The Company EJF is an employee-owned alternative asset management firm headquartered outside of
Washington, DC. EJF manages assets across a diverse group of alternative asset strategies that
specialize in the financial industry. EJF was founded in 2005 by Emanuel J. Friedman and Neal
Wilson along with a small team of professionals from Friedman, Billings, Ramsey Group, Inc.
(“FBR”). EJF and its subsidiaries currently employ approximately 85 professionals across three
offices globally (Arlington, VA, London, United Kingdom and Shanghai, China).
Prior to launching EJF, Mr. Friedman was the co-founder and Co-CEO of FBR for more than
fifteen years. Mr. Friedman possesses more than 40 years of experience in the U.S. securities
industry with a particular expertise in banks and financials. Mr. Wilson previously managed both
the Alternative Asset Investments and the Private Wealth Management groups at FBR, and served
as a Branch Chief with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in Washington, DC.
EJF is an investment advisory firm that started its investment advisory operations in September
2005. EJF’s principal owner and Chief Executive Officer, Emanuel J. Friedman, owns
approximately 61% of EJF, and Neal Wilson, EJF’s Chief Operating Officer, owns approximately
19% of the Firm. Other employees own approximately 20% of EJF. EJF has two affiliated entities;
one entity is located in London, United Kingdom, one is located in Shanghai, China. EJF also has
four relying advisers, three operated out of Arlington, Virginia, and the fourth in Houston, Texas.
Contact information for EJF’s headquarters, its affiliated entities, and the relying advisers is as
follows:
EJF Capital LLC
2107 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 410
Arlington VA 22201
EJF Capital Ltd
35 Park Lane, 4th Floor
London, UK W1K 1RB
EJF Shanghai Adviser Ltd.
8th Floor, 8 Century Avenue
Pudong, Shanghai 200120 People’s Republic of China
FINS Manager LLC
2107 Wilson Blvd, Suite 410
Arlington VA 22201
EJF CDO Manager LLC
2107 Wilson Blvd, Suite 410
Arlington, VA 22201
EJF Investments Manager LLC
2107 Wilson Blvd, Suite 410
Arlington, VA 22201
Armadillo Financial Partners LLC
2925 Richmond Ave, Suite 1750
Houston, TX 77098
Advisory Services EJF provides discretionary investment advisory services to pooled investment vehicles and single
investor funds (each, a “Fund”, and collectively, the “Funds”). EJF serves as the manager for the
Funds and is responsible for the Funds’ trading and other day to day activities. The following
Funds are currently open to new investments: EJF Debt Opportunities Master Fund, L.P. (“Debt
Opportunities”), a limited partnership formed in the Cayman Islands; EJF Debt Opportunities
Master Fund II, LP, (“Debt Opportunities II”), an exempted limited partnership formed in the
Cayman Islands; EJF Income Fund, LP (“Income Fund”), a limited partnership formed in
Delaware; EJF Financial Services Fund, LP (“Financial Services”), a limited partnership formed
in Delaware; andEJF OpZone Fund I LP (“OpZone Fund”), a limited partnership formed in
Delaware. In addition to the Funds referenced above, EJF also manages a number of Funds that
are currently closed to new investors and investments.
Armadillo Financial Partners, LLC (“Armadillo”), a relying adviser on EJF’s Form ADV, serves
as the manager for the Armadillo Financial Fund LP, a limited partnership formed under the laws
of the State of Delaware (“Armadillo Fund”); Armadillo Financial Fund II LP, a limited
partnership formed under the laws of the State of Delaware (“Armadillo II”); Armadillo Financial
Fund III LP, a limited partnership formed under the laws of the State of Delaware (“Armadillo
III”); Armadillo Financial Offshore Fund III LP an exempted limited partnership limited liability
company formed in the Cayman Islands (“Armadillo III Offshore”); and EJF Sidecar Fund, Series
LLC – Series F (“Sidecar F”).
EJF Investments Manager LLC (“EJFIM”) is a relying adviser on EJF’s Form ADV, serves as
the manager for EJF Investments Limited, a closed-ended investment company incorporated with
limited liability in the Bailiwick of Jersey, and EJF Investments LP, a Delaware limited
partnership.
EJF CDO Manager LLC (“CDO Manager”), a relying adviser on EJF’s Form ADV, serves as
collateral manager for Attentus CDO I, LTD., Attentus CDO III, LTD., Kodiak CDO I, Inc,
Kodiak CDO II, Inc., Trust Preferred Insurance Note Securitization 2016-1, Ltd., TruPS
Financials Note Securitization 2017-1, Ltd., TruPS Financials Note Securitization 2017-2, Ltd.,
TruPS Financials Note Securitization 2018-1, Ltd., TruPS Financials Note Securitization 2018-2,
Ltd., and TruPS Financials Note Securitization 2019-1, Ltd.
FINS Manager LLC (“FINS”) is a relying adviser on EJF’s Form ADV, serves as collateral
manager for Financial Institution Note Securitization 2015-1, Ltd.
EJF is subject to investment guidelines/restrictions with respect to the Funds. These investment
guidelines/restrictions (if any) are described in each Fund’s offering documents (or a separate
document) and are monitored in EJF’s portfolio management system.
EJF also provides discretionary investment advisory services and sub-investment advisory services
to separately managed accounts (“SMAs” together with Funds, each, a “Client”, and collectively
“Clients”). With regard to SMAs, the advisory accounts are managed according to the Client’s
investment guidelines/restrictions as they appear in the Client’s investment management
agreement or a separate document reflecting investment guidelines/restrictions. Examples of
guidelines/restrictions for an SMA include a prohibition on the purchase of a particular security, a
limit on the percentage of an SMA client’s assets which are invested in a particular asset class, or
a limitation on the financial institutions where transactions may be executed. SMA clients with
discretionary accounts have the ability to place additional investment guidelines/restrictions or
remove or modify existing investment guidelines/restrictions that are described in the investment
management agreement or corresponding document. All changes to the investment
guidelines/restrictions are reviewed with the Client and the product’s portfolio management team
(or a designee) before they are implemented. In the sub-advisory context, EJF will receive any
investment restrictions prior to accepting the Client’s account, and will manage the account in
accordance with those restrictions. To assist with this review, each SMA client’s investment
guidelines/restrictions are placed in EJF’s portfolio management system (to the extent practicable),
where proposed trading activity is compared to the Client’s instructions.
To manage Clients’ portfolios, EJF relies on investment research generated internally and research
received from broker-dealers (proprietary research) or consultants. EJF’s portfolio management
teams for different Clients sometimes share investment research and have discussions regarding
investment ideas. This practice may create a conflict of interest between EJF’s Clients as resources
and investment opportunities could be allocated disproportionately. EJF does not offer for sale
any proprietary investment research or research generated internally. However, the Firm
occasionally produces “white papers” which are made available to certain existing and prospective
Clients or Fund investors.
The portfolios for Funds and SMAs managed by EJF include, but are not limited to: investments
(domestic and foreign) in common stock, preferred stock, investment grade and non-investment
grade corporate bonds, fixed income securities, structured products, swaps, derivatives, and private
securities. Clients also invest in other securities such as: U.S. Government and agency securities,
convertible securities (including convertible preferred stocks and convertible corporate bonds),
real estate and real estate investment trusts, private placement securities, private funds, triple net
lease products, structured products, insurance-linked securities, industry loss warranties, Troubled
Assets Relief Program (“TARP”) securities, futures (tangible and intangible), forwards, swaps,
municipal bonds, trust preferred securities, and warrants. With regard to several Funds, the
investment program includes providing secured business loans, and loans to law firms participating
in mass tort litigation or other similar litigation.
EJF offers advice on trust preferred securities, long-term junior subordinated debt or equity
securities with characteristics very similar to trust preferred securities and other preferred or debt
securities. EJF also provides advice on investments in entities that elect to be taxed as real estate
investment trusts for U.S. federal income tax purposes. These entities issue structured finance
products and/or originate loans that invest in trust preferred securities. EJF provides advice on
different tranches of structured and securitized debt and equity securities such as: mortgage pool
residual interests, bank loans, trade claims, derivatives, equity securities received in connection
with debt restructurings, and private investments in public equities.
EJF has agreed to provide certain investors with documents containing detailed information about
certain Funds on a monthly or quarterly basis. EJF will provide such information to investors in
the Funds upon request, subject to such policies and conditions as may be established by EJF from
time to time in its sole discretion. EJF may determine, in its sole discretion, to stop providing such
statements at any time or to change the information contained in or the timing of such statements.
Any investors that would like to receive such statements will be required to execute a
confidentiality agreement prior to receiving such statements.
Termination of SMA Agreement
An SMA client may terminate the investment management agreement at any time. The termination
is effective after EJF receives a notice of termination. EJF may terminate an investment
management agreement by notifying the SMA client.
Wrap Programs Additionally, EJF provides discretionary, investment management services as part of a wrap-fee
program (“Wrap Program”) offered by an investment adviser/broker-dealer (“Sponsor”). Under
this arrangement, the Sponsor provides various services, which typically include investment
management, trade execution, custody, performance monitoring, reporting, and other services for
an all-inclusive fee. EJF does not act as Sponsor for any Wrap Program; Clients can obtain a
detailed description of services offered under their specific Wrap Program from the Sponsor of
such program or from the Sponsor’s Form ADV, specifically Schedule H. Contractual agreements
for Wrap Programs are typically between the client and the Sponsor because of the Sponsor’s all-
inclusive fee arrangement. The Sponsor, in turn, contracts EJF for its investment advisory services.
EJF receives a portion of the fee received by the Sponsor.
Under the Wrap Program, the Sponsor is responsible for defining the Client’s investment
objectives, selecting EJF as sub-advisory investment manager to manage the Client’s account and
contacting the Client to ascertain whether there has been any change in the Client’s financial
circumstances or objectives. Although EJF does not typically have direct Client contact, the
information obtained by the Sponsor is expected to be sufficiently detailed so that EJF is able to
provide individualized investment management services to each Client.
EJF will evaluate each Client’s investment objectives and other individual circumstances and
reasonable restrictions. In addition, EJF makes itself reasonably available to the Sponsor and the
Client, for joint consultations, to ensure EJF’ ability to maintain individualized investment
management services.
In evaluating a Wrap Program, Clients should consider a number of factors. A Client may be able
to obtain some or all of the services available through a particular Wrap Program on an “unbundled”
basis through the Sponsor of that program or through other firms and, depending on the
circumstances, the aggregate of any separately paid fees may be lower (or higher) than the single,
all-inclusive (or “wrap”) fee charged in the Wrap Program.
Regulatory Assets under Management
As of December, 31, 2018, EJF had approximately $13,303,536,184 in regulatory assets under
management (“AUM”). All assets are managed on a discretionary basis.
Item 5 – Fees and Compensation
The fees and compensation applicable to each Client is set forth in detail in each Client’s offering
documents or investment management agreement, as amended from time to time. A brief summary
of such fees is provided below. Clients generally pay an asset based management fee in connection
with EJF’s advisory services. Clients may also pay a performance-based compensation, generally
at the end of the year, based on a percentage of the increase in the value of each Client’s investment,
subject to certain limitations and discounts. On occasion, certain Clients will pay fees to EJF for
investments where other Clients will pay lesser or no fees for the same or substantially similar
investments.
Funds As the investment adviser responsible for managing the Funds, EJF charges a maximum
management fee of 2% based on AUM, and a maximum performance-based compensation of 20%
in excess of the Funds’ profits, or 25% in excess of the Funds’ profits over a stated return. EJF
could agree to charge certain Funds or certain Funds’ investors lower management fees and
performance-based compensation, even if the assets are managed in a similar investment style.
This may include, on certain occasions, some Clients paying different fees or amounts for the same
holdings. EJF may also decide to waive all or a portion of the Firm’s negotiated fees for a given
period or for a particular Client. For example, EJF may decide to negotiate its management fee
because of an investor’s asset level in the portfolio or an investor’s special situation. Certain
Clients are invested in Funds managed by EJF, in which case those Clients will be placed in a non-
fee paying class of the Funds in which they are invested (certain EJF employees are in a non-fee
paying class).
Certain Funds calculate and pay management fees to EJF monthly in arrears, and several Funds
calculate management fees on a quarterly basis in arrears. In addition, EJF manages several Funds
that are closed to new investors and do not pay any management fees. Certain investors in the
Funds have special management fee arrangements that are provided for in the Funds’ offering
documents. None of EJF’s Funds pay management fees in advance.
Certain Funds that are open to new investors calculate and pay performance-based fees at the end
of the Fund’s fiscal year and several Funds calculate and pay performance-based fees at the
dissolution of the Fund. These fees may be subject to preferred return hurdles, catch-up allocations
and/or claw-backs, depending, among other things, on the strategy of the Fund.
Funds - Deduction of Management Fees
Management fees for all Funds are deducted either monthly or quarterly from each Fund’s
portfolio. Management fees are first segregated into an escrow account by EJF personnel
pursuant to EJF’s written money transfer policies and procedures. Management fees remain in
the escrow account until the Fund’s administrator verifies the amounts. After the administrator
verifies the management fee amounts, the administrator moves the assets to an EJF bank account.
Funds - Transaction/Trading Costs Broker-dealers executing Client trades generally charge a brokerage commission on equity
securities and a markup or markdown on fixed income securities. For example, fixed income
securities trade at a bid/ask spread and have no explicit brokerage expense. Although there is no
formal brokerage expense, the Funds will incur the implicit trading cost reflected in the
broker/dealer spreads. For additional information regarding the Firm’s trading practices, see Item
12, Brokerage Practices. Securities transaction costs are paid by the Client, not EJF. In addition
to transaction costs, certain Funds also pay expenses that include but are not limited to:
organization costs, modeling expenses, custodian fees, legal and audit expenses, taxes, pricing
services, and administrative fees. Additional information regarding transaction costs is located in
Item 12, Brokerage Practices.
Funds - Other Fees or Expenses Charged to the Funds To the extent permitted under the applicable offering documents, as amended from time to time,
one or more of EJF’s Funds bear some or all of the following expenses directly or indirectly: (i)
fees or expenses associated with structured products or other securities in which the Funds invest,
such as management fees associated with collateralized debt obligations, exchange-traded funds,
money market mutual funds, or other securities; (ii) fees and charges of clearing agencies; (iii)
interest and commitment fees on loans and debit balances; (iv) income taxes, withholding taxes,
transfer taxes and other governmental charges and duties; (v) fees of legal advisors, independent
auditors and fund administrators; (vi) directors’ fees and expenses, if any; (vii) the costs of any
liability insurance or fidelity bonding obtained on behalf of or for the benefit of the Funds; (viii)
the costs of maintaining the Funds’ recognition, registered agents and registered offices in a variety
of jurisdictions; (ix) the costs of any reports and notices to investors; (x) expenses relating to
researching current and potential investments; (xi) offering expenses (including the costs of
printing and distributing any offering documents); and (xii) fees for escrows, storage, custodians
and other out of pocket expenses. A portion of these operating expenses may be shared with other
Clients, EJF or its affiliates.
It should be noted that EJF, or its affiliates, acts as administrator for some Clients’ accounts, and
it receives a fee for performing such services. It should also be noted that Clients may invest in
securities such as structured products that are issued or managed by entities that are owned by
affiliates of EJF or other Clients. In such cases Clients may be paying management or performance
fees to other Clients or other affiliates of EJF.
Funds - Investors Certain Fund investors in certain classes of Funds are subject to additional up-front fees of up to
2.5%, as well as ongoing fees of up to 0.5% per annum. These additional fees are paid to placement
agents. The placement agent receives an up-front fee based on the dollar amount invested by the
investors placed with the applicable Fund. The placement fee is ultimately paid by the Fund
investor. In certain circumstances, EJF will pay a portion of its management fee and/or
performance-based fee to placement agents in connection with their services for referring investors
to the Funds. With regard to redemption fees, certain Funds could charge an investor if it redeems
from the Fund prior to the one-year anniversary of each subscription date. EJF may also waive all
or a portion of a certain investor’s redemption fees. Several Funds have private equity structures
with investment periods of 5 years or more with no redemption rights. In general, investors are
not allowed to redeem from private equity funds until the lockup period has expired.
SMAs As noted above, EJF manages a number of Discretionary SMAs (see below) and SMAs on a sub-
advisory basis. The maximum management fee charged by EJF to Discretionary SMAs is 1.00%
(on an annualized basis), payable monthly in arrears, and a 20% performance based fee, generally
payable, when applicable, at fiscal year-end. The management fee charged is based on AUM. For
SMAs that are sub-advised by EJF and its affiliates, EJF will receive a portion of the management
fee from the SMA’s investment adviser, but EJF will not charge the individual client any
management or performance fee. Furthermore, EJF does not charge any expenses to SMAs that
are sub-advised by EJF or its affiliates. None of EJF’s SMAs pay any management fees in advance.
Fees for SMAs are negotiated and memorialized in each SMA’s investment management
agreement. An SMA client could pay a management fee that is higher or lower than another client,
based on factors such as the amount of assets managed for the account and the negotiated
percentage of the management fee.
Certain SMAs calculate and pay performance-based fees at the fiscal year end while other SMAs
pay performance-based fees at the liquidation of certain investments or strategies. These
performance-based fees may be subject to preferred return hurdles, catch-up allocations and/or
claw-backs, depending, among other things, on the strategy of the SMA.
SMA - Deduction of Management Fees
SMA clients (or their representatives) are provided an invoice reflecting the amount of
management fees charged for the period in question. Some SMA clients pay EJF directly; other
SMA clients direct their custodian or a representative to pay the management fee to EJF. EJF
employees do not deduct management fees from SMA client accounts.
SMA - Other Fees or Expenses Charged to SMAs SMA clients are generally charged a brokerage commission or other form of transaction cost for
trades executed in their accounts. For example, equity securities are generally charged a brokerage
commission while fixed income securities incorporate a markup/markdown into the execution
price. Fixed income securities trade at a bid/ask spread and have no explicit brokerage expense.
Although there is no formal brokerage expense, the SMA clients will incur the implicit trading
cost reflected in the broker-dealer spreads.
In connection with SMAs for which EJF acts as a sub-adviser to a Wrap Program, certain accounts
will be enlisted in such Wrap Program for which there is a “fee in lieu of commission” or similar
“wrap fee” arrangement. In most circumstances EJF will direct transactions for such accounts to
the Sponsor in recognition that commissions are often included in the price of this “wrap fee”.
For additional information regarding the Firm’s trading practices, see Item 12 – Brokerage
Practices. In addition, SMA clients could be subject to custodian fees, wire transfer fees, and
transaction fees charged by third party custodians. All fees charged to an SMA client’s account
are reflected on the brokerage account statements received by each SMA client. For additional
information regarding brokerage transaction cost, please see Item 12 – Brokerage Practices.
Clients – Fee and Expense Allocation Generally Occasionally, EJF will incur fees or expenses that are associated with the management of a Client’s
account. If permissible, in accordance with applicable operating and investment management
agreements, EJF will allocate the fees or expense to the Client or seek reimbursement from the
Client’s account. When EJF incurs expenses on behalf of multiple Client accounts, in accordance
with the applicable operating and investment management agreements, EJF allocates the expenses
among the applicable Clients in a fair and reasonable manner. In some instances, it is not possible
or practical, in the Firm’s opinion, to allocate all expenses ratably across all of the Clients’ accounts.
On such occasions, the Firm allocates fees or expenses disproportionately among Clients, or EJF
assumes a portion or all of certain Clients’ fee or expenses. Accordingly, certain Clients will
receive more favorable fee and expense treatment over other Clients’ accounts.
In addition to organizational fees and expenses associated with Funds or SMA operational
management, Clients may incur additional fees or expenses as they invest in special purpose
vehicles, pass through vehicles, or other special investment vehicles. EJF will seek to minimize
any redundant fees or expenses where possible and occasionally absorb certain organizational
costs. This practice can disproportionately benefit certain Clients, especially when such costs are
related to co-investment opportunities of other Clients.
Additional Compensation Neither EJF nor any of its employees or affiliates is paid additional compensation, such as
brokerage commissions, for purchasing or selling securities placed in a Client’s portfolio. It should
be noted that EJF, or its affiliates, acts as administrator for at least one Client’s account, and it
receives a fee for performing such services. Additionally, there are instances where an EJF affiliate,
owned by EJF and/or Clients and controlled by EJF or its affiliate, may receive fees such as
collateral management fees, and loan or property management fees in connection with such
services. EJF will receive a share of such fees proportionate to EJF’s ownership interest in the
affiliate, where applicable.
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EJF charges certain Clients performance-based fees. The receipt of performance-based fees creates
a conflict of interest for EJF. Since positive investment returns would likely increase the
performance fee paid to EJF by its Clients, the Firm has an incentive to favor those Clients that
pay EJF a performance fee or higher performance fees. For example, if EJF allocated profitable
trades exclusively to those Clients that pay EJF a performance-based fee or the highest
performance fee, EJF would have a conflict of interest. EJF manages this potential conflict of
interest by creating, implementing, and enforcing trade allocation policies and procedures. EJF
believes that it has policies and procedures that will result in fair trade allocations to Clients over
time, even though a particular trade allocation appears to benefit one or more accounts when
viewed individually. Whenever possible, EJF will bunch trade orders to minimize trade execution
cost and to assist with obtaining best execution.
There could be occasions when EJF does not allocate a particular security to a Client in the same
investment strategy as another Client that received a trade allocation. Reasons for not allocating
a security to a Client include but are not limited to the following: the investment
guidelines/restrictions do not permit the purchase of the security; the Client’s portfolio currently
contain the prescribed limits of the security or a similar security that is designed to fill the same
investment objective; the Client does not have a sufficient cash balance to participate in the trade;
the Client has a different risk/return profile than another account, the Client has materially different
tax consequences than another account, the Client has unique investment goals; liquidity
requirements; or a security is only issued in increments of a certain size and the smallest increment
of the security for the allocation exceeds the Client’s limit. These limitations to allocation could
result in different investment holdings, and performance returns for Clients with assets in the same
investment strategy and managed by the same portfolio management team.
As stated in Item 5, EJF also charges its Clients an asset-based management fee.
As noted above, certain Funds managed by EJF are charged an annual performance fee. This fee
is up to 25% (the fee for at least one Fund is less than 20%) of the excess, if any, of the net asset
value of each series of units or shares in a Fund over a high-water mark and, in certain cases, a
hurdle. Certain Funds, as well as classes within Funds, are not subject to a high-water mark.
Additionally, the Firm, in accordance with applicable provisions of the Fund’s offering documents,
may transfer investors between classes. Not all investors in the Funds are subject to the 25%
performance fee charged by the Funds. In addition, certain Funds are subject to claw-back
provisions with regard to performance fees. Performance fees are not finally determined with
regard to private equity funds until the Fund is closed and assets are returned to Fund investors.
Certain other Funds and certain SMAs generally pay EJF performance fees annually. However, on
a monthly or quarterly basis, a performance fee accrual is made on EJF’s books for each applicable
Client.
With regard to certain SMA clients for whom EJF acts as investment adviser, not in sub-advisory
capacity, EJF is entitled to receive an annual performance fee of up to 20% of any realized and
unrealized capital appreciation of AUM (at least one SMA client may pay a performance fee that
is less than 20%), subject, in certain cases, to a threshold amount.
Performance fees are negotiable.
EJF does not charge any of its Clients a flat fee or a fee that is calculated based on hourly rates.
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EJF has SMA clients and Fund investors (the Fund is the client) that include but are not limited to
the following categories: foundations, trusts, estates, IRAs, retirement plans, funds of funds,
endowments, pensions, profit sharing plans, business entities, sovereign wealth funds, high net
worth individuals, and family offices. As EJF grows, additional categories will be added if
necessary.
The minimum investment amount for investors in any of the Funds is generally $100,000; with
regard to offshore Funds, the minimum investment is mandated by law to be $100,000. The
minimum investment amount to open an SMA is generally $50,000,000, and for those SMAs in
which EJF acts as sub-investment adviser, the minimum investment amount is $100,000. EJF and
its affiliates reserve the right to waive the minimum investment amount for investors in the Funds
or individuals/entities opening SMAs.
EJF has a diverse and sophisticated client base, some of which have a nexus to the financial
industry which could create various conflicts of interest. For example, EJF’s Clients and Fund
investors, and their respective affiliates, may issue structured products, fixed income securities,
investment companies, equities, or other securities. EJF from time to time trades in such securities
on behalf of other Clients’ accounts. This could create a conflict of interest by placing Clients in
securities issued by other Clients or Fund investors. Additionally, EJF’s Clients may issue shares
or fixed income products to investment advisers or institutions within the financial industry, which
EJF on behalf of other Client accounts may trade with or compete against in similar strategies.
This can create a conflict where such third persons’ activities can benefit one Client account and
harm another client account.
The Firm or its Funds from time to time pay to attend conferences or events sponsored by investors
in Funds for marketing or research purposes. This situation may also create a conflict of interest
between EJF Funds and certain Fund investors receiving payments from EJF. Certain EJF
employees have invested in securities issued by investors in Funds, which could create a conflict
of interest between EJF Funds and certain Fund investors receiving payments from EJF.
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EJF INVESTMENT STRATEGIES All EJF Clients utilize one or more of the following strategies in their portfolios in accordance
with their respective mandates and the private placement memorandum, the organizational
documents and/or in the Client’s investment management agreement.
Fixed Income Strategy EJF’s fixed income strategy is designed to target attractive performance returns and seeks to
produce long-term capital appreciation through direct and indirect investments in private and
public debt markets. EJF’s approach is to take advantage of its strength, experience, and expertise
in analyzing investment opportunities across debt capital markets. This approach allows EJF to
identify investment opportunities in relatively complex markets that strive to offer attractive
absolute total returns. EJF’s fixed income strategy looks for specific events to improve a security’s
price or liquidity in order to make an investment. As a result, much of the expected performance
return for the most essential positions in a portfolio could result from changes in security prices
rather than interest income. The strategy is designed to limit downside risk if the expected events
surrounding a particular investment do not materialize.
In certain situations, EJF will short securities in order to hedge long exposures in the portfolio and
trade individual names and index credit default swaps as well as currency swaps. The fixed
income strategy occasionally borrows as determined by the Fund’s portfolio management
team. Borrowing is achieved through the use of repo financing, warehouse financing and margin;
all methods involve pledging collateral against the financed amount. Borrowing is provided by
qualified custodians such as regulated financial institutions and registered broker-dealers,
including prime brokers used by EJF.
The fixed income strategy uses debt, equity and hybrid investments in privately held
companies. Private transactions include but are not limited to, securities offered pursuant to Rule
144(a) under the Securities Act of 1933 (“Securities Act”), securities offered pursuant to Section
4(a)(2) of the Securities Act, securities offered pursuant to Regulation D under the Securities Act,
private investments in public equities, trust preferred securities, surplus notes, bank loans, and
assets currently held by the Treasury in connection with the Capital Purchase Program under
TARP. The strategy could also invest in entities that elect to be taxed as real estate investment
trusts, or “REITs,” for U.S. federal income tax purposes that issue structured finance products. The
fixed income strategy may also acquire interests in common or preferred stock, senior debt,
subordinated debt, high-yield debt, convertible debt, options, notes, warrants, equity swaps, credit
default swaps and futures. The Strategy will also invest in distressed products such as bankruptcy
claims, insurance claims, trade claims, and litigation recoveries. Investment grade, senior,
mezzanine, and junior tranches of securities issued by collateralized debt obligations, and other
asset backed securities or securitization vehicles , including those sponsored by EJF and issued by
an affiliate of EJF, are used in the strategy. In this strategy, Funds purchase securities issued by
domestic or foreign entities.
In another fixed income strategy a Fund focuses on a variety of niche fixed income markets where
it is believed attractive risk adjusted returns can be generated. This includes residential mortgage
backed securities, commercial mortgage backed securities, and commercial real estate
collateralized debt obligations. The strategy may also invest in agency whole pool mortgage
certificates, commercial mortgage loans, CRE mezzanine loans, and trade claims, securities issued
by financial institutions, and net lease loans and properties.
Public Equity Strategies One of EJF’s equity strategies is designed to pursue absolute returns, and to achieve medium to
long-term capital appreciation from investments providing exposure to securities issued by
companies in certain regions of the world. EJF uses an equity long/short strategy for Funds, and
long strategy for sub-advised SMAs, that primarily seek to invest in securities that are listed,
quoted, or traded on stock markets domestically and internationally.
EJF may also apply a strategy in which it uses special situations equity, such as “orphaned”
securities previously issued by companies under Rule 144(a). Securities in this strategy are issued
by either domestic or foreign companies. A Fund using this strategy may also invest in securities
consisting of packages of securities that have equity-like characteristics or equity-like returns.
These securities could include the purchase or sale of put or call option contracts, shorting shares
of common stock or debt, and other securities that EJF finds appropriate.
In another equity strategy, EJF will generally emphasize individual security selection (“bottom-
up” investing) and considers a wide range of factors in determining whether a security is
overvalued or undervalued. EJF takes long positions in companies that it believes to be high
quality with above-average growth at attractive multiples, and short positions in companies that it
believes are underperforming relative to the market. EJF could allocate a substantial portion of a
Fund’s assets to one or more concentrated positions that it believes are undervalued or overvalued,
and may engage in activist dialogues with the company’s management or take an active role in
influencing a company’s board of directors and/or management team to extract value for
shareholders. EJF hedges its equity position by allocating a portion of a given portfolio to cash
and by taking short positions.
Private Equity Strategies
A changing regulatory regime has resulted in banks and similar financial institutions deleveraging
their portfolios and seeking to dispose of certain higher-risk assets that they view as “capitally-
inefficient” (i.e., the capital requirements imposed on banking and similar financial institutions in
connection with holding certain assets makes their retention by such institutions impracticable and
unattractive). Additionally, while an active market has developed for the disposition of such assets
by large commercial banks, the Firm believes that, as a result of having a smaller capital base and
limited access to capital markets, regional and community banks have had fewer options for
efficiently deleveraging and disposing of these assets. The Firm will seek to leverage its
experience in the capital markets, including its experience with community banks on behalf of the
strategy, to take advantage of market opportunities that are available in the financial industry and
related sectors as a result of these changes and, potentially, other market opportunities that become
available in the financial industry.
In this strategy, the Firm will seek to achieve its objective in the financial industry by focusing on
the following:
Equity and warrants;
Debt, hybrid debt securities, and collateralized debt obligations;
Mortgage servicing rights;
Real estate related loans and leases; and
Cash and short-term investments.
Similarly, EJF also believes that specialty finance companies, challenger banks, REITs and other
financial companies stand to benefit from the increased market share left by the void of larger
banks and lending institutions. EJF will invest or partner with operators in the appropriate markets
to capitalize on these opportunities which may result in Clients investing in equities that are not
publicly traded.
Periodically, EJF affiliates managing private equity funds may come into possession of material
non-public information that restricts other EJF affiliates from investing in, or engaging in purchase
and sale transactions with certain public issuers.
Non-Marketable Loan Strategies An investment objective under this strategy is to earn interest income by providing financing to
plaintiff law firms participating in mass tort litigation or other similar litigation. The investment
strategy could result in highly concentrated and illiquid positions.
This strategy seeks to provide loans to law firms; such loans are secured by the firms’ interests in
future award settlements from selected dockets (i.e., a group of cases against one defendant or
group of defendants) of mass tort cases. The strategy will primarily focus on lending in three areas
of mass tort litigation: (i) pharmaceutical, (ii) medical devices, and (iii) other product liability
including asbestos/mesothelioma. Additionally, the strategy may take advantage of other similar
opportunities in financing plaintiff law firms participating in other types of litigation.
Real Estate Strategies The real estate investment strategy is designed to take advantage of certain opportunities arising
recent tax reform in the country and can invest in a broad range of real estate and real estate-
related investment opportunities. This strategy seeks to maximize value through acquisition or
funding of ownership interests in individual real estate assets, joint ventures, special purpose
vehicles related to real estate or real estate related assets. Such investments are anticipated to be
longer-term in nature and will involve developers or other third parties. This strategy will
primarily focus on investments operating in qualified opportunity zones that can provide
potential tax benefits to investors.
Risks Relating to Investment Strategies
The investment strategy for each of EJF’s Clients involve a substantial degree of risk. The Firm
has listed certain risks below; however, the list of risks is not comprehensive or complete. Clients
and investors are strongly encouraged to review the risks of their investment strategy, as contained
in the private placement memorandum, in organizational documents and/or as set forth in the
Client’s investment management agreement. In addition, while certain risks may be more
important for certain investment strategies, certain risks may overlap and apply to multiple
investment strategies. For example, on certain occasions EJF and/or its related persons may engage
in transactions where EJF and/or its related persons will provide liquidity for certain Clients. Such
transactions present the risk of costing Clients potential future investment income. On such
occasions, EJF strives to provide disclosure to the Client prior to the transaction.
Fixed Income Strategy Risk EJF’s fixed income strategy is designed to maintain a security portfolio by position size, sector
concentration, capital structure position, maturity, and rating. The overall strategy may be subject
to such risks as interest rate risk, credit risk, extension risk, liquidity, market risk, default risk,
concentration risk, geographic concentration and exposure, microeconomic and macroeconomic
risk, prepayment risk, volatility, valuation, and inflation. Certain investments utilized in this
strategy bear risks appurtenant to the type of security invested. Such examples include: i) fixed
income securities, which may be unrated by a credit-rating agency or rated below investment grade
and which are subject to greater risk of loss of principal and interest than higher-rated debt
securities, ii) debt securities which rank junior to other outstanding securities and obligations of
the issuer, all or a significant portion of which may be secured on substantially all of that issuer’s
assets, iii) debt securities which are not protected by financial covenants or limitations on
additional indebtedness, iv) certain asset backed securities and other instruments that bear a higher
than normal prepayment risk, and v) mortgage backed securities and other structured products
that may bear lack of standardized terms, shorter maturities, real estate risk and volatile valuation.
EJF is an active manager of risk and will use various techniques to lessen undesirable risk in this
strategy. A few forms of risk that may be hedged include, but are not limited to, interest rate risk,
currency risk, individual company or issue credit risk, sector-specific risk, leverage, economic
conditions, suspension of trading, limited diversification, lack of liquidity in certain investments,
and volatility.
Public Equity Security Risk EJF’s Public Equity Strategy is to seize improperly valued publicly traded securities in the market,
and sectors EJF deems an opportunity. The overall strategy may be subject to such risks as
fluctuation in securities prices and interest rates, movement in the United States’ and certain
foreign countries’ economic growth rates, political events that may have an impact on equity
markets, concentration risk, macroeconomic risks, contagion risk, liquidity risk, volatility, and
valuation.
Private Equity Risk While the Firm strives to attain the investment objective of the Funds through its research and
portfolio management skills, there is no guarantee of successful performance, that the investment
objective can be reached or that a positive return can be achieved. As a general rule, investors can
expect that investments with higher return potential will also have higher potential of risk of loss
of capital or income. Prospective investors in the Funds should consider the following risks, which
are not intended to be an exhaustive listing of all the risks involved in an investment in this strategy.
Clients could have control positions in addition to advisory roles in private equity investments,
along with certain contractual rights to protect their investments (including shareholder agreements,
redemption rights and/or placement of a designee of the Firm or an affiliate on the boards of
directors or as a board observer of portfolio companies), but such Clients do not always have
control over their portfolio companies. A Client runs the risk of refusal of management or
shareholders of portfolio companies to adopt the recommendations of such Client, disagreement
with existing management and any resulting negative impact on the value of the portfolio company
or such Client’s ability to exit from such investment at a profit as a result of such refusal or
disagreement. Should such a refusal or disagreement occur, EJF or an affiliate may not be in a
position to exercise control over the management of such companies, and, accordingly, may have
a limited ability to protect such Client’s position in such companies.
Certain investments advised by EJF will initially be in a newly formed entity which has not
commenced operations and therefore will have no operating history upon which an investor can
evaluate its performance. The prior experience of the investment team or the performance of other
investment vehicles does not provide assurance of future investment performance or returns.
A Client may be called upon to provide follow-on funding for its investments or may have the
opportunity to increase its investment in private companies and other investments. There can be
no assurance that a Client will wish to make such follow-on investments or have available capital
to do so, and the inability to make such follow-on investments could have a substantial negative
impact on a portfolio company or other issuer in need of capital or may diminish such Clients’
ability to influence the portfolio company’s or other issuer’s future development.
Non-Marketable Loan Risk The following risks are associated with the non-marketable loans:
No guarantee that cases (collateral for loans) will be successful;
Timing and amount of case settlements could be substantially different than expectations;
Borrowing law firms could cease to operate, dissolve, or file for bankruptcy;
Borrowing firms may divert proceeds from cases to other creditors;
Delayed payments may cause accrued income to exceed available collateral;
Defendants could file for bankruptcy;
Tort reform could reduce tort litigation or damages awarded to plaintiffs; and
Potential for conflict with state ethics bar guidelines regarding confidentiality and lending
relationships with borrowing firms.
Real Estate Risk EJF’s strategy is based, in part, upon the premise that real estate businesses and assets will be
available for purchase that are considered favorable. The strategy relies, in part, upon local market
conditions throughout the term of the investment. No assurance can be given that real estate
businesses and assets can be acquired or disposed of at favorable prices or that the market for such
assets will remain stable, recover, or continue to improve since this will depend upon events and
factors outside of EJF’s control. Additionally, there can be no assurance that market conditions
may not deteriorate during the Client’s investment period, which could have a materially adverse
effect on the Client’s assets. Actual or perceived trends in real estate markets do not guarantee,
predict or forecast future events, which may differ significantly from those implied by such trends.
The activity of identifying, completing and realizing attractive real estate investments that fall
within a Client’s investment objective is highly competitive, and involves a high degree of
uncertainty. The availability of investment opportunities generally will be subject to market
conditions. In particular, in light of changes in such conditions, including changes in long-term
interest rates, certain types of investments may not be available to a Client on terms that were as
attractive as the terms on which opportunities were previously available to the Client or other
Clients.
Additionally, any guidance from the Treasury may have an impact on the strategy, which could
cause the Firm to revise its investment strategy. The Firm in its sole discretion may elect to change
the investment strategies and/or practices in order to satisfy the provisions of the tax law. Such
changes may cause the Firm to incur significant cost and/or avoid or execute on transactions it
otherwise would not have, which could impact performance.
Derivative, Futures, Forwards and Other Security Risk Each of the strategies could use derivatives, futures, forwards, synthetic instruments or other
instruments as supplemental instruments to implement leverage, hedges, protection or exposure to
certain areas such as: currency, interest rates, geographic locations, sectors, credit, commodities,
and other fields. There is no guarantee that use of such instruments will achieve their intended
objective, and may create unintended consequences and risks for EJF’s Clients. Additionally, use
of such instruments has inherent risks.
The use of such instruments involves a variety of material risks, including the possible use of
leverage and the possibility of counterparty non-performance, as well as of material and prolonged
deviations between the actual and the theoretical value of a derivative (e.g., due to nonconformance
to anticipated or historical correlation patterns). In addition, the markets for certain instruments
are frequently characterized by limited liquidity, which can make it difficult, as well as costly, for
EJF Clients to close out positions in order either to realize gains or to limit losses. Some of the
instruments that EJF Clients trade are “principal-to-principal” or “over-the-counter” (“OTC”)
contracts between the Clients and third party dealer firms (typically major securities firms) entered
into privately, rather than on an organized exchange. As a result, the Clients will not be afforded
the regulatory and financial protections of an organized exchange or its clearinghouse (or of the
government regulator that oversees such exchange and clearinghouse). In addition, many of the
protections afforded to participants on some organized exchanges, such as the performance
guarantee of an exchange clearinghouse, will not be available in connection with OTC transactions.
The Clients will, therefore, be exposed to greater risk of loss through default than if trading on its
behalf were confined to regulated exchanges. While some derivatives have, following the
enactment of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act, begun to be
cleared, many contracts are still traded OTC. The OTC market consists of privately negotiated
contracts, which for many derivatives contracts, are subject to a wide bid/ask spread. Those
differences can result in an overstatement of a Client’s net asset value and could materially
adversely affect Clients in situations in which the Client is required to sell derivative instruments.
Furthermore, there is no limitation on the daily price moves of these instruments and a dealer is
not required to continue to make markets in such instruments. EJF’s Clients may have difficulty
disposing of certain fixed-income securities because of a thin trading market for such securities.
Management Risk EJF’s opinion regarding the potential increase in the price of a security may be incorrect and a
security may not perform as anticipated. In addition, an individual security’s value could change
more than the securities market as a whole. It is possible that some of EJF’s estimates regarding
a security’s value may be wrong, or may take longer than anticipated to materialize even if correct.
Investing in fixed income/equity securities and futures involves risk of loss that clients should be
prepared to bear. EJF does not guarantee positive performance results for any of its products.
Market Liquidity In some circumstances the markets can be illiquid, making it difficult to acquire or dispose of
investments at the prices quoted on the various exchanges or at normal bid/offer spreads quoted
off exchange. During periods of limited liquidity, the strategies’ ability to acquire or dispose of
investments at a price and time that the strategies deem advantageous may be impaired. As a result,
in periods of rising market prices, the strategies may be unable to participate in price increases
fully to the extent that they are unable to acquire desired positions quickly; conversely, the
strategies’ inability to dispose fully and promptly of positions in declining markets will cause their
NAV to decline as the value of unsold positions is marked to lower prices. In addition, given the
sizeable positions held by various Clients, EJF may be limited in its ability to efficiently and/or
profitably exit particular positions or strategies or reduce the strategies’ exposure to particular
positions or strategies.
Cybersecurity and Cloud Infrastructure Risk
As part of its business, EJF processes, stores and transmits large amounts of electronic information,
including information relating to the transactions of its clients. Similarly, EJF’s service providers
and its clients may process, store and transmit such information. Some information is stored on
off-site servers (the “cloud”) by certain vetted cloud-based service providers. EJF has controls,
procedures and systems in place designed to protect such information and prevent data loss and
security breaches. However, such measures cannot provide absolute security. The techniques used
to obtain unauthorized access to data, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems change
frequently and may be difficult to detect for long periods of time. Hardware or software acquired
from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture or other problems that could
unexpectedly compromise information security. Network connected services provided by third
parties to EJF may be susceptible to compromise, leading to a breach of EJF’s network. EJF’s
systems or facilities may be susceptible to employee error or malfeasance, government
surveillance, or other security threats. On-line services provided by EJF to its clients may also be
susceptible to compromise. Breach of EJF’s information systems may cause information relating
to clients (including client transactions) to be lost or improperly accessed, used or disclosed.
Fraud In making certain investments, EJF may rely upon the accuracy and completeness of
representations made by the issuer of such investment, but it cannot guarantee the accuracy or
completeness of such representations. The issuer of an investment may make a material
misrepresentation or omission with respect to the issuer of the investment. Such inaccuracy or
incompleteness may adversely affect the strategies or the valuation of any investment. Instances
of fraud and other deceptive practices committed by senior management of certain companies in
which the strategies may invest may undermine the ability of EJF to conduct effective due
diligence on, or successfully exit investments made in, such companies. In addition, financial fraud
may contribute to overall market volatility, which can negatively impact the strategies’ investment
programs. Under certain circumstances, payments to the strategies may be reclaimed if they are
later determined to have been made with an intent to defraud creditors or make a preferential
payment.
Failure of Custodians
The custodians and/or the banks or brokerage firms selected by EJF, a broker or other counterparty
to act as custodians may become insolvent, causing the strategies to lose all or a portion of the
funds or securities held by the custodian, secondary custodian or such banks or brokerage firms or
other counterparty acting as a custodian or to encounter delays recovering assets. A Client’s assets
deposited with a bank or brokerage firm as margin (or collateral) in respect of noncleared
derivative contracts such as OTC currency forwards are not currently required under CFTC
regulations or any other regulations to be held in a segregated account for the benefit of the Client.
Consequently assets deposited by EJF or a Client with a bank or brokerage firm as margin in
respect of non-cleared derivative contracts may be indistinguishable, for insolvency purposes,
from the proprietary assets of such bank or brokerage firm and therefore may be subject to creditors’
claims in the event of the insolvency of such bank or brokerage firm, and may not be available for
timely recall by EJF or its Clients.
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More than ten years ago, a disciplinary action was taken against Emanuel Friedman, EJF’s Chief
Executive Officer. In accordance with the instructions for this brochure, Rule 506(e) of the
Securities Act, and other applicable regulations, the following discussion addresses the
disciplinary action taken by two regulatory bodies.
On November 17, 2006, Mr. Friedman submitted an offer of settlement to the SEC, which was
accepted by the SEC on December 19, 2006. In the offer of settlement, without admitting or
denying the findings contained in the order, Mr. Friedman admitted to the jurisdiction of the SEC
and consented to the entry of an order by the SEC containing the findings described below.
According to Mr. Friedman's consent, the SEC order found that he was a registered representative
of registered broker-dealer Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co., Inc. (“FBR”) and either chairman
or co-chairman and either CEO or Co-CEO of that firm during his entire tenure there. The order
further finds that a final judgment was entered by consent against Mr. Friedman enjoining him
from violating Section 5 of the Securities Act and, as a controlling person pursuant to Section 20(a)
of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 (the “Exchange Act”), from violating Exchange Act
Sections 10(b) and 15(f) and Rule 10b-5 in the civil action SEC v. Friedman, Billings, Ramsey &
Co., Inc., et al., Civil Action No. 06-CV-02160 (D.D.C.).
The SEC's complaint alleged that in September/October 2001, Mr. Friedman, with others, directed
or controlled the day-to-day management of FBR; in connection with a PIPE offering by
CompuDyne Corp., FBR failed to establish, maintain, and enforce policies and procedures
reasonably designed to prevent the misuse of material, non-public information and improperly
traded CompuDyne stock in its market-making account while aware of material, nonpublic
information concerning the PIPE offering. Mr. Friedman, as a controlling person of FBR, was
liable for the foregoing FBR conduct.
Mr. Friedman was barred from associating in a supervisory capacity with any broker or dealer,
with the right to reapply for such association after two years (which time period has since expired)
to the appropriate self-regulatory organization, or if there is none, to the SEC. Other sanctions
were imposed in related civil injunctive proceedings filed by the SEC and the National Association
of Securities Dealers (now known as Financial Industry Regulatory Authority).
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Registered Individuals of a Broker-Dealer EJF does not have an affiliated broker-dealer, nor are any of its employees registered or have an
application pending to register with a non-affiliated broker-dealer.
Other Registered Entities EJF’s registration as a commodity pool operator and a commodity trading advisor was effective
with the Commodities Future Trading Commission (“CFTC”) in January 2013. The CFTC is an
independent U.S. federal agency that is responsible for regulating the commodities futures and
options markets. EJF also became a member of the National Futures Association (“NFA”) in
January 2013. NFA is the self-regulatory organization for the U.S. futures market. As a result of
EJF’s registration with the CFTC and its membership in the NFA, a number of its employees are
registered with the NFA as associated persons, and several associated persons and certain other
employees are classified as principals with the NFA.
With regard to the Alternative Investment Fund Manager Directive (“AIFMD”), EJF has made
notice filings in a number of foreign jurisdictions. These notice filings allow EJF to market certain
Funds to prospective investors in the countries where the filings have occurred.
Relationships Material to Advisory business EJF has a number of affiliated entities; these entities are:
EJF Capital Ltd
35 Park Lane, 4th Floor
London, UK W1K 1RB
EJF Shanghai Adviser Ltd.
8th Floor, 8 Century Avenue
Pudong, Shanghai 200120 People’s Republic of China
EJF has a 100% ownership interest in EJF Investments Manager LLC (“Investments Manager”).
In accordance with a management agreement, Investments Manager serves as the manager of EJF
Investments Limited, as well as EJF Investments LP. As of January 2019, EJF Investments
Manager owned 51% of EJF CDO Manager LLC.
FINS is 100% owned by FINS ABS Manager Inc. (“FINS ABS”). FINS ABS is owned by EJF
SFO Debt Holdings Offshore LP (“SFO Holdings”) and SFO Holdings is owned by EJF SFO
Offshore DS LP (“DS”). DS is owned by EJF Specialty Finance Opportunities Offshore Fund LP.
EJF has a 45% ownership interest in Armadillo. In accordance with the management agreement,
Armadillo serves as the manager for Armadillo Fund, Armadillo II, Armadillo III, Armadillo III
Offshore, and Sidecar F, which are specialty lenders to law firms engaged in selected areas of the
mass tort industry. Among other things, EJF provides accounting, payroll, payroll taxes, employee
benefits, billing/collections, compliance, and financial reporting services for Armadillo.
Broker-Dealers
EJF has entered into a number of solicitation agreements with registered broker-dealers. Under
the solicitation arrangements, broker-dealers refer to EJF high net worth individuals or entities that
the broker-dealer has determined are qualified to invest in EJF’s products. Broker-dealer solicitors
are generally paid a percentage of the management fee and/or the performance fee received by EJF
from the Fund which the high net worth individual or entity invests. These broker-dealers may
issue, underwrite, sponsor or facilitate certain securities in the capital markets for themselves or
the benefit of their clients. EJF will purchase and sell such securities for Client accounts as an
investment for their account. While these investments are made independent of the aforementioned
relationship, nonetheless present a conflict of interest.
EJF also has arrangements with broker-dealers that receive a placement fee for placing investors
in certain EJF Funds. The broker-dealer placement agent could receive a fee that is up to 2.5% of
the assets invested in the Fund by the placed client (this is a one-time fee ultimately paid by the
client). The broker-dealer placement agent may also receive an ongoing fee up to .5% per annum
of assets invested in a Fund by the placed investor (this fee is also ultimately paid by the client).
Such fees can be found on the applicable Fund’s offering memorandum, EJF’s subscription
documents, as well as the investor’s statements. EJF may maintain placement agent agreements
with broker-dealers that may also act as executing brokers, prime brokers, custodians, trustee, or
other vendors of Clients. EJF does not believe such relationships are material, but could pose a
conflict of interest for its Clients
Additionally, EJF also maintains lines of credit and other borrowing facilities with certain lending
institutions that are affiliated with broker-dealers or other financial institutions. EJF does not
believe such relationships are material, but could pose a conflict of interest for its Clients.
Pooled Investment Vehicles EJF has an interest in the following Funds (which are open to new investors): Debt Opportunities;
Debt Opportunities II; Income Fund; Financial Services; and OpZone Fund.
EJF also has an interest in the following Funds (which are closed to new investors): TruPS, Small
Financial Equities Series Limited Liability Company Interest of EJF Sidecar Fund, Series LLC;
EJF Specialty Finance Opportunities Fund LP; EJF Specialty Finance Solutions Fund; EJF Select
Master Fund; EJF Investments Limited, Armadillo Fund; Series E Limited Liability Company
Interest of EJF Sidecar Fund, Series LLC.
EJF manages multiple Client accounts with similar mandates, strategies and even similar holdings
which may create conflicts of interest. The Firm is not obligated to devote any specific amount of
time, resources, or effort in managing any Clients’ accounts. Furthermore, Clients’ accounts may
compete for investment opportunities, research, internal resources, or even allocation of trades.
Certain Clients may also invest in different parts of the capital structure of the same issuer, which
may advance or conflict with interests of other Clients, and may directly or indirectly provide
economic benefit to other Clients. These transactions impact the valuation, solvency, liquidity and
ultimately the performance of Client accounts, and subsequently EJF’s fees, which poses a conflict
of interest. Certain Clients’ accounts also restrict the trading of other Clients’ accounts by availing
themselves of non-public information in commonly held securities, or ownership limitations.
Given the industry in which EJF performs advisory services, EJF interacts with various entities in
many different capacities on behalf of its Clients. Certain managers of pooled investment vehicles,
and their affiliates, may act as: competitor, partner, purchaser, seller, investor, co-investor,
counterparty, financer, or trader with EJF’s Clients at various points and in different capacities.
While EJF does not retain any material relationships with such entities, such interactions could
present a conflict.
Lawyers or Law Firms
One of the principal owners of Armadillo is the owner of a law firm and was classified as a creditor
of another law firm. Armadillo III and Armadillo III Offshore has an outstanding loan to one of
these law firms and Armadillo III and Armadillo III Offshore or other Funds managed by
Armadillo may make additional loans in the future. Making a loan to the law firm could cause a
conflict of interest between Armadillo III and this law firm in the form of favorable loan terms,
forgiveness of obligations or debts, or other instances where Armadillo or EJF could exercise its
discretion over Armadillo III. Armadillo Fund, Armadillo II, Armadillo III, and Sidecar F also
use the second legal firm as a source of collateral valuation, as well as due diligence for current
and prospective loans, which may do business with one of the aforementioned law firms and also
act as a handler of court awarded proceeds to potential borrowing law firms. This can cause a
conflict of interest by granting favorable valuations to the affiliated law firm or other firms, which
among other things can ultimately improve the borrowing capacity or lending terms of these
borrowing firms, increase the management fee of Armadillo, impact the timing of Armadillo’s
incentive allocation, assist associated law firms to avoid triggering detrimental covenants such as
loan-to-value covenants or other penalizing covenants for non-performance of these borrowing
firms. Armadillo Fund, Armadillo II, Armadillo III, Armadillo III Offshore, or Sidecar F could
also lend to law firms that are clients of the affiliated law firms, which can create a conflict of
interest in the form of favorable loan terms, forgiveness of obligations or debts, or other instances
where Armadillo or EJF has discretion. There can be no assurance that such conflicts will be
resolved in favor of Armadillo Fund, Armadillo II, Armadillo III, Armadillo III Offshore, or
Sidecar F.
Service Providers
EJF has engaged Arcesium LLC (“Arcesium”) to provide certain technology and services related
to various middle- and back-office functions necessary to maintain Clients’ accounts. Under the
engagement with Arcesium, certain Clients pay fees and expenses associated with services
performed on their account by Arcesium. The affiliate of a significant institutional investor in
several of EJF’s Funds owns a minority interest in Arcesium. Although this raises a potential
conflict of interest, EJF believes that this engagement is in the best interest of its Clients.
Recommending/Selecting Investment Advisers for Clients EJF does not recommend or select investment advisers for its clients.
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EJF has a code of ethics (the “Code”) that outlines its policies regarding personal trading and
various other conflicts of interest that may arise while servicing a Client’s account. Under the
Code, each employee is required to certify that he or she has read the Code after the individual
joins EJF and on an annual basis thereafter. The Code also requires all employees to disclose all
brokerage accounts (open end mutual fund accounts are not reportable) in which they have a
beneficial interest (this includes accounts of immediate family members living in the same
household). Under the Firm’s Code, employees are not allowed to purchase securities including,
but not limited to, stocks, bonds, options, and futures in an account in which they have a beneficial
interest. Employees are allowed to purchase mutual funds (open and closed ended), exchange-
traded funds and unit investment trusts, Treasurys (including futures on Treasurys), and interest in
limited offerings. Transactions in exchange-traded funds, unit investment trusts, closed end mutual
funds, and limited offerings are subject to pre-clearance (exchange-traded funds, closed end
mutual funds, and transactions in a limited offering are not subject to pre-clearance if executed
under a discretionary account agreement). Employees are also allowed to sell stocks, bonds,
options, and futures held in their personal brokerage account after having the security pre-cleared
by the Compliance Department. The pre-clearance process is designed to compare an employee’s
proposed transaction against trades considered or executed for the Firm’s clients. By pre-clearing
employee trades, EJF is attempting to prevent employees from front-running Client traded
securities and causing EJF to violate its fiduciary duty to its Clients. Employees are generally not
allowed to purchase the same securities that are held by a Client. However, there may be occasions
when a new employee joins the Firm and holds in a personal brokerage account a security which
is also held by a Client. The new employee is not required to liquidate the security position;
however, the new employee will be subject to a 7 day blackout period if a Client sells the security
before the EJF employee who also wishes to sell the same security on the same day. A new EJF
employee is not allowed to purchase an additional interest in a security that was held by the
employee prior to employment with EJF and is also held by an EJF Client (as previously noted,
employees are only allowed to purchase certain securities). EJF employees are prohibited from
purchasing a security and selling the same security within 30 days of the original purchase
transaction. Additionally, employees are prohibited from selling a security and repurchasing the
same security within 30 days of the original sell transaction (securities exempt from the pre-
clearance requirement are also exempt from this requirement). EJF employees are not permitted
to purchase any security that is offered in an initial public offering, sell any security short, or place
a limit order.
Employees that maintain discretionary accounts managed by third parties must ensure that
monthly/quarterly statements are provided to the Firm’s Compliance Department. Employees that
maintain discretionary accounts are also subject to periodic certifications.
All employees that maintain brokerage accounts are required to instruct their respective brokerage
firms to provide EJF’s Compliance Department with duplicate brokerage account statements and
trade confirmations in paper or electronic format. The Firm’s electronic pre-clearance system
reviews this information to determine if an employee has violated any provision of the Code.
Violations of the Code must be reported to the Chief Compliance Officer. Successive violations
are subject to increasingly serious consequences, including termination of employment.
A section of the Code addresses EJF’s fiduciary duties, including placing the client’s interest first
and the handling of a client’s confidential information. The Code also contains a gift policy that
requires all employees to record information in the Firm’s electronic database used to track gifts
accepted or given to individuals or entities that are conducting business with EJF or seeking to
conduct business with EJF. Employees are generally not permitted to accept or give gifts that
exceed a certain dollar value. In addition, the Code requires certain employees to post information
in the Firm’s electronic database when they entertain or are being entertained by individuals or
entities conducting business with EJF or seeking to conduct business with EJF. The entertainment
opportunities in which employees participate should not be so frequent or so expensive that it
would cause one to question the integrity of EJF or the employee. The Code also describes when
a normal entertainment event is classified as a gift by the Chief Compliance Officer. Finally, the
Code discusses the sanctions that may be imposed if an employee fails to comply with the Code’s
guidance.
A non-EJF sponsored activity engaged in by an EJF employee may create a conflict of interest.
All EJF employees are required to complete an outside business activity form prior to engaging in
any form of outside business activity (this includes, but is not limited to, serving on the board of
directors of an unaffiliated entity).
EJF employees are required to participate in the Firm’s annual compliance meeting. Employees
are also required to take training classes and are provided compliance alerts, compliance emails,
and news updates addressing compliance issues.
EJF maintains a restricted/watch list. The restricted/watch list is loaded into the database used by
the Firm to pre-clear personal securities transactions. Securities pre-cleared by an employee are
compared to the Firm’s restricted/watch list.
EJF will provide a copy of the Code to any SMA client/Fund investor upon request. Such requests
should be directed to EJF Capital LLC, Attention: Frank R. Walker, Jr., 2107 Wilson Boulevard,
Suite 410, Arlington, VA 22201.
Recommendations to Clients EJF does not allow employees to purchase securities such as stocks, bonds, options, and futures
(employees can purchase exchange-traded funds and unit investment trusts, closed end mutual
funds, and private offerings after they are pre-cleared by the Firm’s Chief Compliance Officer or
his designee; open ended mutual funds, Treasurys, and futures on Treasurys can be purchased
without pre-clearance). Employees are allowed to sell stocks, bonds, options, and futures held in
their personal brokerage accounts after the transaction is pre-cleared. If a Client is recommended
the same security that an employee holds in his/her personal brokerage account, the employee will
be subject to a 7 day blackout period if the employee wishes to sell the security held in his/her
personal brokerage account. The blackout period will not allow the employee to sell if the client
executed a trade in the same security during the prior 7 days. EJF employees are prohibited from
shorting securities.
Employees are prohibited from purchasing a security and selling the same security within 30 days
of the original purchase transaction. Additionally, employees are prohibited from selling a security
and repurchasing the same security within 30 days of the original sale transaction. Securities
exempt from the pre-clearance requirement are also exempt from these requirements. Employees
are allowed to enter into a relationship with a third party vendor that will execute securities
transactions for the employee on a discretionary basis.
Investment in Same Securities Recommended to Clients Generally, neither EJF nor its employees are permitted to purchase in a personal brokerage account
the same securities recommended to EJF’s Clients.
Offshore Funds Board of Directors Several of the directors for offshore Funds, including but not limited to Messrs. Friedman and
Wilson are investors in the Funds. Certain individuals also serve on the Boards of Directors for
multiple Funds.
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EJF has an approval process that each broker-dealer must go through before EJF’s traders are
allowed to execute trades through that broker-dealer for a Client’s account. EJF conducts due
diligence on broker-dealers by reviewing items such as their financial status and disciplinary
history, if one exists. The Chief Compliance Officer or his designee use the services of a third
party vendor to obtain information relating to a broker-dealer that has been recommended for
inclusion on the Firm’s Approved Broker List. EJF’s traders are responsible for negotiating
commission rates charged by broker-dealers. After a broker-dealer is approved, EJF’s traders are
free to place, buy, or sell transactions with the broker-dealer.
On a quarterly basis, EJF has a best execution committee meeting. In addition to other issues, the
best execution committee meeting is designed to determine where trades are executed and the
commission rates charged for the transactions. EJF has also employed the services of a third party
vendor to assist with the best execution analysis of equity securities. The vendor conducts an
analysis of commission rates charged and determines if trades were executed within a certain range
during the trading day.
EJF maintains an approved broker list which is generally designed to limit trading to those broker-
dealers that are able to demonstrate knowledgeable sales coverage in the Firm’s area of trading,
quality research, access to securities not traded by other firms, and financial responsibility. EJF
maintains relationships with a number of broker-dealers including some that have affiliated entities
or a department within the same entity that provide services to EJF. Examples of services provided
(other than trade execution) by a broker-dealer or a broker-dealer affiliate to EJF include the
following:
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate serves as the prime
broker for a Fund’s assets;
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate refers prospective
investors to the Funds;
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate provides trade
executions for Funds or SMA clients;
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate provides pricing
information for Funds;
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate provides EJF with
internally generated investment research; and
The broker-dealer (that provides trade executions) or an affiliate provides custodian
services to EJF clients.
Additionally, affiliates of certain brokers-dealers on the Firm’s approved broker list may invest in
the Funds.
EJF’s order management system assists traders in calculating the appropriate trade allocations
between multiple Clients. EJF’s staff will monitor trade allocations to determine if decisions are
consistent with its policies and procedures.
Best Execution
EJF seeks to obtain the best available price for the orders placed by its portfolio management team.
The objective is to obtain the most favorable total cost or proceeds with regard to the transaction.
With regard to best execution, the lowest commission charged on a trade may not be the optimal
indication of best execution. EJF is not obligated to merely get the best price or lowest commission,
but should also determine whether the transaction represents the best qualitative execution for the
account. Additionally, certain transactions require specific services that are not available at the
lowest possible commission rates.
EJF may use the services of a third-party vendor to assist the Firm with its best execution analysis
of equity securities. The vendor provides the Compliance Department with several reports which
are used to help determine if best execution was obtained by the Firm’s traders.
Research and Other Soft Dollars EJF uses broker-dealer proprietary research to assist with its investment decision-making process.
To obtain broker-dealer proprietary research, EJF pays a higher brokerage commission to execute
a trade. Brokerage commissions paid to broker-dealers that do not provide investment research
are generally lower than those paid to broker-dealers that do provide proprietary research. EJF
could trade more through broker-dealers that provide EJF with proprietary research. By using
proprietary research, EJF is receiving research that it does not have to produce internally (EJF or
an affiliate may occasionally purchase proprietary research to assist with the decision making
process). Aside from broker-dealer proprietary research, EJF does not use its commission dollars
to obtain research products and services through third party vendors. In addition to unsolicited
proprietary research, certain broker-dealers occasionally offer EJF’s employees the option to
participate in or attend conferences, provide EJF employees access to issuers’ management teams,
present non-public investment opportunities such as equity or debt raises, or make prospective
investor introductions.
Brokerage for Client Referrals EJF does not use its client’s brokerage commissions to pay for client referrals. However, EJF
occasionally executes trades on behalf of its Clients with broker-dealers that also receive
placement agent fees from Fund investors.
Directed Brokerage EJF may have SMAs with directed brokerage arrangements. In some circumstances, clients can
designate a particular broker-dealer through which trades are to be executed, typically under such
terms as the client negotiates with the particular broker-dealer. Clients may be incentivized to
engage in such arrangements for various reasons such as participating in a rebate or commission
recapture program. In those instances where a client directs or influences EJF to execute
transactions on behalf of its account with or away from a particular broker-dealer, EJF is not in a
position to negotiate commissions or select brokers-dealers based on their ability to provide best
execution to such client. Under these circumstances a disparity typically exists between the
commissions and execution price between clients who direct brokerage transactions and other EJF
clients who do not instruct EJF to use a particular broker-dealer. As a result, EJF may be unable
to achieve most favorable execution of client transactions.
Directed brokerage transactions may disadvantage clients as EJF may place directed brokerage
transactions after aggregated block transactions (see below). Accordingly, transactions for clients
that direct brokerage can be subject to price movements of other Clients, which may be more acute
in illiquid securities or large orders. Ultimately clients with directed brokerage arrangements can
result in less favorable net prices than might be the case if EJF were able to negotiate commission
rates or select brokers or dealers based on best execution.
Similarly, certain SMAs where EJF acts as sub-adviser may also instruct EJF not to execute
transactions on its behalf with a particular broker-dealer. Clients may desire to instruct EJF in order
to avoid certain conflicts of interest that can be created by executing such transactions. By limiting
EJF’s ability to execute trades with certain broker-dealers, EJF’s ability to perform its best
execution duties may be diminished and potentially result in less favorable prices, which could
ultimately impact performance.
Wrap Program Trading Wrap fee account transactions are typically executed with the Sponsor due to the all-inclusive fee
structure. The Sponsor’s ability to execute transactions may be vastly different than that of broker-
dealers EJF selects to execute on behalf of its other clients. This disparity can affect timing, pricing
and ultimately performance of Client accounts. Only in very limited circumstances will EJF trade
away from the Sponsor, for example when the Sponsor does not have the capability to execute the
transaction in a particular security or size.
Commissions, and other expenses, incurred in connection with any transactions executed with
broker-dealers other than the Sponsor, are typically borne by the client. Therefore, it is important
for clients who enroll in a Wrap Program where EJF serves as the investment adviser to satisfy
themselves that the program is suitable for them due to the additional commission incurred by
them when EJF trades away from the Sponsor. When execution occurs through the Sponsor, EJF
does not have the ability to negotiate commissions or other costs for the execution of transactions
in the client’s account since such execution costs are included in the all-inclusive fee charged by
the Sponsor. Therefore, it is essential the clients in a Wrap Program satisfy themselves that the
Sponsor is able to provide best price and execution of orders.
Brokerage Aggregation/Allocation Purchases and sales of securities for a Client could be aggregated or bunched when an order is
placed with a broker-dealer. EJF may not bunch or aggregate orders if the portfolio management
team’s decisions for different accounts are made separately, if the Firm determines that bunching
or aggregating would be inconsistent with its investment management duties or with a Client’s
direction, or if the orders from the portfolio management teams are not received at approximately
the same time.
EJF and/or its affiliates have potential conflicts of interest in connection with the allocation of
investments or transaction decisions for its Clients, including situations where EJF, its affiliates,
and their personnel have a financial interest. EJF and its affiliates may manage accounts that have
investment objectives that are similar and/or that seek to make investments in the same securities.
This creates potential conflicts of interest and potential differences among the accounts,
particularly where there is limited availability or limited liquidity for those investments. EJF has
developed allocation policies and procedures that describe how EJF will allocate investment
opportunities in a manner it considers to be reasonable and equitable over time.
EJF allocates investment opportunities based on relative size of an order, investment objectives,
guidelines/restrictions, risk tolerance, availability of other investment opportunities, and available
cash for investments. EJF will also take into consideration whether the client account is allowed
to use leverage. Although allocating orders among accounts may create potential conflicts of
interest, EJF will not make investment allocation decisions based on the allocation that generates
higher fees for the Firm.
EJF could determine that an investment opportunity or purchases/sales are appropriate for one or
more SMA clients, but not for a particular Fund. EJF may also determine that one Fund may
participate in a transaction, but based on guidelines/restrictions, cash availability, or duration of
investment another Fund may not purchase a particular security. EJF could also determine that an
investment is good for one Client but may be appropriate for another Client in different sizes,
terms, portion of the capital structure, or at a later time. Such determinations by EJF can result in
Clients having differing or even adverse positions in the same security, conflicting rights in the
security, or proceeds indirectly exchanged between Client accounts. EJF is keenly aware of
potential conflicts of interest associated with trading allocations and routinely monitors for such
conflicts and mitigate them wherever possible.
EJF does not anticipate aggregating any orders of SMAs that are sub-advised by EJF with any
orders that are on behalf of a Fund it manages.
Initial Public Offerings
Initial public offerings (“IPOs”) are offerings of securities that have limited availability. An IPO
may trade at a price above the offering price. If EJF’s Clients are permitted to participate in an
IPO, the offering will be made available to all Clients equitably, however, the Firm, in its sole
discretion, could decide that a certain Client not participate in IPOs for various reasons, including
the aforementioned non-standard trade allocations referenced above. This creates a
disproportionate allocation of IPOs among Clients which could be a conflict of interest if it
materially impacts the performance and subsequently fees paid by Clients.
Conflicts of Interest Employees of EJF could have a conflict where they receive personal benefit by virtue of executing
trades for Clients’ accounts with certain broker-dealers. Some of the Firm’s employees previously
held positions at other financial institutions, and as a result may have personal or familial
relationships with personnel at such companies. Additionally, certain employees maintain a legacy
pecuniary interest in financial institutions (e.g. employee stock). Additionally, EJF also maintains
lines of credit and other borrowing facilities with certain lending institutions that are affiliated with
broker-dealers or other financial institutions. EJF does not believe such relationships are material,
but could pose a conflict of interest for its Clients. The Firm’s Compliance Department is cognizant
of these conflicts and monitors Client trades, employee personal trades, and communication
between employees and brokers to mitigate the potential conflicts of interest.
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EJF’s Chief Operating Officer conducts periodic reviews of security positions held by
Clients. Additionally, EJF’s Chief Risk Officer provides analysis and reports used by the Firm to
monitor portfolios. The other individuals responsible for account reviews are primarily investment
professionals on the portfolio management team. If an SMA client places additional investment
guidelines/restrictions (or places investment guidelines/restrictions on the account for the first
time), EJF will review the account to determine if/how the new investment guidelines/restrictions
impact the account. In addition, SMA clients receive monthly account statements from EJF that
includes but is not limited to the securities held in the portfolio, monthly trading activity,
management/incentive fee calculations and performance information. SMA clients also receive
statements from their custodian on at least a quarterly basis. SMA clients should compare the
information appearing in the two documents.
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EJF occasionally enters into arrangements with unaffiliated third party broker-dealers to obtain
client referrals. If applicable, the referral agreements will address the terms and conditions
described in the Investment Advisers Act under Rule 206(4)-3.
Under certain referral arrangements, EJF agrees to pay the unaffiliated third party entities a
percentage of the management fee and or incentive fee paid to EJF by the referred Fund investor
or the SMA client.
EJF also enters into arrangements with unaffiliated third party broker-dealers to assist with the
placement of units of the Funds. Under these arrangements, investors referred by these broker-
dealers to certain Funds are subject to a one time upfront fee of up to 2.5% as well as an ongoing
fee of up to 0.5% per annum. The upfront and ongoing placement fees are based on the assets
invested by the referred investor. Currently, only two Funds are occasionally subject to these
upfront and ongoing placement fees. Placement fees are paid by the referred Fund investor in
addition to the management/performance fees. Such fees can be found on the applicable Fund’s
offering memorandum, EJF’s subscription documents, as well as the investor’s statements.
With regard to referred clients opening SMAs, EJF will comply with the applicable sections of
Rule 206(4)-3 under the Investment Advisers Act, including the delivery of a separate statement
listing the name of the investment adviser, the name of the solicitor and a statement describing the
relationship between the investment adviser and the solicitor. EJF relies on the solicitor to provide
the disclosure documents (referenced above) to the prospective SMA client, as described in Rule
206(4)-3. EJF maintains evidence to demonstrate that the required documentation was provided
to the referred client.
No entity or individual provides EJF with economic benefits such as sales awards or other prizes.
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Neither EJF nor its affiliates provide custodial services to Clients. Client assets may be held with
several different qualified custodians including unaffiliated broker-dealers, savings associations,
banks and registered futures commission merchants. With regard to the Funds, EJF or an affiliated
entity serves as the general partner of limited partnerships or the managing member of limited
liability companies. Under Rule 206(4)-2 (the “Custody Rule”), an investment adviser that
operates as a general partner or a managing member for a pooled investment vehicle is deemed to
have custody. The Custody Rule provides an exemption for investment advisers that have custody
of their clients’ assets because they or an affiliate operate as a general partner or a managing
member of a Fund. The Custody Rule allows an investment adviser to deliver audited financial
statements to investors in limited partnerships and limited liability companies within 120 days of
a fund’s fiscal year end. EJF is not required to comply with certain provisions of the Custody Rule
(including the requirement to send quarterly brokerage statements to Fund investors) with regard
to the Funds, because it provides audited financial statements to Fund investors within 120 days
of the Funds’ fiscal year end. The audited financial statements for the Funds are prepared by two
different public accounting firms.
EJF does not have custody of SMA clients’ funds or securities. SMA clients’ assets are held by
qualified custodians such as banks and registered broker-dealers, with whom the SMA client
establishes and maintains a custodial relationship. When SMA clients receive statements from
their custodians, such statements should be reviewed carefully and compared to monthly
performance reports provided by EJF, if applicable. EJF does not have control over the SMAs in
which EJF acts as sub-investment adviser or other client assets held by unaffiliated custodians.
EJF does not deduct its management or performance fees directly from SMA client custodian
accounts.
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EJF manages all of its Funds and SMA clients’ assets on a discretionary basis. With regard to the
Funds, EJF observes the investment guidelines/restrictions placed on the management of the Funds
in the offering documents. With regard to SMA clients for which EJF exercises investment
discretion, EJF enters into an investment management agreement with the client (“Discretionary
SMAs”), which authorizes EJF to exercise investment discretion with respect to the SMA. The
investment management agreement must be signed before EJF exercises investment discretion
with regard to the client’s assets. Clients with Discretionary SMAs have the ability to place
investment guidelines/restrictions on the management of their account. The most common
investment guidelines/restrictions are those which prohibit EJF from purchasing specific securities
or specific types of securities. EJF employees periodically have conversations with SMA clients
to review the SMA and its investment guidelines/restrictions.
In the case of SMAs where EJF acts as a sub-adviser, each Client account will execute an
investment management agreement with its investment adviser, who then delegates such authority
to EJF pursuant to a written agreement. EJF shall retain discretion over such sub-advised accounts,
and each Client will have the ability to place reasonable restrictions on their account.
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EJF portfolio management team votes client proxies in the best interest of clients and in a manner
that the Firm believes will benefit the economic value of a client’s security holdings. EJF has been
granted authorization to vote its Funds’ and certain SMA clients’ proxies when received from the
issuer’s delivery agent.
EJF’s policies and procedures outline the general guidelines for voting client proxy statements.
However, EJF could vote a proxy in a manner different from the established guidelines if
circumstances warrant. For example, EJF might not vote with management’s recommendation in
the case of a proxy fight or a merger.
EJF and its employees have a fiduciary duty to their clients to act in their best interest. EJF
employees should therefore avoid conflicts of interest if possible. Persons involved with voting
proxies should avoid discussing the proxy vote with anyone who has conflicting interests to those
of the Client (e.g. management personnel of the issuer, EJF affiliates with conflicting interests,
etc.). If any EJF employee determines that a material conflict of interest exists with respect to the
voting of proxies, such employee shall inform the Compliance Department and a member of the
Compliance Department will implement an appropriate course of action to minimize the influence
of any conflict. In the event that EJF votes a proxy for a security in which it has a conflict of
interest, it will generally vote in accordance with its pre-established guidelines.
Upon request, EJF will provide a copy of its proxy voting policies and procedures as well as
information on how a particular proxy was voted. Investors should direct requests for information
concerning EJF’s proxy voting policies and procedures to EJF Capital LLC, Attention: Frank R.
Walker, Jr., 2107 Wilson Boulevard, Suite 410, Arlington, VA, 22201.
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Certain registered investment advisers are required to provide financial information to clients if
they require or solicit prepayment of more than $1,200 in fees per client six months or more in
advance. EJF does not collect fees six months or more in advance and as a result, is not required
to provide its financial information to SMA clients or Fund investors.
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