Agency Securities are specific securities that are issued by either Ginnie Mae, Fannie Mae, or Freddie Mac. These securities are backed by morgage loans, and due to their creation from these particular corporations that are sponsored by the U.S. governemnt, they enjoy credit protection based on an explicit guarantee from the U.S. Government in the case of Ginnie Mae securities, or an implicit guarantee from the U.S. government in the case of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Securities are tradeable interests representing financial value. ... The Government National Mortgage Association (GNMA, also known as Ginnie Mae) was created by the United States Federal Government through a 1968 partition of the Federal National Mortgage Association. ... The United States Federal Government created the Federal National Mortgage Association (FNMA) (NYSE: FNM), commonly known as Fannie Mae, in 1938 to establish a secondary market for mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA). ... The Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (Freddie Mac) (NYSE: FRE) is a stockholder-owned, publicly-traded company chartered by the United States federal government in 1970 to purchase mortgages and related securities, and then issues securities and bonds in financial markets backed by those mortgages in secondary markets. ... Securities are tradeable interests representing financial value. ...

Due to this explicit guarantee, these securities enjoy the highest rating possible.