DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2023


1. DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS

Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (the “Company” or “Annaly”) is a Maryland corporation that commenced operations on February 18, 1997. The Company is a leading diversified capital manager with investment strategies across mortgage finance. The Company owns a portfolio of real estate related investments, including mortgage pass-through certificates, collateralized mortgage obligations, credit risk transfer (“CRT”) securities, other securities representing interests in or obligations backed by pools of mortgage loans, residential mortgage loans and mortgage servicing rights (“MSR”). The Company’s principal business objective is to generate net income for distribution to its stockholders and optimize its returns through prudent management of its diversified investment strategies.

The Company is an internally-managed company that has elected to be taxed as a Real Estate Investment Trust (“REIT”) as defined under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended, and regulations promulgated thereunder (the “Code”).

The Company’s three investment groups are primarily comprised of the following:


Investment Groups			Description
Annaly Agency Group			Invests in Agency mortgage-backed securities (“MBS”) collateralized by residential mortgages which are guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac or Ginnie Mae and complementary investments within the Agency market, including Agency commercial mortgage-backed securities.
Annaly Residential Credit Group			Invests primarily in non-Agency residential whole loans and securitized products within the residential and commercial markets.
Annaly Mortgage Servicing Rights Group			Invests in MSR, which provide the right to service residential mortgage loans in exchange for a portion of the interest payments made on the loans.

In April 2022, the Company entered into a definitive agreement to sell substantially all of the assets that comprise the Annaly Middle Market Lending (“MML”) portfolio, including assets held on balance sheet as well as assets managed for third parties (collectively, the “MML Portfolio”). All of the assets comprising the MML Portfolio were transferred by the end of 2022. Refer to the “Sale of Middle Market Lending Portfolio” Note for additional information on the transaction.