Freddie Mac is a government-sponsored enterprise (GSE) chartered by Congress in 1970 to provide liquidity to the U.S. mortgage market. Freddie Mac does not originate loans — it buys conforming mortgage loans from lenders and either holds them or packages them into mortgage-backed securities (MBS) sold to investors. By purchasing loans from lenders, Freddie Mac replenishes their capital so they can make more loans. Freddie Mac's primary revenue is the guarantee fee — the spread it earns by receiving mortgage interest from borrowers, paying MBS investors their coupon, and keeping the difference. This fee compensates Freddie Mac for guaranteeing timely principal and interest payments to MBS investors even if borrowers default. Freddie Mac operates two segments: Single-Family (~86% of net revenues), which handles one-to-four unit residential properties, and Multifamily (~14%), which handles apartment and rental properties. The total mortgage portfolio was $3.7T at year-end 2025. Freddie Mac funds itself by issuing debt to capital markets, earning a thin net spread applied to a very large asset base. To reduce credit risk exposure, Freddie Mac transfers portions of credit risk to private investors through its STACR and ACIS programs. Freddie Mac has been in federal conservatorship under FHFA since 2008, which provides implicit government backing that enables cheap funding — the foundation of its business model. Under conservatorship, Freddie Mac retains all earnings to build capital, with net worth reaching $70.4B at year-end 2025.