This proxy statement contains information about the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders (the Annual Meeting) of MTGE Investment Corp., a Maryland
corporation (MTGE, the Company, we, our and us).
Mr. Dobbs has served as our Chair and lead independent director since May 2016, and Mr. Kain has served as our Chief Executive
Officer since March 2016. We recognize the importance of strong independent leadership on the Board of Directors and believe at this time that separating the positions of Chair and Chief Executive Officer is the best corporate governance leadership
structure for us. We believe this structure effectively allocates authority, oversight and responsibility between management and the independent members of our Board. Our Board of Directors has determined that all of the current directors, except
Mr. Kain, are independent as defined in the NASDAQ rules.
It is our Boards policy as a matter of good corporate
governance to have a majority of our independent directors meet regularly without persons who are members of management or employee directors present to facilitate the Boards effective independent oversight of management. Presently, our
independent directors meet separately during our Boards quarterly
in-person
meetings and may hold additional meetings at the request of the lead independent director or another independent director. The
designation of a lead independent director is generally for a
one-year
term or until his or her successor is elected, and a lead independent director may be
re-appointed
at the end of a term.
Each of our Boards Audit Committee and Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee is composed entirely
of independent directors. These independent committees of our Board also have the authority under their respective charters to hire independent advisors and consultants, at our expense, to assist them in performing their duties.
Our Board has developed corporate governance practices to help it fulfill its responsibility to oversee the work of management in the conduct
of our business. The governance practices are memorialized in corporate governance guidelines to assure that the Board will have the necessary authority and practices in place to review
and evaluate our business operations as needed and to make decisions that are independent of management. These guidelines, in conjunction with our Charter, Amended and Restated Bylaws, as amended
(our Bylaws), and committee charters of the Audit Committee and the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee, form the framework for our governance. All of these documents are available in the Investors section of our web site at
www.MTGE.com
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CORPORATE GOVERNANCE HIGHLIGHTS:
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Annual election of directors
Directors elected by majority, not plurality, voting in uncontested
elections
Resignation policy for directors who do not receive a majority
vote
Four of five directors are independent
Lead director is independent
All MTGE directors serve on two or fewer public company boards
Regular meetings of independent directors without members of management or
affiliated directors
Stock ownership guidelines for directors
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No stockholder rights plan or poison pill
Comprehensive Code of Ethics and Conduct and Corporate Governance
Guidelines
Annual Board and Committee Self-Evaluations
At least 89% attendance for Board meetings and 80% attendance for committee
meetings in 2016
Anti-pledging and anti-hedging policy for directors and
executive officers
Executive officers are subject to a clawback policy
adopted by our Manager
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Committees of the Board of Directors
Our Board of Directors principal standing committees and their primary functions are described below.
Executive Committee
This committee has the authority to exercise all powers of the Board of Directors except for actions that must be taken by the full Board of
Directors under Maryland law or our Charter or Bylaws.
Audit Committee
This committee assists the Board of Directors in overseeing:
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our accounting and financial reporting processes;
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the integrity and audits of our financial statements;
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the adequacy and effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting, including information technology security and controls relating to the preparation of our financial statements;
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our compliance with legal and regulatory requirements;
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compliance with our Code of Ethics and Conduct (Code of Ethics);
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the qualifications and independence of our independent registered public accounting firm; and
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the performance of our independent registered public accounting firm and any internal auditors.
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The Audit Committee is also responsible for engaging an independent registered public accounting firm, reviewing with the independent
registered public accounting firm the plans and results of the audit engagement, approving professional services provided by the independent registered public accounting firm and considering the range of audit and
non-audit
fees. The committees meetings include, whenever appropriate, executive
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BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
sessions with each of our independent external auditors and our Managers internal auditors, without the presence of management.
Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee
This committees principal functions are to:
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evaluate the performance of our Manager;
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review the compensation and fees payable to our Manager under the management agreement with our Manager (which is described under Board and Governance MattersCertain Transactions with Related Persons);
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decide whether to recommend the termination of the management agreement with our Manager;
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evaluate the compensation and fees payable to the members of the Board of Directors;
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administer our equity incentive plan to the extent the committee is delegated authority by the Board of Directors;
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review and assist with the development of our executive succession plans; and
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produce a report on executive compensation required to be included in our proxy statement for our annual meetings.
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The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee also serves as the Board of Directors standing nominating committee and as such
performs the following functions:
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identifying, recruiting and recommending to the Board of Directors qualified candidates for election as directors and recommending a slate of nominees for election as directors by our common stockholders at the annual
meeting of stockholders;
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developing and recommending to the Board of Directors corporate governance guidelines, including the committees selection criteria for director nominees;
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recommending to the Board of Directors members for each committee of the Board of Directors; and
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annually facilitating the assessment of the Board of Directors performance as a whole and of the individual directors and reports thereon to the Board of Directors.
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Compensation Consultant
Under its charter, the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee has the authority to select, retain and terminate compensation
consultants. The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee did not use the services of a compensation consultant in 2016.
Special Committee
The Board of Directors also has the authority to appoint such additional committees as it
may deem appropriate from
time-to-time.
The Board established a special committee (the Special Committee) in April 2016 to investigate and evaluate
alternatives regarding our external management structure when American Capital, Ltd. (American Capital), the ultimate parent company of our manager at that time, became engaged in a public sale process. We formed the Special Committee to
protect our interests during this process. The Special Committee met 13 times in 2016 (and prior to the formation of the Special Committee, the independent directors met nine times) to consider these matters. On July 1, 2016, AGNC Investment
Corp. (AGNC) completed the acquisition of all of the membership units of AGNC Mortgage Management, LLC, the parent of our Manager (the Manager Acquisition), and MTGE consented to the Manager Acquisition to ensure the
continuity of our management team. Members of the Special Committee were all independent directors and included Messrs. Couch, Morris A. Davis, Dobbs and Larry K. Harvey and Ms. Prue B. Larocca. Messrs. Davis and Harvey and
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BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
Ms. Larocca resigned from the Special Committee in connection with their resignations from our Board of Directors on May 22, 2016, prior to the decision to consent to the Manager
Acquisition.
Board and Committee Meetings
Under our Bylaws and Maryland law, the Board of Directors and its committees are permitted to take actions at regular or special meetings and
by unanimous written consent. The Board of Directors generally holds regular quarterly meetings and meets on other occasions as necessary. The Board of Directors held nine meetings during 2016. As noted above, the independent directors also met
separately in executive sessions to discuss various matters, including our performance, the performance of our Manager and the Manager Acquisition.
Each of the Audit Committee and the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee schedules regular meetings to coincide with the quarterly
in-person
meetings of the Board of Directors and also meets at the request of senior management or at such other times as it determines. The chair of each committee, in consultation with our Secretary, sets agendas
for the meetings. Each committee reports to the Board of Directors on its activities at the next regularly scheduled Board meeting following their committee meetings and when appropriate. During 2016, the Audit Committee held five meetings and the
Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee held five meetings. As noted above, the Special Committee held 13 meetings in 2016.
Each
of our directors attended at least 89% of the meetings of the Board of Directors and 80% of the meetings of the committees on which he or she served in 2016. Although we do not have a policy on director attendance at the Annual Meeting, directors
are encouraged to attend the Annual Meeting. Each of our directors who was a director at the time attended the 2016 Annual Meeting in person.
Risk Oversight
One of the roles of our Board of Directors is responsibility for the general oversight of the Company, including
the performance of our executive officers, our Manager and the Companys risk management processes, to assure that the long-term interests of our Company are being served. In performing its risk oversight function, the Board, directly or
through its standing committees, regularly reviews our material strategic, operational, financial, compensation and compliance risks with senior management. The Company believes that the Boards role in risk management oversight is effective
and appropriate, particularly given the extensive regulation to which it is already subject as a real estate investment trust (REIT). For instance, the Board receives updates at each regular meeting on the Companys performance and
other recent developments, including, among other things, the risks and opportunities facing us, as well as our investment portfolio, and on the variety of strategies used to hedge the Companys exposure to market risks, including interest
rate, prepayment and extension risks. The Board has also adopted, and regularly reviews our compliance with, various policies and procedures addressing other operational risks, such as business continuity, data privacy and cybersecurity. In
addition, the Board routinely receives information regarding the technology and cyber-risks relevant to the Companys business to ensure that adequate steps are being taken to protect against and prepare for cyber-incidents.
The Board of Directors also recognizes the importance of effective executive leadership to our success and is actively engaged in overseeing
the operational risks related to succession planning. The Board of Directors routinely discusses staffing for critical roles, and potential replacements for key personnel are given exposure to the Board of Directors during meetings and other events.
In addition, the Board of Directors is regularly updated on the Managers strategies for recruiting, developing and retaining outstanding personnel at the Manager and its affiliates and minimizing employee turnover, as applicable.
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BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
The Board has delegated certain risk management oversight responsibility to its committees as
follows:
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Regulatory Compliance Risk:
The Board, both directly and through the Audit Committee, receives regular reports from our Managers legal, accounting and internal audit
representatives on regulatory matters, including the Companys compliance with its REIT qualification and exemption from the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, compliance with our Code of Ethics and our Managers compliance with
the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended.
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Financial and Accounting Risk:
The Audit Committee oversees the Companys management of its financial, accounting, internal controls and regulatory compliance through
regular meetings with our Chief Financial Officer, senior representatives of our Managers accounting, tax, auditing and legal departments and representatives of the Companys independent public accountant.
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Litigation Risk:
The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee monitors the Companys litigation, if any.
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Compensation and Benefit Plan Risk:
The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee considers the extent to which our director compensation and benefit plan programs may
create risk for the Company.
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Governance Risk:
The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee also oversees risks related to Board organization, membership and structure and corporate governance.
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Director Compensation
We compensate our independent directors with cash retainers and equity-based awards. The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee
periodically reviews the form and amount of compensation paid to our independent directors against peer companies and group and general industry data and makes recommendations for adjustments, as appropriate, to the full Board of Directors. During
2016, each independent director was paid a retainer for service on the Board of Directors at an annual rate of $60,000 for the first two quarters of 2016, payable quarterly in advance. For service on the Special Committee in 2016, each member of the
committee received a fee of $50,000. Effective July 1, 2017, the annual retainer for each independent director
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was increased to $80,000 per year, payable quarterly in advance. In addition, the Chair of our Audit Committee was paid a retainer at an annual rate of $15,000, the Chair of our Compensation and
Corporate Governance Committee was paid an annual retainer of $10,000, and our lead independent director was paid an annual retainer of $10,000, each payable quarterly in advance. The 2017 rates remain set at the same levels in place at the end of
2016.
During 2016, directors were reimbursed for travel expenses incurred in connection with attending Board and committee meetings and
Board-related functions. Directors who are employees of our Manager or its affiliates do not receive any compensation from us for service as a member of the Board of Directors. Our directors who were employees or directors of American Capital or any
of its affiliates, including our Manager, also did not receive any compensation from us for service as a member of the Board of Directors. However, American Capital did have a policy to pay its
non-employee
directors fees for serving on the board of directors of its portfolio companies or its funds under management (such as MTGE). Under this policy, Dr. Alvin N. Puryear, who was a director until May 2016, received $45,000 from American Capital for
his service on our Board of Directors during 2016, in lieu of any payment by us.
The Board believes that a substantial portion of
director compensation should consist of equity-based compensation to assist in aligning directors interests with the long-term interests of our stockholders. On April 19, 2016, each of our independent directors who were serving on our
Board at such time received 5,010 restricted stock units (RSUs), which vest on May 19, 2017, subject to their continued service on our Board of Directors, under the American Capital Mortgage Investment Corp. Amended and Restated
Equity Incentive Plan (the Amended Equity Incentive Plan) described below. Each RSU represents the right to receive an equivalent number of shares of common stock, plus dividend equivalents, subject to the terms of the Amended Equity
Incentive Plan.
The following table sets forth the compensation received by each independent director during 2016:
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Name
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Fees Earned
or Paid
in
Cash
($)
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Stock
Awards
($)
(1)
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Option
Awards
($)
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Non-Equity
Incentive Plan
Compensation
($)
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Change in
Pension Value
and
Nonqualified
Deferred
Compensation
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All Other
Compensation
($)
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Total
($)
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Steven W. Abrahams
(2)
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Julia L. Coronado
(3)
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Robert M. Couch
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127,500
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75,000
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202,500
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Morris A. Davis
(4)
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85,000
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75,000
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160,000
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Randy E. Dobbs
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135,000
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75,000
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210,000
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Larry K. Harvey
(4)
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87,500
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75,000
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162,500
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Prue B. Larocca
(4)
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80,000
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75,000
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155,000
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(1)
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For amounts under the column Stock Awards, we disclose the fair value associated with the RSU award granted to each director in 2016, measured in dollars and calculated in accordance with Financial
Accounting Standards Board ASC Topic 718,
Compensation-Stock Compensation
(ASC 718), as required by Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) regulations. Each award represents the right to receive 5,010 shares of
common stock (calculated by dividing the value of the award by the closing price of a share of common stock on the grant date, which was $14.97 on April 19, 2016), plus any dividend equivalents on the RSUs, subject to the terms and conditions
of the Amended Equity Incentive Plan. As of December 31, 2016, in connection with these awards, Messrs. Dobbs and Couch had unvested RSU equivalents of 5,253 shares of common stock, including dividend equivalents on the RSUs.
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(2)
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Elected to the Board of Directors, effective March 10, 2017.
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(3)
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Elected to the Board of Directors, effective December 28, 2016.
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(4)
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Resigned from the Board of Directors, effective May 22, 2016. All unvested RSU awards were accelerated upon the directors resignation.
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Amended Equity Incentive Plan
The Amended Equity Incentive Plan provides for the issuance of equity-based awards, including stock options, restricted stock, restricted stock
units, unrestricted stock awards and other awards based on our common stock that may be made by us to our directors and employees of the Company.
The Amended Equity Incentive Plan is administered by our Board of Directors (the plan administrator), which from time to time may
delegate all or a portion of its authority to a committee established by our Board of Directors (typically, the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee). The plan administrator has the authority to make awards to eligible participants and to
determine the form and the terms and conditions of the awards. Except as provided below with respect to equitable adjustments, the plan administrator may not take any action that would have the effect of reducing the exercise or purchase price of
any award granted under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan without first obtaining the consent of our stockholders.
If any shares subject
to an award granted under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan are forfeited, cancelled, exchanged or surrendered or if an award terminates or expires without a distribution of shares to the participant, or if shares of our common stock are surrendered
or withheld by us as payment of either the exercise price of an award and/or withholding taxes in respect of an award, the shares of common stock with respect to such award will again be available for awards under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan.
Upon the exercise of any award granted in tandem with any other award, the related award will be cancelled to the extent of the number of shares of common stock as to which the award is exercised and, notwithstanding the foregoing, that number of
shares will no longer be available for awards under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan.
In the event that the plan administrator
determines that any dividend or other distribution (whether in the form of cash, common stock, or other property), recapitalization, stock split, reverse split, reorganization, merger or other similar corporate transaction or event affects our
common stock such that an adjustment is appropriate in order to prevent dilution or enlargement of the rights of participants under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan, then the plan administrator will make equitable changes or adjustments to:
(i) the number and kind of shares of common stock or other property (including cash) that may thereafter be issued in connection with awards; (ii) the number and kind of shares of common stock or other property (including cash) issued or
issuable in respect of outstanding awards; (iii) the exercise price, grant price or purchase price relating to any award and (iv) the performance goals, if any, applicable to outstanding awards. In addition, the plan administrator may
determine that any equitable adjustment may be accomplished by making a payment to the award holder in the form of cash or other property (including but not limited to shares of our common stock).
Any stock option granted under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan would have a term of no longer than 10 years, and an exercise price that is
no less than 100% of the fair market value of our common stock on the date of grant of the award. The plan administrator determines the terms and conditions of each grant of restricted stock or restricted stock units under the Amended Equity
Incentive Plan. Restricted stock units confer on the participant the right to receive cash, common stock or other property, as determined by the plan administrator, having a value equal to the number of shares of our common stock that
are subject to the award. The holders of awards of restricted stock or restricted stock units may be entitled to receive dividends or, in the case of restricted
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BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
stock units, dividend equivalents, which in either case may be payable immediately or on a deferred basis at such time as is determined by the plan administrator.
The plan administrator may determine to make grants of our common stock that are not subject to any restrictions or a substantial risk of
forfeiture or to grant other stock-based awards to eligible participants, the terms and conditions of which will be determined by the plan administrator at the time of grant.
Outstanding restricted stock awards, but not outstanding restricted stock units, under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan will become fully
vested, exercisable and/or payable if we undergo a change of control or upon termination of the directors service, including termination due to the directors death or disability, but excluding termination of service pursuant to a removal
for cause or a voluntary resignation, or as otherwise approved by the Board.
The Amended Equity Incentive Plan automatically expires on
January 28, 2024, the tenth anniversary of the date on which it was adopted by our Board of Directors. Our Board of Directors may terminate, amend, modify or suspend the Amended Equity Incentive Plan at any time, subject to stockholder approval
as required by law or stock exchange rules. The plan administrator may amend the terms of any outstanding award under the Amended Equity Incentive Plan at any time. No amendment or termination of the Amended Equity Incentive Plan, or any outstanding
award, may adversely affect any of the rights of an award holder without the holders consent.
Stock Ownership
Guidelines
Our Board of Directors believes that directors more effectively represent the best interests of the Company if they are
stockholders themselves. Thus, independent directors are encouraged to own shares of our common stock equal in value to three times the annual cash Board retainer (which is $80,000) within the later of five years of joining the Board or
April 22, 2019. The minimum number of shares to be held by the independent directors will be calculated on the first trading day of each calendar year based on the closing price of our common stock on that date. In calculating the number of
shares held by each independent director for purposes of these guidelines, 50% of the shares of common stock underlying any unvested stock-based awards and 100% of the shares of common stock underlying any vested stock-based awards will be included.
In the event the cash retainer increases or the stock price decreases, causing an independent director to be out of compliance with the guidelines after having been in compliance, the director will have three years to return to compliance. The
Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee may waive or modify these requirements in certain situations.
In addition, our Board of
Directors has adopted a policy prohibiting our executive officers and directors from pledging or margining any shares of our common stock (regardless of whether such stock is owned directly or indirectly as such terms are used in the SEC rules
promulgated under the Exchange Act) or engaging in short sales of our common stock or other transaction where he or she would earn a profit based on a decline of our stock price. The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee may waive or
modify these requirements as it deems appropriate in its discretion on a
case-by-case
basis.
Director Nomination Process
Nominations for election to the Board of Directors may be made by the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors
or by any common stockholder entitled to vote for the election of directors, in the manner provided in our Bylaws. Candidates recommended by common stockholders will be evaluated by the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee under the same
criteria that are applied to other candidates.
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Board Membership Criteria
Although there is not a formal list of qualifications, in discharging its responsibilities to nominate candidates for election to the Board of
Directors, the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee endeavors to identify, recruit and nominate candidates based on the following eligibility and experience criteria: a candidates integrity and business ethics, strength of
character, judgment, experience and independence, as well as factors relating to the composition of the Board of Directors, including its size and structure, the relative strengths and experience of current directors and principles of diversity,
including diversity of experience, personal and professional backgrounds, race, gender and age. Although the committee does not have formal objective criteria for determining the amount of diversity needed on the Board of Directors, it is one of the
factors the committee considers in its evaluation. In nominating candidates to fill vacancies created by the expiration of the term of a member of the Board of Directors, the committee determines whether the incumbent director is willing to stand
for
re-election.
If so, the committee evaluates his or her performance in office to determine suitability for continued service, taking into consideration the values of continuity and familiarity with our
business.
Director Resignation Policy
Our Bylaws require a candidate in an uncontested election for director to receive a majority of all the votes cast in order to be elected as a
director. Under this provision, each vote is specifically counted for or against the directors election, unless a common stockholder abstains from voting with respect to the matter. Thus, a director nominee is required
to receive more votes for than against to be elected. Pursuant to Maryland law, a director remains in office until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified even if the director has not received sufficient votes for
re-election.
Thus, a company could have a holdover director. However, pursuant to our Board-approved director resignation policy, an incumbent director must tender his or her resignation to the Board of
Directors if the director is nominated but not
re-elected.
Such resignation must be expressly conditioned on its acceptance by the Board. The policy also requires the Compensation and Corporate Governance
Committee to make a recommendation to the full Board of Directors on whether to accept or reject the resignation, and the full Board of Directors to make that determination. The Board of Directors would publicly disclose its decision within 90 days
after receipt of the tendered resignation.
Any director who tenders his or her resignation pursuant to this policy may not participate in
the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee recommendation or Board of Directors action regarding whether to accept the resignation offer. If each member of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee does not receive a vote
sufficient for
re-election,
then the independent directors who did receive a sufficient vote (including newly elected independent directors) shall appoint a committee amongst themselves to consider the
resignation and recommend to the Board of Directors whether to accept them. If the only directors who did not fail to receive a sufficient vote for
re-election
constitute three or fewer directors, all
directors (other than the director who tendered the resignation under review) may participate in the action regarding whether to accept the resignation.
Certain Transactions with Related Persons
Related Person Transaction Policies
Our Board of Directors has adopted a policy regarding the approval of any related person transaction, which is any transaction or
series of transactions in which we or any of our subsidiaries is or are to be a participant, the amount involved exceeds $120,000, and a related person (as defined under SEC rules) has a direct or indirect material interest. Under the
policy, a related person would need to promptly disclose to our
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BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
chief compliance officer any related person transaction and all material facts about the transaction. Our chief compliance officer would then assess and promptly communicate that information to
the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee of our Board of Directors. Based on its consideration of all of the relevant facts and circumstances, the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee will decide whether or not to approve such
transaction and will generally approve only those transactions that do not create a conflict of interest. If we become aware of an existing related person transaction that has not been
pre-approved
under this
policy, the transaction will be referred to the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee, which will evaluate all options available, including ratification, revision or termination of such transaction. Our policy requires any director who may
be interested in a related person transaction to recuse himself or herself from any consideration of such related person transaction.
Our
Code of Ethics, which was reviewed and approved by our Board of Directors and provided to all of our directors and officers, our Manager and the persons who provide services to us, requires that all such persons avoid any situations or relationships
that involve actual or potential conflicts of interest, or perceived conflicts of interest, between an individuals personal interests and the interests of MTGE. Pursuant to our Code of Ethics, each of these persons must disclose any conflicts
of interest, or actions or relationships that might give rise to a conflict, to their supervisor or our chief compliance officer. If a conflict is determined to exist, the person must disengage from the conflict situation or terminate his or her
provision of services to us. Our chief executive officer, chief financial officer, principal accounting officer, chief investment officer and certain other persons who may be designated by our Board of Directors or its Audit Committee, whom we
collectively refer to as our financial executives, must consult with our chief compliance officer with respect to any proposed actions or arrangements that are not clearly consistent with our Code of Ethics. In the event that a financial executive
wishes to engage in a proposed action or arrangement that is not consistent with our Code of Ethics, the financial executive must obtain a waiver of the relevant provisions of our Code of Ethics in advance from our Audit Committee. We intend to post
amendments to or waivers from the Code of Ethics (to the extent applicable to our financial executives) on our web site
www.MTGE.com
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Related Person Transactions
We have entered into a management agreement with our Manager with an initial term that ended August 9, 2014 with automatic
one-year
extension options thereafter. Our Manager manages our
day-to-day
operations pursuant to the management agreement. The
management agreement may only be terminated by us without cause, as defined in the management agreement, upon 90 days prior written notice, or by our Manager without cause upon 180 days prior written notice, in connection with the
expiration of the current term. If we were to terminate the management agreement without cause, we must pay a termination fee before or on the last day prior to the effective date of such termination, equal to three times the average annual
management fee earned by our Manager during the prior
24-month
period immediately preceding the most recently completed month prior to the effective date of termination. We may terminate the management
agreement with or without cause only with the consent of a majority of our independent directors. We amended and restated the management agreement on July 1, 2016 upon completion of the Manager Acquisition.
We pay our Manager a management fee payable monthly in arrears in an amount equal to
one-twelfth
of
1.50% of our Equity. Our Equity is defined as our
month-end
stockholders equity, adjusted to exclude the effect of any unrealized gains or losses included in either retained earnings or other
comprehensive income (loss), each as computed in accordance with GAAP. There is no incentive compensation payable to our Manager pursuant to the management agreement. In addition, we reimburse our Manager for expenses directly related to our
14 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
BOARD AND GOVERNANCE MATTERS
operations incurred by our Manager and its affiliates, but excluding employment-related expenses of our Managers officers and employees.
In addition, we may not, without the consent of our Manager, employ any employee of the Manager or any of its affiliates, or any person who
has been employed by our Manager or any of its affiliates at any time within the
two-year
period immediately preceding the date on which the person commences employment with us for two years after termination
of the management agreement without cause. As of the date of this proxy statement, no such termination notice has been given.
We rely on
our Manager to administer our business activities and
day-to-day
operations, subject to the supervision and oversight of our Board of Directors. We do not have any
employees (other than employees of Residential Credit Solutions, Inc. (RCS), a subsidiary of MTGE) and do not have offices (other than offices of RCS) separate from those of our Manager. All of our officers and the members of our
mortgage investment team and other support personnel, other than the employees of RCS, are employees of the parent company of our Manager. We rely on our Manager and its parent to provide us with their infrastructure, business relationships and
management expertise. Also pursuant to the management agreement, we rely on our Manager for its information technology and capital raising capabilities, legal and compliance functions and accounting, treasury and investor relations capabilities. The
management agreement does not require our Manager, the parent company of our Manager or AGNC to dedicate specific personnel to our operations nor does it require any specific personnel of the parent company of our Manager or AGNC to dedicate a
specific amount of time to our business. All of our officers are also officers of our Manager, the parent company of our Manager and/or AGNC.
We have not entered into any other transactions in which any other director or officer or significant stockholder of ours or our Manager has
any material interest.
Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation
No member of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee during 2016 served as an officer, former officer or employee of ours or had a
relationship disclosable under Board and Governance MattersCertain Transactions with Related Persons. Further, during 2016, none of our executive officers served as:
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a member of the compensation committee (or equivalent) of any other entity, one of whose executive officers served as one of our directors or was an immediate family member of a director, or served on our Compensation
and Corporate Governance Committee; or
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a director of any other entity, one of whose executive officers or their immediate family member served on our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee.
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MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
15
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
Pursuant to our Charter and Bylaws, our common stockholders elect each of the members of the Board of Directors annually. The
term of each director will expire at the Annual Meeting. Each director has been nominated by the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee of the Board of Directors, in accordance with our Bylaws, to stand for
re-election
at the Annual Meeting and to serve as a director until our annual meeting to be held in 2018 and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies. It is expected that each of the nominees
will be able to serve, but if any such nominee is unable to serve for any reason, the authorized proxies will vote or refrain from voting for a substitute nominee or nominees in their discretion. A common stockholder using the enclosed form of proxy
may vote for or against any or all of the nominees or may abstain from voting for any or all of the nominees.
We believe that all of our
directors, each of whom is a nominee for
re-election,
possess the personal and professional qualifications necessary to serve as a member of our Board of Directors. Our directors have been evaluated by the
Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee pursuant to the guidelines described above under Board and Governance MattersBoard Membership Criteria, and the determination was made that each of them fulfills and exceeds the
qualities that we look for in members of our Board of Directors. Other than Mr. Kain, who is an affiliate of our Manager, each of the nominees is independent as defined in the NASDAQ rules.
The information set forth below is as of the close of business on March 8, 2017, with respect to each of our directors, each a nominee for
election at the Annual Meeting. The business address of each nominee is c/o MTGE Investment Corp., 2 Bethesda Metro Center, 12
th
Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814. We have highlighted specific
attributes for each Board member below.
Director Nominee Biographies and Qualifications
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STEVEN W. ABRAHAMS, 57
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Director Since:
2017
Board Committees:
None
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Professional Experience:
Mr. Abrahams is the
Co-Founder
and Chief Executive Officer of Milepost Capital Management LLC. Milepost Capital,
which was founded in 2016, provides investment strategy; research; asset sourcing, selection, and reporting; and portfolio accounting to US community banks. Mr. Abrahams also serves as an Adjunct Professor of Finance and Economics at the
Columbia Business School. Prior to founding Milepost Capital, Mr. Abrahams was a Managing Director and the Head of MBS and Securitization Research at Deutsche Bank AG from 2010 until 2016, and, from 2008 until 2009, he founded and served as a
Managing Director of Citadel Capital Advisors, a business unit of Citadel LLC established to advise institutional investors managing complex portfolios of loans, securities and related risks. From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Abrahams served in a number
of roles at Bear Stearns & Co. Inc., including as the Senior Managing Director, Global Head of Liquid Product Strategy from 2005 until 2008. Mr. Abrahams holds a Ph.D. in Psychology from Columbia University.
Director Qualifications:
Mr. Abrahams extensive experience in the finance, investment management and business sectors strengthens our Boards collective qualifications,
skills, experience and viewpoints.
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16 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
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JULIA L. CORONADO, 48
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Director Since:
2016
Board Committees:
Audit
Compensation and Corporate Governance
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Professional Experience:
Ms. Coronado currently serves as the Chief Economist for Graham Capital Management, an alternative investment firm. In her role at Graham Capital,
Ms. Coronado is responsible for formulating the companys global forecast for inflation and monetary and fiscal policy and also serves on the Investment and Risk Committees. Prior to joining Graham Capital, Ms. Coronado was Chief
Economist, North America, and Managing Director at BNP Paribas from 2009 to 2014. From 2006 to 2009, she was a Senior U.S. Economist and Director at Barclays Capital, where she helped formulate the forecast for the U.S. economy and Fed policy.
Earlier in her career, Ms. Coronado served as an Economist at the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. In addition to her work at Graham Capital, Ms. Coronado is currently a member of the New York Federal Reserves Treasury Market
Practice Group and Economic Advisory Panel and also serves on the Brookings Economic Studies Council. Ms. Coronado holds a Ph.D. in Economics from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in Economics from the University of Illinois at
Urbana-Champaign.
Director Qualifications:
Ms. Coronados extensive private-sector, government and leadership experience as an economist in areas of investment and monetary
policy strengthens our Boards collective qualifications, skills, experience and viewpoints.
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ROBERT M. COUCH, 59
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Director Since:
2011
Board Committees:
Audit (Chair)
Compensation and Corporate Governance
Executive
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Professional Experience:
Mr. Couch is Counsel to Bradley Arant Boult Cummings LLP, a law firm based in Birmingham, Alabama. Until December 31, 2015, Mr. Couch was
Chairman of ARK Real Estate Strategies, LLC. ARK is the manager of the ARK Real Estate Opportunity Fund I, LLC, an investment fund focused on distressed residential real estate. He is also a director of MAX Exchange LLC, a
start-up
company primarily focused on the design and establishment of an electronic mortgage exchange. From 2009 until February 2017, Mr. Couch served as a member of the Board of Directors of Prospect Holding
Company, LLC, the parent company of Prospect Mortgage of Sherman Oaks, California. From June 2007 to November 2008, Mr. Couch served as General Counsel of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD. From December 2006
until June 2007, Mr. Couch served as Acting General Counsel of HUD. Mr. Couch began his service at HUD as President of Ginnie Mae from June 2006 until June 2007. Prior to his government service, Mr. Couch served as President and Chief
Executive Officer of New South Federal Savings Bank. Mr. Couch previously served on the board of directors of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) from 2011 to May 2016.
Director Qualifications:
Mr. Couchs extensive senior executive and board experience, including in real estate and government, strengthen our Boards collective
qualifications, skills, experience and viewpoints.
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MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
17
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
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RANDY E. DOBBS, 66
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Director Since:
2011
Board Committees:
Audit
Compensation and Corporate Governance (Chair)
Executive (Chair)
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Professional Experience:
Mr. Dobbs has been a self-employed business consultant and business speaker since the end of 2010. In addition, he is an Operating Partner at Welsh,
Carson, Anderson & Stowe (Welsh Carson), a private equity firm. From April 2012 to January 2015, Mr. Dobbs served as Chief Executive Officer for Matrix Medical Network, a portfolio company of Welsh Carson and a provider of
home health assessments for Medicare Advantage clients across 32 states. Prior to that, he was a Senior Operating Executive at Welsh Carson, where he was responsible for portfolio company operational oversight, business acquisitions and equity
opportunity development. From February 2005 to October 2008, he was the Chief Executive Officer of US Investigations Services, Inc. and its subsidiaries (USIS). USIS provided business intelligence and risk management solutions, security
and related services and expert staffing solutions for businesses and federal agencies. From April 2003 to February 2005, Mr. Dobbs was President and Chief Executive Officer of Philips Medical Systems, North America, a manufacturer of systems
for imaging, radiation oncology and patient monitoring, as well as information management and resuscitation products. Prior to April 2003, Mr. Dobbs spent 27 years with General Electric Company, where he held various senior level positions,
including President and Chief Executive Officer of GE Capital, IT Solutions. Mr. Dobbs also serves on the board of directors of various private equity companies and previously served on the board of directors of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ:
AGNC) from 2008 to May 2016 and Savvis, Inc. (NASDAQ: SVVS) from November 2010 to August 2011.
Director Qualifications:
Mr. Dobbss extensive senior executive experience managing a wide variety of businesses strengthens our Boards collective qualifications,
skills, experience and viewpoints.
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18 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS
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GARY D. KAIN, 52
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Director Since:
2016
Board Committees:
Executive
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Professional Experience:
Mr. Kain has served as a Director and our Chief Executive Officer since March 2016 and as President and Chief Investment Officer since March 2011.
Mr. Kain has also served as the President of our manager, MTGE Management, LLC, since April 2011. In addition, Mr. Kain serves on the board of directors of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC) and as AGNCs Chief Executive Officer,
President and Chief Investment Officer.
Mr. Kain served as a Senior Vice
President and Managing Director of American Capital, Ltd. from January 2009 to July 2009, after which time he became an employee of the parent company of our then external manager, AGNC Mortgage Management, LLC. While at American Capital,
Mr. Kain headed American Capitals RMBS investment team. Prior to joining American Capital, Mr. Kain served as Senior Vice President of Investments and Capital Markets of Freddie Mac from May 2008 to January 2009. He also served as
Senior Vice President of Mortgage Investments & Structuring of Freddie Mac from February 2005 to April 2008, during which time he was responsible for managing all of Freddie Macs mortgage investment activities for the companys
$700 billion retained portfolio. From 2001 to 2005, Mr. Kain served as Vice President of Mortgage Portfolio Strategy at Freddie Mac. From 1995 to 2001, he served as head trader in Freddie Macs Securities Sales & Trading
Group, where he was responsible for managing all trading decisions including REMIC structuring and underwriting, hedging all mortgage positions, income generation, and risk management. Prior to that, he served as a senior trader, responsible for
managing the adjustable-rate mortgage and REMIC sectors.
Director Qualifications:
Mr. Kains extensive and lengthy expertise in the agency mortgage sector and his deep knowledge of our business as our Chief Executive Officer,
President and Chief Investment Officer strengthen our Boards collective qualifications, skills, experience and viewpoints.
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Conclusion and Recommendation; Vote Required
The election of directors nominated in Proposal 1 requires the affirmative vote of a majority of all the votes cast by holders of our common
stock at the Annual Meeting. The affirmative vote of a majority of the votes cast means that the number of votes cast for a director nominee must exceed the votes cast against that nominee. In the context of the
election of five directors at the Annual Meeting, it will mean that each of the five candidates will be required to receive more votes for than against to be elected. Abstentions and broker
non-votes
will have no effect on the outcome of the proposal. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE
FOR
THE ELECTION OF EACH OF THE NOMINEES NAMED ABOVE.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
19
PROPOSAL 2: ADVISORY RESOLUTION ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
PROPOSAL 2:
ADVISORY RESOLUTION ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
General Information
Our Board is committed to corporate governance best practices and recognizes the significant interest of stockholders in executive compensation
matters. We are providing this
non-binding
advisory vote pursuant to Section 14A of the Exchange Act. As described in detail under the headings Related Person Transactions above and
Compensation Discussion and Analysis below, we are externally managed by our Manager pursuant to a management agreement between our Manager and us. Our executive officers are employees of the parent of our Manager and do not receive any
compensation from us. In addition, we do not reimburse our Manager for any of their compensation. Instead, our Manager uses the proceeds from the management fee, in part, to pay compensation to its officers and personnel, including our executive
officers. Our Manager pays all of the compensation, including benefits, to our executive officers, all of whom are employees of the parent of our Manager.
While this vote is advisory and not binding on us, our Board of Directors and its Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee value the
views of our stockholders and will consider the voting results in making any future executive compensation decisions.
Accordingly, we are
requesting our stockholders to approve, in a
non-binding,
advisory vote, the following resolution:
RESOLVED, that the stockholders of the Company hereby approve the compensation of our named executive officers, as disclosed in the
proxy statement for the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders pursuant to the compensation disclosure rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, compensation tables and related information
disclosed in the proxy statement.
Conclusion and Recommendation; Vote Required
The affirmative vote of a majority of all the votes cast by holders of our common stock at the Annual Meeting is required for approval of this
proposal. Abstentions and broker
non-votes
will have no effect on the outcome of the proposal. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE
FOR
APPROVAL OF THE ADVISORY RESOLUTION ON THE COMPENSATION
OF OUR NAMED EXECUTIVE OFFICERS.
20 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
PROPOSAL 3: ADVISORY VOTE ON FREQUENCY OF FUTURE ADVISORY VOTES ON
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
PROPOSAL 3:
ADVISORY VOTE ON FREQUENCY OF FUTURE ADVISORY
VOTES ON EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
General Information
As required by Section 14A of the Exchange Act and SEC rules, we are asking stockholders to recommend, on a
non-binding,
advisory basis, whether the required
say-on-pay
vote in proposal 2 should occur every one, two or three years. SEC
rules require us to submit this vote, commonly referred to as a
say-on-frequency
vote, to stockholders at least once every six years.
You have the option to vote for any one of the three options: every year, every other year or every third year. The Board has determined that
an annual advisory vote on executive compensation is the best approach for the Company at this time based on a number of considerations, including the following:
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While our Managers compensation strategies are intended to align our executives pay with the interests of stockholders and compensation decisions relate to both our near-term and longer-term performance, our
Manager makes compensation decisions annually;
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An annual vote provides stockholders the opportunity to evaluate our performance and compensation structure more frequently than either of the other options; and
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An annual advisory vote will provide us with more frequent feedback on our compensation disclosure. Although the vote on executive compensation is advisory and
non-binding,
our
Board of Directors will take into account the outcome of the vote when making future decisions about the Companys executive compensation policies and procedures.
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Accordingly, we are asking our stockholders to vote to conduct an advisory vote on executive compensation every year. Our Board of Directors
will carefully consider the outcome of this vote when making future decisions regarding the frequency of advisory votes on executive compensation. However, because this vote is advisory and
non-binding,
our
Board of Directors may decide that it is in the best interests of us and our stockholders to hold an advisory vote on executive compensation more or less frequently than the alternative selected by our stockholders.
Conclusion and Recommendation; Vote Required
The option of one, two or three years that receives a majority of all the votes cast at the Annual Meeting will be the frequency for the
advisory vote on executive compensation that has been recommended by stockholders. In the event that no option receives a majority of the votes cast, we will consider the option that receives the most votes to be the option selected by stockholders.
Abstentions and broker
non-votes
will have no effect on the outcome of the proposal. THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE
FOR EVERY ONE YEAR
TO CONDUCT AN ADVISORY VOTE ON EXECUTIVE
COMPENSATION.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
21
PROPOSAL 4: RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
PROPOSAL 4:
RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
Ernst & Young LLP has served as our independent public accountant since our initial public offering and the Audit Committee has
approved the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2017. This appointment is subject to ratification or rejection by our common stockholders. A representative of
Ernst & Young LLP is expected to be present at the Annual Meeting. The representative will have an opportunity to make a statement if he or she so desires and is expected to be available to respond to appropriate questions.
Independent Public Accountants Fees
Ernst & Young LLP performed various audit and other services for us during 2016 and 2015. Fees for professional services provided by
Ernst & Young LLP in 2016 and 2015 in each of the following categories were:
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2016
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2015
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Audit Fees
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$
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1,157,250
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$
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1,232,500
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Audit-Related Fees
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Tax Compliance and Consulting Fees
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57,676
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34,150
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All Other Fees
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Total
Fees
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$
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1,214,926
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$
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1,266,650
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Audit Fees
Audit Fees relate to fees and expenses billed by Ernst & Young LLP for the annual audit, including the audit of our
financial statements, services required by statute and regulation, audit of internal control over financial reporting, audit services for our subsidiaries as required by statute or regulation, review of our quarterly financial statements and for
comfort letters and consents related to stock issuances.
Tax Compliance and Consulting Fees
Tax Compliance and Consulting Fees relate to fees billed for professional services for tax compliance and consulting on tax related
matters.
Pre-Approval
Policy
All services rendered by Ernst & Young LLP were permissible under applicable laws and regulations, and were
pre-approved
by the Audit Committee for 2016 in accordance with its
pre-approval
policy. The Audit Committee has established a policy regarding the
pre-approval
of all audit and permissible
non-audit
services provided by our independent public accountant. The policy requires the Audit Committee to approve each audit or
non-audit
engagement or accounting project involving the independent public accountant, and the related fees, prior to commencement of the engagement or project to make certain that the provision of such services
does not impair the firms independence. The Audit Committee may delegate its
pre-approval
authority to one or more of its members, and such member(s) are required to report any
pre-approval
decisions to the Audit Committee at its next meeting. The Audit Committee has delegated authority to its Chair to
pre-approve
the engagement and related fees of
the independent public accountant for any additional audit or permissible
non-audit
services. In addition, pursuant to the policy,
pre-approval
is not required for
additional
non-audit
services if such services result in a
de minimis
amount of less than 5% of the total annual fees paid by us to the independent public accountant during the fiscal year in which the
non-audit
services are provided, were not recognized by us at the time of engagement to be
non-audit
services and are reported to the Audit Committee promptly thereafter and
approved prior to the completion of the annual audit.
22 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
PROPOSAL 4: RATIFICATION OF APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT
Conclusion and Recommendation; Vote Required
The affirmative vote of a majority of all of the votes cast by holders of our common stock at the Annual Meeting is required to ratify the
appointment of our independent public accountant. Abstentions will have no effect on the outcome of the proposal. As brokers have discretionary authority to vote on this proposal, there will be no broker
non-votes.
THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE
FOR
THE RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF ERNST & YOUNG LLP AS OUR INDEPENDENT PUBLIC ACCOUNTANT FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31,
2017.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
23
REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
REPORT OF THE AUDIT COMMITTEE
The Board of Directors has appointed an Audit Committee presently composed of three directors, Ms. Coronado and Messrs.
Couch and Dobbs. Each of the directors is independent as defined in the NASDAQ rules. The Board of Directors has determined that Mr. Couch is an audit committee financial expert (as defined in Item 407 of Regulation
S-K
under the Securities Act).
The Audit Committees responsibility is one of oversight as set
forth in its charter, which is available in the Investors section of our web site at
www.MTGE.com
. It is not the duty of the Audit Committee to prepare our financial statements, to plan or conduct audits or to determine that our financial
statements are complete and accurate and are in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. Our management is responsible for preparing our financial statements and for maintaining internal controls. The independent auditors are
responsible for auditing the financial statements and for expressing an opinion as to whether those audited financial statements fairly present our financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with U.S. generally accepted
accounting principles.
The Audit Committee has reviewed and discussed our audited consolidated financial statements with management and
with Ernst & Young LLP, our independent auditors for the year ended December 31, 2016.
The Audit Committee has discussed
with Ernst & Young LLP the matters required to be discussed by Auditing Standard No. 16, as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.
The Audit Committee has received from Ernst & Young LLP the written statements required by Public Company Accounting Oversight Board
Rule No. 3526,
Communications with Audit Committees Concerning Independence,
and has discussed Ernst & Young LLPs independence with Ernst & Young LLP, and has considered the compatibility of
non-audit
services with the auditors independence.
Based on the review and discussions referred
to above, the Audit Committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the audited consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2016 be included in our Annual Report on Form
10-K
for the year ended December 31, 2016, for filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The Audit Committee has approved the
appointment of Ernst & Young LLP to serve as our independent public accountants for the year ending December 31, 2017 and has directed that the appointment of Ernst & Young LLP be submitted to our stockholders for
ratification.
By the Audit Committee:
Robert M. Couch, Chair
Julia L. Coronado
Randy E. Dobbs
Use of
Report of the Audit Committee
In accordance with and to the extent permitted by applicable law or regulation, the information
contained in the foregoing Report of the Audit Committee is not soliciting material and is not to be incorporated by reference into any future filing under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.
24 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
Executive Officer Biographies
The Board of Directors elects officers annually following our annual meeting of stockholders to serve until the meeting of the Board following
the next annual meeting of stockholders. Set forth below is certain information about each executive officer as of the close of business on March 8, 2017. The business address of each executive officer is c/o MTGE Investment Corp.,
2 Bethesda Metro Center, 12
th
Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814.
GARY D. KAIN, 52
Director, Chief Executive Officer, President and Chief Investment Officer
Mr. Kain has served as a Director and our
Chief Executive Officer since March 2016 and President and Chief Investment Officer since March 2011. Further information about Mr. Kain may be found under Proposal 1: Election of Directors-Director Nominee Biographies and
Qualifications of this proxy statement.
PETER J. FEDERICO, 51
Executive Vice President and
Chief Financial Officer
Mr. Federico has served as our Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since July 2016. He was previously our Senior Vice President and
Chief Risk Officer from May 2011. Mr. Federico is also Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC). Mr. Federico joined the parent company of our Manager in May 2011. Prior to that,
Mr. Federico served as Executive Vice President and Treasurer of Freddie Mac from October 2010 through May 2011, where he was primarily responsible for managing the companys investment activities for its retained portfolio and developing,
implementing and managing risk mitigation strategies. He was also responsible for managing Freddie Macs $1.2 trillion interest rate derivative portfolio and short and long-term debt issuance programs. Mr. Federico also served in a
number of other capacities at Freddie Mac, including as Senior Vice President, Asset & Liability Management.
DONALD W. HOLLEY, 46
Senior Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer
Mr. Holley has served as our Senior Vice
President and Chief Accounting Officer and as Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of our Manager since January 2016. Mr. Holley previously served as our Vice President and Controller from December 2011 to January 2016 and as Vice
President and Chief Financial Officer of our Manager from July 2011 and March 2012, respectively, to January 2016. Mr. Holley joined the parent company of our Manager in July 2011. Prior to that, Mr. Holley was a Director at Freddie Mac,
responsible for the valuation and presentation of financial results for the companys investments, debt and derivative portfolios. He has also worked as an accounting policy and assurance Director at Credit Suisse, prepared corporate governance
research at Deutsche Bank, and was an Audit Manager at Arthur Andersen. He is a Certified Public Accountant and a CFA charterholder.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
25
EXECUTIVE OFFICERS
CHRISTOPHER J. KUEHL, 43
Executive Vice President
Mr. Kuehl has served as our Executive Vice President since December 2016. He was previously a Senior Vice President, Agency Portfolio Investments from
March 2012. Mr. Kuehl is also an Executive Vice President of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC). Mr. Kuehl joined the parent company of our Manager in August 2010. Prior to that, Mr. Kuehl served as Vice President of Mortgage
Investments & Structuring of Freddie Mac. In this capacity, Mr. Kuehl was responsible for directing Freddie Macs purchases, sales and structuring activities for all MBS products, including fixed-rate mortgages, ARMs and CMOs.
Prior to joining Freddie Mac in 2000, Mr. Kuehl was a Portfolio Manager with TeleBanc/Etrade Bank.
AARON J. PAS, 36
Senior Vice President
Mr. Pas has served as our Senior Vice
President since January 2014 and has also served as Senior Vice President of our Manager since January 2014. He was previously Vice President,
Non-Agency
Portfolio Management, of our Manager from March 2011 to
January 2014. Mr. Pas is also a Senior Vice President of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC).
Prior to joining the parent company of our Manager,
Mr. Pas was the Director of
Non-Agency
Portfolio Management at Freddie Mac, where he was primarily responsible for managing the firms
non-agency
residential
securities portfolio. Mr. Pas holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Business from Washington University in St. Louis. Mr. Pas is a CFA charterholder.
KENNETH L. POLLACK, 49
Senior Vice President, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary
Mr. Pollack has served as Senior Vice
President, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary since July 2016. Mr. Pollack is also Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Chief Compliance Officer and Secretary of AGNC Investment Corp. (NASDAQ: AGNC).
Prior to joining the parent company of our Manager, Mr. Pollack was Senior Vice President and Deputy General Counsel of American Capital, Ltd. At
American Capital, Mr. Pollack served as lead counsel for American Capitals portfolio investment activities in the areas of Real Estate, U.S. Sponsor Finance, U.S. Buyouts, International Power, Special Situations, Operations and Financial
Restructuring. Mr. Pollack joined American Capital in 2004. Prior to American Capital, Mr. Pollack was a member of the Corporate and Securities and Real Estate Practice Groups of Arnold & Porter LLP.
26 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Compensation Discussion and Analysis
Introduction
This section presents a discussion and analysis of the design and implementation of compensation programs for our executive officers as
implemented by our Manager. This section is divided into two parts. First, we summarize our relationship with our Manager and our management agreement to provide important context regarding our operations, including that all of our executive
officers are employed by our Manager or one of its affiliates and that we do not pay any compensation to our executive officers. We then describe the compensation program and philosophy of our Manager, as it pertains to us and our operations. For
purposes of this Compensation Discussion and Analysis, references to our Manager include the Manager together with its direct and indirect corporate parent when discussing compensation arrangements for our executive officers.
Our Management Agreement
We are externally managed by our Manager pursuant to the terms of our amended and restated management agreement, dated as of July 1, 2016.
Because we have no employees other than employees of our subsidiary RCS, our Manager is responsible for administering our business activities and
day-to-day
operations,
subject to the supervision and direction of our Board of Directors. Under our management agreement, our Manager is responsible for managing our affairs and provides us with a management team, including a chief executive officer, chief financial
officer and one or more chief investment officers or similar positions. Our executive officers are employees of our Manager and do not receive any compensation from us. In addition, we do not reimburse our Manager for any of their compensation.
Instead, our Manager uses the proceeds from the management fee, in part, to pay compensation to its officers and personnel, including our executive officers. With the exception of our Chief Accounting Officer, our executive officers are also
executive officers of our Managers ultimate corporate parent, AGNC. All of our executive officers have duties and responsibilities to AGNC and its subsidiaries that do not relate to the Company. No specific portion of the management fee is
allocated to the compensation of our executive officers by either us or our Manager. For additional information about our management agreement, please see Certain Transactions with Related PersonsRelated Person Transactions above.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
27
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
|
Highlights of our Management
Agreement:
|
All of our executive officers are employees of our Manager.
None of our executive officers provides services exclusively to us.
Our Manager is responsible for the compensation of our
executive officers and other employees of our Manager who provide services to us. We do not pay any cash or equity compensation to our executive officers, do not provide pension benefits, perquisites or other personal benefits, and have no
employment agreements or arrangements to make any payments upon termination from service as an officer.
Our Manager receives a management fee equal to 1.50% of our
stockholders equity, subject to certain adjustments, which is used, in part, to pay the compensation of our Managers employees who provide services to the Company. However, no specific portion of the management fee is allocated to the
compensation of our executive officers.
For 2016, the management fee was approximately
$14.5 million.
Unlike many other externally managed entities, we do not
separately reimburse our Manager for costs of
non-investment
personnel who provide legal, compliance, accounting or other administrative support to us, but we do reimburse our Manager for
out-of-pocket
expenses incurred on our behalf.
Our management agreement allows us access to investment
professionals and operational scale that would not be achieved if we were self-managed. Our Manager expects its overall annual compensation expenses for employees that dedicate a portion of their time to working on behalf of the Company to be
approximately $40 million.
We would be prohibited from hiring employees of our Manager for
a period of two years if we were to terminate or not renew the Management Agreement without cause.
|
Thus, as stated above, we have not paid, and we do not intend to pay, any cash or equity compensation to any
of our executive officers. Our Manager pays all of the compensation, including benefits, to our executive officers, all of whom are employees of the parent of our Manager. Accordingly, we did not pay any compensation to our executive officers, nor
did we make any grants of plan-based awards to them, for 2016. None of our executive officers received any options or stock directly from us, and we did not provide any of our executive officers with pension benefits, nonqualified deferred
compensation plans, perquisites or other personal benefits during 2016. In 2016, we had no employment agreements with any of our executive officers and were not obligated to make any payments to any of our executive officers upon termination of
employment or a change in control of us. As a result, no compensation is includable in the Summary Compensation Table for our executive officers for 2016.
Overview of our Managers Compensation Program and Philosophy
Our Manager makes all decisions relating to the compensation of our executive officers based on a number of factors, including but not limited
to our performance, as our Manager may determine to be appropriate. Our Manager was acquired by AGNC on July 1, 2016 through the Manager Acquisition. Since that time, our Manager has oriented its compensation programs to achieve the following
objectives:
What our Manager Does:
|
✓
|
Retain a high performing team:
We operate in a highly specialized industry, and the labor market for our Managers senior employees with the skills, track record and market reputation necessary to oversee
our investments and conduct our operations is highly competitive. Our Manager has structured its compensation arrangements with our executive officers to promote their retention and longevity, particularly in the period following the Manager
Acquisition.
|
28 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
|
✓
|
Pay for performance:
For its most senior employees, including our executive officers, our Manager generally ties a majority of compensation to performance. The Manager annually establishes specific performance
and strategic measures that it uses to make compensation decisions, and those measures include, in part, achievement of financial and strategic goals of the Company. However, because our executive officers do not provide services exclusively to us,
their compensation is predominantly based on other performance measures and criteria established by our Manager or its affiliates that do not relate to the Company.
|
|
✓
|
Align executive and stockholder interests:
Our Manager maintains a performance incentive plan through which it grants employees of the Manager involved in our investing activity and other business operations
restricted-stock based awards that are satisfied on vesting through our common stock acquired in open-market transactions. We do not compensate our Manager separately for these awards, and unlike equity incentive programs maintained by some of our
peers, these awards are not dilutive to our stockholders. Our executive officers, as a group, maintain significant ownership of our stock.
|
|
✓
|
Clawbacks:
Our Manager has adopted a clawback policy relating to recovery of certain excess performance based compensation in the event of an accounting restatement by the Company based on fraud, dishonesty or
recklessness of one of the Companys executive officers in the performance of his or her duties to the Company. Under this policy, our Manager would be entitled to seek recovery of the portion of any performance-based compensation paid to our
executive officers that would not have been earned had the Companys restated financial statements been used in the determination of the amount of performance based compensation originally awarded. This policy includes a three year look back
period.
|
What our Manager Does Not Do:
|
×
|
No tax
gross-ups:
Our Manager does not
gross-up
payments of benefits awarded to our executive officers to compensate for
the effects of taxes, including any golden parachute excise taxes.
|
|
×
|
No special perquisites:
Our Manager does not provide our executive officers any perquisites or benefits that are not available to all employees.
|
|
×
|
No supplemental retirement benefits:
Our Manager does not provide special retirement programs or benefits for executive officers. Our Manager maintains a typical 401(k) plan available to all employees on the same
basis.
|
|
×
|
No short selling, pledging or hedging:
Our policies prohibit our executive officers from hedging, short-selling and pledging any of our shares (including entering into margin loan arrangements).
|
Elements of Executive Officer Compensation and Their Purpose
In compensating our executive officers, our Manager utilizes a variety of compensation components to achieve its objectives. Our Managers
executive compensation program consists of base salary and variable incentive compensation. Because our executive officers do not provide their services exclusively to us, they each receive a compensation package from our Manager and its affiliates
that reflects their aggregated services to us, AGNC and AGNCs other affiliates. Since the Manager Acquisition, a majority of compensation paid to our executive officers consists of short-term and long-term incentive compensation, and incentive
compensation as a percentage of overall compensation paid to executive officers is expected to increase further in 2017 and 2018. The following table describes generally each pay component, as well as its purpose and key considerations.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
29
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
|
|
|
|
|
Pay Element
|
|
What It Does and How our Manager Does It
|
|
Key Considerations
|
Base Salary
|
|
Provides fixed, baseline level of cash compensation
Base salary is not specifically apportioned to the Company
Base salary is evaluated annually, but generally remains static absent promotion or adjustment due
to economic trends in industry or other competitive factors
|
|
Base salary is based on experience, duties and scope of responsibility as well
as internal and external market factors, as determined and weighed by our Manager and AGNC
|
|
|
|
Annual Cash Bonus
|
|
Provides an annual cash incentive opportunity
AGNC will establish and reevaluate corporate-wide performance and strategic goals and objectives on
an annual basis, a portion of which relate to the financial performance of the Company and achievement of its strategic objectives
Our Board of Directors reviews the performance and strategic measures related to the Company and
its management that our Manager and AGNC establish, but the Company plays no role in making cash bonus decisions
|
|
AGNCs corporate-wide performance and strategic goals will predominantly be
based on additional performance and strategic objectives related to AGNCs performance and operations
Based, in part, on Company-related investment performance, financial results on an absolute and
relative basis, and accomplishment of Company-related strategic initiatives
Relative weighting
of goals and objectives is determined by our Manager and AGNC in their sole discretion
|
|
|
|
Equity and Incentive Awards
|
|
Provides an annual incentive common equity award that vests over a three-year
period
Structure of equity and incentive awards encourage retention and alignment with
stockholder interests
A portion of these awards is expected to be through a performance
incentive plan based on our common stock (the MTGE Manager PIP Plan), which aligns with our stockholder interests
Shares awarded by our Manager under the performance incentive plan will be acquired through open
market purchases and thus will not be dilutive to our stockholders
Our executive officers are
also expected to participate in AGNCs equity and incentive compensation plan (the AGNC Equity Plan)
The Company plays no role in making any such awards
|
|
Grants under the MTGE Manager PIP Plan expected to be time vesting over a three
year period
An executive officers mix of awards under the MTGE Manager PIP Plan and the
AGNC Equity Plan will vary, but personnel most involved in our business and operations are expected to be granted a larger weighting of awards under the MTGE Manager PIP Plan than those of its personnel who are less involved in our business. Given
our executive officers additional duties to AGNC, MTGE Manager PIP Plan awards, however, are expected to be a minority of our executive officers overall long-term incentive compensation
|
30 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Other Compensation Policies and Practices
Executive Officer Stock Ownership
Stock ownership by our executive officers helps align interests of our executive officers with our stockholders. Although we do not maintain a
specific executive officer stock ownership policy, we encourage our executive officers to hold significant shares of our common stock. As of the close of business on March 8, 2017, our executive officers collectively held 496,294 shares of
Company common stock, representing 1.08% of outstanding common stock. See Security Ownership of Management and Certain Beneficial Owners. As noted above, a portion of the long-term incentives paid to our executive officers by our Manager
includes equity-based grants of Company common stock.
Certain Risks Related to our Management Fee
The Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee believes that the external management model continues to be appropriate for
the Company given its present size and operations. Under the management agreement, we pay an annual fee that is determined as a fixed percentage of our stockholders equity, subject to specified adjustments. Because our management fee is calculated
as a percent of stockholders equity, subject to specified adjustments, we believe the structure of the management fee does not create an incentive for management to take excessive or unnecessary risks and reduces risks of misaligned incentives
between us and our Manager in the operation of our business. Moreover, the overall incentive compensation paid to our executive officers by AGNC is not predominantly tied to Company performance, and to the extent incentives relate to Company
performance, the Company believes that the incentives consist of a balanced mix of short-term and long-term incentives that align our executive officers interests with those of our stockholders.
Since we are externally managed, our Manager is responsible for compensation expenses necessary to support our business and operations, and
not us. The management relationship with the Manager allows the Company access to a seasoned investment team and far greater resources than would be available if we were self-managed. Although our executive officers do not devote their full time or
attention to the Company, our Manager ties a portion of their short-term incentive compensation to the Companys performance, and a portion of their long-term incentives awarded by our Manager include grants based in Company common stock. The
Company believes this structure, combined with our oversight of the management agreement and the ongoing benefit our management fees provide our Manager and AGNC, ensures that our executive officers have an ongoing interest in the Companys
long-term financial and operational success without creating material risk to the Company and its operations.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
31
EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION
Our management agreement is subject to annual renewals and in any event is terminable by us
without cause at any time on
90-days
prior written notice. Although termination without cause would require the payment of a significant termination fee, we believe our right to terminate the agreement
provides an additional deterrent against excessive and unnecessary risk taking and ensures an ongoing alignment of our Managers and our interests.
Role of our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee in Executive Officer Compensation
As discussed above, we do not pay any compensation to our executive officers, and our Manager and its corporate parent, AGNC, have sole
discretion to determine the compensation paid to their employees, including our executive officers. Our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee thus has no input in how our Manager compensates its employees, some of whom are our executive
officers. Although our Manager has kept the Board of Directors apprised of its compensation practices as they pertain to the Company, our Manager and AGNC do not involve the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee in any decisions regarding
the compensation of our executive officers. Rather, as discussed above, the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee is responsible for annual review of the performance of, and fees paid to, our Manager under the Management Agreement and for
making recommendations to the independent members of the Board in respect of the Management Agreement.
Report of the Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee
Our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee reviewed and discussed with our management the Compensation Discussion and
Analysis contained in the Companys proxy statement. Based on that review and discussions, our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee recommends to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis
be included in the Companys proxy statement.
By the Compensation and Corporate
Governance Committee:
Randy E. Dobbs, Chair
Julia L. Coronado
Robert M. Couch
32 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
INFORMATION REGARDING COMPANY VOTING SECURITIES
INFORMATION REGARDING COMPANY VOTING
SECURITIES
Security Ownership of Management and Certain Beneficial Owners
The following table sets forth, as of March 8, 2017 (unless otherwise indicated), the beneficial ownership of each current director, each
nominee for director, each of our executive officers, our executive officers and directors as a group and each stockholder known to management to own beneficially more than 5% of the outstanding shares of our common stock. Unless otherwise
indicated, we believe that the beneficial owners set forth in the table below have sole voting and investment power. As of the close of business on March 8, 2017, there were 45,797,687 shares of our common stock outstanding.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Name and Address of Beneficial Owner
|
|
Number of
Shares of Common
Stock Beneficially
Owned
|
|
|
Percentage of
Common Stock
Beneficially
Owned
|
Beneficial owners of more than 5%:
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
BlackRock, Inc.
(1)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
55 East 52nd Street
New York, NY 10055
|
|
|
4,048,227
|
|
|
8.84%
|
The Vanguard Group
(2)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
100 Vanguard Blvd.
Malvern, PA 19355
|
|
|
3,557,619
|
|
|
7.77%
|
Citigroup Inc.
(3)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
388 Greenwich Street
New York, NY 10013
|
|
|
2,324,355
|
|
|
5.08%
|
Executive officers and
directors:
(4)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Peter J. Federico
|
|
|
58,849
|
|
|
*
|
Donald W. Holley
|
|
|
24,284
|
|
|
*
|
Gary D. Kain
|
|
|
305,625
|
|
|
*
|
Christopher J. Kuehl
|
|
|
51,085
|
|
|
*
|
Aaron J. Pas
|
|
|
44,651
|
|
|
*
|
Kenneth L. Pollack
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Steven W. Abrahams
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Julia L. Coronado
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Robert M. Couch
|
|
|
7,300
|
|
|
*
|
Randy E. Dobbs
|
|
|
4,500
|
|
|
*
|
All executive officers and directors as a group (10 persons)
|
|
|
496,294
|
|
|
1.08%
|
(1)
|
This information is based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on January 25, 2017 by BlackRock, Inc., as a parent holding company or control person of certain named funds (BlackRock). BlackRock is
the beneficial owner of 4,048,227 shares and has the sole power to dispose or direct the disposition of 4,048,227 of such shares and sole power to vote or direct the vote of 3,930,517 of such shares.
|
(2)
|
This information is based on a Schedule 13G/A filed with the SEC on February 10, 2017 by The Vanguard Group, Inc. (Vanguard), as an investment adviser. Vanguard is the beneficial owner of 3,557,619
shares and has the sole power to dispose or direct the disposition of 3,496,324 of such shares, shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of 61,295 of such shares, sole power to vote or direct the vote of 56,095 of such shares and shared
power to vote or direct the vote of 7,800 of such shares.
|
(3)
|
This information is based on a Schedule 13G filed with the SEC on February 10, 2017 by Citigroup Inc., as a parent holding company or control person of certain named subsidiaries (Citigroup). Citigroup
is the beneficial owner of 2,324,355 shares and has the shared power to dispose or direct the disposition of 2,324,355 of such shares and shared power to vote or direct the vote of 2,324,355 of such shares.
|
(4)
|
The address of each of the executive officers and directors listed above is c/o MTGE Investment Corp., 2 Bethesda Metro Center, 12
th
Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814.
|
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
33
INFORMATION REGARDING COMPANY VOTING SECURITIES
Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance
Section 16(a) of the Exchange Act and the disclosure requirements of Item 405 of SEC Regulation
S-K
require that our directors and executive officers, and any persons holding more than 10% of our common stock, report their ownership of such equity securities and any subsequent changes in that ownership
to the SEC, The NASDAQ Global Select Market and to us. Based on a review of the written statements and copies of such reports furnished to us by our executive officers, directors and greater than 10% beneficial owners, we believe that during fiscal
year 2016 all Section 16(a) filing requirements applicable to our executive officers, directors and beneficial owners of 10% or more of our common stock were timely satisfied, except due to notice not being received from his broker, a Form 4
for Mr. Kuehl was filed late on March 3, 2017 reporting sales of stock under his
10b5-1
Plan.
34 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT STOCKHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS AND PROPOSALS
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT STOCKHOLDER
COMMUNICATIONS AND PROPOSALS
1.
|
WHO IS RESPONSIBLE FOR STOCKHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS?
|
The Board of Directors is of the view that management is primarily responsible for all communications on behalf of MTGE with stockholders and the public at
large. Thus, in addition to our executive officers, our Manager provides us with an investor relations team who communicates with stockholders.
2.
|
HOW DO I COMMUNICATE WITH THE COMPANYS BOARD OF DIRECTORS?
|
Stockholders who wish to communicate with our Board of Directors or with a particular director may send a letter to our Secretary at MTGE Investment Corp., 2
Bethesda Metro Center, 12
th
Floor, Bethesda, MD 20814. Any communication should clearly specify that it is intended to be made to the entire Board of Directors or to one or more particular
director(s).
Under this process, our Secretary reviews all such correspondence and will forward to the Board of Directors (or the appropriate individual
director, as applicable) a summary of all such correspondence and copies of all correspondence that, in the opinion of the Secretary, deals with the functions of the Board of Directors or committees thereof or that he otherwise determines requires
their attention. Directors may at any time review a log of all correspondence received by MTGE that is addressed to members of the Board of Directors and request copies of any such correspondence. Concerns relating to accounting, internal controls
or auditing matters are immediately brought to the attention of the Chair of the Audit Committee and handled in accordance with procedures approved by the Board of Directors with respect to such matters.
A copy of such procedures for the submission and handling of complaints or concerns regarding accounting, internal accounting controls or auditing matters is
included in our Code of Ethics, which is published in the Investors section of our web site at
www.MTGE.com
.
3.
|
HOW MAY A STOCKHOLDER NOMINATE A DIRECTOR OR SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR THE 2018 ANNUAL MEETING?
|
Stockholder proposals or nominees for election to
the Board of Directors must be made in accordance with the procedures set forth in our Bylaws and described in the following question, and not the procedures set forth in the preceding paragraph.
4.
|
HOW CAN A STOCKHOLDER SUBMIT A PROPOSAL FOR THE 2018 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS?
|
Proposals received from common stockholders in accordance with Rule
14a-8
under the Exchange Act are given careful
consideration by our Compensation and Corporate Governance Committee and our Board of Directors. If a common stockholder intends to present a proposal at the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders pursuant to Rule
14a-8
under the Exchange Act, in order for such stockholder proposal to be included in our proxy statement and proxy card for that meeting, the stockholder proposal must be received by our Secretary at MTGE
Investment Corp., 2 Bethesda Metro Center, 12th Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, on or before November 22, 2017, unless the date of the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders has been changed by more than 30 days from May 2, 2018; then the
deadline is a reasonable time before we begin to print and send our proxy materials.
MTGE
INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
35
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS ABOUT STOCKHOLDER COMMUNICATIONS AND
PROPOSALS
If such proposal is in compliance with all of the requirements of Rule
14a-8
under the Exchange Act, the proposal will be included in our proxy statement and proxy card relating to such meeting. Nothing in the response to this question will be deemed to require us to include any
stockholder proposal that does not meet all the requirements for such inclusion established by the SEC in effect at that time.
In order for a proposal by
a common stockholder submitted outside of Rule
14a-8,
including any nominations for election to the Board of Directors made by common stockholders, to be considered at the 2018 annual meeting of stockholders,
such proposal must be made by written notice (setting forth the information required by our current Bylaws) and received by our Secretary between October 23, 2017 and 5:00 p.m., Eastern Time, on November 22, 2017.
Such proposals should be submitted by certified mail, return receipt requested.
5.
|
HOW MAY I OBTAIN A COPY OF THE COMPANYS 2016 ANNUAL REPORT ON FORM
10-K
AND OTHER SEC FILINGS?
|
A copy of our 2016 Annual Report on
Form 10-K
containing audited financial statements was delivered or made available with this proxy statement. Additional copies of our 2016 Annual Report on Form
10-K
(without exhibits, unless otherwise requested) are available in print, free of charge, to stockholders requesting a copy by writing to: MTGE Investment Corp., Investor Relations, 2 Bethesda Metro Center, 12
th
Floor, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, or by calling
(301) 968-9220.
You may review our filings with the SEC by visiting the SECs home page on the
internet at
http://www.sec.gov
or by visiting the Investors section of our web site at
www.MTGE.com
.
OTHER MATTERS
The Board of Directors does not intend to bring other matters before the Annual Meeting except items incidental to the conduct of the meeting.
However, on all other matters properly brought before the meeting, or any postponement or adjournment thereof, by the Board of Directors or others, the persons named as proxies in the accompanying proxy card, or their substitutes, will vote in
accordance with their discretion.
36 MTGE INVESTMENT CORP.
Proxy Statement
Electronic Voting Instructions Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Instead of mailing your proxy, you may choose one of the voting
methods outlined below to vote your proxy. VALIDATION DETAILS ARE LOCATED BELOW IN THE TITLE BAR. Proxies submitted by the Internet or telephone must be received by 1:00 a.m., Central Time, on May 2, 2017. Vote by Internet Go to
www.investorvote.com/mtge Or scan the QR code with your smartphone Follow the steps outlined on the secure website Vote by telephone Call toll free 1-800-652-VOTE (8683) within the USA, US territories & Canada on a touch
tone telephone Follow the instructions provided by the recorded message Using a black ink pen, mark your votes with an X as shown in this example. Please do not write outside the designated areas. Annual Meeting Proxy Card 1234 5678 9012 345
IF YOU HAVE NOT AUTHORIZED YOUR PROXY VIA THE INTERNET OR TELEPHONE, FOLD ALONG THE PERFORATION, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. Proposals The Board of Directors recommends a vote FOR all the nominees listed in
Proposal 1, FOR Proposals 2 and 4 and every 1 Year for Proposal 3. 1. Election of Directors: For Against Abstain For Against Abstain For Against Abstain 01 - Gary D. Kain 02 - Steven W. Abrahams 03 - Julia L. Coronado 04 - Robert M. Couch 05 - Randy
E. Dobbs For Against Abstain 1 Year 2 Years 3 Years Abstain 2. Advisory vote to approve the compensation of our named executive officers. 3. Advisory vote to select the frequency of future advisory votes on the compensation of our named executive
officers. 4. Ratification of appointment of Ernst & Young LLP as our independent public accountant for the year ending December 31, 2017. The proxies are authorized to vote in their discretion on any other matter that may properly come before
said meeting or any postponement or adjournment thereof. Non-Voting Items Change of Address Please print your new address below. Comments Please print your comments below. Meeting Attendance Mark the box to the right if you plan to
attend the Annual Meeting. Authorized Signatures This section must be completed for your vote to be counted PLEASE SIGN HERE AND RETURN PROMPTLY. Please sign exactly as your name appears on your stock certificate. If registered in the
names of two or more persons, each person should sign. Executors, administrators, trustees, guardians, attorneys, and corporate officers should show their full titles. Date (mm/dd/yyyy) Please print date below. Signature 1 Please keep
signature within the box. Signature 2 Please keep signature within the box. C 1234567890 J N T 1UP X 3166531 MR A SAMPLE (THIS AREA IS SET UP TO ACCOMMODATE 140 CHARACTERS) MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A
SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND MR A SAMPLE AND 02J6DE
IF YOU HAVE NOT AUTHORIZED YOUR PROXY VIA THE INTERNET OR TELEPHONE, FOLD ALONG THE PERFORATION, DETACH AND RETURN THE BOTTOM PORTION IN
THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. Proxy MTGE Investment Corp. THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED BY THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS FOR THE 2017 ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF MTGE INVESTMENT CORP. TO BE HELD ON MAY 2, 2017. The undersigned stockholder of MTGE
Investment Corp., a Maryland corporation, hereby appoints Peter J. Federico and Kenneth L. Pollack and each of them, as proxies for the undersigned, with full power of substitution, to vote all of the shares of common stock of the undersigned as
shown below on this proxy at the 2017 Annual Meeting of Stockholders to be held at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, 7400 Wisconsin Avenue, Bethesda, Maryland 20814, on Tuesday, May 2, 2017, at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time, and any postponement or adjournment
thereof. This proxy is revocable and your shares of common stock will be voted in accordance with your instructions. If no choice is specified, this proxy will be voted FOR the election of all nominees for Director in Proposal 1, FOR Proposals 2 and
4 and every 1 Year for Proposal 3. CONTINUED AND TO BE SIGNED ON REVERSE SIDE
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