Office address: 1523 L St NW, Washington, DC 20005
Website: www.fanniemae.com
Year established: 1938
Company type: government-sponsored enterprise (GSE)
Employees: 8,200+
Expertise: mortgage financing, housing finance, mortgage-backed securities, multifamily rental housing, single-family home lending, mortgage underwriting, secondary mortgage market operations
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Peter Akwaboah (acting CEO and COO); John Roscoe and Brandon Hamara (co-presidents); Erik Bisso, Kelly Follain, and Chryssa Halley (EVPs); Dave Hofman (SVP and CHRO)
Financing status: shareholder-owned company
The Federal National Mortgage Association (Fannie Mae) is a GSE based in Washington, D.C. The firm purchases mortgages from lenders, bundles these mortgages into securities, and sells them to investors to expand mortgage availability. The company served over 1 million households and held $4.3 trillion in assets as of September 2025.
Congress created Fannie Mae in 1938 as President Roosevelt’s response to the Depression’s housing crisis. The firm’s core mission addressed a fundamental problem facing the nation during economic hardship. Stable housing funding became critical for rebuilding the American economy and restoring hope.
After World War II ended, millions of veterans needed homes for their growing families. Fannie Mae purchased mortgages from lenders, freeing up cash to finance more home purchases.
This liquidity allowed communities across America to grow rapidly during the postwar boom. Homeownership expanded throughout the nation as the middle class strengthened and prospered significantly.
The government restructured Fannie Mae through the Charter Act in 1954 as a mixed-ownership corporation. Two decades later, Congress converted it into a private, shareholder-owned firm in 1968.
This transition meant the company now funded operations through stock and bond markets instead. The federal budget no longer supported Fannie Mae, making it self-sufficient and market-driven.
During the 1980s, the firm pioneered mortgage-backed securities that attracted global investors to housing. The firm bundled mortgages and guaranteed investor payments which created deeper markets for home loans.
However, the 2008 financial crisis devastated the housing industry as prices fell sharply. Fannie Mae faced massive losses and came under federal conservatorship through the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA).
The company stabilized and returned to profitability in 2012 after major restructuring efforts. By 2014, the firm repaid all emergency funds and began contributing billions to Treasury. Today, the firm continues serving millions of Americans seeking affordable and stable mortgage financing.
Fannie Mae offers investors guaranteed mortgage-backed securities that deliver stable returns across various portfolio needs:
Fannie Mae maintains rigorous underwriting standards to ensure investment quality across all loan types. The company helps stabilize the housing market while expanding financing access for lenders and borrowers.
Fannie Mae states that it centers on employee work that creates meaningful housing impact. According to the company, it offers comprehensive benefits supporting employee well-being and professional development:
Fannie Mae’s staff participates in the company’s corporate social mission to expand affordable housing nationwide. The firm’s Congressional charter mandates mortgage market liquidity and stable credit, with housing comprising 18 percent of US GDP.
Peter Akwaboah serves as Fannie Mae’s acting CEO and COO, with over three decades of leadership expertise. At Morgan Stanley, he previously worked as managing director, COO for technology, and head of innovation. His education includes multiple engineering degrees, with a first-class honors Bachelor of Engineering from University of Birmingham.
Fannie Mae’s executive leadership team guides the company’s housing mission:
Fannie Mae’s leadership team makes sure the company fulfills its long-standing mission of providing mortgage credit. The team guides strategy and capital allocation to expand housing access nationwide.
Fannie Mae’s 2024 research on older homeowners reveals that they feel confident about retirement and plan to stay in their homes. This survey data helps lenders understand this growing demographic better since the 60-plus group approaches half of all US homeowners. The findings shape Fannie Mae’s mortgage lending strategy for managing wealth and housing needs across this expanding population.
The firm has operated under conservatorship since the 2008 financial crisis, with ongoing debates about its future structure. The Trump administration has reportedly explored potential stock offerings and initial public offerings to transition toward private ownership. These structural changes directly impact mortgage rates, lending availability, and economic stability for American homebuyers and investors.
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Your clients, who are ordinary investors, still hold substantial positions in Lehman Brothers and Fannie Mae stock in their portfolio and are wondering what they should do to claim a tax loss for the year.
The crisis that has swept the financial markets in the past few months, beginning with the collapse of The Bear Stearns Cos. Inc. of New York and continuing with the bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and now the government takeover of American International Group Inc. of New York, makes obvious the need to revamp totally the nation's financial-markets regulation.
Say government $50 billion backstop makes funds more attractive — and makes it tougher for banks to attract deposits.
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Adding to sweeping government actions announced to alleviate the financial crisis, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson Jr. this morning proposed new measures aimed at buying bad mortgages and distressed debt.
More than 77% of 1,003 advisers who responded to an <i>InvestmentNews</i> survey over the past 36 hours fear the news coming out of Wall Street is likely to get worse before it gets better.
The immediate reaction to last week's federal takeover of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac was overwhelmingly positive.
Clearly, some mutual fund managers saw the writing on the wall.
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Small-cap companies in the Russell 2000 Index climbed 3.6% during August, turning out a positive return for every sector, according to Russell Investments of Tacoma, Wash.
Financial planners and investment advisers are likely to have a hard time calming their clients over the next few months as the mortgage crisis continues to roil the financial markets.
