DERIVATIVES

Please see Note 1 for additional information related to the Company’s accounting policies for derivative instruments.

As of March 31, 2012 and December 31, 2011, the Company’s derivative financial instruments are comprised entirely of interest rate swaps, and are designated as either hedging instruments or trading instruments. The tables below summarize information about the Company’s derivative financial instruments on the balance sheet as of the dates indicated:



		March 31, 2012							December 31, 2011
Accounting Designation:	Balance Sheet Location:	Fair Value			Cumulative Notional Amount		Weighted-average Fixed Rate Swapped		Fair Value			Cumulative Notional Amount		Weighted-average Fixed Rate Swapped
Hedging instruments	Derivative assets	$	89		$	25,000	1.57	%	$	—		$	—	—	%

Hedging instruments		$	(25,485	)	$	1,065,000	1.62	%	$	(25,512	)	$	1,065,000	1.55	%
Trading instruments		(2,183		)	27,000		2.88	%	(2,485		)	27,000		2.88	%
	Derivative liabilities	$	(27,668	)					$	(27,997	)

The following table summarizes the contractual maturities remaining for the Company’s outstanding interest rate swap agreements as of March 31, 2012:



Remaining Maturity	Notional Amount: Trading		Notional Amount: Hedging		Notional Amount: Total		Number of Swaps	Weighted-Average Fixed Rate Swapped
0-12 months	$	—	$	75,000	$	75,000	2	1.30	%
13-36 months	—		565,000		565,000		10	1.44	%
37-60 months	27,000		260,000		287,000		11	2.04	%
Over 60 months	—		190,000		190,000		5	1.81	%
	$	27,000	$	1,090,000	$	1,117,000	28	1.65	%

With respect to hedging instruments, the Company’s objective for using interest rate swaps is to minimize its exposure to the risk of increased interest expense resulting from its existing and forecasted short-term, fixed-rate borrowings. The Company continuously borrows funds via sequential fixed-rate, short-term repurchase agreement borrowings. As each fixed-rate repurchase agreement matures, it is replaced with new fixed-rate agreements based on the market interest rate in effect at the time of such replacement. This sequential rollover borrowing program creates a variable interest expense pattern. The changes in the cash flows of the interest rate swaps are expected to be highly effective at offsetting changes in the interest portion of the cash flows expected to be paid at maturity of each borrowing.

The table below presents the effect of the derivatives designated as hedging instruments on the Company’s consolidated statement of comprehensive income for the periods indicated:



Type of Derivative Designated as Cash Flow Hedge	Amount of Gain (Loss) Recognized in OCI (Effective Portion)	Location of Amount Reclassified from OCI into Net Income (Effective Portion)	Amount Reclassified from OCI into Net Income (Effective Portion)	Location of Loss Recognized in Net Income (Ineffective Portion)	Amount of Loss Recognized in Net Income (Ineffective Portion)
For the three months ended March 31, 2012:
Interest rate swaps	$(3,087)	Interest expense	$3,266	Other income, net	$(62)
For the three months ended March 31, 2011:
Interest rate swaps	$1,088	Interest expense	$1,869	Other income, net	$(1)

The table below presents a rollforward of the activity in the Company’s AOCI related to its derivatives designated as hedging instruments for the periods presented:



	2012			2011
Balance as of January 1,	$	(25,444	)	$	(2,820	)
Change in fair value of interest rate swaps	(3,087		)	1,088
Reclassification adjustment for amounts included in statement of income	3,266			1,869
Balance as of March 31,	$	(25,265	)	$	137

The Company estimates that $12,625 of the existing losses that are reported in AOCI as of March 31, 2012 is expected to be reclassified into earnings as an increase to interest expense within the next 12 months.

The Company’s objective for designating certain interest rate swaps as trading instruments is to offset the changes in market value for a portion of its Agency CMBS investments that are also designated as trading. The table below presents the effect of the derivatives designated as trading instruments on the Company’s consolidated statements of income for the periods indicated.



Type of Derivative Designated as Trading	Location On Income Statement	Amount of Loss Recognized in Net Income
Type of Derivative Designated as Trading	Location On Income Statement	For the Three Months Ended
		March 31, 2012		March 31, 2011
Interest rate swaps	Fair value adjustments, net	$	74	$	333

These interest rate swap agreements contain various covenants related to the Company’s credit risk. Specifically, if the Company defaults on any of its indebtedness, including those circumstances whereby repayment of the indebtedness has not been accelerated by the lender, or is declared in default of any of its covenants with any counterparty, then the Company could also be declared in default of its derivative obligations. Additionally, the agreements outstanding with its derivative counterparties allow those counterparties to require settlement of its outstanding derivative transactions if the Company fails to earn GAAP net income greater than one dollar as measured on a rolling two quarter basis. These interest rate agreements also contain provisions whereby, if the Company fails to maintain a minimum net amount of shareholders’ equity, then the Company may be declared in default on its derivative obligations. As of March 31, 2012, the Company had derivatives in a net liability position with its derivative counterparties totaling $28,173, inclusive of accrued interest but excluding any adjustment for nonperformance risk, for which it had pledged Agency MBS with a fair value of $30,976 and cash of $38 as collateral. If the Company had breached any of these agreements as of March 31, 2012, it could have been required to settle those derivatives at their estimated termination value of $28,173.