AGNC Investment is a mortgage REIT that buys Agency residential mortgage-backed securities (Agency RMBS) — pools of home mortgages guaranteed by Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, or Ginnie Mae — on a leveraged basis. The government guarantee eliminates credit risk, making these among the highest-quality fixed income instruments available. AGNC does not originate mortgages; it acts as a financial intermediary that buys Agency RMBS in the secondary market and finances those purchases through short-term collateralized borrowing in the repo market. AGNC earns the spread between the yield on its Agency RMBS portfolio and its hedged cost of short-term funding. AGNC hedges interest rate exposure using interest rate swaps and Treasury futures, and also earns income from TBA dollar roll transactions. AGNC typically operates at 6x–10x leverage, which amplifies net spread into equity returns. The key drivers of profitability are mortgage spreads, interest rate volatility, prepayment risk, and funding costs. AGNC mitigates prepayment risk by buying specified pools — MBS backed by loans less likely to prepay early. AGNC is internally managed and structured as a REIT, distributing substantially all taxable income as monthly dividends. AGNC finances itself partly through a captive broker-dealer subsidiary, Bethesda Securities, which provides direct access to centrally cleared repo, reducing funding costs and counterparty risk. AGNC grows its equity base by issuing common stock through an at-the-market program when shares trade at a premium to book value.