PennyMac Vulture Fund Posts Loss, Considering a Conduit

PennyMac Mortgage Investment Trust, a mortgage vulture fund created by a former Countrywide executive to profit from the mortgage crisis, posted a $730,000 loss for the period ending Sept. 30. Meanwhile, the company confirmed recent market rumors that it is working on a conduit to provide small mortgage lenders "an outlet for their newly originated mortgage loans." PennyMac founder and CEO Stanford Kurland said in a statement that the company has reviewed $6.9 billion in potential acquisitions of nonperforming mortgage assets but refuses to overpay for product. "While some market participants have been willing to accept lower yields and bid more aggressively, we still believe that it is in the best interest of our shareholders over the long term to remain patient in order to maximize the returns from our long-term investment opportunities," Mr. Kurland said in a statement. A publicly traded REIT, PennyMac manages and services about $324 million in assets. Since going public in August, its stock has been thinly traded. On Friday its shares were trading just above their 52-week low of $17.72. Its high is $20.