NYSE: TWOD
TWO HARBORS INVESTMENT CORP.CIK 0001465740 · Real Estate Investment Trusts
Two Harbors Investment Corp. is a Maryland corporation founded in 2009 that invests in, finances and manages mortgage servicing rights (“MSR”) and Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and, through its operational platform, RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing LLC (“RoundPoint”), is one… About this business →
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About TWO HARBORS INVESTMENT CORP.
Source: Item 1 (Business) from the 10-K filed February 17, 2026. Description as filed by the company with the SEC.
Item 1. Business
Overview
Two Harbors Investment Corp. is a Maryland corporation founded in 2009 that invests in, finances and manages mortgage servicing rights (“MSR”) and Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (“RMBS”) and, through its operational platform, RoundPoint Mortgage Servicing LLC (“RoundPoint”), is one of the largest servicers of conventional loans in the country. Agency refers to a U.S. government sponsored enterprise (“GSE”), such as the Federal National Mortgage Association (“Fannie Mae”), or the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), or a U.S. government agency such as the Government National Mortgage Association (“Ginnie Mae”). We are structured as an internally-managed real estate investment trust (“REIT”) and our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange (“NYSE”) under the symbol “TWO.” The terms “Two Harbors,” “we,” “our,” “us” and the “Company” refer to Two Harbors Investment Corp. and its subsidiaries as a consolidated entity.
We seek to leverage our core competencies of understanding and managing interest rate and prepayment risk to invest in our portfolio of MSR and Agency RMBS. Our objective is to deliver more stable performance, relative to RMBS portfolios without MSR, across changing market environments, and we are acutely focused on creating sustainable stockholder value over the long term.
We have elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes. To qualify as a REIT, we are required to meet certain investment and operating tests and annual distribution requirements. We generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income to the extent that we annually distribute all of our net taxable income to stockholders, do not participate in prohibited transactions and maintain our intended qualification as a REIT. However, certain activities that we may perform may cause us to earn income which will not be qualifying income for REIT purposes. We have designated certain of our subsidiaries as taxable REIT subsidiaries (“TRSs”) as defined in the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”), to engage in such activities, and we may form additional TRSs in the future. We also operate our business in a manner that will permit us to maintain our exemption from registration under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended (the “1940 Act”).
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On December 17, 2025, we, along with UWM, jointly announced that we entered into a definitive agreement for UWM to acquire all of the outstanding shares of our common stock in an all-stock transaction. In connection with the proposed Merger, Company common stockholders will exchange each share of Company common stock for 2.3328 shares of newly issued UWM Class A common stock (“UWM Common Stock”) and cash payable in lieu of fractional shares. In addition, Company preferred stockholders will exchange each share of 8.125% Series A Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock, 7.625% Series B Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock and 7.25% Series C Fixed-to-Floating Rate Cumulative Redeemable Preferred Stock for one share of newly issued UWM Series A Preferred Stock, Series B Preferred Stock and Series C Preferred Stock (collectively, “UWM Preferred Stock” and together with the UWM Common Stock, “UWM Stock”), respectively. The Merger is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026, subject to our common stockholders’ approval and the satisfaction of other closing conditions, including customary regulatory approvals.
Our Business
Our Investment Strategy
Our objective is to deliver more stable performance, relative to RMBS portfolios without MSR, across changing market environments, and we are acutely focused on creating sustainable stockholder value over the long term. We intend to achieve this objective by constructing a well-balanced portfolio consisting of MSR, Agency RMBS, and other financial assets, with a focus on managing various associated risks, including interest rate, prepayment, credit, mortgage spread and financing risk. The preservation of book value is of paramount importance to our ability to generate total return on an ongoing basis.
We make investment decisions based on a rigorous asset selection process that takes into consideration a variety of factors, including expected cash yield, risk-adjusted returns, current and projected credit fundamentals, current and projected macroeconomic considerations, current and projected supply and demand, credit and market risk concentration limits, liquidity, cost of financing and financing availability. It is our intention to select our assets in such a way as to maintain our REIT qualification and our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act.
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Our Target Assets
Our portfolio includes assets that are primarily sensitive to changes in interest rates, prepayments and mortgage spreads, including but not limited to Agency RMBS, MSR and related hedging transactions. These assets have minimal exposure to the underlying credit performance of the investments. Our portfolio is managed as a whole and our resources are allocated and financial performance is assessed on a consolidated basis. Our target asset classes are as follows:
Agency RMBS
Agency RMBS, meaning RMBS whose principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a U.S. government agency, such as Ginnie Mae, or a GSE, such as Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac, collateralized by fixed rate mortgage loans, adjustable-rate mortgage (“ARM”) loans or hybrid mortgage loans, or derivatives thereof, including:
•mortgage pass-through certificates;
•collateralized mortgage obligations;
•uniform mortgage-backed securities;
•Freddie Mac gold certificates;
•Fannie Mae certificates;
•Ginnie Mae certificates;
•“to-be-announced” forward contracts (“TBAs”), which are pools of mortgages with specific investment terms to be issued by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac at a future date; and
•interest-only and inverse interest-only securities.
MSRThe right to control the servicing of residential mortgage loans, receive the servicing income therefrom and the obligation to service the loans in accordance with applicable laws and requirements.
Other assets may include financial and mortgage-related assets other than our target assets, including non-Agency securities (securities that are not issued or guaranteed by Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac), other Agency securities and certain non-hedging transactions that may produce non-qualifying income for purposes of REIT gross income tests.
Our Investment Activities
Our Agency RMBS portfolio is comprised primarily of fixed rate mortgage-backed securities backed by single-family and multi-family mortgage loans. All of our principal and interest Agency RMBS are Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac mortgage pass-through certificates or collateralized mortgage obligations, or Ginnie Mae mortgage pass-through certificates, which are backed by the guarantee of the U.S. government. The majority of our Agency RMBS portfolio is comprised of whole pool certificates.
One of our wholly owned subsidiaries, TH MSR Holdings LLC, holds the requisite approvals from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to own and manage MSR, which represent a contractual right to control the servicing of a mortgage loan, the obligation to service the loan in accordance with applicable laws and requirements and the right to collect a fee for the performance of servicing activities, such as collecting principal and interest from a borrower and distributing those payments to the owner of the loan. TH MSR Holdings acquires MSR from third-party originators through flow and bulk purchases, as well as through the recapture of MSR on loans in its MSR portfolio that refinance. Beginning in 2024, TH MSR Holdings also acquires MSR on loans originated by its wholly owned subsidiary, RoundPoint, through purchases and recapture of MSR. TH MSR Holdings does not directly service mortgage loans; instead, it engages RoundPoint to handle substantially all servicing functions for the mortgage loans underlying its MSR. RoundPoint also services mortgage loans underlying MSR owned by third parties, as well as originated or purchased mortgage loans held-for-sale. RoundPoint has approvals from Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and, beginning in the third quarter of 2025, Ginnie Mae, to service residential mortgage loans. Our MSR business leverages our core competencies in prepayment and interest rate risk analytics and the MSR assets may provide offsetting risks to our Agency RMBS, hedging both interest rate and mortgage spread risk.
In making our capital allocation decisions, we take into consideration a number of factors, including the opportunities available in the marketplace, the cost and availability of financing, and the cost of hedging interest rate, prepayment, credit and other portfolio risks. In the ordinary course of business, we make investment decisions and allocate capital in accordance with our views on the changing risk/reward dynamics in the market and in our portfolio. Going forward, we expect our capital to be fully allocated to our strategy of pairing MSR and Agency RMBS. We have expertise in mortgage credit and may choose to invest again in those assets should the opportunity arise.
Our Investment Guidelines
Our board of directors has approved the following investment guidelines:
•no investment shall be made that would cause us to fail to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes;
•no investment shall be made that would cause us to be regulated as an investment company under the 1940 Act;
•we will primarily invest within our target assets, consisting primarily of Agency RMBS, non-Agency securities, residential mortgage loans, MSR and certain types of commercial real estate assets; approximately 5% to 10% of our portfolio may include other financial assets; and
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•until appropriate investments can be identified, we will invest available cash in interest-bearing and short-term investments that are consistent with (i) our intention to qualify as a REIT and (ii) our exemption from investment company status under the 1940 Act.
These investment guidelines may be changed from time to time by our board of directors in its discretion without the approval of our stockholders.
Within the constraints of the foregoing investment guidelines, we have broad authority to select, finance and manage our investment portfolio. As a general matter, our investment strategy is designed to enable us to:
•build an investment portfolio consisting of Agency RMBS, MSR and other financial assets that will generate attractive returns while having a moderate risk profile;
•manage financing, interest, prepayment rate, credit and similar risks;
•capitalize on discrepancies in the relative valuations in the mortgage and housing markets; and
•provide regular quarterly dividend distributions to stockholders.
Within the requirements of the investment guidelines, we make determinations as to the percentage of our assets that will be invested in each of our target assets. Our investment decisions depend on prevailing market conditions and may change over time in response to opportunities available in different interest rate, economic and credit environments. As a result, we cannot predict the percentage of our assets that will be invested in any of our target asset classes at any given time. We believe that the diversification of our portfolio across MSR and Agency RMBS, and their related hedges, combined with the expertise of our investment team, will enable us to deliver stable performance, relative to RMBS portfolios without MSR, under a variety of market conditions and economic cycles.
Financing Strategy
We deploy moderate leverage to fund the acquisition of our target assets and increase potential returns to our stockholders. We are not required to maintain any particular leverage ratio. The amount of leverage we deploy for particular investments in our target assets depends upon a variety of factors, including without limitation: general economic, political and financial market conditions; the anticipated liquidity and price volatility of our assets; the gap between the duration of assets and liabilities, including hedges; the availability and cost of financing our assets; our opinion of the credit worthiness of financing counterparties; the health of the U.S. residential mortgage and housing markets; our outlook for the level, slope and volatility of interest rates; the credit quality of the loans underlying our target assets; the rating assigned to securities; and our outlook for asset spreads relative to the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”) curve, the Overnight Index Swap Rate (“OIS”), the U.S. federal funds rate, and other benchmark rate curves.
Our primary financing sources for Agency RMBS are repurchase agreements. Repurchase agreements are financings pursuant to which one party, the seller/borrower, sells assets to the repurchase agreement counterparty, the buyer/lender, for an agreed price with the obligation to repurchase the assets from the buyer at a future date and at a price different than the original purchase price, with the difference representing the borrowing rate (typically based on an index plus a spread consistent with those demanded in the market). The amount of financing available under a repurchase agreement is limited to a specified percentage of the estimated market value of the assets. The difference between the sale price and repurchase price is the interest expense of financing under a repurchase agreement. Under repurchase agreement financing arrangements, if the value of the collateral decreases, the buyer could require the seller to provide additional cash collateral to re-establish the ratio of value of the collateral to the amount of borrowing (i.e., a margin call). In the current economic climate, lenders under repurchase agreements generally advance approximately 95% to 97% of the market value of the Agency RMBS financed (a discount from market value, generally referred to as a haircut, of 3% to 5%).
To finance MSR assets and related servicing advance obligations, we may enter into repurchase agreements, revolving credit facilities and securitization transactions collateralized by the value of the MSR and/or servicing advances pledged and with borrowing rates typically based on an index plus a spread consistent with those demanded in the market. If the value of our MSR and/or servicing advances pledged as collateral for the agreements decreases, the respective lender could require us to provide additional collateral or cash as collateral to re-establish the ratio of value of the collateral to the amount of the debt outstanding. Due to certain GSE requirements, we may be restricted as to the frequency in which we are able to pledge additional MSR and/or servicing advance collateral to counterparties. As a result, we may choose to over-collateralize certain financing arrangements in order to avoid having to provide cash as additional collateral. Lenders generally advance approximately 60% to 70% of the market value of the MSR financed (i.e., a haircut of 30% to 40%) and 82% to 95% of the value of servicing advances financed (i.e., a haircut of 5% to 18%), depending on the type of advance (e.g., corporate, escrow).
One of our subsidiary trust entities, MSR Issuer Trust, was formed for the purpose of financing MSR through securitization. Through two of our wholly owned subsidiaries, participation certificates representing excess servicing fees are issued and transferred to the MSR Issuer Trust and the related MSR is pledged. In return, MSR Issuer Trust may issue term notes to qualified institutional buyers and variable funding notes (“VFNs”) to one of the subsidiaries, in each case secured on a pari passu basis. We have three repurchase facilities in place that are secured by VFNs issued by MSR Issuer Trust which are collateralized by portions of our MSR portfolio.
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To finance origination activities, we may enter into repurchase agreements and warehouse lines of credit collateralized by the value of the mortgage loans pledged for a period of up to 90 days or until they are sold to the GSEs or other third-party investors in the secondary market, typically within 60 days of origination. If the value of the mortgage loans pledged as collateral decreases, the respective lender could require us to provide additional cash collateral to re-establish the ratio of value of the collateral to the amount of borrowing (i.e., a margin call). In the current economic climate, lenders generally advance approximately 80% to 100% of the unpaid principal balance (“UPB”) of the mortgage loans financed, depending on product type.
A significant decrease in the advance rate or an increase in the haircut could result in us having to sell assets in order to meet additional margin requirements by the lender. We expect to mitigate our risk of margin calls under financing arrangements by deploying leverage at an amount that is below what could be used under current advance rates.
In order to reduce our exposure to risks associated with lender counterparty concentration, we generally seek to diversify our exposure by entering into repurchase agreements with multiple counterparties. At December 31, 2025, we had $7.3 billion of outstanding balances under repurchase agreements with 18 counterparties, with a maximum net exposure (the difference between the amount loaned to us, including interest payable, and the value of the assets pledged by us as collateral, including accrued interest receivable on such assets) to any single lender of $56.1 million, or 3.1% of stockholders’ equity.
Interest Rate Hedging and Risk Management Strategy
We may enter into a variety of derivative and non-derivative instruments to economically hedge interest rate risk or “duration mismatch (or gap)” by adjusting the duration of our floating-rate borrowings into fixed-rate borrowings to more closely match the duration of our assets. This particularly applies to borrowing agreements with maturities or interest rate resets of less than six months. Typically, the interest receivable terms (i.e., OIS or SOFR) of certain derivatives match the terms of the underlying debt, resulting in an effective conversion of the rate of the related borrowing agreement from floating to fixed. The objective is to manage the cash flows associated with current and anticipated interest payments on borrowings, as well as the ability to roll or refinance borrowings at the desired amount by adjusting the duration. To help manage the adverse impact of interest rate changes on the value of our portfolio as well as our cash flows, we may, at times, enter into various forward contracts, including short securities, TBAs, options, futures, swaps, caps, credit default swaps, total return swaps and forward mortgage loan sale commitments. In executing on our current interest rate risk management strategy, we have entered into TBAs, interest rate swap and swaption agreements, futures, options on futures, interest rate lock commitments (“IRLCs”), and forward mortgage loan sale commitments. In addition, because MSR are negative duration assets, they may provide a hedge to interest rate exposure on our Agency RMBS portfolio. In hedging interest rate risk, we seek to reduce the risk of losses on the value of our investments that may result from changes in interest rates in the broader markets, improve risk-adjusted returns and, where possible, obtain a favorable spread between the yield on our assets and the cost of our financing.
Servicing Operations
We service substantially all of the mortgage loans underlying our MSR assets as well as mortgage loans underlying MSR owned by third parties. These servicing activities consist of collecting loan payments, remitting principal and interest payments to investors, managing escrow funds for the payment of mortgage-related expenses, such as taxes and insurance, performing loss mitigation activities on behalf of investors and otherwise administering our mortgage loan servicing portfolio in compliance with applicable laws and requirements.
Servicing Owned MSR. Where we own the right to service loans, we recognize the MSR assets in our consolidated financial statements. We primarily generate recurring revenue through contractual servicing fees and interest/float income on custodial deposits. As the MSR owner, we are obligated to make servicing advances to fund scheduled principal, interest, tax and insurance payments when the mortgage loan borrower has failed to make the scheduled payments and to cover foreclosure costs and various other items that are required to preserve the assets being serviced. As the MSR owner, we also generally have the right to solicit our customers for refinance opportunities.
Subservicing. We are a subservicer, which means we service loans on behalf of third-party clients who own the underlying MSR. Since we do not own the right to service those loans, we do not recognize an MSR asset for those loans in our consolidated financial statements. We primarily generate servicing revenue based upon a stated fee per loan per month that varies depending upon the loan’s delinquency status, and we may earn other fees including late payment, modification, and other ancillary fees. As a subservicer, we may be obligated to make servicing advances; however, advances are generally limited, with recoveries typically following within 30 days. Additionally, our exposure to foreclosure-related costs and losses is generally limited in our subservicing relationships given those risks are retained by the owner of the MSR.
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Originations
Late in the second quarter of 2024, RoundPoint began operating its in-house, direct-to-consumer originations platform, which was established primarily to benefit our MSR portfolio through the retention or recapture of existing borrowers by providing them with competitive refinance and purchase mortgage options. The originations platform also originates both first and second mortgages for new borrowers that do not currently have a mortgage loan serviced by RoundPoint and brokers second lien loans to our existing borrowers. For our own MSR portfolio, adding new or recaptured MSR through our originations platform is intended to hedge faster than expected MSR prepayment speeds in a refinance environment, and requires less capital relative to acquiring MSR through flow and bulk purchases from third-party originators. In addition, origination activities are generally counter-cyclical to MSR; MSR fair value tends to move opposite to origination volume. For example, the value of MSR typically increases in periods marked by low origination activity and vice versa. Thus, origination activities provide supplementary sources of profitability to our stockholders while also hedging our MSR.
Human Capital
We believe that our people are the foundation of our success. We are dedicated to providing human capital management best practices that evolve with the needs of our business and our people. We are committed to attracting and retaining the industry’s top talent by providing competitive wages and benefits and cultivating a workplace environment in which all of our employees can thrive and contribute. As of December 31, 2025, we had 486 full time equivalent employees. We have four office locations in: Minneapolis, Minnesota; Fort Mill, South Carolina; Dallas, Texas; and New York, New York.
Compensation and Benefits. We use market data to benchmark and guide our compensation practices to ensure that our compensation program is industry standard, competitive and rewarding, while at the same time aligning the interests of our employees with those of our stockholders. In addition to competitive wages and salaries, our compensation programs are designed to attract and retain talented professionals with diverse experiences and unique talents. Our overall package includes cash bonus and equity incentive compensation opportunities, a 401(k) plan and matching contribution, competitive health benefits, health savings accounts, generous paid time off, short- and long-term disability insurance, paid parental leave and various other leave options, life-planning, financial and legal resources, emotional well-being support and other voluntary supplemental benefits.
Employee Development and Talent Management. We believe in attracting, developing and retaining the best talent through leadership development training, talent management, career planning and other development opportunities through our educational programming. Employees receive regular business and compliance training to reinforce our culture of compliance and further enhance their career development. We encourage collaboration and teamwork to ensure mutual understanding of responsibilities, priorities and expectations. Succession planning is also a critical component of our business operations. We have established a talent management program that includes career development and ongoing evaluations of the depth of our leadership, focused on assessing succession planning needs and opportunities.
Health, Safety and Well-being. We sponsor a number of programs and events that emphasize the health and well-being of our employees, including relational, financial, emotional and physical. We promote a culture of health and well-being through employee assistance program services, comprehensive health care benefits and resources for preventative health, such as reduced-fee health club memberships.
Workplace Culture. We strive to foster a workplace culture where every individual on our team brings their unique perspectives, abilities and experiences, which contribute to driving our organizational value. We are committed to supporting the engagement and leadership of a well-rounded workforce, and providing opportunities for collaboration, development and career growth that is supportive and free from any form of unlawful discrimination or harassment; selecting and rewarding our employees based on their individual qualifications, results and performance; and respecting the unique characteristics and perspectives of each of our employees. Our employees are united by a shared commitment to excellence, ethical decision-making, and creating enduring value for our stakeholders. We regularly conduct pulse surveys and engage in focus groups to obtain valuable insights from employees on topics involving culture, inclusion, education, benefits and engagement, and pride ourselves on having a strong participation rate. We have a work-life integration and flexibility policy that represents our commitment to supporting our employees in their effort to manage their lives by affording some flexibility on where and when work is performed, while still ensuring that we continue to perform high quality work for the Company.
Charitable Partnerships. We are committed to strengthening our local communities through the support of charitable organizations allied with the housing sector, and in particular those that provide housing support to families and children in need. Examples of our support include partnerships with AEON, Simpson Housing, Supportive Housing Communities and Habitat for Humanity. In addition, we match dollar-for-dollar, up to a cap, the cash donations made by our employees to our charitable partnerships.
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Operating and Regulatory Structure
Our business is subject to extensive regulation by U.S. federal and state governmental authorities, and self-regulatory organizations. We are required to comply with numerous federal and state laws, including those described below. The laws, rules and regulations comprising this regulatory framework change frequently, as can the interpretation and enforcement of existing laws, rules and regulations. Some of the laws, rules and regulations to which we are subject are intended primarily to safeguard and protect consumers, rather than stockholders or creditors. On occasion, we may receive requests from U.S. federal and state agencies for records, documents and information regarding our policies, procedures and practices regarding our business activities. We incur significant ongoing costs to comply with these regulations.
REIT Qualification
We elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Code, commencing with our taxable period ended December 31, 2009. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet on a continuing basis, through actual investment and operating results, various complex requirements under the Code relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income, the composition and value of our assets, our distribution levels and the diversity of ownership of our shares. We believe that we are organized in conformity with the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT under the Code, and we conduct our operations in a manner that will enable us to continue to meet the requirements for qualification and taxation as a REIT. Certain activities that we may perform may cause us to earn income that will not be qualifying income for REIT purposes. We have designated certain of our subsidiaries as TRSs to engage in such activities, and we may in the future form additional TRSs.
As long as we continue to qualify as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax on the REIT taxable income we distribute currently to our stockholders. If we fail to qualify as a REIT in any taxable year and do not qualify for certain statutory relief provisions, we will be subject to U.S. federal income tax at regular corporate rates and may be precluded from qualifying as a REIT for the subsequent four taxable years following the year during which we lost our REIT qualification. Even if we qualify for taxation as a REIT, we may be subject to certain U.S. federal, state and local taxes on our income or property.
Investment Company Act of 1940
We conduct our operations so that we are not required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. If we were to fall within the definition of an investment company, we would be unable to conduct our business as described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Section 3(a)(1)(A) of the 1940 Act defines an investment company as any issuer that “is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities.” Section 3(a)(1)(C) of the 1940 Act also defines an investment company as any issuer that “is engaged or proposes to engage in the business of investing, reinvesting, owning, holding or trading in securities and owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of the issuer’s total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis.” Excluded from the term “investment securities,” among other things, are U.S. government securities and securities issued by majority-owned subsidiaries that are not themselves investment companies and are not relying on the exclusion from the definition of investment company set forth in Section 3(c)(1) or Section 3(c)(7) of the 1940 Act.
We are organized as a holding company that conducts business primarily through our subsidiaries. Any business conducted through our subsidiaries will be conducted in such a manner as to ensure that we do not meet the definition of “investment company” because less than 40% of the value of our total assets on an unconsolidated basis would consist of “investment securities.”
To avoid registration as an investment company, certain of our subsidiaries rely on certain exemptions from the 1940 Act, including Section 3(c)(5)(C), which exempts entities that are “primarily engaged in the business of purchasing or otherwise acquiring mortgages and other liens on and interests in real estate.” Under the SEC staff’s current guidance, to qualify for this exemption, we must maintain (i) at least 55% of our assets in qualifying interests (referred to as the 55% Test) and (ii) at least 80% of our assets in qualifying interests plus other real estate related assets (referred to as the 80% Test). Qualifying interests for this purpose include mortgage loans and other assets, such as whole pool Agency and non-Agency RMBS, which are considered the functional equivalent of mortgage loans for the purposes of the 1940 Act. We expect each of our subsidiaries that may rely on Section 3(c)(5)(C) to invest at least 55% of its assets in qualifying interests in accordance with SEC staff guidance, and an additional 25% of its assets in either qualifying interests or other types of real estate related assets that do not constitute qualifying interests. We believe that we conduct our business so that we are exempt from the 1940 Act under Section 3(c)(5)(C), but rapid changes in the values of our assets could disrupt prior efforts to conduct our business to meet the 55% Test and the 80% Test. Our efforts to comply with the 55% Test and the 80% Test could require us to acquire or dispose of certain assets at unfavorable prices and limit our ability to pursue certain investment opportunities.
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Mortgage Industry Regulation
As an owner of MSR and servicer and originator of residential mortgage loans, we must comply with various federal and state laws, rules and regulations. These rules generally focus on consumer protection and include, among others, rules promulgated under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (the “Dodd-Frank Act”), and the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Financial Modernization Act of 1999 (the “Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act”). We are also required to maintain qualifications, registrations and licenses in certain states in order to own and service certain of our assets. These requirements can and do change as statutes and regulations are enacted, promulgated or amended, or as regulatory guidance or interpretations evolve or change, and the trend in recent years among federal and state lawmakers and regulators has been toward increasing laws, regulations and investigative proceedings in relation to the mortgage industry generally.
The Dodd-Frank Act significantly changed the regulation of financial institutions and the financial services industry, including the mortgage industry. The Dodd-Frank Act tasked many agencies with issuing a variety of new regulations, including rules related to mortgage origination, mortgage servicing, securitization transactions and derivatives. The Dodd-Frank Act also created the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (the “CFPB”), which has broad rulemaking authority with respect to many of the federal consumer protection laws applicable to the mortgage industry. In addition to its rulemaking authority, the CFPB has supervision, examination and enforcement authority over consumer financial products and services by certain non-depository institutions, including our Company. The CFPB has issued a series of rules and related guidance as part of ongoing efforts to enhance consumer protections and create uniform standards for the mortgage lending and servicing industries. These rules include requirements addressing how lenders must evaluate a consumer’s ability to repay a mortgage loan, specific disclosures and communications that must be made to consumers at various stages in the mortgage lending and servicing processes, and specific actions servicers must take at various stages in a loan’s life cycle, including providing assistance to consumers who encounter financial hardship and struggle to make their mortgage payment. These rules have led to increased costs to originate and service loans across the mortgage industry, greater regulatory scrutiny of originators, servicers and other mortgage industry participants from federal and state regulators and increased litigation and complaints against these participants from both consumers and government officials.
The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act imposes obligations on us to safeguard the information we maintain on mortgage loan borrowers and imposes restrictions on our ability to share that information with third parties and affiliates. In addition, a growing number of states have passed or enhanced laws to further protect borrower information, including laws that regulate the use and storage of personally identifiable information, require notifications to borrowers if the security of their personal information is breached, or require us to encrypt personal information when it is transmitted and stored electronically. These evolving federal and state laws require the ongoing review of our operations, increase our compliance costs, and affect our ability to use and share information with third parties as part of our business.
We have implemented and will continue to implement policies, procedures and, as applicable, information technology systems in order to ensure ongoing compliance with the laws, rules and regulations applicable to our business. We have incurred and expect to incur significant ongoing operational costs to comply with such laws, rules and regulations.
Competition
Our comprehensive income depends, in large part, on our ability to acquire assets at favorable spreads over our borrowing costs. In acquiring our target assets, we compete with other REITs, specialty finance companies, savings and loan associations, banks, mortgage bankers, insurance companies, mutual funds, institutional investors, investment banking firms, financial institutions, governmental agencies, mortgage loan servicers, asset management firms and other entities. Some of these entities may not be subject to the same regulatory constraints that we are (e.g., REIT compliance or maintaining an exemption under the 1940 Act). Many of our competitors are significantly larger than us, have access to greater capital and other resources and may have other advantages over us. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments and establish different counterparty relationships than us. Further, we may from time-to-time face competition from government agencies, such as the Federal Reserve, in connection with initiatives designed to stimulate the U.S. economy or the mortgage market. Market conditions may from time to time attract more competitors for certain of our target assets, which will not only affect the supply of assets but may also increase the competition for sources of financing for these assets. An increase in the competition for sources of funding could adversely affect the availability and cost of financing, and thereby adversely affect our financial results.
In connection with our subservicing business, we also compete with bank and non-bank servicers for third-party subservicing clients. The subservicing market in which we operate is highly competitive and we face competition related to the pricing and services we offer. We intend to compete by delivering meaningful value to homeowners through building lasting relationships by treating our customers with respect and professionalism, and providing resources and ancillary products and services for our customers to help manage and protect their mortgages, homes and related assets. For our MSR third-party subservicing clients, we believe we can successfully compete because we offer experience and expertise in MSR investing, with institutional quality controls and a strong compliance focus, and we are well-capitalized to withstand today’s evolving risks and to invest in necessary infrastructure to support our business.
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Available Information
Our website can be found at www.twoinv.com. We make available, free of charge on our website, our annual report on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports, as are filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as well as our proxy statement with respect to our annual meeting of stockholders, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Our Exchange Act reports filed with, or furnished to, the SEC are also available at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov. The content of any website referred to in this Annual Report on Form 10-K is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K unless expressly noted.
We also make available, free of charge on our website, the charters for our Audit Committee, Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and Risk Oversight Committee, as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines, Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, Whistleblowing Procedures and Stockholder Communications Policy. Within the time period required by the SEC and the NYSE, we will post on our website any amendment to the Code of Ethics and any waiver applicable to any executive officer, director or senior officer (as defined in the Code of Ethics).
Our Investor Relations Department can be contacted at:
Two Harbors Investment Corp.
Attn: Investor Relations
1601 Utica Ave. S., Suite 900
St. Louis Park, MN 55416
(612) 453-4100
investors@twoinv.com