June 22, 2022 | Premium Service | In this issue of The Institutional Risk Analyst, we comment on the announcement last week by New Residential Investment (NRZ) that it is rebranding and, more significant, finally saying goodbye to Softbank affiliate Fortress Investment Group. We have long advocated putting a good bit of distance between NRZ and the notorious Japanese fund, so we view this as a big positive for shareholders.
The big news is that NRZ is saying goodbye to Fortress and is migrating to an internally managed model. NRZ paid Fortress over $100 million annually in management fees. The surprise news, though, is that CEO Michael Nierenberg has decided to bid farewell to residential lending and turn the largest nonbank owner of mortgage servicing rights (MSRs) into a multi-asset manager. More, NRZ has also adopted a new name, Rithm Capital (RITM), which will take affect August 1, 2022.