Dynex Capital, Inc.

conference over to Alison Griffin, Vice President of Investor Relations. You may begin.

Good morning, and thank you for joining us for Dynex Capital's first quarter 2024 earnings call. The press release associated with today's call was issued and filed with the SEC this morning, April 22, 2024. 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 Securities 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 DIMAC's 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, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Smriti Papano, President and Chief Investment Officer, and Rob Colligan, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial Officer. It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Byron.

Thank you, Allison. We delivered a solid 2.1% total economic return for the quarter. And as a company, we continue to execute on building our company with our long-term strategy and vision. Listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1989, Dynex is the longest tenured mortgage rate. I joined the company in 2008 with a goal of developing a new strategic plan for growing Dynex Capital's balance sheet, paying a steady above-average dividend, and to protect our shareholders' capital over the long term. During this period, we have guided our shareholders through multiple extraordinary market cycles. We have consistently made the necessary decisions to adjust our people, processes, technology, and strategy to continue to perform in all future environments we have successfully refreshed the skill sets of our board of directors multiple times and focused on developing the talent of our team to reduce key person risk and to increase the probability that we continue to pay our dividend and deliver attractive returns one of the strongest factors in our success is that we have always been guided by a core set of principles and values our goal is not to win at any cost but we will do what is ethically correct to guide our shareholders through all market environments. Over the past eight years, global risks have continued to intensify, and the Dynex team is ready, disciplined, and well-prepared. I will now turn the call over to Rob and Smirti to further elaborate on our performance of the quarter and to further explain how we are positioned to continue to perform as the future unfolds.