Earnings Call Transcript
Rithm Capital Corp. (RITM)
Earnings Call Transcript - RITM Q1 2025
Operator, Operator
Good day and welcome to the Rithm Capital First Quarter 2025 Earnings Call. All participants will be in the listen-only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to Emma Bolla, Associate General Counsel. Please go ahead.
Emma Bolla, Associate General Counsel
Thank you, and good morning, everyone. I would like to thank you for joining us today for Rithm Capital's first quarter 2025 earnings call. Joining me today are Michael Nierenberg, Chairman, CEO and President of Rithm Capital; Nick Santoro, Chief Financial Officer of Rithm Capital; and Baron Silverstein, President of Newrez. Throughout the call, we are going to reference the earnings supplement that was posted this morning to the Rithm Capital website. If you've not already done so, I'd encourage you to download the presentation now. I would like to point out that certain statements made today will be forward-looking statements. These statements by their nature are uncertain and may differ materially from actual results. I encourage you to review the disclaimers in our press release and earnings supplement regarding forward-looking statements and to review the Risk Factors contained in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the SEC. In addition, we will be discussing some non-GAAP financial measures during today's call. Reconciliations of these measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings supplement. And with that, I will turn the call over to Michael.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thanks, Emma. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us today. It was another strong quarter for the company, despite the market volatility we have been experiencing. All of our business lines performed exceptionally well. The current market conditions actually highlight the strengths and capabilities of our organization. Our investment teams bring years of experience, and in volatile markets, it’s crucial to have investment professionals managing your capital who know how to both protect assets and identify growth opportunities. As we discuss the growth of Rithm, I want to emphasize our commitment to earning the trust of limited partners and investors; ultimately, performance is what matters most. We will prioritize performance over platform growth. As I reflect on our business, I find myself asking, why choose us? There are two main reasons: First, we need strong performance to drive growth. Second, we are capable of generating assets through our various operating businesses, handling everything from underwriting and origination to servicing. Our servicing operations rank as the third-largest mortgage servicer in the U.S., while our asset management business continues to deliver excellent results, and we are excited about expanding our private funds. We're experiencing inflows across all of our products and funds. Sculptor's Real Estate Fund V has now secured commitments totaling $3.2 billion, making it the largest real estate fund in Sculptor's history, building on our two-decade track record in opportunistic real estate investing. From a broader perspective, our company oversees funds in real estate, credit, energy, infrastructure, and cash flow-based funds like ABF. This quarter, we are also launching MSR funds. As you hear discussions around ABF—now a popular term among our peers—it’s important to note that we have been engaged in this for our entire careers, and we see substantial demand for this product. Our value proposition remains focused on delivering results; our investment teams are top-tier across all sectors, totaling over 400 individuals, while our operating lines employ around 7,000. I believe our stock is currently undervalued in the public markets, and we are actively refining our capital structure to unlock shareholder value. Additionally, our asset manufacturing capabilities set us apart from competitors. I'll now direct you to the supplement available online, starting on Page 3. We maintain our position as the third-largest mortgage servicer in the U.S. and fifth-largest mortgage originator, with nearly $8 billion in permanent capital on both the private and public sides. Total assets under management exceed $80 billion. Our family of operating companies includes a major mortgage company, Newrez; Sculptor, our asset management firm; and Genesis Capital, a leading non-bank RTL lender. We’ve successfully rebranded our Rithm Property Trust, previously known as Great Ajax, and it is now positioned well. Our Adoor subsidiary focuses on single-family rentals. Looking at our financial results on Page 4, we had a stable quarter, with earnings available for distribution at $0.52 per diluted share, reflecting an 8% year-over-year growth. This is the 22nd consecutive quarter where earnings available exceeded common dividends paid. Our GAAP net income stands at $36.5 million, or $0.07 per diluted share, equating to a 2% return on equity. We expect our business to generate annual returns between 15% and 20%. Our book value is $6.6 billion, with a book value per share of $12.39, while our stock closed last night at $10.40. I firmly believe our equity is undervalued, and we are taking steps to realize its full potential. Our common stock offers an 8.7% yield with $0.25 per common share in dividends paid. At the end of Q1, we had $1.9 billion in cash and liquidity. The quarter has been active, particularly for Genesis Capital, which produced nearly $1 billion, a 7% increase year-over-year. We added 33 new sponsors this quarter, and I must commend Quinn Arrowsmith for his excellent leadership in that segment. On the asset management side, Sculptor managed $35 billion in assets under management, with $1.4 billion in gross inflows spanning real estate and credit. Strong performance was noted for the first quarter. Additionally, we priced a SPAC in Q1, which will allow us to increase fees for shareholders and engage in off-balance sheet acquisitions. In our investment portfolio, we completed three securitizations totaling about $1.5 billion in the first quarter, including a $900 million securitization of our MSR business. We also invested roughly $1.5 billion in non-QM loans, residential transitional loans, and RMBS and ABS, taking a diversified approach to benefit our shareholders and limited partners. On the Newrez front, we rank as a top three servicer and fifth originator, with a servicing portfolio of approximately $850 billion. We achieved a funded volume of under $12 billion and generated $270 million in pre-tax income, reflecting a 14% year-over-year increase excluding mark-to-market adjustments. Regarding our growth foundation on Page 6, while I feel like I’m reiterating previous points, the ABF space is thriving. This is a concept we've practiced throughout my career, and our investment teams possess deep expertise in this area, enabling us to create substantial value for our limited partners as we introduce more funds in this sector. Looking ahead, our growth strategy includes expanding off-balance sheet capital through origination businesses and fund growth while increasing our limited partner base to enhance valuations without expanding our balance sheet. We aim to broaden our investment verticals, particularly with Rithm Property Trust and our SPAC, Rithm Acquisition Corp., which focuses on asset-based finance and is currently engaged in markets for funds related to energy transition and infrastructure. The crucial element for growth in our asset management business will be forming strong partnerships. While traditional fundraising has its merit, establishing genuine partnerships with limited partners is essential for our long-term success. Our stock trades at about 83% of book value, but I believe we should be evaluated based on earnings multiples. Comparing ourselves to other firms, I see significant potential value. Our estimates suggest we should be valued between $13.69 and $23 per share, backed by real comparisons to our peers. As we continue expanding in asset management, proper valuations will support our overall growth. Since 2021, we have deployed $6.9 billion in capital, with earnings growth at 53% and a CAGR of 11%. Recently, volatility has played to our strengths, allowing us to refine our risk management and opportunistic investing strategies. I'll share insights on a couple of our operating businesses and then hand it off to Baron for the mortgage company update. The Genesis segment had a strong quarter with a 46% year-over-year growth in commitments and a 7% increase in funded volume. Delinquencies remain low, thanks to our robust underwriting and servicing. Sponsor growth is also up 37% year-over-year. Our portfolio breakdown shows that 58% is in construction, 32% in bridge loans, and 10% in renovation. We see opportunities to grow our multifamily presence as that sector recovers. On the asset management front, Sculptor continues to thrive. The $1.4 billion inflow included $870 million from the real estate business, bringing total commitments to $3.2 billion. In credit funds, we recently closed on $900 million in assets under management for our tactical credit fund and secured a $420 million CLO in Europe, both showing excellent performance. We have successfully transformed Rithm Property Trust, formerly an RPO business in single-family rentals, into a commercial REIT, now operating at breakeven and having raised $50 million in the quarter, holding nearly $100 million in cash and $300 million in equity. The asset management fee structure is set at 1.5%, which will enhance our earnings in this business. Finally, on Page 16, our SPAC represents a $230 million vehicle targeting a valuation between $1 billion and $1.5 billion. The current SPAC market greatly differs from that of 2021/2022, and we are eager to explore potential targets. With that, I will now turn the discussion over to Baron to cover Newrez.
Baron Silverstein, President of Newrez
All right. Thank you, Michael. Good morning, everybody. Starting on Slide 20, as Michael mentioned, just another great quarter as we continue to execute on our 2025 strategy focused on recapture, technology, our AI initiatives, and growing our third-party businesses. Q1 pre-tax income, excluding mark-to-market, was approximately $270 million, up 14% year-over-year, delivering a 19% ROE for the quarter, right? With Newrez being the number three ranked servicer and the number five ranked originator, these results continue to show the power of the platform. Turning to Slide 21, our performance over the last few years demonstrating really the strong momentum we've had on both sides of the business as we continue to take advantage of opportunities to generate these consistent returns. In 2025, our focus on building a best-in-class platform is centered around our homeowners, innovation through process efficiency and AI, and market opportunities whether organically or externally that will continue to drive our returns overall. Moving to Slide 22, our origination business has also continued to perform well. Michael mentioned $11.8 billion in funded volume and $65 million in pre-tax income. While the MBA forecasted Q1 volumes to be flat to last year, we were up 9% in funded volume, 7% in lock volume, and 54% in pre-tax income when compared to the first quarter in 2024. However, due to increased competition and margin compression, we did not chase market share and remained disciplined in our pricing with a focus on our ROE. At these origination levels, our multi-channel strategy allows us to optimize opportunities in all market environments, and all of our channels remain profitable in the first quarter. Turning to Slide 23, one of our top priorities and significant growth opportunities, our ability to retain our customers with or without a rate rally. Amplifying our brand and building a great digital experience is key to our success in connecting with our 3.7 million homeowners. Our recapture investments are focused on delivering great experiences to our homeowners, including seamless and easy closings for refinances, a fantastic white glove service for home purchases, and a digital home equity offering with closings as fast as three days. Moving to Slide 24, our servicing business is also performing very well. We've recorded $242 million of pre-tax income, up 7% quarter-over-quarter, which is driven by our servicing portfolio of $845 billion, which includes $509 billion of owned MSRs and $254 billion of third-party servicing. Our third-party servicing franchise continues last year's growth by adding four new clients in the first quarter alone. One of our top priorities is the expansion of our Rezi AI initiatives, which continue to empower employees with real-time tools that deliver a superior customer experience. In addition to the gains from our Rezi AI technology, our focus on operational excellence, process efficiency, and scale continues to drive our cost leadership, as evidenced by our $140 cost of service that significantly outperforms the industry. Turning to Slide 25, you can see our owned MSR performance, which is reflective of current market conditions including higher interest rates, and showing delinquencies and associated advance balances also improved with 60-day delinquencies down 30 basis points to 3.1%, reflecting the high quality of our overall portfolio. Lastly, on Slide 26, we have an incredible third-party servicing client franchise. Our platform advantages allow us to deliver a differentiated value proposition to our partners' success, and we've been doing this for a long time. We have over 100 clients, and our capabilities have enabled us to retain 98% of the customers we've done business with since 2015. I believe our business is better positioned than ever, well-positioned to grow market share in our third-party servicing, whether through wallet share with our existing customers, adding new clients, or taking advantage of ongoing servicing dislocations. I look forward to telling the Newrez growth story throughout 2025. Thank you. Back to you, Michael.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thanks, Baron. Why don't we turn it back to the operator for some Q&A?
Operator, Operator
We will now begin the question-and-answer session. The first question comes from Bose George with KBW. Please go ahead.
Bose George, Analyst
Good morning, everyone. To start, I have a question regarding the Cooper Rocket transaction. How has this impacted your view on opportunities or growth at Newrez? Additionally, does this affect your plans for potential listings or other strategies to better showcase the value of Newrez? Thank you.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
I'm sorry, Bose. Yes, but I would say on the Newrez side, it's going to be business as usual as we go forward. While saying that, I do think as a result of the Cooper Rocket deal, there'll be an opportunity to pick up some subservicing as a result of the sheer size of the combination of those platforms. If you look, we're at $850 billion, and I think Cooper; the combination is at about $1.5 trillion or so?
Bose George, Analyst
Yes. Yes, just over that. Yes.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Yes. There will be some adjustments to make. The key for us is to focus on how to grow earnings, not just increase market share for its own sake. I believe we are on the right track with the company. Regarding our listing, when I examine our trading and the data on Page 7, these figures are significant. For instance, Cooper Rocket completed a deal at 2x book value. Looking at the right side of Page 7, we need to find ways to unlock value, whether through taking the company public, externalizing Rithm, or considering a C-Corp structure. There are various options we evaluate daily. I am optimistic that we will implement some form of capital action by the end of 2025 that reveals substantial value, as I believe our equity is highly undervalued. If we consider a mid-range value of $14 to $23, there’s no reason we shouldn’t reach that target.
Bose George, Analyst
Okay. Great, that's helpful. Thanks. And then could we just get an update on book value quarter-to-date just given all the volatility?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Yes, probably. I think it's in and around $12.60, so it's up a bit from the end of Q1, is what I would say. Bond markets, when you look at where we are in rate right now, I think the 10-year rate is give or take $4.30; the front end is in and around $3.75. We are as close to home as we've probably been in many, many years. And I think our belief is if the economy slows down, we should be in a really good place. If it doesn't slow down, we'll be in a good place as well. Risk discipline right now is something that I think we're very good at.
Operator, Operator
Our next question comes from Doug Harter with UBS. Please go ahead.
Doug Harter, Analyst
Thanks. Michael, how are you thinking about potential acquisition opportunities whether that's at the Rithm level or Rithm Acquisition Corp.? And is the dislocation we've seen in April enough to shake loose some opportunities at more attractive prices?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Yes. I hope to convey that our M&A pipeline is very active, both in the mortgage sector and asset management. Valuations have generally decreased due to movements in the equity markets. In the asset management field, I strongly believe we need to expand our presence in credit, which is an area of focus for us. With the addition of our energy and infrastructure business, we are excited about the opportunities that lie ahead. We aim to announce news regarding that business soon. I anticipate that we will be active in pursuing M&A, not only to complete deals but also to expand our operations on a larger scale. In summary, we will be more active, and we hope to finalize a few deals in the near future.
Doug Harter, Analyst
Got it. And it was a solid fundraising in the first quarter. Any early sense as to, kind of LP appetite for continuing to invest into this volatility? Is there a pause? How should we think about fundraising activity given recent volatility?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
I would say across the platform we are all extremely active. I believe our brand is very good and resonates with folks. Before we internalized here at what we now know as Rithm, all of our capital was raised in the public markets, and it's a must that we raise our money in the private markets. I think the key to our success will be to have partnerships and relationships with LPs who are part of our life and not just fund investors. We're extremely fired up and excited about the prospects of where we're going with our company. If we could turn where we trade from whatever 5x, 6x EBITDA to where we should trade, which is a double-digit multiple, I feel like we're going to be off to the races. Very excited.
Operator, Operator
The next question comes from Eric Hagen with BTIG. Please go ahead.
Eric Hagen, Analyst
Hey, thanks. Good morning. Can you guys maybe share some of the performance that you've seen develop at Sculptor and where you've seen maybe the strongest returns, where you expect to attract the most AUM from this point forward? And even the segments within Sculptor where you expect the AUM to be the stickiest from this point? Thank you, guys.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thanks, Eric. Performance has been good. I mean, across the board; obviously, the credit business is doing well. When you think about the multi-strat business, and you look at what's happened to the equity markets, they're positive on the quarter. I’d say things are going well. When you look at the real estate business, I mentioned before $3.2 billion of commitments. Steve Orbuch and Nick Hecker and their team have done a great job over the past 20 years, a great brand. I don't think it's easy for any real estate firm to go out and raise $3.2 billion. There are really very little to no legacy assets, with opportunistic investing and a great track record. So we're really excited about that. And it's long-dated money. When you look across the so-called ABF space, I do believe there’s going to be a fair amount of capital that's going to come into that part of the world, and across the platforms we have ABF funds that we're working on. And then when I look at the opportunity in the so-called energy and infrastructure space with our new teams added here at Rithm, I’m excited where that business is going. Overall, we are very focused on relationships, partnerships, and where we’re headed with the business, and returns overall have been very good.
Eric Hagen, Analyst
Great to hear, good stuff. I think you mentioned rolling out third-party MSR funds. Can you maybe share some of the fees that you expect to earn on that capital or those assets and what’s the total return that investors are maybe expecting from that vehicle? And are some of the LPs in that vehicle also contributing to other sources of AUM at Sculptor?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
What I can say about the MSR funds is that they are not available yet, but we will be excited about them soon. They will typically generate team-based returns, and there is strong demand in the market for those kinds of funds concerning fees; I think the specifics are still to be determined.
Eric Hagen, Analyst
Got you. If I could just ask one more here. It looks like almost $400 million of valuation changes for the MSR in the period. How does that maybe align with your expectations? And is the hedging offset coming from the investment portfolio, or what's the best way to think about how that $400 million was offset with hedging?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
The net number, I believe, was about $185 million overall, and that’s offset with hedges. Whether we're long mortgages or treasuries, we have swap receivers on. As I pointed out earlier, we are as close to home as we've been in many, many years. The market volatility really, while it’s looking at screens is not always fun, I do believe that we’re in a very good place, no matter which direction the market goes right now.
Operator, Operator
The next question is from Jason Weaver with JonesTrading. Please go ahead.
Jason Weaver, Analyst
Hey, good morning. Thanks for taking my question. First, I was wondering if you could comment broadly on any credit events or, sorry, possibly deterioration that you've seen within the Genesis portfolio into the first quarter.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
No, I mean performance is stable. Here’s what I would state about that business: we could chase market share and grow that business significantly. Others have done that, and as a result, their delinquency numbers are up pretty significantly. Overall, performance has been steady. If you look at, I forgot what slide it is, but delinquency numbers are in and around 2% for the portfolio. So things are good there. Keep in mind, we also go to a different type of sponsor compared to others in that marketplace.
Jason Weaver, Analyst
Fair enough. Thank you. As a follow-up to that, could you comment broadly on what you think the implications are for the securitization bid here, given the amount of market volatility?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
There are a lot of deals getting done. I mean, the values right now are great. If you're a buyer, for example, in some of the single-family non-QM space, there’s a lot of demand both on the fund side and from money managers. AAA-rated assets with a few turns of leverage are currently providing somewhere around a 13% to 15% IRR. So, while there’s a lot of market volatility, it remains active. Not everyone will appreciate the spreads that you execute at. We have done a couple of deals recently in this space, but in general, the markets are open. Wider spreads create opportunities for those with capital, and we've been very active acquiring assets.
Jason Weaver, Analyst
All right. Thank you. I appreciate the time.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thank you.
Operator, Operator
The next question is from Kenneth Lee with RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead.
Kenneth Lee, Analyst
Hey, thanks for taking my question. Just one on the Sculptor asset management side; I wonder if you could just give us a sense of overall targeted fundraising levels for this year or perhaps give us a little more color around any of the sizes of the previous or predecessor funds that are undergoing fundraising now? Thanks.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
I don't know the exact number of funds that are in the marketplace now. What I would say is there are many, including credit, real estate, and ABF, both at the Sculptor and Rithm levels right now. In terms of targets, you need to be able to execute on the back end. Our story, and we’re going to keep sticking to it, is performance first. It's not just about raising a fund but actually how we deploy capital and earn the trust and respect of LPs on the capital that they're allocating to us as fiduciaries. We're very confident we will raise a lot of money, but we want to ensure we earn the returns that we are going out to market with. For example, back at Fortress, we raised $1.6 billion for MSR funds with specific targeted returns. When we looked at it, I said okay, we're not going to be able to deploy the capital at those returns, so I gave $1 billion back. The point is we're going to raise money but we need to be able to deploy capital and at the proper return. Some of it will depend on market conditions, but you’ll see credit, ABF, real estate, and energy and infrastructure; those are the main funds from us now.
Kenneth Lee, Analyst
Got you. Very helpful there. And one follow-up if I may just on the SPAC vehicle, the Rithm Acquisition Corp. Wondering what was the motivation behind raising it using such a vehicle? Were there other options that were considered? You mentioned it's a slightly different market than it was back in the early 2000s; maybe just expand upon that.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
It gives us the ability to generate asset management fees for the house. It allows for generating an off-balance sheet vehicle. Quite frankly, if we can help make shareholders more money, that's really the logic behind that. I don't think it's anything more complicated than that. You have two years to deploy the money, and it's relatively low-cost option in our opinion. Regarding valuation, if you look back to 2021 or 2022 when the SPAC market had its silly frenzy, we looked at a ton of deals when we were at Fortress; we actually gave SPAC money back because there wasn't a deal that made any sense. If you look at valuations today, there are reasonable valuations in the things we're looking at, be it in the energy and infrastructure space or in financial services. We’re excited about being able to deploy and create more asset management fees and ultimately, there could be something synergistic to our business or serve as an off-balance sheet investment for that vehicle.
Operator, Operator
The next question comes from Giuliano Bologna with Compass Point. Please go ahead.
Giuliano Bologna, Analyst
Good morning, guys, and yes, another great quarter. One thing I'm curious about is when you think about capital actions or the discussion around potentially listing the mortgage company. Is there any kind of trigger event that you think would move you closer to that plan, whether it's externalizing the manager or trying to do a partial IPO of Newrez, or is it really just market conditions and perceived value from the different initiatives?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Yes. What I would say is we are moving it along. It's a little frustrating to see how our equity trades versus the results we're producing. Also, part of this is we want to grow the FRE in our asset management business. That has somewhat held us back from where we are right now in moving forward with a different capital plan. While stating that, I think we're at a point where I'm hopeful something's going to happen in 2025.
Giuliano Bologna, Analyst
That sounds good. And then I really just kind of touched on roughly where your hedging into this business. But I'm curious, do you have an intention to run around a specific hedge ratio, or does that remain flexible where you might also be opportunistic on the market then?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
I would say we are home. We're not taking a lot of what I would call duration risk right now because I don’t believe we have an edge. The one thing I will say is we've had a steep run, which has worked extremely well where you've seen the front end rally, and the curve steepened out, I think, 20 or 25 basis points since the end of last quarter. We'll continue with the steepener with the belief that if the economy does slow down, the Fed is going to cut rates; the front end will benefit, and I’m not sure long-end rates actually go down; they could potentially go up because it may be inflationary. We view it against the mortgage servicing; we have mortgages and kind of long-dated receivers against the MSR book, and we have virtually no shorts on against the front end. We feel like we're set up extremely well here.
Giuliano Bologna, Analyst
That's helpful. And maybe one last quick one. On the mortgage side platform, obviously, there’s commentary on subservicing being a super deal. I'm curious if you've seen any opportunities in the market for large subservicing wins. Obviously, there’s a limited number of large-scale subservicers out there. It seems like there's further movement around the industry. I'm curious if you're seeing anything from an activity perspective out there in the market?
Baron Silverstein, President of Newrez
Yes. The answer is yes. There continues to be a fair amount of movement. Our pipeline is active, I would say, overall. Certainly, the Cooper announcement, they have a lot of subservicing, and it's a matter of those clients evaluating their alternatives and options as well.
Giuliano Bologna, Analyst
That sounds good. I appreciate it, and I'll jump back into the queue.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thank you.
Operator, Operator
Our next question is from Randy Binner with B. Riley FBR. Please go ahead.
Randy Binner, Analyst
Hey, thanks. I have a couple. I guess the first is following up on other questions around measures to unlock value; the potential kind of Newrez is covered. Are there any other structural changes that you might consider in that kind of closing the gap between where the value is now and some of the parts that are laid out?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
The answer is yes. This is something that's a challenge for us. We are exploring all options and have been collaborating with various investment banking contacts. We are optimistic that we will accomplish something, and hopefully, we will finalize it in 2025.
Randy Binner, Analyst
Okay. I realize this may seem like an obvious question or observation, but would a REIT be included in that change beyond the table?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
It could be. If you look at the success you've seen in some of the financial services firms, it has been related to changes. It doesn't mean we will give up our total REIT, but there's the possibility you could create a C-Corp; you could drop things down. The REIT gets smaller. That’s probably the most likely path. We have $8 billion of permanent capital. $80 billion of assets under management between the asset management business and the balance sheet. It makes $1 billion a year. So when you look at Rithm and say, why does it trade at $5.5 billion or $6 billion of market cap? That’s not how it should be valued. The question is how do we extract value? All the earnings coming into the company provide a ton of cash flow that enables us to grow our business. It's a patient process, which I admit I'm not great at; however, the bones are there. We need to grow our FRE or grow our asset management business, so we can get true valuations on the asset management business. That’s no different than what some of the bigger asset managers have achieved over the past 3 to 5 years, and we want to get there as well. You cannot compete on the global stage unless you grow, but as I emphasized, we need to perform before we grow, and we do perform. Our returns have been great since we started this company at Fortress in 2013. That’s all we care about. We don’t need another dollar unless we can make people a lot of money, and that's the most important thing in developing those relationships. I believe you'll see us unlock value this year, and I think there’s frustration with how we trade, and we need to figure this out.
Randy Binner, Analyst
All right. That's very helpful. And then if I may, because I think I've laid enough in the order here to just throw in another one. Didn't get the GSE reform; it came up in the prior call, and then there's been activity from FHFA around personnel changes and de-risking. Just commentary suggests that privatization efforts will most likely come forward. Is there any update on your side of what you're looking for there? What potential impacts to the business might be assuming that the administration and Pulte move forward?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
It aligns very well with our strengths. If privatization occurs, I'm uncertain about its true impact on the market. However, if we have the opportunity to invest in more non-government guaranteed types of assets, I see that as a positive development. This also reinforces our position in the asset-backed funding narrative. We are very enthusiastic about our role in that ecosystem, although I believe it will require some time. There may be a lot of discussion around it, but I suspect they want to concentrate on this matter.
Randy Binner, Analyst
Yes, great. Okay. Thank you. Appreciate it.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Thank you.
Operator, Operator
The next question is from Crispin Love with Piper Sandler. Please go ahead.
Crispin Love, Analyst
Thank you. Good morning. First, with the asset management business, Michael, you talked about adding partnerships. Can you just dig a little deeper there? What kind of partnerships are you looking to add over time? How is that progressing in this environment?
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
What I would say is in the past couple of years, we've done a lot of brand building without selling anything. I think that resonates extremely well with people. It’s no different than dating or building a relationship with someone. If there’s a large transaction we’d want to do, we would be more likely, which is different today than in earlier times, to bring in partners for those types of transactions. The same applies on the fund side. Traditional fundraising includes direct fundraising into funds as well as partnerships that can help grow our business. We’re eager to develop more partnerships and bring people into our world. A good example is Mubadala, which owns 70% of Fortress; they announced yesterday a commitment of around $1 billion into funds. Those are the transactions and relationships we are hoping to foster over time.
Crispin Love, Analyst
Great. Thanks, Michael. That's all helpful there. One second question for me on Newrez. How are you seeing residential volumes trend in April, given the significant rate fall? What are expectations for the year, especially with elevated rates and some potential volatility ahead?
Baron Silverstein, President of Newrez
Certainly, you're seeing the spring volume coming in and a pickup in production compared to what we saw in the beginning of the first quarter. As I mentioned, we remain opportunistic; it's still very competitive, but we are witnessing an overall pickup in volume, particularly in April, and we expect continuity for the second quarter.
Operator, Operator
Thank you. This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Michael Nierenberg for any closing remarks.
Michael Nierenberg, CEO
Well, thanks for all the thoughtful questions this morning. Appreciate the support. Any follow-ups, we hear and have a good spring. Have a good weekend. Thanks, everyone.
Operator, Operator
The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.