Angel Oak Mortgage REIT, Inc.

Greetings. Welcome to the Angel Oak Mortgage REIT fourth quarter earnings call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. If anyone should require operator assistance during the conference, please press star zero on your telephone keypad. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the conference over to your host, Randy Chrisman, Chief Marketing Officer. Thank you. You may begin.

Good afternoon. Thank you for joining us today for Angel Oak Mortgage REIT's fourth quarter 2021 earnings conference call. This afternoon, we filed our press release detailing our fourth quarter and full year 2021 results, which is available in the investor sections on our website at www.angelokereit.com. As a reminder, remarks made on today's conference call may include forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed today. We do not undertake any obligation to update our forward-looking statements in light of new information or future events. For a more detailed discussion of the factors that may affect the company's results, please refer to our earnings release for this quarter and to our most recent SEC filings. During this call, We will be discussing certain non-GAAP financial measures. More information about these non-GAAP financial measures and reconciliations to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are contained in our earnings release and SEC filings. This afternoon's conference call is hosted by Angel Oak Mortgage REIT's Chief Executive Officer, Robert Williams, Chief Financial Officer, Brandon Filson, and Angel Oak Capital's Co-CIO, Namit Sinha. Management will make some prepared comments after which we will open up the call to your questions. Additionally, we recommend reviewing our earnings supplement posted on our website at www.angelokereed.com. Now, I will turn the call over to Robert.

Thank you, Randy, and thank you, everyone, for joining us today. 2021 was a foundational year for AOMR. After completing our IPO in June, We came out of the gate strong and were able to quickly scale our portfolio and demonstrate the strength of the AOMR business model. From an IPO through the end of the year, we purchased $1.4 billion of high-quality non-QM loans, doubled our available loan financing capacity, and closed two securitizations. Our quick deployment of capital into our targeted assets, our consistent securitization strategy, and our leadership position in the non-QM mortgage industry all serve as a testament to the infrastructure, scale, and expertise of the Angel Oak franchise, or as we refer to it, the Angel Oak ecosystem. Angel Oak Mortgage Lending's national platform has originated approximately $13 billion in non-QM mortgages since its founding. The Angel Oak ecosystem provides access to a vast stream of investment opportunities, enables AOMR, to tailor our desired loan characteristics. The current non-QM market is supported by strong, sustained demand for housing. Despite rising interest rates, we continue to see growing non-QM volumes through our proprietary origination channels thus far in 2022. Home price appreciation has accelerated across markets and delinquency rates are at near historical lows. The growth has not come at the expense of quality. Our recently originated loans have higher average FICO scores and a lower average LTV and DTIs than prior years. As the Fed continues to increase target interest rates and tapers agency MBS purchases in the coming months, we believe that our target non-agency assets are well positioned. And 2021 was a pivotal year for Angel Oak Mortgage REIT. I will highlight a few of our accomplishments. We completed our IPO in June. which was the largest residential mortgage REIT IPO by proceeds since 2012. This represented the culmination of many years of effort on behalf of our team, and it would not have been possible without the many individuals who helped make it happen. I cannot overstate how tremendously proud I am of our team. Since our IPO, we purchased $1.4 billion in high-quality non-QM mortgages, demonstrating how quickly we can grow and scale the company. At December 31st, our total assets were $2.6 billion, a five-fold increase over the prior year. We completed two securitizations for an aggregate of $703.5 million, capitalizing on a favorable securitization market and locking in term financing for the life of the underlying collateral. Looking forward, we believe we can continue to produce strong results for several reasons. The origination of non-QM loans on a large scale requires unique capabilities that takes years to develop and mature, creating a high barrier to entry. Angel Oak has invested substantial time and capital over 11 plus years to develop systems of underwriting and origination, which cannot be easily replicated. As a reminder, Angel Oak Mortgage Lending is the number one non-bank, non-QM originator and we believe that non-QM is poised for continued significant growth based on housing fundamentals and consumer demand. Second, Angel Oak Mortgage Lending, as the loan originator, has the ability to adjust their underwriting standards and origination characteristics as circumstances evolve. Due to our proprietary access to the Angel Oak ecosystem, we can similarly purchase loans with our desired characteristics. Importantly, members of the mortgage and portfolio management teams meet daily to discuss credit and current pricing metrics. This allows AOMR to quickly adjust to changing market conditions. Third, we have unmatched experience in aggregating non-QM loans and executing on securitizations. Over the years, Angel Oak has completed 30 securitizations, including two for AOMR in 2021, locking in attractive, long-term financing, and net interest margin. Additionally, securitizations reduce our liquidity risk. As stated, because non-QM loans carry a meaningful spread to conventional mortgage rates, we can achieve superior returns with lower leverage than many of our peers. The result of all of this is that we believe we can achieve strong portfolio growth over time, supporting a robust and durable distributable earnings, cash flow, and dividends. To highlight this, we are pleased to declare a fourth quarter 2021 dividend of 45 cents per common share, a 25% increase over the last quarter. With that, I'm pleased to turn it over to Brandon.