Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Bose George - KBW.
Bose George - KBW
I had a question on the dollar amount and the yield of the securities you purchased during the quarter. I was wondering if that was one of the drivers of the slightly lower asset yield of the quarter end versus the quarter average. Also, did these assets come on pretty evenly or were they more back ended?
Kathryn Fagan
No, I mean, we don’t disclose that level of detail about, how we settle things. One thing I always like to say about the snapshot of the yield at quarter end. It is a snapshot based on model prepayment assumptions and things like that. So again, you can’t extrapolate too much from one period, one day’s picture.
Bose George - KBW
So I shouldn’t read anything into the yield of the new portfolio of the new assets versus the existing?
Kathryn Fagan
Yes. It would be very difficult I think.
Operator
Your next question comes from Jason Arnold - RBC Capital Markets.
Jason Arnold - RBC Capital Markets
I guess I know that you guys manage the portfolio using a barbell approach, but you have a couple means of balancing things out either via buying more hybrid arms or by utilizing more swaps. So I guess I was just curious to hear your thoughts on what’s more attractive to you right now?
Kathryn Fagan
Again, we will constantly run relative value analysis on the various buckets of assets that we focused on and always make the best long term cash flow decision. Again, for competitive reasons we’re not going to sit here and say exactly, where we think people should be putting their money. We will always strike a balance. We understand that markets can change.
I know there’s a lot of AAA CDO holders out there, who never thought they would see massive downgrades. Right now, I’m sure there are a lot of people holding mortgages, who never think that rates are going to go much higher. So we will always take all of those things into account, when constructing the portfolio and try and maintain a nice balance and obviously on the margin continue to place capital where we see the best relative value stack up.
Jason Arnold - RBC Capital Markets
Then I guess, can we expect the pay fixed rate on your swap book to continue to roll down by maybe 20 to 30 basis points a quarter over the next several quarters ahead or would you prefer not to say on that either?
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