Other Investments

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2023

Investments, All Other Investments [Abstract]

Other investments at September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022 are summarized in the following table.

Table 11.1 – Components of Other Investments


(In Thousands)	September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Servicer advance investments	$	219,813	$	269,259
Strategic investments	55,854		56,518
Excess MSRs	38,427		39,035
Mortgage servicing rights	26,033		25,421

Other	234		705
Total Other Investments	$	340,361	$	390,938

Servicer advance investments

We and a third-party co-investor, through two partnerships (“SA Buyers”) consolidated by us, purchased the outstanding servicer advances and excess MSRs related to portfolios of legacy residential mortgage-backed securitizations serviced by the co-investor. Refer to Note 11 to the Consolidated Financial Statements included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2022 for additional information regarding the transactions.

At September 30, 2023, our servicer advance investments had a carrying value of $220 million and were associated with specified pools of residential mortgage loans with an unpaid principal balance of $10.45 billion. The outstanding servicer advance receivables associated with these investments were $185 million at September 30, 2023, which were financed with short-term non-recourse securitization debt. See Note 14 for additional detail on this debt. The servicer advance receivables were comprised of the following types of advances at September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022.

Table 11.2 – Components of Servicer Advance Receivables


(In Thousands)	September 30, 2023		December 31, 2022
Principal and interest advances	$	65,365	$	81,447
Escrow advances (taxes and insurance advances)	86,980		123,541
Corporate advances	32,191		35,377
Total Servicer Advance Receivables	$	184,536	$	240,365

We account for our servicer advance investments at fair value and during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recorded $5 million and $16 million, respectively, of interest income, through Other interest income, and recorded a net market valuation gain of $4 million and a gain of $6 million, respectively, through Investment fair value changes, net in our consolidated statements of income.

Strategic Investments

Strategic investments represent investments we made in companies either through our RWT Horizons venture investment platform or separately at a corporate level. At September 30, 2023, we had made a total of 35 investments in companies through RWT Horizons with a total carrying value of $23 million, as well as seven corporate-level investments. For the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recognized a net mark-to-market valuation gain of $0.1 million and a loss of $3 million, respectively, on our strategic investments. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, we recognized a net mark-to-market valuation gain of $1 million and $11 million, respectively, on our strategic investments. Market valuation changes on our strategic investments are recorded in Investment fair value changes, net on our consolidated statements of income.

During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recorded losses from our strategic investments of $2 million and $3 million, respectively, in Other income, net on our consolidated statements of income. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2022, we recorded losses from our strategic investments of $0.3 million and $0.4 million, respectively, in Other income, net on our consolidated statements of income.

In the second quarter of 2023, we established a joint venture with a global investment manager to invest in BPL bridge loans originated by our CoreVest subsidiary. During the three months ended September 30, 2023, we sold $29 million of BPL bridge loans to the joint venture and at September 30, 2023, the carrying value of our investment in the joint venture was $1.6 million. We account for our investment in the joint venture under the equity method of accounting as we have a 20% non-controlling interest, but are deemed to be able to exert significant influence over the affairs of the joint venture. We adjust the carrying value of our equity method investment for our share of earnings or losses, dividends or return of capital on a quarterly basis.

Excess MSRs

In association with our servicer advance investments described above, we (through our consolidated SA Buyers) invested in excess MSRs associated with the same portfolio of legacy residential mortgage-backed securitizations. Additionally, we own excess MSRs associated with specified pools of multifamily loans. We account for our excess MSRs at fair value and during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recognized $3 million and $11 million, respectively, of interest income through Other interest income and for both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we recorded net market valuation losses of $1 million through Investment fair value changes, net on our consolidated statements of income.

Mortgage Servicing Rights

We invest in mortgage servicing rights associated with residential mortgage loans and contract with licensed sub-servicers to perform all servicing functions for these loans. The majority of our investments in MSRs were made through the retention of servicing rights associated with the residential jumbo mortgage loans that we acquired and subsequently sold to third parties. For both the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, we retained zero MSRs from sales of residential loans to third parties. We hold our MSR investments at our taxable REIT subsidiaries.

At September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, our MSRs had a fair value of $26 million and $25 million, respectively, and were associated with loans with an aggregate principal balance of $2.07 billion and $2.19 billion, respectively. During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2023, including net market valuation gains and losses on our MSRs, we recorded net income related to our MSRs of $2 million and $6 million, respectively, through Other income on our consolidated statements of income.