NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Annaly Capital Management, Inc. (NYSE: NLY) today announced the
formation of Shannon Funding LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary that intends
to provide warehouse financing and other services to residential
mortgage originators in the United States. Shannon will be led by Bruce
E. Watterson, a veteran mortgage finance executive who most recently was
a managing director at LPS Capital Markets, a division of Lender
Processing Services. Shannon, which will operate out of offices in
Bellevue, Washington, plans to begin operations in the first quarter of
2011.
Michael A.J. Farrell, Chairman, CEO and President of Annaly commented on
the new initiative: “Now more than ever, new mortgage origination
activity is dominated by the handful of large money center banks with
ready access to capital. Small- and medium-sized mortgage companies with
good credit cultures and successful track records are challenged to
source warehouse funding in this environment. Shannon plans to provide
funding to these smaller participants in order to help them generate
well-underwritten mortgage product. As opportunities present themselves
in the future, Shannon will expand its strategy and operations into
additional markets.”
Mr. Watterson has over 25 years of experience in mortgage banking,
diligence, servicing and technology. He was founder of Watterson-Prime,
LLC which provided due diligence, portfolio stratification and other
consulting services to buyers and sellers of financial residential and
commercial mortgage assets, and also launched Watterson-Prime Software,
Inc., a software and technology company serving the asset-backed finance
industry. Mr. Watterson’s prior experience includes senior positions in
the mortgage, hedging and structuring groups at First Boston and
Shearson Lehman Hutton, as well as head of the due diligence practice at
PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP. Mr. Watterson received his B.A. degree at
Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.
Annaly manages assets on behalf of institutional and individual
investors worldwide. The Company's principal business objective is to
generate net income for distribution to investors from its Investment
Securities and from dividends it receives from its subsidiaries. Annaly
is a Maryland corporation that has elected to be taxed as a real estate
investment trust ("REIT").
This news release and our public documents to which we refer contain or
incorporate by reference certain forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
Forward-looking statements which are based on various assumptions (some
of which are beyond our control) may be identified by reference to a
future period or periods or by the use of forward-looking terminology,
such as "may," "will," "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "continue," or
similar terms or variations on those terms or the negative of those
terms. Actual results could differ materially from those set forth in
forward-looking statements due to a variety of factors, including, but
not limited to, changes in interest rates, changes in the yield curve,
changes in prepayment rates, the availability of mortgage-backed
securities for purchase, the availability of financing and, if
available, the terms of any financing, changes in the market value of
our assets, changes in business conditions and the general economy,
changes in government regulations affecting our business, our ability to
maintain our qualification as a REIT for federal income tax purposes,
risks associated with the broker-dealer business of our subsidiary, and
risks associated with the investment advisory business of our
subsidiaries, including the removal by clients of assets they manage,
their regulatory requirements and competition in the investment advisory
business. For a discussion of the risks and uncertainties which could
cause actual results to differ from those contained in the
forward-looking statements, see "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual
Report on Form 10-K and any subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q.
We do not undertake, and specifically disclaim any obligation, to
publicly release the result of any revisions which may be made to any
forward-looking statements to reflect the occurrence of anticipated or
unanticipated events or circumstances after the date of such statements.
Source: Annaly Capital Management, Inc.