Dynex Capital, Inc.

My name is David and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Dynex Capital first quarter 2023 earnings conference call. Today's conference is being recorded. All lines have been placed on mute to prevent any background noise. After the speaker's remarks, there'll be a question and answer session. If you'd like to ask a question during this time, simply press the star key followed by the number one on your telephone keypad. If you'd like to withdraw your question, press star one once again. Thank you, Alison Griffin, Vice President, Investor Relations. You may begin your conference.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us today for Dynex Capital's first quarter 2023 earnings call. The press release associated with today's call was issued and filed with the SEC this morning, April 24th, 2023. You may view the press release on the homepage of the Dynex website at dynexcapital.com as well as on the SEC's website at sec.gov. Before we begin, we wish to remind you that this conference call may contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Security Litigation Reform Act of 1995. The words believe, expect, forecast, anticipate, estimate, project, plan, and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements that are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified. The company's actual results and timing of certain events could differ considerably from those projected and or contemplated by those forward-looking statements, as a result of unforeseen external factors or risks. For additional information on these factors or risks, please refer to our disclosures filed with the SEC, which may be found on the Dynex website under Investor Center, as well as on the SEC's website. This conference call is being broadcast live over the internet with a streaming slide presentation, which can be found through a webcast link on the homepage of our website. The slide presentation may also be referenced under quarterly reports on the Investor Center page. Joining me on the call is Byron Boston, Chief Executive Officer and Co-Chief Investment Officer, Smriti Papano, President and Co-Chief Investment Officer, and Rob Colligan, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. And with that, it is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Byron.

Thank you, Allison, and good morning, everyone. Let me start with a few key points. As I mentioned in the past, this is an incredible moment in history. Global risks may have increased, but most importantly, we're at a historical opportunity in the mortgage-backed securities market. Spreads are at a generational-wide level with an opportunity for private investors to step in and make accretive long-term investments. Second, this decade is a massive period of change. The globe has been jolted by multiple crises that is creating changes for social, political, economic, and geopolitical arrangements. Enormous amounts of change mean higher volatility and unknown consequences. Nonetheless, our team is experienced and disciplined. We've proven the value of experience in the past as we have responded to other market events in a very thoughtful manner as shown in our long-term results. We've managed our business for the long term, and just as we've done in the past, we're determined to guide you, our shareholders, through this disruptive market environment. Third, our strategy is built for this environment. For some time now, Dynex has been preparing for a high probability of unanticipated events and surprises. In fact, you have even heard me say surprises are highly probable. We've also characterized the environment as evolving. And to us, that means we must be very careful about drawing strong conclusions as many factors remain in a state of flux. We've now experienced two turbulent market events in the last six months. First, the LDI crisis originating in the UK, and now the banking crisis in the US. Both events represent exactly the kind of surprises that our liquid balance sheet, flexible mindset, and preparation is designed for. And we continue to manage your capital with this disciplined approach. As many of you know, I started my career in the financial markets in 1981. The current period has a lot of similarities to when I began in the business. Multiple financial crises raged throughout the 1980s. Ultimately, the FDIC and RTC were tasked with selling billions in assets, and private investors stepped in to take advantage of generationally wide mortgage-backed security spreads. There were no GSE portfolios or Fed to take down any of the risks. While today we're not witnessing the same scale of disruption as the 1980s, however, we are at generationally wide mortgage-backed security spreads, and private investors now have the chance to step in and take on the risks just as they did in the 1980s. With my long history in the markets, I see a compelling investment opportunity here while spreads go wider. We consider the bulk of the widening behind us. In the medium term to long term, we see a very real possibility of tighter spreads that will eventually allow the recovery of book value. We believe the capital we have invested and the dry powder we yet retain to deploy will generate strong returns for our shareholders, creating value for years to come. Smriti will provide further details on all of this in her comments. I want to emphasize how Dynex Capital is uniquely situated to this opportunity. I often talk about experience and discipline in our management team. Managing the duration and convexity of 30-year agency mortgage-backed assets truly requires an exceptional set of skills. To do it on a levered basis requires a complete understanding of the risks, thorough discipline processes, and a very flexible mindset. We have demonstrated our ability to do this well. particularly during the first three years of this volatile decade. I'll turn now to Rob, who will discuss our financial results, and Smriti, who will take you through our strategy for the environment.