we would continue to be obligated to pay the sublease on our office premises in California.
• Various corporate actions require the approval of the majority of all shareholders.
• In the event of a change of control, we will owe certain of the officers and employees of our Manager a payment as specified in their Change of Control and Arbitration Agreements between these officers/employees and the Company.
• The management fee is payable regardless of our performance.
• The fee structure of the Management Agreement may limit our Manager’s ability to retain access to its key personnel.
• Some investors may not view our external management in a positive light, which may affect the market price of our common stock, and may make it more difficult for future offerings of our stock.
• Potential conflicts of interest could arise if our Manager were to take greater risk for the purpose of increasing our equity in order to earn a greater management fee.
• Our Manager’s liability is limited under the Management Agreement and we have agreed to indemnify our Manager against certain liabilities.
• Our Manager has limited resources and may not be able to defend itself in litigation.
• Failure of our Manager to comply with SEC rules and regulations could cause various disciplinary actions, which could cause a disruption in services provided to us, and may impact our business operations and our profitability.
• Our Board may change our operating policies and strategies without prior notice or stockholder approval and such changes could harm our business, results of operations and stock price.
• We are in an industry that has significant competition, which makes this business difficult to evaluate, and may affect our ability to operate this business in a profitable manner.
• Many factors affect the single-family residential rental market, and the profitability of this business will be affected both by our assumptions about this market and this market’s conditions in our target areas.
• Initially, our portfolio of properties has been geographically concentrated, and any adverse developments in local economic conditions, or the demand for single-family rental homes in these markets, or the occurrence of natural disasters, may adversely affect the operating results of this business.
• Poor resident selection and defaults by renters may adversely affect the financial performance of this business and harm our reputation.
• If we are disqualified as a REIT, we will be subject to tax as a regular corporation and face substantial tax liability.
• Complying with REIT requirements may cause us to forego otherwise attractive opportunities.
• Complying with REIT requirements may limit our ability to hedge effectively.
• Complying with REIT requirements may force us to liquidate otherwise attractive investments or to make investments inconsistent with our business plan.
• REIT distribution requirements could adversely affect our ability to execute our business plan and may require us to incur debt, sell assets, or take other actions to make such distributions.
• Even though we elected to be taxed as REIT, we may be required to pay certain taxes.
• Our ability to invest in and dispose of TBA contracts could be limited by our REIT status and we could lose our REIT status as a result of these investments.
• Complying with REIT requirements may force us to borrow to make distributions to stockholders.
• Dividends payable by REITs do not qualify for the reduced tax rates.
• The tax imposed on REITs engaging in “prohibited transactions” will limit our ability to engage in transactions, including certain methods of securitizing loans, which would be treated as sales for federal income tax purposes.
• We may incur excess inclusion income that would increase the tax liability of our stockholders.
• Misplaced reliance on legal opinions or statements by issuers of mortgage-related assets could result in a failure to comply with REIT gross income or asset tests.
• Failure to maintain an exemption from the Investment Company Act would materially harm our results of operations.
• We presently are not, nor do we intend to be, regulated as an investment company. Fluctuations in our net income and in our book value will likely be greater than those of investment companies. This may affect investors or potential investors as to the appropriateness of our stock as compared to that of an investment company.
• The market price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.
• We may not be able to use the money we raise from time to time to acquire investments at favorable prices.
• We have not established a minimum dividend payment level for our common stockholders and there are no assurances of our ability to pay dividends to them in the future.
• Our charter does not permit ownership of over 9.8% of our common or preferred stock and attempts to acquire our common or preferred stock in excess of the 9.8% limit are void without prior approval from our Board.
• Because provisions contained in Maryland law, our charter and our bylaws may have an anti-takeover effect, investors may be prevented from receiving a “control premium” for their shares.