AGNC Investment Corp. (AGNC) Business

Item 1. Business

AGNC Investment Corp. ("AGNC," the "Company," "we," "us" and "our") was organized on January 7, 2008 and commenced operations on May 20, 2008 following the completion of our initial public offering. Our common stock is traded on The Nasdaq Global Select Market under the symbol "AGNC."

We are a leading provider of private capital to the U.S. housing market, enhancing liquidity in the residential real estate mortgage markets and, in turn, facilitating home ownership in the U.S. We invest primarily in Agency residential mortgage-backed securities ("Agency RMBS") on a leveraged basis. These investments consist of residential mortgage pass-through securities and collateralized mortgage obligations for which the principal and interest payments are guaranteed by a U.S. Government-sponsored enterprise, such as the Federal National Mortgage Association ("Fannie Mae") and the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation ("Freddie Mac," and together with Fannie Mae, the "GSEs"), or by a U.S. Government agency, such as the Government National Mortgage Association ("Ginnie Mae").

We operate to qualify to be taxed as a real estate investment trust ("REIT") under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Internal Revenue Code"). As a REIT, we are required to distribute annually 90% of our taxable income, and we will generally not be subject to U.S. federal or state corporate income tax to the extent that we distribute all our annual taxable income to our stockholders on a timely basis. It is our intention to distribute 100% of our taxable income within the time limits prescribed by the Internal Revenue Code, which may extend into the subsequent taxable year.

We are internally managed with the principal objective of generating favorable long-term stockholder returns with a substantial yield component. We generate income from the interest earned on our investments, net of associated borrowing and hedging costs, and net realized gains and losses on our investment and hedging activities. We fund our investments primarily through collateralized borrowings structured as repurchase agreements.

Investment Management Strategy

We employ an active management strategy that is dynamic and responsive to evolving market conditions. The composition of our portfolio and our investment, funding, and hedging strategies are tailored to reflect our analysis of market conditions and the relative values of available options. Our portfolio management philosophy is based upon the following core objectives:

•deliver attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders primarily through monthly dividend distributions;

•maintain an investment portfolio consisting predominantly of Agency RMBS;

•manage financing, interest rate, prepayment, extension and credit risks;

•qualify as a REIT; and

•remain exempt from the requirements of the Investment Company Act of 1940 (the "Investment Company Act").

Targeted Investments

Asset selection is a central component of our overall investment approach. Our investments consist predominantly of Agency RMBS which, in addition to carrying a GSE or U.S. Government guarantee against loss of principal, are considered a cornerstone of the U.S. financial system. The $9 trillion Agency market plays a vital role in providing liquidity to homeowners and prospective homeowners to purchase or refinance homes. We may also invest in Agency multifamily mortgage-backed securities ("Agency multifamily MBS") that are similarly guaranteed by a GSE and in other assets related to the housing, mortgage, or real estate markets that are not guaranteed by a GSE or a U.S. Government agency (collectively referred to as "non-Agency MBS").

Our team of investment professionals has decades of experience investing in Agency RMBS and our other targeted investments. Our asset selection process involves assessing relative risk-return profiles against the backdrop of broader market conditions. Utilizing sophisticated modeling techniques, we identify assets with favorable underlying loan characteristics with the objective of optimizing returns over the life of the investment.

Agency Securities

•Agency Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities. Agency RMBS consist of pass-through certificates representing interests in "pools" of mortgage loans secured by residential real property. Monthly payments of principal and interest made by the individual borrowers on the mortgage loans underlying the pools are in effect "passed through" to the security holders, after deducting guarantee and servicer fees. In general, mortgage pass-through certificates

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distribute cash flows from the underlying collateral on a pro rata basis among the security holders. Security holders also receive guarantor advances of principal and interest for delinquent loans in the mortgage pools. We may also invest in Agency collateralized mortgage obligations ("CMOs"), which are structured instruments backed by a pool of Agency RMBS.

•To-Be-Announced Forward Contracts ("TBAs"). TBAs are forward contracts to purchase or sell Agency RMBS in the TBA market. TBA contracts specify the coupon rate, issuer, term and face value of the bonds to be delivered, with the actual bonds to be delivered only identified shortly before the TBA settlement date.

•Agency Multifamily Mortgage-Backed Securities. Agency multifamily MBS consist of securities backed by one or more mortgage loans secured by one or more multifamily properties that benefit from a GSE guarantee of timely payment of principal and interest. Our investments in Agency multifamily securities primarily consist of securities issued under Fannie Mae's Delegated Underwriting and Servicing ("DUS") program, which are generally backed by a single mortgage loan secured by a single property and include lender risk-sharing.

Non-Agency Securities

•Credit Risk Transfer ("CRT") Securities. CRT securities are risk sharing instruments that transfer a portion of the risk associated with credit losses within pools of conventional residential mortgage loans from the GSEs and/or third- parties to private investors. Full repayment of the original principal balance of CRT securities is not guaranteed by the GSE or other third-party; rather, "credit risk transfer" is achieved by writing down the outstanding principal balance of the CRT security if credit losses on the related pool of loans exceed certain thresholds.

•Non-Agency Residential Mortgage-Backed Securities ("Non-Agency RMBS"). Non-Agency RMBS are structured securities backed by pools of residential mortgages packaged and issued by private institutions, such as a commercial bank or non-bank lender. Certain tranches of non-Agency RMBS may benefit from credit enhancement derived from structural elements, such as subordination, over-collateralization or insurance. We may purchase investment grade instruments that benefit from credit enhancement and non-investment grade instruments that are structured to absorb more credit risk. We focus primarily on non-Agency securities where the underlying mortgages are secured by residential properties within the United States, which may be comprised of prime, non-prime, qualified and non-qualified mortgage loans.

•Commercial Mortgage-Backed Securities ("CMBS"). CMBS are securities backed by a pool of loans secured by one or more commercial properties. CMBS may also consist of a single loan for a single asset or multiple loans for a group of cross-collateralized assets of a single-borrower. CMBS are typically structured as multiple classes of securities where cash flows are distributed following a predetermined waterfall, which may give priority to selected classes while subordinating other classes. We may invest across the capital structure of these securities. We intend to focus on CMBS where the underlying collateral is secured by commercial properties located within the United States.

Financing Strategy

Our investments in Agency RMBS benefit from asset-driven, as well as AGNC-specific, funding advantages, that enable us to enhance returns using leverage via low-cost and highly liquid collateralized borrowings structured as repurchase agreements.

Repurchase agreements ("repo") involve the sale and a simultaneous agreement to repurchase the transferred assets at a future date. Our borrowings through repurchase transactions are generally short-term, with maturities typically ranging from one day to one year, but may sometimes have maturities of up to five or more years. Our financing rates are primarily impacted by short-term benchmark rates and liquidity in the Agency repo and short-term funding markets.

The amount of leverage that we utilize depends on market conditions, our assessment of risk and returns and our ability to borrow sufficient funds on favorable terms to acquire mortgage securities. We generally expect our leverage to be within six to ten times the amount of our tangible stockholders' equity, but under certain conditions we may operate at leverage levels outside of this range.

We diversify our funding exposure by entering into repurchase agreements with multiple counterparties. We finance a portion of our investments through our wholly-owned captive broker-dealer subsidiary, Bethesda Securities, LLC ("BES"). BES is a member of the Fixed Income Clearing Corporation ("FICC") and has direct access to bilateral and tri-party repo funding as a Financial Industry Regulatory Authority ("FINRA") member broker-dealer. As an eligible institution, BES also raises repo funding through the General Collateral Finance ("GCF") Repo service offered by the FICC, with the FICC acting as the central

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counterparty. Thus, through BES, we have greater depth and diversity of funding than solely through traditional bilateral repo, while also lowering our funding cost, reducing our collateral requirements and limiting our counterparty exposure.

We also finance the acquisition of Agency RMBS by entering into TBA dollar roll transactions through which we simultaneously sell a TBA contract for the current month's settlement date and purchase a similar TBA contract for a forward month's settlement date. The TBA contract purchased for the forward settlement date is typically priced at a discount to the TBA contract sold for the current month. The discount, or "price drop", is the economic equivalent of interest income on the underlying Agency RMBS, less an implied financing cost, between the current month and forward month settlement dates. Prior to the forward settlement date, we may choose to roll the position to a later date by entering into an offsetting TBA position, net settling the paired off positions for cash, and simultaneously entering into a similar TBA contract for a new forward settlement date. Hence the discount or price drop from rolling TBA positions forward is commonly referred to as "TBA dollar roll income." We recognize TBA contracts as derivative instruments on our consolidated financial statements at their net carrying value, which is their fair value less the purchase price to be paid or received under the TBA contract. Consequently, dollar roll transactions represent a form of off-balance sheet financing. In evaluating our overall leverage, we consider both our on-balance sheet and off-balance sheet financing.

Risk Management Strategy

As a levered investor in fixed income securities, risk management is core to our business. We are exposed to a variety of market risks, including interest rate, prepayment, extension, spread and credit risks. Our investment strategies are based on our assessment of these risks, our ability to hedge a portion of these risks and our intention to qualify as a REIT. We employ a variety of investment and risk management strategies to reduce our exposure to market risks, and we continuously monitor and adjust our hedge portfolio, the net duration (or interest rate sensitivity) of our investment portfolio, and leverage in order to optimize long-term risk-adjusted returns as market conditions warrant.

Our hedging strategies are generally not designed to protect our net book value from spread risk, which as a levered investor in mortgage-backed securities is the inherent risk we take that the spread between the market yield on our investments and the benchmark interest rates linked to our interest rate hedges fluctuates. In addition, although we attempt to protect our net book value against moves in interest rates, we may not fully hedge against interest rate, prepayment and extension risks if we believe that bearing such risks enhances our return profile, or if the hedging transaction would negatively impact our REIT status. Our risk management actions may lower our earnings and dividends in the short-term to further our objective of preserving our net book value and maintaining attractive levels of earnings and dividends over the long-term. In addition, some of our hedges are intended to provide protection against larger rate moves and as a result may be relatively ineffective for smaller interest rate changes. For additional explanation of our market risks please refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors and Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk within this Form 10-K.

Regulatory Requirements

Exemption from Regulation under the Investment Company Act

We conduct our business so as not to become regulated as an investment company under the Investment Company Act, in reliance on the exemption provided by Section 3(c)(5)(C) of the Act. So long as we qualify for this exemption, we will not be subject to leverage and other restrictions imposed on registered investment companies, which would significantly reduce our ability to use leverage. Section 3(c)(5)(C), as interpreted by the staff of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), requires us to invest at least 55% of our assets in "mortgages and other liens on and interest in real estate" or "qualifying real estate interests" ("55% asset test") and at least 80% of our assets in qualifying real estate interests and "real estate-related assets." In satisfying this 55% requirement, based on pronouncements of the SEC staff and in certain instances our own judgment, we treat Agency RMBS issued with respect to an underlying pool of mortgage loans in which we hold all the certificates issued by the pool ("whole pool" securities) as qualifying real estate interests. We typically treat "partial pool" and other mortgage securities where we hold less than all the certificates issued by the pool as real estate-related assets. For additional information regarding our exemption under the Investment Company Act please refer to Item 1A. Risk Factors within this Form 10-K.

Real Estate Investment Trust Requirements

We have elected to be taxed as a REIT under the Internal Revenue Code. As a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal or state corporate income tax on our taxable income to the extent that we distribute annually all our taxable income to stockholders within the time limits prescribed by the Internal Revenue Code. Qualification and taxation as a REIT depend on our ability to continually meet requirements imposed upon REITs by the Internal Revenue Code, including satisfying certain organizational requirements, an annual distribution requirement and quarterly asset and annual income tests. The REIT asset and income tests are significant to our operations as they restrict the extent to which we can invest in certain types of securities

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and conduct certain hedging activities within the REIT. Consequently, we may be required to limit these activities or conduct them through a taxable REIT subsidiary ("TRS"). We believe that we have been organized and operate in such a manner as to qualify for taxation as a REIT.

Income Tests:

To continue to qualify as a REIT, we must satisfy two gross income requirements on an annual basis.

1.At least 75% of our gross income for each taxable year generally must be derived from investments in real property or mortgages on real property.

2.At least 95% of our gross income in each taxable year generally must be derived from some combination of income that qualifies under the 75% gross income test described above, as well as other dividends, interest, and gains from the sale or disposition of stock or securities, which need not have any relation to real property.

Interest income from obligations secured by mortgages on real property (such as Agency and non-Agency MBS) generally constitutes qualifying income for purposes of the 75% gross income test described above. There is no direct authority regarding the qualification of income or gains from TBAs for purposes of the 75% gross income test; however, we treat such income and gains as qualifying income for this purpose based on an opinion of legal counsel. The treatment of interest income from other real estate securities depends on their specific tax structure. Income and gains from instruments used to hedge the interest rate risk associated with our borrowings incurred, or to be incurred, to acquire real estate assets generally will be excluded from both gross income tests, provided that specified requirements are satisfied.

Asset Tests:

At the close of each calendar quarter, we must satisfy two sets of tests relating to the nature of our assets.

1.Asset qualification test: At least 75% of the value of our total assets must be represented by some combination of "real estate assets," cash, cash items, U.S. Government securities, and, under some circumstances, temporary investments in stock or debt instruments purchased with new capital. For this purpose, Agency mortgage-backed securities are treated as U.S. Government securities and all other mortgage-backed securities and mortgage loans are generally treated as "real estate assets." Assets that do not qualify for purposes of the 75% asset test are subject to the additional asset diversification tests described below.

2.Assets diversification tests:

a.The value of any one issuer's securities that we own may not exceed 5% of the value of our total assets.

b.We may not own more than 10% of any one issuer's outstanding securities, as measured by either voting power or value. The 5% and 10% asset tests do not apply to securities of TRSs and qualified REIT subsidiaries and the 10% asset test does not apply to "straight debt" having specified characteristics and to certain other securities.

c.The aggregate value of all securities of all TRSs that we hold may not exceed 25% of the value of our total assets.

d.No more than 25% of the total value of our assets may be represented by certain non-mortgage debt instruments issued by publicly offered REITs (even though such debt instruments qualify under the 75% asset test).

A failure to satisfy the income or asset tests would not immediately cause us to lose our REIT qualification; rather, we could retain our REIT qualification if we were able to satisfy certain relief provisions and pay any applicable penalty taxes and other fines, or, in the case of a failure to satisfy the asset test, eliminate the discrepancy within a 30-day cure period. Please also refer to the Risks Related to Our Taxation as a REIT in Item 1A. Risk Factors of this Form 10-K for further discussion of REIT qualification requirements and related items.

Regulatory Requirements of our Captive Broker-Dealer Subsidiary

BES is subject to ongoing membership and regulatory requirements as a member of the FICC and FINRA and as an SEC registered broker-dealer that include but are not limited to trade practices, use and safekeeping of funds and securities, capital structure, recordkeeping and conduct of directors, officers and employees. Additionally, as a self-clearing, registered broker-dealer, BES is subject to minimum net capital requirements. Thus, our ability to access tri-party repo funding through the

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FICC's GCF Repo service, which represents a significant portion of our total borrowing capacity, is reliant on BES's ability to continually meet FINRA and FICC regulatory and membership requirements.

Human Capital Management

We believe our success as a company ultimately depends on the strength, wellness, and dedication of our workforce. We pride ourselves on robust practices in the area of human capital management that are constantly evolving to meet the needs of our people. As of December 31, 2025, our workforce consisted of 54 full-time employees. We strive to provide each of our highly skilled employees an engaging, rewarding, supportive, and inclusive atmosphere in which to grow professionally. Our competitive and comprehensive benefits package is carefully designed to attract and retain talented personnel. We believe our zero employee turnover during the past three years and favorable employee survey results are a testament to the success of our human capital management initiatives.

Employee Communications and Engagement

We recognize the importance of ongoing open communication and engagement with our employees and we greatly value their input. To foster this, we regularly engage with our employees in a variety of ways through direct interaction with each member of our staff, periodic anonymous employee surveys, and regular town hall meetings. Our anonymous employee surveys provide important information about their job satisfaction, engagement, and specific concerns. Results consistently reflect high levels of employee satisfaction, including in areas of leadership, benefits, engagement, training, and development. To encourage candid feedback, we partner with outside vendors who analyze survey results and provide verbatim comments on an anonymous basis. In recognition of these efforts, AGNC was recertified as a Great Place to Work™ in 2023 based entirely on employee feedback. In 2024, Fortune named AGNC one of the Best Small WorkplacesTM, recognizing our commitment to creating a best-in-class employee experience. Our Board of Directors (our "Board") and management use survey results and regular direct feedback from employees in making adjustments to our work environment and benefits package.

Workplace Culture and Ethics

Our corporate culture promotes open and honest communication, fair treatment, collegiality and high ethics and compliance standards. Our Code of Ethics and Conduct ("Code of Conduct") applies to all directors, officers and employees and provides clear expectations and guidance to facilitate appropriate decisioning. Our Code of Conduct covers topics such as compliance with securities laws, conflicts of interest, giving and receiving gifts, discrimination, harassment, privacy, appropriate use of Company assets, protecting confidential information, and reporting Code of Conduct violations (including through an anonymous third-party hotline). All employees are required to affirm their understanding of these standards on at least an annual basis. We also regularly conduct mandatory compliance training on the Code of Conduct, insider trading, whistleblower protections, anti-harassment and other legal and corporate policies. Our executive officers and human resources department maintain "open door" policies, and any form of retaliation for bona fide reporting of Code of Conduct violations is expressly prohibited.

Employee Development

We have a number of policies and programs to further the professional development of our employees. These include our professional certification and continuing education policy, reimbursement for any supervisor-approved courses, one-on-one coaching to enhance skills in a number of areas of personal and professional development, and memberships to organizations that provide employees with access to educational webinars. We offer a formal mentoring program for employees to receive direct one-on-one career guidance and cross-functional experience across various operations. Our employees also have the opportunity to lead and/or participate in employee-led initiatives, such as our employee-led Volunteerism & Community Outreach Committee, which is responsible for implementing and leading new volunteer opportunities, as well as identifying ways the Company can have a positive impact on the community. These initiatives have advanced unique and professional skill sets throughout the organization.

Inclusion

Central to our core values is that every individual deserves respect and equal treatment, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, cultural background or religious belief. We strive to have an inclusive and welcoming work environment that is free from wrongful discrimination. We have long maintained policies against discrimination and harassment in our workplace, and we periodically conduct workplace trainings and workshops attended by all employees related to these topics. Although we have a relatively small workforce and low turnover rate, our recruitment and hiring practices attempt to ensure the diversity of applicant pools for posted job openings. We also seek to engage our employees and provide them opportunities on a non-discriminatory and inclusive basis. As of December 31, 2025, 39% of our employees were women and 31% were ethnically diverse.

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Compensation and Benefits

We seek to attract and retain the most talented employees in our industry by offering competitive compensation and benefits. Our pay-for-performance compensation philosophy is based on rewarding each employee's individual contributions through a combination of fixed and variable pay elements. Each employee receives a total compensation package that includes base salary, short-term incentives in the form of an annual cash bonus and long-term equity incentives in the form of time-vesting and/or performance-vesting restricted stock units. The proportion of each employee's variable incentive versus fixed-based elements of their compensation is directly correlated to the individual's level of responsibility and role in the organization. Generally, higher level employees have higher proportions of variable incentive-based compensation in their target mix. Similarly, within the incentive-based elements, the proportion of long-term incentive-based elements generally corresponds to the individual's role and level of responsibility in the organization.

As the success of our business is fundamentally connected to the well-being of our people, we offer benefits that support their physical, financial and emotional well-being. We provide our employees with access to flexible, comprehensive and convenient medical coverage intended to meet their needs and the needs of their families. In addition to standard medical coverage, we offer employees dental and vision coverage, health savings and flexible spending accounts, paid time off, parental leave and adoption assistance, voluntary short-term and long-term disability insurance, term life insurance, employee assistance programs, and other benefits. We also believe in the long-term financial wellness of our employees, and to foster maximum savings rates by our employees we offer a 401(k) Savings Plan with Company matching contributions of 100% up to 6% of each employee's eligible compensation, subject to IRS limits.

Competition

Our success depends, in large part, on our ability to acquire assets at favorable spreads over our borrowing costs. In acquiring mortgage assets, we compete with a variety of other investors, including other mortgage REITs, government entities, banks, specialty finance companies, public and private funds, insurance companies and other financial institutions, who may have competitive advantages over us as to the price they are willing to pay due to factors such as a lower cost of funds, access to funding sources not available to us or a lack of REIT and Investment Company Act regulatory constraints.

Corporate Information

Our executive offices are located at 7373 Wisconsin Avenue, 22nd Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814 and our telephone number is (301) 968-9315.

We make available our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to such reports as well as our Code of Ethics and Conduct on our internet website at www.AGNC.com. These reports are also available on the SEC internet website at www.sec.gov.