Office address: 8200 Jones Branch Drive, McLean, VA 22102-3110
Website: freddiemac.com
Year established: 1970
Company type: government-sponsored enterprise (GSE)
Employees: 8,100+
Expertise: secondary mortgage market operations, single-family mortgage funding, multifamily housing finance, mortgage-backed securities and capital markets, credit risk transfer and investor risk-sharing
Parent company: N/A
Key people: Mike Hutchins (interim CEO); John Glessner, Matthew Abrusci, Anil Hinduja, and Jim Whitlinger (EVPs); Michele Espada, Dennis Hermonstyne, and Laura Lee (SVPs)
Financing status: N/A
The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) functions as a GSE in the US mortgage market. It buys single-family and multifamily mortgages, then packages them into securities sold to investors. Headquartered in McLean, it held $3.6 trillion assets as of September 30, 2025.
Freddie Mac entered the US housing scene in 1970 with a very specific task: to support a growing secondary mortgage market. Freddie Mac was formed by Congress through the Emergency Home Finance Act.
Backed by a $100 million contribution from the Federal Home Loan Banks, Freddie Mac bought long-term conforming mortgages from thrifts. Those mortgages were then packaged into mortgage-backed securities so lenders could recycle funds and reduce interest rate risk.
Through the 1970s and 1980s, Freddie Mac focused on purchasing conventional conforming mortgages and securitizing them. That approach left most interest rate risk with investors in its securities instead of on its own balance sheet.
As inflation and rates climbed, this securitization model helped Freddie Mac stay more insulated from funding pressures. Its role as a consistent buyer of mortgages supported lenders even in those stressed conditions.
The savings and loan crisis of the 1980s led lawmakers to reshape the firm's structure. In 1989, FIRREA converted Freddie Mac from an entity owned by the Federal Home Loan Banks into a for-profit corporation with private shareholders.
In 1992, Congress strengthened oversight by creating OFHEO to supervise Freddie Mac's safety and soundness. The same law added an explicit obligation for the company to help finance affordable housing for low- and moderate-income families.
From the early 2000s to 2008, the firm increased exposure to higher-risk mortgage assets. It bought Alt-A loans and subprime-backed securities that performed poorly when home prices fell. Rising losses and weaker investor confidence contributed to the federal decision to place it into conservatorship.
Freddie Mac has focused on access to credit, new tools and risk sharing. It launched solutions such as:
The company also expanded offerings like Home Possible and CHOICEHome and backed major credit risk transfer efforts.
Freddie Mac offers mortgage funding, capital markets tools and technology that support lenders, investors and housing professionals:
Freddie Mac is also known for steady liquidity and disciplined delinquency performance across cycles. Its funding, risk transfer and education tools support both professional portfolios and everyday borrowers.
Freddie Mac says that its culture centers on people working together to deliver on its housing mission. Its values are:
The company also supports an in-office work environment with staff on-site five days weekly. It provides staff with these benefits:
Freddie Mac also offers structured time off, including vacation, holidays, sick, and other types of leave. It further supports civic and community engagement through voting leave and matching gifts to selected nonprofits.
Mike Hutchins is president and interim CEO of Freddie Mac and sits on its Board of Directors and Senior Operating Committee. Hutchins previously co-founded and served as CEO of PrinceRidge after holding other senior roles in financial services. He has more than 30 years of experience in the industry.
Those who work alongside Hutchins to lead Freddie Mac include:
Together, these executives oversee legal, people, risk, capital markets, compliance and audit. Their leadership helps keep Freddie Mac's housing work stable and mission focused.
The company's status as a fully conserved GSE may shift if a large IPO goes ahead. Plans being discussed involve selling only a small stake, yet the implied value could reach about $500 billion. That kind of deal would move Freddie Mac closer to market ownership while federal oversight likely remains.
For lenders and investors who use its securities, any change could affect perceived support, funding costs and mortgage pricing. Because of this, how the potential IPO unfolds will be central to the company's future role in US housing finance.
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The following transcript is from "What the Crisis Means for Long-Term Investing," an InvestmentNews webcast held Oct. 7.
It is time for politicians of all stripes to stop blaming the financial crisis on "Wall Street greed" and level with the American public.
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The Municipal Securities Rulemaking Board has promoted two staff members to new roles and hired a new member to its senior management team.
Investors fearing a market collapse are running into U.S. Treasuries, but they may soon rue the day they let fear dictate their investment decisions.
InvestmentNews argued last week that the entire regulatory system for the financial industry needs to be revamped, after an independent commission has thoroughly reviewed the factors that contributed to the mess.
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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.
