Fortress Investment narrows first-quarter loss

By Kerri Ann Panchuk
• May 3, 2012 • 7:21am

Fortress Investment Group ($7.45 0.09%), which just announced plans to bring a new residential mortgage-backed securitization deal to market, reported a much narrower first-quarter loss Thursday.

The hedge fund posted a net loss of $24 million, or 16 cents a share, in the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $255 million, or 58 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier.

The company attributes the sharp improvement to the sunset of a principals agreement, which will impact compensation levels within the firm.

Fortress' results were impacted by a $32 million cut in total compensation and benefits.

The company finished the first quarter with $46.4 billion assets under management, while also raising $2.9 billion in third-party capital in alternative businesses.

HousingWire reported in April that Fortress is bringing a new residential mortgage-backed securitization to market through its Springleaf Financial subsidiary. In April, a form filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed that S&P would rate the $473 million transaction, which is named Springfield Mortgage Loan Trust 2012-1.

kpanchuk@housingwire.com

More In Investments

With settlements on representation and warranty violations in nonagency RMBS beginning to pick up momentum, investors are becoming more comfortable with pricing the potential recovery cash flow from a settlement or loan repurchase.

When the Fed begins tapering its asset purchases, Treasurys will be cut first as there is widespread belief that the stimulative per-dollar effect of MBS purchases is larger, Goldman Sachs said.