Ginnie Mae has been a cornerstone of the U.S. housing finance system since it was created nearly 50 years ago. By guaranteeing that investors of our MBS will be paid on a timely basis, Ginnie Mae attracts private capital to the U.S. housing market and facilitates government-insured financing without imposing undue risk on the taxpayer. We have consistently delivered liquidity to the housing finance system during periods of economic stress, and remain a strong supplier of capital that finances affordable single-family and rental housing.

Since the onset of the credit crisis in September 2008, Ginnie Mae has guaranteed $1.9 trillion in MBS, enabling it to play a direct role in providing homeownership and housing opportunities for 5.1 million households. In FY 2015 Ginnie Mae returned $2.2 billion to the U.S. Treasury, provided guarantees on $436 billion in MBS, and helped almost 2 million households across the country.

Ginnie Mae is well positioned to continue providing this support. It has accumulated substantial reserves over the years and throughout the crisis has remained profitable. The foundation of the Ginnie Mae business is the simple pass-through security. Ginnie Mae does not hold mortgage-backed securities or whole loan portfolios for investment purposes. Therefore, it is not subject to the mark-to-market losses often associated with these assets nor does it need sophisticated derivatives to hedge interest rate risk.

Additionally, the collateral underlying its securities is government-insured. It is easier to effectively manage risk when it is clear who you serve. Thus, at Ginnie Mae, we are aided by the fact that we do not have the fundamental conflict between executing the nation's housing policy and earning a return for private shareholders. Ultimately, the taxpayers are our shareholders. This allows Ginnie Mae to act as an excellent steward of the U.S. government's full faith and credit guaranty.

Being a good steward of taxpayer interests is not our only priority; we are also committed to keeping housing affordable by ensuring that the 30-year fixed-rate mortgage is available regardless of the economic environment. Prior to Ginnie Mae inventing the MBS 40 years ago, local areas experienced regional credit crunches. Since that time, our nation's capital markets have been transformed by the ease with which capital now flows into local housing markets through the mortgage-backed security.

We are proud of creating the MBS, and of our role in maintaining a stable housing finance system. Ginnie Mae is committed to ensuring that credit access for all is as widely available as possible.

  

Theodore W. Tozer

President, Ginnie Mae