Good morning, welcome to the Granite Point Mortgage Trust Inc. Annual Meeting of Stockholders. I would now like to turn the conference over to Stephen Kasnet, Chair of the Board of Directors. Please go ahead.
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Stephen Kasnet, and I am the Chair of the Board of Directors of Granite Point Mortgage Trust. On behalf of the entire board of directors and the management team of Granite Point, it's my pleasure to welcome you to our 2026 Annual Meeting of Stockholders. Thank you for taking the time to join the meeting. During today's meeting, our holders of common stock as of the record date for this meeting will be able to vote their shares and submit questions online at virtualshareholdermeeting.com/gpmt2026. The polls for voting on each of the items of business are currently open and will remain open until I announce their closure later in the meeting. If you have previously voted by proxy and do not wish to change your vote, your vote will be cast as you previously instructed, and no further action is needed.
If you wish to change your vote or have not already cast your vote using our electronic voting system, you may cast your vote online at the virtual meeting website. Access to the meeting website requires a 16-digit control number listed on the Notice of Availability of Proxy Materials that you received prior to this meeting. If you do not indicate the number of shares you intend to vote on your electronic ballot, your electronic ballot will automatically represent all shares that you are entitled to vote at this meeting. Stockholders who are entitled to vote are also able to submit questions online. Our board of directors, executive officers, and representatives from registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young, are attending today's virtual meeting and will be available to respond to questions after the formal meeting has been adjourned.
I would now like to take a moment to introduce the members of our board of directors who are joining us for this webcast. Jack Taylor, who is also our President and Chief Executive Officer, Tanuja Dehne, Pat Holford, Sheila McGrath, Lazar Nikolic, and Hope Woodhouse. In addition to Jack Taylor, we have several other members of the senior management team with us today, including Blake Johnson, our Chief Financial Officer, Steve Alpart, our Chief Investment Officer and Co-Head of Originations, Peter Morral, our Chief Development Officer and Co-Head of Originations, Ethan Lebowitz, our Chief Operating Officer, Mike Karber, our General Counsel and Secretary, and Chris Petta, Head of our Investor Relations Department. We are also pleased to have with us today Jill Kretchmar and Lucas Malone, who are representing our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young.
The board of directors has appointed Robert Johnson, a representative of Broadridge Financial Solutions, to serve as the Inspector of Elections at this meeting. Mr. Johnson executed the oath of office prior to the start of this meeting. An agenda and rules of conduct for this meeting are available on the meeting website. To ensure an orderly meeting, today's proceedings will be concluded pursuant to the requirements set forth in the rules of conduct. I would now like to introduce Granite Point's Secretary, Mike Karber, who will serve as Secretary of this meeting. Mike, you may proceed with the report of the Secretary.
Thank you, Steve. Today's meeting will take place as described in the agenda. After the formal meeting has been adjourned, we will hold a question and answer session to address appropriate stockholder questions regarding the business and operations of the company that have been submitted via the meeting website. I note for the record that the company has received an affidavit certifying that the notice of meeting, the accompanying proxy materials, and our annual report on Form 10-K were mailed on or about April 20th, 2026 to stockholders of record at the close of business on April 6th, 2026, which is the record date for this meeting. I also note for the record that copies of the notice of meeting, the proxy statement, and the form of proxy were previously filed with the SEC and are available on the meeting website.
I have been advised by the Inspector of Elections that at least a majority of the company's issued and outstanding shares entitled to vote are represented at today's meeting. Some of our responses to questions may include forward-looking statements that are based on certain assumptions and are subject to risks and uncertainties. The risks, uncertainties, and assumptions that could affect these forward-looking statements include risks that are described in our SEC filings
Thank you, Mike. The report of the Secretary on the presence of a quorum is accepted. A quorum is present, and the meeting is duly convened. I direct that the affidavit of distribution be made part of the minutes of this meeting. We may now proceed to transact the business for which this meeting has been called. Since there were no stockholder nominations or proposals filed in advance of this meeting, the only matters on which the stockholders of the meeting are voting are, one, the election of seven directors, two, an advisory vote on executive compensation, and three, the ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. I will now address each of these proposals separately.
As a reminder, the voting polls are currently open and will remain open until I announce their closure later in the meeting. The first proposal we will consider is the election of seven directors. As indicated in the company's proxy statement, the board of directors has nominated each of the candidates to serve as a director until our 2027 annual meeting of stockholders and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified. A majority of all the votes cast at this meeting for a director nominee is sufficient to elect a director. The second proposal is an advisory vote on executive compensation. The proxy statement describes Granite Point's executive compensation program in detail, including the programs linked to the performance and alignment of stockholder interests. SEC rules require public companies to provide stockholders with periodic advisory or non-binding votes on executive compensation practices.
We are asking stockholders to vote for the adoption of the following advisory resolution. Resolve that the stockholders of the company approve, on an advisory basis, the compensation paid to the named executive officers of the company as described in the Compensation Discussion and Analysis, the compensation tables, and the related disclosure contained in the proxy statement. A majority of all the votes cast at this meeting is sufficient to approve this say on pay proposal. The vote is advisory only and is not binding on Granite Point. The final proposal is for ratification of the appointment of Ernst & Young to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026. Ratification is not required by our bylaws or otherwise, we are submitting the selection of Ernst & Young to our stockholders for ratification as a matter of good corporate practice.
Representatives from Ernst & Young are present and available to answer appropriate questions. A majority of all the votes cast at this meeting is sufficient to ratify the appointment of Ernst & Young to serve as our independent registered public accounting firm. Any stockholder who hasn't yet voted or wishes to change their vote should do so now by clicking on the voting button on the meeting website and following the instructions there. Stockholders who have sent in proxies or voted via telephone or the internet and do not want to change their vote do not need to take any further action. I will pause now for a moment to allow you to finalize your votes.
Now that everyone has had the opportunity to vote, I declare the polls for the 2026 Granite Point Mortgage Trust annual meeting of stockholders closed and direct the Inspector of Elections to tabulate the ballots. Please wait one moment while we confirm the preliminary results. I've been advised by the Inspector of Elections that based on a preliminary count, each of the seven director nominees has been elected, the advisory resolution regarding executive compensation has been approved, and the appointment of Ernst & Young as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2026, has been ratified. The Inspector of Elections will furnish the Secretary with a written report of the final vote count with respect to the matters voted on today, which shall be included in the minutes of this meeting. The meeting is formally adjourned.
I would now like to invite Chris Petta from our investor relations team to lead a question and answer session. Chris, please proceed.
Thank you, Stephen. We will now open the meeting for questions submitted by stockholders on the meeting website. As noted in the rules of conduct posted on the meeting website, in the interest of time and efficiency, we reserve the right to group questions of similar nature together. There being no questions regarding the business and operations of the company, the question and answer session is now closed. I will now turn it back over to Stephen Kasnet.
I'd like to thank you for your attendance and look forward to speaking with you at our next annual meeting. Thank you.
The conference is now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect.