DEF 14A

 

 

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

 

 

SCHEDULE 14A

(Rule 14a-101)

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN PROXY STATEMENT

SCHEDULE 14A INFORMATION

Proxy Statement Pursuant to Section 14(a) of the

Securities Exchange Act of 1934

 

 

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¨   Preliminary Proxy Statement
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¨   Soliciting Material Pursuant to §240.14a-12

RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

(Name of Registrant as Specified In Its Charter)

N/A

(Name of Person(s) Filing Proxy Statement, if Other Than the Registrant)

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RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

712 Fifth Avenue         New York, NY 10019

NOTICE OF ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

To be held on Thursday, June 2, 2016

To the Stockholders of RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.:

Notice is hereby given that the annual meeting of stockholders of RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP., a Maryland corporation, will be held at 1845 Walnut Street, 18th Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Thursday, June 2, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. (the “Meeting”), for the following purposes:

 

  1. To elect the ten directors named in the enclosed proxy statement to serve until the next annual meeting of stockholders in 2017.

 

  2. To ratify the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as the independent registered public accounting firm for Resource Capital Corp. for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016.

 

  3. To transact such other business as may properly be brought before the Meeting and any adjournment, postponement or continuation thereof.

Only stockholders of record on our books at the close of business on April 15, 2016, which we refer to as the record date, will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the Meeting or any adjournment thereof. A list of stockholders entitled to vote at the Meeting will be available for inspection at the Meeting and for 10 days before the Meeting at our offices at1845 Walnut Street, 18th Floor, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The stock transfer books will not be closed.

By order of the Board of Directors,

Michael S. Yecies, Secretary

April 22, 2016

YOUR VOTE IS IMPORTANT

Instead of mailing a printed copy of our proxy materials to all of our stockholders, we provide access to these materials via the Internet. This reduces the amount of paper necessary to produce these materials as well as the costs associated with mailing these materials to all stockholders. Accordingly, on or about April 22, 2016, we will begin mailing a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials, or Notice, to all stockholders of record on our books at the close of business on April 15, 2016, the record date for the Meeting, and will post our proxy materials on the website referenced in the Notice. As more fully described in the Notice, stockholders may choose to access our proxy materials on the website referred to in the Notice or may request to receive a printed set of our proxy materials. In addition, the Notice and website provide information regarding how you may request to receive proxy materials in printed form by mail, or electronically by email, on an ongoing basis.

If you are a stockholder of record, you may vote in one of the following ways:

 

    Vote over the Internet, by going to www.voteproxy.com (have your Notice or proxy card in hand when you access the website);

 

    Vote by Telephone, by calling the toll-free number 1-800-PROXIES (1-800-776-9437) in the United States or 1-718-921-8500 from foreign countries (have your Notice or proxy card in hand when you call);

 

    Vote by Mail, if you received (or requested and received) a printed copy of the proxy materials, by returning the enclosed proxy card (signed and dated) in the envelope provided; or

 

    Vote in person at the Meeting.


If your shares are held in “street name,” meaning that they are held for your account by a broker or other nominee, you will receive instructions from the holder of record that you must follow for your shares to be voted.

Whether or not you plan to attend the Annual Meeting in person, we urge you to take the time to vote your shares.

IMPORTANT NOTICE REGARDING INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIALS FOR ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS TO BE HELD ON JUNE 2, 2016: The proxy statement and our 2015 annual report are available at http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy.


RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

712 Fifth Avenue        New York, NY 10019

PROXY STATEMENT

ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS

TO BE HELD ON THURSDAY, JUNE 2, 2016

 

 

ABOUT THE MEETING

 

 

Solicitation of Proxies. This proxy statement and the accompanying proxy are furnished to stockholders of Resource Capital Corp. in connection with the solicitation by our Board of Directors, which we refer to as the Board, of proxies for use at the 2016 annual meeting of stockholders of Resource Capital Corp., which we refer to as the Meeting, to be held on June 2, 2016, at 1:00 p.m. at 1845 Walnut Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and at any and all adjournments thereof.

Mailing Date. In accordance with rules and regulations adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, instead of mailing a printed copy of our proxy materials to each stockholder of record, we are now furnishing proxy materials to our stockholders on the Internet. If you received a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials by mail, you will not receive a printed copy of the proxy materials, unless specifically requested. Instead, the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials will instruct you as to how you may access and review all of the important information contained in the proxy materials. The Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials also instructs you as to how you may submit your proxy via the internet, telephone or by mail. If you received a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials by mail and would like to receive a printed copy of our proxy materials, you should follow the instructions for requesting such materials included in the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials.

It is anticipated that the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials will be mailed to stockholders on or about April 22, 2016.

Who Can Vote. Only holders of record of our common stock at the close of business on April 15, 2016 will be entitled to notice of and to vote at the Meeting. Each of the approximately 31,195,402 shares of our common stock issued and outstanding on that date is entitled to one vote on each matter that comes before the Meeting.

How to Vote — Proxy Instructions. If you are a holder of record of Resource Capital Corp. common stock, you may vote your shares over the Internet, by telephone, by using a traditional proxy card or in person at the Meeting. Refer to the Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials or your proxy or voting instruction card to see which options are available to you and how to use them. Stockholders who hold their shares in “street name” will receive a Notice of Internet Availability of Proxy Materials from the institution that holds their shares and should follow the voting instructions given by that institution.

You may specify whether your shares should be voted for all, some or none of the nominees for director (Proposal 1); and you may further specify whether your shares should be voted for, against or whether you abstain from ratifying the appointment of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 (Proposal 2).

If you do not specify how you want to vote your shares on your proxy card, or you indicate when voting on the Internet or by telephone that you wish to vote as recommended by the Board of Directors, and your shares are not designated as broker non-votes, we will vote them “For” the election of all nominees for director as set forth in Proposal 1 below and “For” ratification of approval of Grant Thornton LLP as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 as set forth in Proposal 2 below.

Broker Non-Votes. A broker “non-vote” occurs when a nominee, such as a bank or broker, holding shares for a beneficial owner, does not vote on a particular proposal because the nominee does not have discretionary voting power for that particular item and has not received instructions from the beneficial


owner. Generally banks and brokers may vote their customers’ shares on proposals considered “routine” and may not vote their customers’ shares on proposals that are not considered “routine” if the customers have not furnished voting instructions within a specified period of time prior to the annual meeting. Proposal 1 described below is not considered a “routine” matter. Proposal 2 described below is considered a “routine” matter.

Revocation of Proxies. If you are a holder of record, you may revoke your proxy at any time before it is exercised in any of three ways:

 

  1) by submitting written notice of revocation to our Secretary;

 

  2) by submitting another proxy by mail that is later dated and properly signed; or

 

  3) by voting in person at the Meeting.

If your shares are held in street name, you must contact your broker or nominee to revoke and vote your proxy.

Quorum. A quorum of stockholders is necessary to hold a valid meeting. A quorum will exist if the holders representing a majority of the votes entitled to be cast by the stockholders at the Meeting are present, in person or by proxy. Broker non-votes and abstentions are counted as present at the Meeting for purposes of determining the existence of a quorum, but since they are neither a vote cast in favor of, nor a vote cast opposing, a proposed action, abstentions and broker non-votes typically will not be counted as a vote cast on any matter, except with respect to matters subject to New York Stock Exchange approval standards where abstentions are deemed to be votes cast for New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, compliance purposes.

Required Vote. Proposal 1. The number of votes required to be elected as a director is dependent on whether an election is contested or uncontested. Our bylaws define an election as contested if there are more candidates for election than the number of directors to be elected. The election described in Proposal 1 below is an uncontested election. In order to be elected as a director in an uncontested election as described in Proposal 1 below, each director is elected by a majority of votes cast with respect to such director nominee at a meeting of stockholders duly called and at which a quorum is present. A “majority of votes cast” means that the number of shares voted “for” a director’s election exceeds 50% of the total number of votes cast with respect to that director’s election. Votes “cast” includes votes “for” and votes “against”, but excludes abstentions and broker non-votes with respect to a director’s election. In the case of any contested election, our bylaws provide that directors shall be elected by a plurality of votes cast at a meeting of stockholders duly called and at which a quorum is present.

Proposal 2. To ratify the appointment of Grant Thornton as our independent registered public accounting firm for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016 as described in Proposal 2 below, the affirmative vote of the holders of at least a majority of the shares present in person or by proxy at the Meeting is required. The number of shares not voted for approval and the number of abstention votes cast will be counted as votes against this proposal.

Other Business. We do not intend to bring any business before the meeting other than that set forth in the Notice of the Annual Meeting and described in this proxy statement. However, if any other business should properly come before the meeting, the persons named in the proxy card intend to vote in accordance with their best judgment on such business and on any matters dealing with the conduct of the meeting pursuant to the discretionary authority granted in the proxy.

Costs. We pay for the preparation and mailing of the Notice of the Annual Meeting and proxy statement. We have also made arrangements with brokerage firms and other custodians, nominees, and fiduciaries for forwarding proxy-soliciting materials to the beneficial owners of our common stock at our expense.

Householding of Proxy Materials. The SEC has adopted rules that permit companies and intermediaries such as brokers to satisfy delivery requirements for proxy statements with respect to two or more stockholders sharing the same address by delivering a single proxy statement addressed to those stockholders. This process, which is commonly referred to as “householding,” potentially provides extra convenience for stockholders and cost savings for companies. If, at any time, you no longer wish to

 

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participate in householding and would prefer to receive a separate proxy statement, or if you are receiving multiple copies of the proxy statement and wish to receive only one, please notify your broker if your shares are held in a brokerage account or us if you hold common stock directly. Requests should be addressed to American Stock Transfer & Trust Company, 6201 15th Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11219, Attention: Shareholder Services Department, or by calling 1-800-937-5449 (718-921-8200 for foreign stockholders). We will promptly furnish a separate copy of the proxy statement upon a written or oral request by a stockholder currently subject to householding.

 

 

SECURITY OWNERSHIP

 

 

The following table sets forth the number and percentage of shares of common stock owned, as of April 15, 2016, by (a) each person who, to our knowledge, is the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of common stock, (b) each of our present directors and director nominees, (c) each of our executive officers and (d) all of our named executive officers and directors as a group. This information is reported in accordance with the beneficial ownership rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission under which a person is deemed to be the beneficial owner of a security if that person has or shares voting power or investment power with respect to such security or has the right to acquire such ownership within 60 days. Shares of common stock issuable pursuant to options or warrants are deemed to be outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of the person or group holding such options or warrants but are not deemed to be outstanding for purposes of computing the percentage of any other person. All shares are adjusted for our one-for-four reverse stock split of our common shares effective August 31, 2015.

 

Executive officers and directors:(1)

   Shares owned      Percentage  

Walter T. Beach (3)(4)

     143,402         *   

Edward E. Cohen (5)

     150,013         *   

Jonathan Z. Cohen (2)(5)

     588,165         1.89

Richard L. Fore (4)

     12,133         *   

William B. Hart (4)

     30,026         *   

Gary Ickowicz (4)

     13,302         *   

Steven J. Kessler

     44,000         *   

Murray S. Levin (4)

     17,151         *   

P. Sherrill Neff (4)

     10,810         *   

Stephanie H. Wiggins (4)

     4,978         *   

Eldron C. Blackwell (2)

     3,341         *   

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom (2)

     67,828         *   

David E. Bloom (2)

     96,028         *   

Jeffrey F. Brotman (2)

     97,872         *   

David J. Bryant (2)

     62,361         *   

All executive officers and directors as a group (15 persons)

     1,266,410         4.06

Other owners of more than 5% of outstanding shares

     

Blackrock, Inc. (6)

     2,526,892         8.10

The Vanguard Group (7)

     2,105,949         6.75

Brian Taylor/Pine River Capital Management, L.P. (8)

     2,064,247         6.62

 

* Less than 1%.
(1) The address for all of our executive officers and directors is c/o Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, New York 10019.
(2) Includes unvested restricted stock as follows: Mr. Blackwell - 2,617 shares; Mr. Blomstrom - 41,591 shares; Mr. Bloom - 26,512 shares; Mr. Brotman - 54,340 shares; Mr. Bryant - 14,644 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 258,212 shares; all of these shares vest 33.3% per year following the date of grant. Each such person has the right to receive distributions on and vote, but not to transfer, all such shares.

 

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(3) Includes 106,958 shares held by Beach Asset Management, LLC, Beach Investment Counsel, Inc. and/or Beach Investment Management, LLC, investment management firms for which Mr. Beach is a principal for themselves or accounts managed by them and for which Mr. Beach possesses investment and/or voting power. The address for these investment management firms is Five Tower Bridge, 300 Barr Harbor Drive, Suite 220, West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania 19428.
(4) Includes (i) 3,710 shares of restricted stock issued to each of Messrs. Beach and Neff on March 8, 2016, which vest on March 8, 2017; (ii) 3,421 shares of restricted stock issued to Mr. Ickowicz on February 1, 2016, which vest on February 1, 2017; (iii) 3,246 shares of restricted stock issued to each of Messrs. Hart and Levin on March 8, 2016, which vest on March 8, 2017; (iv) 3,158 shares of restricted stock issued to Mr. Fore on March 14, 2016, which vest on March 14, 2017; and (v) 2,124 shares of restricted stock issued to Ms. Wiggins on June 8, 2015, which vest on June 8, 2016. Each non-employee director has the right to receive distributions on and vote, but not to transfer, such shares.
(5) Includes 75,000 shares held by a private charitable foundation of which Messrs. E. Cohen and J. Cohen serve as co-trustees. Messrs. E. Cohen and J. Cohen disclaim beneficial ownership of these shares.
(6) This information is based on Form 13G filed with the SEC on January 27, 2016. Blackrock Inc.’s address is 55 East 52nd Street, New York, New York 10022.
(7) This information is based on Form 13G filed with the SEC on February 10, 2016. The Vanguard Group’s address is 100 Vanguard Boulevard, Malvern, Pennsylvania 19355.
(8) This information is based on Form 13G filed with the SEC on February 10, 2016. Mr. Taylor’s and Pine River Capital Management L.P.’s address is 601 Carlson Parkway, 7th Floor, Minnetonka, Minnesota 55305.

The following table sets forth the number and percentage of shares of our Series A preferred stock, Series B preferred stock and Series C preferred stock owned, as of April 15, 2016, by (a) each person who, to our knowledge, is the beneficial owner of more than 5% of the outstanding shares of preferred stock, (b) each of our present directors, (c) each of our executive officers and (d) all of our named executive officers and directors as a group. This information is reported in accordance with the beneficial ownership rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission under which a person is deemed to be the beneficial owner of a security if that person has or shares voting power or investment power with respect to such security or has the right to acquire such ownership within 60 days.

 

Executive officers and directors (1)

   Series A
Preferred
Shares

beneficially
owned
    Percentage     Series B
Preferred
Shares

beneficially
owned
     Percentage     Series C
Preferred
Shares

beneficially
owned
     Percentage  

Walter T. Beach

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Edward E. Cohen

     12,765  (2)      1.19     —           *        —           *   

Jonathan Z. Cohen

     12,765  (2)      1.19     —           *        —           *   

Richard L. Fore

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

William B. Hart

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Gary Ickowicz

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Steven J. Kessler

     2,127        *        —           *        —           *   

Murray S. Levin

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

P. Sherrill Neff

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Stephanie H. Wiggins

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Eldron C. Blackwell

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

David E. Bloom

     —          *        —           *        —           *   

Jeffrey F. Brotman

     2,127        *        1,000         *        —           *   

David J. Bryant

     —          *        2,000         *        —           *   

All executive officers and directors as a group (15 persons)

     21,274        1.99     3,000         *        —           *   

Other owners of more than 5% of outstanding shares

              

2nd Market Capital Advisory Corp. (3)

     —          *        333,697         6.02     —           *   

 

* Less than 1%
(1) The address for all of our executive officers and directors is c/o Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, 12th Floor, New York, New York 10019.
(2) Includes 8,510 shares held by a private charitable foundation of which Messrs. E. Cohen and J. Cohen serve as co-trustees. Messrs. E. Cohen and J. Cohen disclaim beneficial ownership of these shares.
(3) This information is based on Form 13G filed with the SEC on January 28, 2016. 2nd Market Capital Advisory Corp.’s address is 650 N. High Point Road, Madison, Wisconsin 53717.

 

 

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Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

Section 16(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 requires our officers, directors and persons who own more than 10% of a registered class of our equity securities to file reports of ownership and changes in ownership with the SEC and to furnish us with copies of all such reports. Based solely on our review of the reports received by us, we believe that, during fiscal 2015, our officers, directors and greater than ten percent stockholders complied with all applicable filings requirements.

 

 

PROPOSAL 1: ELECTION OF DIRECTORS

 

 

The Board, upon the recommendation of its Nominating and Governance Committee, has nominated Messrs. Walter T. Beach, Edward E. Cohen, Jonathan Z. Cohen, Richard L. Fore, William B. Hart, Gary Ickowicz, Steven J. Kessler, Murray S. Levin, P. Sherrill Neff and Ms. Stephanie H. Wiggins to serve as our directors until the next annual meeting of stockholders or until their respective successors are duly elected and qualified. The stockholders have the right to annually elect all ten director nominees to our Board.

The persons named in the enclosed proxy intend, in the absence of a contrary direction, to vote for Messrs. Beach, E. Cohen, J. Cohen, Fore, Hart, Ickowicz, Kessler, Levin, Neff and Ms. Wiggins. The Board knows of no reason why any nominee would be unable or unwilling to serve, but if any nominee should be unable or unwilling to serve, the proxies will be voted for the election of such other person for director as the Nominating and Governance Committee of the Board may recommend in the place of such nominee. The Board of Directors recommends that stockholders vote “FOR” all of the nominees.

Information is set forth below regarding the principal occupation of each Board nominee. There are no family relationships among the nominees except that Jonathan Z. Cohen, our President and Chief Executive Officer and a director, is a son of Edward E. Cohen, a director and our former Chairman.

Nominees for Election

Walter T. Beach, age 49, has been a director since March 2005. Mr. Beach has been Managing Director of Beach Investment Counsel, Inc., an investment management firm, since 1997. From 1993 to 1997, Mr. Beach was a Senior Analyst and Director of Research at Widmann, Siff and Co., Inc., an investment management firm where, beginning in 1994, he was responsible for the firm’s investment decisions for its principal equity product. Before that he was an associate and financial analyst at Essex Financial Group, a consulting and merchant banking firm, and an analyst at Industry Analysis Group, an industry and economic consulting firm. Mr. Beach has served as a director of The Bancorp, Inc., a publicly-traded (NASDAQ: TBBK) bank holding company, and its subsidiary bank, The Bancorp Bank, since 1999. Mr. Beach also served as a director of Institutional Financial Markets, Inc. and its predecessor, Cohen & Company, a publicly-traded (NYSE MKT: IFMI) financial services company specializing in credit related fixed income investments, from December 2009 to 2013.

Edward E. Cohen, age 77, has been a director since March 2005 and was our Chairman from March 2005 to November 2009. Mr. Cohen is Chairman of Resource America, the corporate parent of our Manager, a position he has held since 1990. He was Resource America’s Chief Executive Officer from 1988 to 2004 and its President from 2000 to 2003. He has been the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Growth Partners GP, LLC, the general partner of Atlas Growth Partners, L.P.,

 

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an emerging growth company in the oil and natural gas industry, since its inception in 2013. Mr. Cohen has been the Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Energy Group, LLC (NYSE: ATLS), an oil and gas company, since February 2015 and President from February 2015 to April 2015, and before that was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer since February 2012. Mr. Cohen has been Executive Chairman of Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ARP), an oil and gas company, since August 2015. Mr. Cohen was the Chairman of the Board of the general partner of Atlas Energy, L.P. (“Atlas Energy”), an oil and gas company, from its formation in January 2006 until February 2011, when he became its Chief Executive Officer and President until its sale to Targa Resources Corp. in February 2015 (the “Atlas Energy Merger”). Mr. Cohen served as the Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Energy’s general partner from its formation in January 2006 in February 2009. Mr. Cohen served on the executive committee of Atlas Energy’s general partners from 2006 until the Atlas Energy Merger in February 2015. Mr. Cohen also the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Energy, Inc. (formerly known as Atlas America, Inc.),an oil and gas company, from its organization in 2000 until February 2011, and also served as President from September 2000 to October 2009. Mr. Cohen was the Executive Chair of the managing board of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC, the general partner of Atlas Pipeline Partners, L.P., a natural gas pipeline company, from its formation in 1999 until February 2015, and was its Chief Executive Officer from 1999 to January 2009. Mr. Cohen was the Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer of Atlas Energy Resources, LLC and its manager, Atlas Energy Management, Inc., from their formation in June 2006 until February 2011.

Jonathan Z. Cohen, age 45, has been our Chief Executive Officer, President and a director since March 2005. Mr. Cohen has been President since 2003, Chief Executive Officer since 2004 and a director since 2002 of Resource America. He was Chief Operating Officer of Resource America from 2002 to 2004, Executive Vice President from 2001 to 2003, and a Senior Vice President from 1999 to 2001. He has been the Executive Vice Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atlas Growth Partners GP, LLC, the general partner of Atlas Growth Partners, L.P., an emerging growth company in the oil and natural gas industry, since its inception in 2013. Mr. Cohen has served as the Executive Chairman of the Board of Directors of Atlas Energy Group, LLC (NYSE: ATLS) since February 2015, and before that was Vice Chairman from February 2012. Mr. Cohen has served as Executive Vice Chairman of Atlas Resource Partners, L.P. (NYSE: ARP) since August 2015. Mr. Cohen served as Executive Chairman of the Board of Atlas Energy, L.P.’s general partner from January 2012 until the Atlas Energy Merger in February 2015. Before that, he served as Chairman of the Board of Atlas Energy’s general partner from February 2011 until January 2012 and as Vice Chairman of the Board of its general partner from its formation in January 2006 until February 2011. Mr. Cohen served as chairman of the executive committee of Atlas Energy’s general partners from 2006 until the Atlas Merger in in February 2015. Mr. Cohen was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Atlas Energy, Inc. from its incorporation in September 2000 until February 2011. Mr. Cohen was the Executive Vice Chair of the managing board of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC from its formation in 1999 until February 2015. Mr. Cohen was the Vice Chairman of the Board of Atlas Energy Resources, LLC and its manager, Atlas Energy Management, Inc., from their formation in June 2006 until February 2011.

Richard L. Fore, age 71, has been a director since March 2013. Mr. Fore has been Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Fore Property Company, a national real estate development company that builds, owns and manages multi-family residences throughout the United States, since 1994. Prior to founding Fore Property Company, he was a partner at Lincoln Property Company. Mr. Fore co-founded the National Multi Housing Council, the leading trade association in the apartment industry, in 1978. He was also appointed to the Presidential Housing Commission by President Reagan. Mr. Fore also served in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development during the Nixon and Ford administrations.

William B. Hart, age 72, has been a director since March 2005. Mr. Hart was Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the National Trust for Historic Preservation from 1999 to 2004. He was also a director of Anthem, Inc. (now Wellpoint, Inc.), a publicly-traded (NYSE: WLP) health insurance company, from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Hart was Director of SIS Bancorp from 1995 to 2000. From 1988 to

 

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1999, Mr. Hart served in various positions with Blue Cross/Blue Shield of New Hampshire, ending as Chairman of the Audit Committee and Chairman of the Board of Directors from 1996 to 1999. He also served as President of the Foundation for the National Capital Region, Washington, DC, from 1993 to 1996 and President of The Dunfey Group, a private investment firm, from 1986 to 1998. From 1986 to 1994 he was a director of First NH Banks where he was Chairman of the Audit Committee from 1992 to 1994.

Gary Ickowicz, age 60, has been a director since February 2007. Mr. Ickowicz has been the Managing Partner of IR Capital LLC, a real estate company that owns and operates real estate assets in the New York Metropolitan area since 2008. He was a Managing Principal of Lazard Freres Real Estate Investors, a manager of funds invested in debt and equity securities of North American real estate assets and enterprises, from 2001 to 2011. He was a director of Lazard Freres’s real estate investment banking unit from 1989 through 2001. Since 2000 he has been a director of Grant Street Settlement, and since 2002 he has been a director of NCC/Neumann, both not-for-profit developers of senior housing. From 2001 to 2011, he was a director of Commonwealth Atlantic Properties, Inc., a privately-held REIT. From 2001 to 2006 he was a director of Kimsouth, Inc., a joint venture with Kimco Realty Corporation, a publicly-traded (NYSE: KIM) REIT.

Steven J. Kessler, age 73, has been our Chairman since November 2009 and was our Senior Vice President-Finance from September 2005 to November 2009 and, before that, served as our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from March 2005 to September 2005. Mr. Kessler has been Executive Vice President of Resource America since 2005 and was Chief Financial Officer from 1997 to December 2009 and Senior Vice President from 1997 to 2005. He was a Trustee of GMH Communities Trust, a then publicly-traded specialty housing REIT, from 2004 to 2008 when it was sold. He was Vice President-Finance and Acquisitions at Kravco Company, a shopping center developer and operator, from 1994 to 1997. From 1983 to 1993 he was employed by Strouse Greenberg & Co., a regional full service real estate company, ending as Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer. Before that, he was a partner at Touche Ross & Co. (now Deloitte & Touche LLP), independent public accountants.

Murray S. Levin, age 73, has been a director since March 2005. Mr. Levin is a senior litigation partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP, a law firm with which he has been associated since 1970. Mr. Levin served as the first American president of the Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (Young Lawyers International Association), headquartered in Western Europe. He is a past president of the American Chapter and a member of the board of governors of the Union Internationale des Avocats (International Association of Lawyers), a Paris-based organization that is the world’s oldest international lawyers association.

P. Sherrill Neff, age 64, has been a director since March 2005. Mr. Neff is a founding partner of Quaker Partners, a health care venture and growth equity fund manager, with which he has been associated since 2002. From 1994 to 2002 he was President and Chief Financial Officer, and from 1994 to 2003, a director of Neose Technologies, Inc., a then publicly-traded life sciences company. Mr. Neff was also a director of The Bancorp, Inc., a publicly traded (NASDAQ: TBBK) bank holding company, from its formation in 1999 until 2002, and a director of Resource America from 1998 to 2005. Mr. Neff is on the boards of directors of three Quaker Partners’ portfolio companies, including Cempra, Inc., a publicly-traded (NASDAQ:CEMP) pharmaceutical company, since 2011 and two other private portfolio companies. Mr. Neff was also a director of Amicus Therapeutics, a publicly-traded (NASDAQ: FOLD) biopharmaceutical company, from 2005 to 2011, and Regado BioSciences, Inc., a publicly traded (NASDAQ: RGDO) biopharmaceutical company, from 2012 until its merger into Tobira BioSciences, a publicly traded (NASDAQ: TBRA) biopharmaceutical company in 2015. Until 2013, he was a member of the board of directors of the National Venture Capital Association.

 

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Stephanie H. Wiggins, age 50, has been a director since June 2013. Ms. Wiggins has been Executive Vice President and Chief Investment Officer for the AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust since 2000. From 1997 to 2000 she served in various positions at Prudential Mortgage Capital Company (formerly WMF Group), culminating as Director and Senior Investment Officer. She previously served as a Senior Underwriter and Review Appraiser at Green Park Financial (currently d/b/a Walker & Dunlop). Ms. Wiggins is a member of the Urban Land Institute Council, National Housing Conference and Mortgage Bankers Association.

The board of directors has not adopted specific minimum qualifications for service on our board, but rather seeks a mixture of skills that are relevant to our business as an externally-managed REIT that focuses primarily upon investments in commercial real estate and commercial finance assets, principally loans and interests in loans. The following presents a brief summary of the attributes of each director that led to the conclusion that he or she should serve as such:

Mr. Beach has extensive experience in finance and investment management and a strong financial background.

Mr. E. Cohen has lengthy experience in real estate and real estate finance (a principal business of Resource America), corporate finance (through the formation and funding of public companies such as Atlas Energy, Atlas America, Atlas Pipeline, and Resource America) and operations of both public and private companies, and is affiliated with the Manager.

Mr. J. Cohen has significant real estate, real estate finance and operational experience as an officer (currently Chief Executive Officer and President) and director of Resource America, and is affiliated with the Manager.

Mr. Fore has extensive experience in, and significant knowledge of, the real estate industry as a founder and principal of a national real estate company. Mr. Fore also has significant government experience, having served in government positions with three Presidential administrations.

Mr. Hart has extensive experience in finance and investment management, both as an officer and director of banks and insurance companies, as well as an officer of a private investment firm.

Mr. Ickowicz has broad real estate and real estate finance experience as a principal in the real estate operations of an international investment bank, as a director of a REIT and as a director of several real estate ventures.

Mr. Kessler has a significant financial and accounting background in real estate as the former Chief Financial Officer of Resource America and, previously, as a principal financial officer for a major operator of commercial real estate.

Mr. Levin has a lengthy and diverse legal background and has practiced complex litigation for over forty years.

Mr. Neff has significant experience in investments, operations and finance as a principal or officer of a venture fund and a public company and, prior thereto, as an investment banker.

Ms. Wiggins has extensive real estate finance experience, including underwriting, originating and valuing income-producing real estate, as an officer of several real estate companies.

Non-Director Executive Officers

Eldron C. Blackwell, age 37, has been our Vice President and Chief Accounting Officer since March 2014. Mr. Blackwell was the Assistant Controller for New Penn Financial, LLC, a residential mortgage lender, from March 2013 to March 2014. From September 2001 to March 2013, he was a Senior Manager in the audit practice of the global accounting firm Grant Thornton LLP.

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom, age 47, has been our Senior Vice President since March 2005. Mr. Blomstrom has been President of Resource Financial Fund Management, Inc., an asset management subsidiary of Resource America, since 2003. Mr. Blomstrom serves on the Advisory Committee to CVC Credit Partners L.P. and is a member of the credit committees of Northport Capital, LLC and Resource

 

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Real Estate Funding, Inc., Resource America’s middle market loan origination and commercial real estate loan origination subsidiaries, respectively. From 2001 to 2003 Mr. Blomstrom was a Managing Director at Cohen and Company, an investment bank specializing in the financial services sector. From 2000 to 2001 he was Senior Vice President of iATMglobal.net, Inc., an ATM software development company. Mr. Blomstrom was, from 1999 to 2000, an associate at Covington & Burling, a law firm, where he focused on mergers and acquisitions and corporate governance.

David E. Bloom, age 51, has been our Senior Vice President-Real Estate Investments since March 2005. Mr. Bloom has been Senior Vice President of Resource America since 2001. He has also been President of Resource Real Estate, Inc., a wholly-owned real estate subsidiary of Resource America, since 2004 and was President of Resource Capital Partners, a wholly-owned real estate subsidiary of Resource America, from 2002 to 2006. From 2001 to 2002 he was President of Resource Properties, a former real estate subsidiary of Resource America. Before that he was Senior Vice President at Colony Capital, LLC, an international real estate opportunity fund, from 1999 to 2001. From 1998 to 1999 he was Director at Sonnenblick-Goldman Company, a real estate investment bank. From 1995 to 1998 he was an attorney at the law firm of Willkie Farr & Gallagher, LLP.

Jeffrey F. Brotman, 52, has been our Executive Vice President since June 2009 and Executive Vice President of Resource America since June 2007. He was co-founder of Ledgewood, P.C. (a Philadelphia-based law firm) and affiliated with the firm from 1992 until June 2007, serving as managing partner from 1995 until March 2006. Mr. Brotman is also a non-active certified public accountant and an Adjunct Professor at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. Mr. Brotman was Chairman of the Board of Directors of TRM Corporation, a then publicly-traded consumer services company, from September 2006 until September 2008 and was its President and Chief Executive Officer from March 2006 through June 2007.

David J. Bryant, age 58, has been our Senior Vice President, Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer since June 2006, and was our Chief Accounting Officer from 2006 to 2014. From 2005 to 2006 Mr. Bryant served as Senior Vice-President, Real Estate Services, at Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust, a publicly-traded (NYSE: PEI) REIT principally engaged in owning, managing, developing and leasing malls and strip centers in the eastern United States. From 2000 to 2005, Mr. Bryant served as PEI’s Senior Vice President-Finance and Treasurer, and was its principal accounting officer. From 1994 to 2000, Mr. Bryant was Vice President-Finance and Controller at PEI and its predecessor, The Rubin Organization. Mr. Bryant is a non-active certified public accountant.

Other Significant Employees

The following sets forth certain information regarding other significant employees of the Manager and Resource America who provide services to us:

Anthony Coniglio, age 47, has been the President of Resource Residential Mortgage, Resource America’s residential mortgage business, since 2013. Mr. Coniglio was the Chief Executive Officer of Elevation Home Loans, LLC, a start-up residential mortgage company, from 2011 to 2013. From 1997 to 2011, he served in various positions at J.P. Morgan, establishing its asset-based conduit platform, running a structured finance business and culminating as co-leader of the specialty finance investment banking group. Prior thereto, Mr. Coniglio worked in operations, treasury and structured finance positions at Canadian Imperial Bank of Canada, or CIBC, from 1993 to 1997. He began his career as a Staff Accountant at Price Waterhouse from 1990 to 1993.

David M. DeSantis, age 39, has been head of middle market lending and Managing Director of Northport Capital, LLC, Resource America’s middle market corporate lending platform, since 2013. From 2007 to 2013, Mr. DeSantis held various roles at Medley Capital, LLC, including Managing Director and leader of the New York based investment team, where he originated, underwrote and managed middle market corporate loans. From 1999 to 2007, he served in various positions at General Electric Capital, culminating as Vice President for GE Global Sponsor Finance, focusing on middle market corporate loan origination, underwriting and asset management.

 

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Thomas C. Elliott, age 43, has been our Senior Vice President-Finance and Operations since September 2006 and, prior to that, was our Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and Treasurer from September 2005 to June 2006. He was our Senior Vice President-Assets and Liabilities Management from June 2005 until September 2005 and, before that, served as our Vice President-Finance from March 2005. Mr. Elliott has been Chief Financial Officer of Resource America since December 2009 and Senior Vice President since 2005. He was Senior Vice President-Finance and Operations of Resource America from 2006 to December 2009; Senior Vice President-Finance from 2005 to 2006 and Vice President-Finance from 2001 to 2005. From 1997 to 2001 Mr. Elliott was a Vice President at Fidelity Leasing, Inc., a former equipment leasing subsidiary of Resource America, where he managed all capital market functions, including the negotiation of all securitizations and credit and banking facilities in the U.S. and Canada. Mr. Elliott also oversaw the financial controls and budgeting departments.

Alan F. Feldman, age 52, has been our Senior Vice President-Real Estate Investments since March 2005. Mr. Feldman has been Chief Executive Officer of Resource Real Estate since 2004 and Senior Vice President of Resource America since 2002. Mr. Feldman was President of Resource Properties from 2002 to 2005. From 1998 to 2002, Mr. Feldman was Vice President at Lazard Freres & Co., an investment banking firm, specializing in real estate mergers and acquisitions, asset and portfolio sales and recapitalization. From 1992 through 1998, Mr. Feldman was Executive Vice President of PREIT-RUBIN, Inc. the management subsidiary of Pennsylvania Real Estate Investment Trust and its predecessor, The Rubin Organization. Before that, from 1990 to 1992, he was a Director at Strouse, Greenberg & Co., a regional full service real estate company.

Kyle Geoghegan, age 47, has been our Senior Vice President-Loan Originations since 2007. Mr. Geoghegan has been a Managing Director of Resource Real Estate Funding, Inc., a real estate subsidiary of Resource America, since July 2006. Mr. Geoghegan co-manages the whole loan origination platform for Resource Real Estate Funding and is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Geoghegan worked at Bear Stearns from January 1998 to May 2006, serving as a Managing Director who co-managed the Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage office in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Geoghegan spent four years as a real estate loan officer at PNC Bank in Philadelphia, PA, primarily originating construction and bridge loans.

David Jansky, age 45, has been President of Resource Capital Markets, Inc., a subsidiary of Resource America, since April 2008. Mr. Jansky was head of Global ABS CDOs in the Structured Credit Products group at J.P. Morgan from 2005 to 2008. Prior thereto, he was an Executive Director at Credit Suisse First Boston from 2002 to 2005. Mr. Jansky was also responsible for structuring CDOs as a Vice President at Deutsche Bank from 1997 to 2000 and as an Associate at Merrill Lynch from 1996 to 1997.

Darryl Myrose, age 42, has been our Senior Vice President-Loan Originations since 2007. Mr. Myrose has been a Managing Director of Resource Real Estate Funding since July 2006. Mr. Myrose co-manages the whole loan origination platform for Resource Real Estate Funding and is based in Los Angeles. Mr. Myrose worked at Bear Stearns from April 1996 to May 2006, serving as a Managing Director who co-managed the Bear Stearns Commercial Mortgage office in Los Angeles. Prior to joining Bear Stearns, Mr. Myrose was employed with Clarion Advisors (formerly Jones Lang Wootton Realty Advisors) where he was an asset management analyst.

Joan M. Sapinsley, age 64, has been our Senior Vice President-CMBS since 2007. Ms. Sapinsley joined Resource Financial Fund Management, Inc. in February 2007 as Managing Director and manages our CMBS portfolio. Prior to joining Resource Financial Fund Management, Ms. Sapinsley was a Managing Director at Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA), where she worked from 1992 through 2006 purchasing CMBS. She was responsible for all single borrower and single asset CMBS, as well as subordinate CMBS and B notes. She also directed TIAA’s conduit origination and securitization activities. Before TIAA, Ms. Sapinsley was a Director in the Financial Services Group of Cushman & Wakefield, a global commercial real estate company, and a real estate consultant at Laventhol & Horwath, an accounting firm.

 

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Michael S. Yecies, age 48, has been our Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since March 2005, Senior Vice President since July 2007 and was our Vice President from March 2005 to July 2007. Mr. Yecies has been Senior Vice President of Resource America since 2005, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary since 1998 and was Vice President from 1998 to 2005. He was Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Atlas Energy, Inc. and its predecessors (a publicly-traded energy company formerly owned by Resource America) from 1998 to 2006 and Chief Legal Officer and Secretary of Atlas Pipeline Partners GP, LLC (a publicly-traded energy company formerly owned by Resource America) from its formation in 1999 to 2006. From 1994 to 1998 he was an attorney at the international law firm of Duane Morris LLP.

 

 

CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

 

 

Our Board of Directors and Its Committees

Our common stock is listed on the NYSE under the symbol “RSO” and we are subject to the NYSE’s listing standards. The Board has determined that each of Messrs. Beach, Fore, Hart, Ickowicz, Levin, Neff and Ms. Wiggins satisfy the requirement for independence set out in Section 303A.02 of the rules of the NYSE and that each of these directors has no material relationship with us (other than being a director and/or a stockholder). In making its independence determinations, the Board sought to identify and analyze all of the facts and circumstances relating to any relationship between a director, his or her immediate family or affiliates and our company and our affiliates and did not rely on categorical standards other than those contained in the NYSE rules.

The Board held a total of 13 meetings during fiscal 2015. Each of the directors attended at least 75% of the meetings of the Board and of the committees on which he or she served during fiscal 2015.

The Board has four standing committees: the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, the Nominating and Governance Committee and the Investment Committee. All of the members of each committee, other than the Investment Committee, are “independent” directors as that term is defined in the NYSE’s listing standards.

As set forth in our Corporate Governance Guidelines and in accordance with NYSE listing standards, the non-management directors have the opportunity to meet in executive sessions quarterly without management. The director who presides at these meetings is rotated. Interested parties wishing to communicate directly with the non-management directors may contact the chairman of the Audit Committee, P. Sherrill Neff, at Quaker BioVentures, Cira Centre, 2929 Arch Street, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104.

Audit Committee. The Audit Committee reviews the scope and effectiveness of audits by the internal and independent accountants, is responsible for the engagement of independent accountants, and reviews the adequacy of our internal financial controls. Members of the committee are Messrs. Neff (Chairman), Beach, Hart and Ms. Wiggins. The Board has determined that each member of the Audit Committee meets the independence standards for Audit Committee members set forth in the NYSE listing standards and in the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and that Messrs. Beach and Neff each qualifies as an “audit committee financial expert” as that term is defined in the NYSE and Exchange Act rules and regulations. The committee held four meetings during fiscal 2015. The Audit Committee charter is available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com, and we will provide a printed copy to any stockholder who requests it.

 

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Compensation Committee. The principal functions of the Compensation Committee are to:

 

    review the compensation payable to our directors;

 

    review the compensation and fees payable to the Manager under our management agreement; and

 

    administer the issuance of any stock or stock options issued to our employees and/or the employees of the Manager or Resource America who perform services for us.

Under our management agreement with the Manager and Resource America, the Manager assumes principal responsibility for managing our affairs and providing the personnel that we need to conduct our operations. The Manager and Resource America are responsible for paying the compensation of all such personnel and, consequently, such personnel do not receive separate compensation from us. However, we reimburse the Manager for all of the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by the Manager to our Chief Financial Officer, who is exclusively dedicated to our operations, 50% of the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by the Manager to our director of investor relations, who is 50% dedicated to our operations, and the proportionate share of the wages, salaries and benefits of other accounting professionals dedicated to our operations and approved by our Board. We also reimburse Resource America for all of the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by Resource America to our Chairman of the Board.

The members of the committee are Messrs. Beach (Chairman), Levin and Neff. The committee held four meetings during fiscal 2015. The Compensation Committee Charter is available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com, and we will provide a printed copy to any stockholder who requests it.

Nominating and Governance Committee. The Nominating and Governance Committee is appointed by the Board to:

 

    assist it and us maintain an effective and knowledgeable Board, including assisting the Board by identifying individuals qualified to become directors and recommending to the Board the director nominees for the next annual meeting of stockholders and the directors to be appointed to the Audit, Compensation and Nominating and Governance Committees; and

 

    develop and recommend for the Board’s consideration governance guidelines for us.

The committee has not adopted specific, minimum qualifications or specific qualities or skills that must be met by a recommended nominee. The committee seeks to insure that the membership of the Board and each committee satisfies all relevant NYSE listing standard requirements, applicable laws and requirements of our governance documents. The committee seeks to achieve a mixture of skills which are all related to our business. The nature of the specific qualifications, qualities or skills that the committee may look for in any particular director nominee is dependent on the qualifications, qualities and skills of the rest of the directors at the time of any vacancy on the Board.

The Nominating and Governance Committee identifies director nominees by first evaluating the current members of the Board willing to continue in service. Current members with skills and experience that are relevant to our business and are willing to continue in service are considered for re-nomination, balancing the value of continuity of service by existing members of the Board with that of obtaining a new perspective. If any member of the Board does not wish to continue in service, if the Nominating and Governance Committee or Board decides not to re-nominate a member for re-election, or if we decide to expand the Board, the committee identifies the desired skills and experience of a new nominee consistent with the nominating and governance committee’s criteria for Board service. Current members of the Board and management are polled for their recommendations. Research may also be performed or third parties retained to identify qualified individuals. To date, we have not engaged third parties to identify or evaluate potential nominees; however, we may in the future choose to do so.

The members of the Nominating and Governance Committee are Messrs. Levin (Chairman), Beach and Hart. The committee held one meeting during fiscal 2015. Our Corporate Governance Guidelines and Nominating and Governance Committee charter are both available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com, and we will provide a printed copy to any stockholder who so requests it.

Stockholder Recommendations for Director Nominees. The Nominating and Governance Committee will consider candidates for nomination as a director recommended by stockholders, directors, officers, third-party search firms and other sources. In evaluating candidates, the committee considers the

 

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attributes of the candidate (including skills, experience, international versus domestic background, diversity, age, and legal and regulatory requirements) and the mixture of skills and experience of the members of the Board, and will review all candidates in the same manner, regardless of the source of the recommendation. The Nominating and Governance Committee does not have a formal policy regarding the consideration of diversity in identifying candidates beyond being committed to ensuring that no person would be excluded from consideration for service as a director of ours as a result of their gender, race, religion, creed, sexual orientation or disability. The committee will consider individuals recommended by stockholders for nomination as a director in accordance with the procedures described under “Stockholder Proposals for the 2017 Annual Meeting.” Recommendations should include the following:

 

    such information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the director candidate is independent from the stockholder that has recommended the candidate;

 

    such information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the director candidate is qualified to serve on the Board; and

 

    such information as may be reasonably necessary to determine whether the director candidate meets the independence standards of the NYSE.

The Board may also request such additional information concerning the proposed nominee as may be reasonably required to determine whether each person recommended by a stockholder meets the criteria discussed above and to enable us to make appropriate disclosures to stockholders.

Investment Committee. The Investment Committee reviews and considers our proposed investments. The Board as a whole reviews and considers our proposed investments equal to or in excess of $45.0 million, and all credit facilities or financing with recourse to us in excess of the amount of equity invested, and is advised of Company investments approved by the Investment Committee equal to or in excess of $30.0 million for informational purposes. The members of the committee are Messrs. J. Cohen (Chairman), Beach, Fore, Ickowicz and Kessler. The committee held twenty meetings during fiscal 2015.

Communication with the Board. The Board has established a process for stockholders to send communications to it. Stockholders may communicate with the Board, or any director or committee chairperson, by writing to such parties in care of Michael S. Yecies, Senior Vice President, Chief Legal Officer and Secretary, Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019. Communications addressed to the Board generally will be forwarded either to the appropriate committee chairperson, all directors or individual directors to whom the communication is addressed. Communications may be submitted confidentially and anonymously. Under certain circumstances, we may be required by law to disclose the information or identity of the person submitting the communication. There were no material actions taken by the Board as a result of communications received during fiscal 2015 from stockholders. Some concerns communicated to the Board also may be referred to our internal auditor or our Chief Legal Officer. The Chairman of the Board or the Chairman of the Audit Committee may direct that concerns be presented to the Audit Committee, or to the full Board, or that they otherwise receive special treatment, including retention of external counsel or other advisors.

Attendance at Annual Meetings. We do not have a formal policy regarding Board member attendance at our annual meeting of stockholders. All of our Board members attended last year’s annual meeting of stockholders and we anticipate that all of them will attend the Meeting.

Board Leadership Structure and Role in Risk Oversight

We have no specific policy with respect to the separation of the offices of Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer. Currently, Steven J. Kessler serves as Chairman of the Board and Jonathan Z. Cohen serves as Chief Executive Officer. The Board believes that our Corporate Governance Guidelines provide it with appropriate flexibility to determine from time to time the leadership structure that best enables us to pursue our business strategies and goals. The Board believes that its current leadership structure is appropriate in that it gives us the benefit of the significant expertise that both Messrs. Kessler and J. Cohen have in finance and real estate, as well as the working relationship they have developed in the past eighteen years.

 

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Risk management, led by our officers and the Board, is a company-wide function that is responsible for an integrated effort to identify, assess and manage risks that may affect our ability to execute on our business strategy and fulfill our business objectives. The Board’s role is to oversee this function. The Audit Committee enhances the Board’s oversight of risk management. The Audit Committee’s role is also one of oversight, recognizing that management is responsible for executing our risk management policies. The Audit Committee’s responsibilities include discussing with management our major financial risk exposures and the steps management has taken to monitor and control such exposures, including our risk assessment and risk management policies. The Audit Committee also discusses guidelines and policies to govern the process by which risk assessment and management is undertaken.

Code of Ethics

We have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics applicable to all directors, officers and employees. We will provide to any person without charge, upon request, a copy of our code of conduct. Any such request should be directed to us as follows: Resource Capital Corp., 712 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10019, Attention: Secretary. Our code of conduct is also available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com. We intend to satisfy the disclosure requirement under Item 5.05 of Form 8-K regarding an amendment to, or waiver from, a provision of this code of conduct by posting such information on our website, unless otherwise required by applicable law or regulation.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

The Compensation Committee consisted of Messrs. Beach, Levin and Neff during fiscal 2015. None of such persons was an officer or employee of ours or any of our subsidiaries or affiliated companies during fiscal 2015 or was formerly an officer or employee of ours. None of our executive officers was a director or executive officer of any entity of which any member of the Compensation Committee was a director or executive officer during fiscal 2015.

Report of the Audit Committee

The Audit Committee has approved the following report.

In connection with its function of overseeing and monitoring Resource Capital Corp.’s financial reporting process, and the filing of Resource Capital Corp.’s annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015, or the annual report, the Audit Committee has:

 

    reviewed and discussed Resource Capital Corp.’s consolidated financial statements to be included in the annual report with Resource Capital Corp.’s management;

 

    discussed with Resource Capital Corp.’s independent registered public accounting firm, Grant Thornton, the matters required to be discussed by the statement on Auditing Standards No. 61, as amended (AICPA, Professional Standards, Vol. 1, AU section 380), as adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, or the PCAOB, in Rule 3200T;

 

    received the written disclosures and the letter from Grant Thornton required by applicable requirements of the PCAOB regarding Grant Thornton’s communications with the audit committee concerning independence, and has discussed with Grant Thornton the independence of Grant Thornton and satisfied itself as to Grant Thornton’s independence; and

 

    recommended to the Board of Directors that the consolidated audited financial statements be included in the annual report.

The Audit Committee has provided this report. This report shall not be deemed incorporated by reference by any general statement incorporating this proxy statement into any filing under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, and the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, except to the extent Resource Capital Corp. specifically incorporates this information by reference, and shall not otherwise be deemed filed under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

 

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The Audit Committee of the Board of Directors:

P. Sherrill Neff, Chairman

Walter T. Beach

William B. Hart

Stephanie H. Wiggins

 

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2015 NON-EMPLOYEE DIRECTOR COMPENSATION

 

 

Our 2015 compensation package for independent directors was comprised of cash (annual retainer) and restricted stock awards. The annual pay package is designed to attract and retain highly-qualified, independent professionals to represent our stockholders. Our compensation package is also designed to create alignment between our directors and our stockholders through the use of equity-based grants. For 2015, the Board approved compensation for each independent director consisting of an annual cash retainer of $65,000 and an annual stock award valued at approximately $35,000 on the date of grant, which is the anniversary of the date each of them became a director. In addition, the members of the Investment Committee, Messrs. Beach, Fore and Ickowicz, received an additional $100,000 in cash, members of the Audit Committee, Messrs. Neff, Beach, Hart and Ms. Wiggins, received an additional $10,000 in cash and members of the Compensation Committee, Messrs. Beach, Levin and Neff received an additional $5,000 in cash. In addition, the chairmen of the Audit Committee and Compensation Committee, Messrs. Neff and Beach, respectively, each received an additional stock award valued at approximately $5,000.

We also reimburse Resource America for all of the wages, salary and benefits established and paid by Resource America to our Chairman of the Board. In fiscal 2015, we reimbursed Resource America $347,923 for Mr. Kessler’s compensation and related business expenses, since Resource America employs Mr. Kessler; Mr. Kessler, however, is dedicated exclusively to us as our Chairman. Mr. Kessler had 2,154 shares of our common stock vest in 2015 and realized $33,632 upon vesting. In addition, Mr. E. Cohen, the Chairman of the Board of Resource America, had 4,245 shares of our common stock vest in 2015 and realized $56,289 upon vesting.

The following table sets forth director compensation for each of our independent directors and the Chairman of the Board of Resource America and the Chairman of our Board of Directors for 2015:

DIRECTOR COMPENSATION TABLE

 

Name (1)

   Fees Earned or 
Paid in Cash ($)
     Stock
Awards ($) (2)
     Total ($)  

Walter T. Beach

     180,000         40,001         220,001   

Richard L. Fore

     165,000         35,013         200,013   

William B. Hart

     75,000         35,006         110,006   

Murray S. Levin

     70,000         35,006         105,006   

P. Sherrill Neff

     80,000         40,001         120,001   

Gary Ickowicz

     165,000         34,998         199,998   

Stephanie H. Wiggins

     75,000         35,004         110,004   

Edward E. Cohen

     —           —           —     

Steven J. Kessler

     347,923         —           347,923   

 

 

(1) Table excludes Mr. J. Cohen, an NEO, whose compensation is set forth in the Summary Compensation Table.
(2) On February 2, 2015, Mr. Ickowicz was granted 1,819 shares valued at $19.24 per share, the closing price on that day. On March 9, 2015, Messrs. Beach and Neff were each granted 2,146 shares and Messrs. Hart and Levin were each granted 1,878 shares valued at $18.64 per share, the closing price on that day. On March 12, 2015, Mr. Fore was granted 1,907 shares valued at $18.36, the closing price on that day. On June 8, 2015, Ms. Wiggins was granted 2,124 shares valued at $16.48 per share, the closing price on that day. All share amounts and common stock prices are adjusted for our one-for-four reverse stock split of our common shares effective August 31, 2015.

 

16


 

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

 

 

We are required to provide information regarding the compensation program in place for our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and the three other most highly-compensated executive officers. In the following discussion, we refer to our Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer and the other three most highly-compensated executive officers whose compensation for fiscal 2015 exceeded $100,000 as our “Named Executive Officers” or “NEOs.”

Objectives of Our Compensation Program

We are externally managed by our Manager pursuant to a management agreement among our Manager, Resource America and us. All of our NEOs are employees of Resource America or our Manager. We have not paid, and do not intend to pay, any cash compensation to our NEOs. We do reimburse Resource America for the wages, salary and benefits paid to our Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Accounting Officer. Our Compensation Committee has, from time to time, granted equity awards in the form of restricted stock, stock options or equity-based performance awards to our NEOs pursuant to our Amended and Restated Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan. These awards are designed to align the interests of our NEOs with those of our stockholders, by correlating their compensation to the performance of our stock and by allowing them to share in the creation of value for our stockholders through stock appreciation and dividends. These equity awards are subject to time-based vesting requirements designed to promote the retention of management, incentivize long term objectives and to achieve strong performance for us. These awards further provide us flexibility in our ability to enable Resource America to attract, motivate and retain talented individuals for our Manager.

Setting Executive Compensation

Our NEOs are employees of Resource America, which determines the base salary, cash incentive compensation and grants of Resource America equity securities that are paid to our NEOs. Since we pay fees to our Manager pursuant to the management agreement, we believe that an unspecified portion of the base salary and cash incentive compensation paid to our NEOs is derived from such fees paid by us. We do not control how such fees are allocated by Resource America. We disclose the cash amounts paid by Resource America to our Chief Financial Officer (for which we reimburse Resource America), our only NEO who devotes his full business time to our affairs, in the Summary Compensation Table below.

When Resource America makes its determination of the amount of compensation it will award to one of our NEOs, including in particular the amount of Resource America securities that Resource America will grant as equity incentive compensation, Resource America also considers, but does not determine or control, the amount of our securities we propose to grant as equity incentive compensation to that NEO. Similarly, in determining the amount of equity incentive compensation we grant to one of our NEOs, our Compensation Committee considers, but does not determine, the compensation that Resource America proposes to grant to that NEO, including Resource America’s grant of Resource America securities as equity incentive compensation. Our respective Compensation Committees base their analyses and determinations upon recommendations submitted by Jonathan Z. Cohen, who is chief executive officer of both companies, for all of our NEOs other than himself. Resource America’s Compensation Committee determines the amount of compensation Resource America will award Mr. J. Cohen, while our Compensation Committee determines the amount of any Resource Capital equity incentive compensation we award to Mr. J. Cohen. These analyses and determinations are not based upon any particular compensation matrix or formula, but instead are based upon qualitative evaluations by Mr. J. Cohen and the Compensation Committee. Our Compensation Committee does not make recommendations to Resource America as to the amount of compensation Resource America grants to our NEOs, nor does Resource America’s Compensation Committee make recommendations to us regarding the amount of equity incentive compensation awarded by us to our NEOs.

 

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Our Compensation Committee operates under a written charter adopted by our Board of Directors, a copy of which is available on our website at www.resourcecapitalcorp.com. Our Compensation Committee determines compensation amounts after the end of our and Resource America’s fiscal year and makes equity awards near or after our and Resource America’s fiscal year end. Awards made after our fiscal year end are reflected in our Summary Compensation Table but not our Grants of Plan-Based Awards table until our following fiscal year. Our Compensation Committee has the discretion to issue equity awards at other times during our fiscal year.

Elements of Our Compensation Program

As described above, our NEOs do not receive cash compensation from us, although beginning in October 2009, we agreed to reimburse Resource America for the wages, salary and benefits of our Chief Financial Officer. In addition, we began reimbursing Resource America for the wages, salary and benefits of our Chairman in February 2010. However, our Compensation Committee has, from time to time, granted equity awards in the form of restricted stock, stock options or equity-based performance awards to our NEOs pursuant to our Amended and Restated Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan as follows:

Stock Options. Stock options provide value to the executive only if our stock price increases after the grants are made. Stock options typically vest 33.3% per year. No stock options have been granted to any of our NEOs since 2006.

Restricted Stock. Restricted stock grants reward stockholder value creation slightly differently than stock options: restricted stock units are impacted by all stock price changes, both increases and decreases. Restricted stock generally vests 33.3% per year and includes a right to receive dividends on unvested shares. Effective August 31, 2015, we completed a one-for-four reverse stock split of our outstanding common stock. All per share amounts and common stock prices shown give retroactive effect to the reverse stock split for all periods presented for comparison purposes.

How We Determined 2015 Compensation

As discussed above, our Compensation Committee believes that it is important for our NEOs, who are employees of Resource America, to remain significantly aligned with the interests of our stockholders. Accordingly, we have traditionally made grants of restricted stock to such NEOs.

For 2015, such stock awards were generally less than stock awards for 2014. The grants will vest 33.33% per year over three years and included dividend equivalent rights. Our Compensation Committee analyzed the management agreement and reviewed how our operating costs compared to other REITs’ operating costs. Our Compensation Committee also considered our growth, complexity and performance. The Committee also considered the amount of our restricted stock that had been granted in recent years. In particular, the Compensation Committee desired to continue to build alignment between key employees of the Manager and our stockholders, provide meaningful incentive for the retention of such key employees and ensure that total compensation paid to the Manager and its employees is consistent with similar companies. For 2015, our Compensation Committee approved the awards discussed below, based upon our performance and the individual performance of our NEOs. Among the factors considered by our Compensation Committee were our growth, distributions to our shareholders and our ability to successfully originate, manage and finance quality investment products. Our Compensation Committee further noted our commercial real estate (CRE) loan originations, completion of two CRE securitizations with outstanding execution, building upon our middle market loan origination platform and positioning us for future growth. Our Compensation Committee considered these stock awards in addition to considering the total compensation that Resource America proposed for our NEOs.

Upon our CEO’s recommendation, other than for himself, our Compensation Committee approved the following awards for fiscal 2015:

 

    Mr. J. Cohen was awarded 19,588 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2015, as compared to 102,670 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2014.

 

    Mr. Blomstrom was awarded 4,897 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2015, as compared to 7,700 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2014.

 

    Mr. Bloom was awarded 17,140 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2015, as compared to 7,700 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2014.

 

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    Mr. Brotman was awarded 14,691 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2015, as compared to 7,700 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2014.

 

    Mr. Bryant was awarded 10,515 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2015, as compared to 5,134 shares of restricted stock for fiscal 2014.

Compensation and Risks

We believe that the risks material to our business are those that derive from broad-based economic trends and specific trends relating to particular loans, assets securing such loans and properties we hold. We do not believe that these risks are materially affected by, or materially arise from our compensation policies, since our compensation is in the form of equity grants which typically vest over time. We believe that this encourages our executives to focus on sustained share price appreciation, rather than short-term results. Moreover, risk behavior is a factor considered in all performance assessments.

Compensation Committee Report

The compensation committee has reviewed and discussed the foregoing Compensation Discussion and Analysis with management and, based on its review and discussions, the compensation committee recommended to the Board of Directors that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this filing.

This report has been provided by the Compensation Committee of the Board of Directors of Resource Capital Corp.

Walter T. Beach, Chairman

Murray S. Levin

P. Sherrill Neff

 

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

 

 

Executive Compensation Summary

The following table sets forth certain information concerning the compensation earned for fiscal years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 and 2013 for our NEOs:

SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

 

Name and Principal Position

   Year      Salary     Bonus     Stock
Awards(2)
     All Other
Compensation(3)
     Total  

Jonathan Z. Cohen

     2015         —          —        $ 199,993         —         $ 199,993   

Chief Executive Officer,

     2014         —          —        $ 1,999,997         —         $ 1,999,997   

President and Director

     2013         —          —        $ 1,249,998         —         $ 1,249,998   

David J. Bryant

     2015       $ 275,000 (1)    $ 300,000 (1)    $ 99,998         —         $ 674,998   

Senior Vice President,

     2014       $ 275,000 (1)    $ 265,000 (1)    $ 99,996         —         $ 639,996   

Chief Financial Officer and Treasurer

     2013       $ 275,000 (1)    $ 287,500 (1)    $ 49,997       $ 12,493       $ 624,990   

Jeffrey F. Brotman

     2015         —          —        $ 149,995         —         $ 149,995   

Executive Vice President

     2014         —          —        $ 149,996         —         $ 149,996   
     2013         —          —        $ 149,996         —         $ 149,996   

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom

     2015         —          —        $ 49,998         —         $ 49,998   

Senior Vice President

     2014         —          —        $ 149,996         —         $ 149,996   
     2013         —          —        $ 149,996         —         $ 149,996   

David E. Bloom

     2015         —          —        $ 174,999         —         $ 174,999   

Senior Vice President–

     2014         —          —        $ 149,996         —         $ 149,996   

Real Estate Investments

     2013         —          —        $ 299,997         —         $ 299,997   

 

(1) Mr. Bryant’s salary and bonus were paid by Resource America. We began to reimburse Resource America for Mr. Bryant’s salary and bonus in October 2009. Amounts represent salary and bonus earned for the years indicated, but may not have been paid in full in the respective years.
(2) Grant date fair value, valued in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification Topic 718 as the closing price of our common stock on the grant date.
(3) Amounts for Mr. Bryant represent awards of Resource America restricted stock earned during 2013. Awards of Resource America restricted stock are valued at the closing price of Resource America common stock on the date of each grant.

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

During 2015, we made restricted stock awards to our NEOs. There were no stock options granted during 2015. The following table sets forth information with respect to each of these awards on a grant-by-grant basis. Dividends are payable on awards of our stock, which vest 33% per year over a three year period after the date of grant.

 

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GRANTS OF PLAN-BASED AWARDS TABLE

 

Name

   Grant date (1)      All other stock awards:
number of shares of
stock (#) (2)
     Grant date fair
value of stock
awards(3)
 

Jonathan Z. Cohen

     2/5/2015         102,670       $ 1,999,997   

David J. Bryant

     2/5/2015         5,134       $ 99,996   

Jeffrey F. Brotman

     2/5/2015         7,700       $ 149,996   

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom

     2/5/2015         7,700       $ 149,996   

David E. Bloom

     2/5/2015         7,700       $ 149,996   

 

(1) These restricted stock awards were granted in 2015, but relate to fiscal 2014 compensation and are included in the summary compensation table.
(2) Does not include shares of restricted stock granted in 2016 as compensation earned for fiscal 2015 as follows: Mr. J. Cohen - 19,588 shares; Mr. Bryant - 10,515 shares; Mr. Blomstrom - 4,897 shares; Mr. Bloom - 17,140 shares; and Mr. Brotman - 14,691 shares.
(3) Based on the closing price of our stock on the grant date.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal Year-End

The following equity awards granted to our NEOs were outstanding as of the end of fiscal 2014:

 

    Restricted stock awards;

 

    Stock options; and

 

    Resource America restricted stock awards allocable to services performed for us.

The following table sets forth information with respect to these awards.

OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCAL YEAR-END TABLE

 

     Option Awards      Stock Awards  

Name

   Number of
securities
underlying
unexercised
options (#)
exercisable
     Number of
securities
underlying
unexercised
options(#)

unexercisable
     Option
exercise
price
     Option
expiration
date
     Number of
shares or
units of stock
that have not
vested (#)
    Market value of
shares or units
of stock that
have not
vested(8)
 

Jonathan Z. Cohen

     —           —           —           —           5,172  (1)    $ 65,995   
                 39,649  (2)    $ 505,921   
                 38,167  (3)    $ 487,011   
                 52,966  (4)    $ 675,846   
                 102,670  (5)    $ 1,310,069   

David J. Bryant

     —           —           —           —           1,413      $ 18,030   
                 5,134      $ 65,510   

(Resource America)

     5,000         —         $ 8.14         5/21/2018         1,814  (6)    $ 11,120  (9) 
                 723  (7)    $ 4,432  (9) 

Jeffrey F. Brotman

     —           —           —           —           2,955  (1)    $ 37,706   
                 22,638  (2)    $ 288,861   
                 6,356  (4)    $ 81,103   
                 7,700  (5)    $ 98,252   

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom

     —           —           —           —           22,638  (2)    $ 288,681   
                 6,356  (4)    $ 81,103   
                 7,700  (5)    $ 98,252   

David E. Bloom

     —           —           —           —           8,475      $ 108,141   
                 7,700      $ 98,252   

 

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(1) These shares of restricted stock were a part of a grant made on January 6, 2012 which provided for vesting at the rate of 33% per year on each anniversary of the grant date. On October 23, 2014, vesting for the remaining unvested shares was deferred until January 2, 2016 as follows: Mr. Brotman - 2,955 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 5,172 shares. On October 8, 2015 vesting for the remaining unvested shares was further deferred until May 15, 2016 as follows: Mr. Brotman - 2,955 shares; Mr. J. Cohen - 5,172 shares.
(2) These shares of restricted stock were a part of a grant made on December 20, 2012 which provided for vesting at the rate of 33% per year on each anniversary of the grant date. On October 23, 2014, vesting for the remaining unvested shares was deferred until December 20, 2015 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 11,319 shares; Mr. Brotman - 11,319 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 19,825 shares, and deferred until January 2, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 11,319 shares; Mr. Brotman - 11,319 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 19,824 shares. On October 8, 2015 vesting for the remaining unvested shares was further deferred until May 15, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 22,638 shares; Mr. Brotman - 22,638 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 39,649 shares.
(3) These shares of restricted stock were a part of a grant made on January 2, 2013 which provided for vesting at the rate of 33% per year on each anniversary of the grant date. On October 23, 2014, vesting for the remaining unvested shares was deferred until January 2, 2016 as follows: Mr. J. Cohen - 38,167 shares. On October 8, 2015 vesting for the remaining unvested shares was further deferred until May 15, 2016 as follows: Mr. J. Cohen - 38,167 shares.
(4) These shares of restricted stock were a part of a grant made on January 30, 2014 which provided for vesting at the rate of 33% per year on each anniversary of the grant date. On October 23, 2014, vesting for the remaining unvested shares was deferred until January 2, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,119 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,119 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 17,656 shares; and deferred until January 30, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,119 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,119 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 17,655 shares; and deferred until January 30, 2017 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,118 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,118 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 17,655 shares. On October 8, 2015 vesting for the remaining unvested shares was further deferred until May 15, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 4,238 shares; Mr. Brotman - 4,238 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 35,311 shares; and deferred until January 30, 2017 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,118 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,118 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 17,655 shares.
(5) These shares of restricted stock were a part of a grant made on February 5, 2015 which provided for vesting at the rate of 33% per year on each anniversary of the grant date. On October 8, 2015, vesting for the remaining shares was deferred until May 15, 2016 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,566 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,566 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 34,223 shares; and deferred until February 5, 2017 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,567 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,567 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 34,223 shares; and deferred until February 5, 2018 as follows: Mr. Blomstrom - 2,567 shares; Mr. Brotman - 2,567 shares; and Mr. J. Cohen - 34,224 shares.
(6) These shares of Resource America restricted stock were a part of a grant made on December 17, 2012 which provided for vesting at the rate of 25% per year on each anniversary of the grant date.
(7) These shares of Resource America restricted stock were a part of a grant made on November 7, 2013 which provided for vesting at the rate of 25% per year on each anniversary of the grant date.
(8) Based on the closing price of our common stock on December 31, 2015 of $12.76.
(9) Based on the closing price of Resource America’s common stock on December 31, 2015 of $6.13.

 

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Option Exercises and Stock Vested

The following table sets forth information regarding restricted stock awards that vested during 2015 for our NEOs. There were no stock options exercised by such officers during 2015.

OPTION EXERCISES AND STOCK VESTED TABLE

 

     Stock Awards  

Name

   Number of Shares
Acquired on
Vesting (#)
     Value Realized on
Vesting(1)
 

Jonathan Z. Cohen

     —           —     

David J. Bryant

     6,366       $ 88,692   

(Resource America stock)

     3,090       $ 17,300   

Jeffrey F. Brotman

     —         $ —     

Jeffrey D. Blomstrom

     1,454       $ 27,800   

David E. Bloom

     17,324       $ 266,709   

 

(1) Represents the per share market value of the respective common stock on the vesting dates multiplied by the number of shares vesting.

Equity Compensation Plan Information

The following table summarizes certain information about our 2005 Stock Incentive Plan and Amended and Restated Omnibus Equity Compensation Plan as of December 31, 2015.

SECURITIES AUTHORIZED FOR ISSUANCE UNDER EQUITY COMPENSATION PLANS

 

     (a)      (b)      (c)  

Plan category

   Number of securities to
be issued upon
exercise of outstanding
options, warrants and
rights
     Weighted-average
exercise price of
outstanding options,
warrants and rights
     Number of securities remaining
available for future issuance
under equity compensation plans
excluding securities reflected in
column (a)
 

Equity compensation plans approved by security holders:

        

Options

     26,250       $ 46.60      

Restricted stock

     653,060         N/A      

Total

     679,310            1,595,545 (1) 

 

(1) We agreed to award certain personnel up to 8,840 shares of restricted stock upon the achievement of certain performance thresholds. The shares, which have been reserved for future issuance under the plans, have not been deducted from the number of securities remaining available for future issuance.

 

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED PARTY TRANSACTIONS

 

 

Relationships and Related Party Transactions

Relationship with Resource America and Certain of its Subsidiaries. Resource America, entities affiliated with it and our executive officers and directors collectively beneficially own 1,981,808 shares of common stock, representing approximately 6.35% of our common stock on a fully-diluted basis. Our executive officers are also officers of our Manager and/or of Resource America or its subsidiaries.

We have entered into a management agreement under which the Manager receives substantial fees. For the year ended December 31, 2015, our Manager, earned base management fees of approximately $12.6 million. There were no incentive management fees earned in 2015. We reimburse the Manager and Resource America for expenses and employees of Resource America who perform legal, accounting, due diligence and other services that outside professionals or consultants would otherwise perform. The management agreement, as amended, also provides that the Manager must furnish us with a director of investor relations who will be 50% dedicated to our operations. We bear the expense of the wages, salaries and benefits of our Chairman, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer and several accounting and tax professionals and 50% of the salary and benefits of the director of investor relations. On November 7, 2013, we entered into another amendment to include the definition of an “Ancillary Operating Subsidiary” which means one or more subsidiaries, including a TRS and its subsidiaries, that are operating entities principally engaged in the evaluation, underwriting, origination, servicing, holding, trading and financing of loans, securities, investments and credit products other than commercial real estate loans. An Ancillary Operating Subsidiary may, with the approval of a majority of the Independent Directors, directly incur and pay all of its own operating costs and expenses, including without limitation, compensation of employees of such Ancillary Operating Subsidiary and reimbursement of any compensation costs incurred by the Manager for personnel principally devoted to such Ancillary Operating Subsidiary. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we reimbursed the Manager $5.5 million.

On November 24, 2010, we entered into an Investment Management Agreement with Resource Capital Markets, Inc., or RCM, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Resource America. The initial agreement provides that: (a) RCM may invest up to $5.0 million of our funds, with the investable amount being adjusted by portfolio gains (losses) and collections, and offset by expenses, taxes and realized management fees, and (b) RCM can earn a management fee in any year that the net profits earned exceed a preferred return. On June 17, 2011, we entered into a revised Investment Management Agreement with RCM which provided an additional $8.0 million of our funds. The management fee is 20% of the amount by which the net profits exceed the preferred return. During the year ended December 31, 2015, RCM did not earn an incentive management fee. The portfolio began a partial liquidation during 2013. We also reimburse RCM for expenses paid on our behalf. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we paid RCM $128,000 as expense reimbursements.

At December 31, 2015, we were indebted to Resource America and the Manager for $2.5 million, comprised of base management fees of $978,000 and expense reimbursements of $1.6 million. At December 31, 2015, we were indebted to RCM, under our Investment Management Agreement for $152,000, comprised entirely of expense reimbursements.

During the year ended December 31, 2013, one of our subsidiaries began originating middle market loans, for which Resource America is paid origination fees. These fees may not exceed 2% of the loan balance for any loan originated.

On November 7, 2013, a wholly-owned subsidiary of ours purchased all of the membership interests in Elevation Home Loans, LLC, a start-up residential mortgage company, from an employee of Resource America for $830,000, paid in the form of 34,165 shares of our restricted common stock. The restricted stock vests in full on November 7, 2016, and includes dividend equivalent rights.

 

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As of December 31, 2015, we had executed eleven securitizations, which were structured for us by the Manager. Under the Management Agreement, the Manager was not separately compensated by us for executing these transactions and is not separately compensated for managing the securitization’s entities and their assets. We have since liquidated three of these securitizations, one in October 2013, one in October 2014, and another in June 2015.

Relationship with LEAF Commercial Capital. Leaf Commercial Capital, or LCC, originated and managed equipment leases and notes on our behalf. On March 5, 2010, we entered into agreements with Lease Equity Appreciation Fund II, L.P., or LEAF II, (an equipment leasing partnership sponsored by LEAF Financial and of which a LEAF Financial subsidiary is the general partner), pursuant to which we provided an $8.0 million credit facility to LEAF II. The credit facility initially had a one year term with interest at 12% per year, payable quarterly, and was secured by all the assets of LEAF II, including its entire ownership interest in LEAF II Receivables Funding. We received a 1% origination fee in connection with establishing the facility. The facility originally matured on March 3, 2011 and was extended until September 3, 2011 with a 1% extension fee paid on the outstanding loan balance. On June 3, 2011, we entered into an amendment to extend the maturity to February 15, 2012 and to decrease the interest rate from 12% to 10% per annum resulting in a troubled-debt restructuring under current accounting guidance. On February 15, 2012, the credit facility was further amended to extend the maturity to February 15, 2013 with a 1% extension fee accrued and added to the amount outstanding. On January 11, 2013, we entered into another amendment to extend the maturity to February 15, 2014 with an additional 1% extension fee accrued and added to the amount outstanding. On December 17, 2013, we entered into another amendment to extend the maturity to February 15, 2015. During the year ended December 31, 2014, we recorded a provision for loan loss on this loan of $1.3 million before extinguishing the loan and bringing direct financing leases in the amount of $2.1 million on our books in lieu of the loan receivable. During the year ended December 31, 2015, we recorded a provision against the value of the direct financing leases in the amount of $465,000. As of December 31, 2015, we held $931,000 of direct financing leases.

On November 16, 2011, we, together with LEAF Financial and LCC, subsidiaries of Resource America, entered into a securities purchase agreement with Eos Partners, L.P., a private investment firm, and its affiliates. In exchange for our prior interest in LCC, we received 31,341 shares of Series A Preferred Stock, 4,872 shares of newly issued 8% Series B Redeemable Preferred Stock and 2,364 shares of newly issued Series D Redeemable Preferred Stock, collectively representing, on a fully-diluted basis, a 27.5% interest in LCC. On January 18, 2013, we entered into another stock purchase agreement with LCC to purchase 3,682 shares of newly issued Series A-1 Preferred Stock for $3.7 million. During 2013, we entered into another stock purchase agreement with LCC to purchase 4,445 shares of newly issued Series E Preferred Stock for $4.4 million. The Series E Preferred Stock has priority over all other classes of preferred stock. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we recorded a equity method allocation of earnings of $2.6 million which was recorded in equity in net earnings of unconsolidated subsidiaries on the consolidated statement of operations. Our investment in LCC had a cost basis of $42.0 million as of December 31, 2015.

Relationship with CVC Credit Partners. On April 17, 2012, Apidos Capital Management, or ACM, a former subsidiary of Resource America, was sold to CVC Credit Partners, LLC, a joint venture entity in which Resource America owns a 24% interest. CVC Credit Partners manages internally and externally originated bank loan assets on our behalf. On February 24, 2011, one of our subsidiaries purchased 100% of the ownership interests in Churchill Pacific Asset Management LLC, or CPAM, from Churchill Financial Holdings LLC for $22.5 million. CPAM subsequently changed its name to RCAM. Through RCAM, we were entitled to collect senior, subordinated and incentive fees related to five CLO issuers, holding approximately $1.9 billion in assets managed by RCAM. RCAM is assisted by CVC Credit Partners in managing these CLOs. CVC Credit Partners is entitled to 10% of all subordinated fees

 

25


and 50% of the incentive fees received by RCAM. For the year ended December 31, 2015, CVC Credit Partners earned subordinated fees of $1.4 million. In October 2012, we purchased 66.6% of the preferred equity in one of the RCAM CDOs. In May 2013, we purchased additional equity in this CLO, increasing our ownership percentage to 68.3%. In 2013 two of the five CLOs were called and the notes were paid down in full. In January 2016 another RCAM-managed CLO was called and $2.4 million on impairment, on a pre-tax basis, was recorded in depreciation and amortization on our consolidated statements of operations on the related intangible asset, as of December 31, 2015.

In May, June and July 2013, we invested $15.0 million in CVC Global Credit Opportunities Fund, L.P., a Delaware limited partnership which generally invests in assets through a master-feeder fund structure. The general partner of the feeder partnership and the master partnership is CVC Global Credit Opportunities Fund GP, LLC, an affiliate of CVC Credit Partners. The investment manager of both partnerships is CVC Credit Partners, LLC. CVC Capital Partners SICAV-FIS, S.A., a Luxembourg company, together with its affiliates, and Resource America, own a majority and a significant minority, respectively, of the investment manager. The feeder fund pays the investment manager a quarterly management fee of 1.5% annually based on the balance of each limited partner’s capital account. Our management fee was waived upon entering the agreement since we are a related party of CVC Credit Partners. For the year ended December 31, 2015, we recorded earnings of $8,000. In March 2015, we elected to withdraw $5.0 million from the fund. In July 2015, a $625,000 withdrawal was requested and received. In October 2015, another $4.0 million was withdrawn from the fund. In December 2015, we elected to withdraw the remaining $8.6 million from the fund. We retained no investment in the fund as of December 31, 2015.

Relationship with Resource Real Estate. Resource Real Estate, a subsidiary of Resource America, originates, finances and manages our commercial real estate loan portfolio, including whole loans, B notes, mezzanine loans, and investments in real estate. We reimburse Resource Real Estate for loan origination costs associated with all loans originated. We had a receivable of $2,500 due from Resource Real Estate for loan origination costs in connection with our commercial real estate loan portfolio as of December 31, 2015.

On December 1, 2009, we purchased a membership interest in RRE VIP Borrower, LLC (an unconsolidated VIE that holds an interest in a real estate joint venture) from Resource America for $2.1 million, its book value. RREM was asset manager of the venture and received a monthly asset management fee equal to 1.0% of the combined investment calculated as of the last calendar day of the month. The last property associated with the joint venture was sold in July 2014. The income recorded in 2015 was due to a liquidation of an existing bank account with respect to the sold properties.

On January 15, 2010, we loaned $2.0 million to Resource Capital Partners, Inc., or RCP, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Resource America, so that it could acquire a 5.0% limited partnership interest in Resource Real Estate Opportunity Fund, L.P., or RRE Opportunity Fund. RCP is the general partner of the RRE Opportunity Fund. The loan is secured by RCP’s partnership interest in the RRE Opportunity Fund. The promissory note bears interest at a fixed rate of 8.0% per annum on the unpaid principal balance. In the event of default, interest will accrue and be payable at a rate of 5.0% in excess of the fixed rate. Interest is payable quarterly. Mandatory principal payments must also be made to the extent distributable cash or other proceeds from the partnership represent a return of RCP’s capital. The loan was set to mature on January 14, 2015, and RCP elected to extend the loan until January 14, 2016. The loan balance was $558,000 at December 31, 2014, which was paid in full in April 2015.

We have closed the following four real estate securitization transactions, which provide financing for commercial real estate loans: RCC CRE Notes 2013, a $307.8 million securitization in December 2013; RCC 2014-CRE2, a $353.9 million securitization on July 30, 2014; RCC 2015-CRE3; a $346.2 million securitization on February 24, 2015; and RCC 2015-CRE4, a $312.9 million securitization on August 18, 2015. With respect to each specialty service mortgage loan, Resource Real Estate receives an amount equal to the product of (a) the Special Servicing Fee Rate, 0.25% per annum, and (b) the

 

26


outstanding principal balance of such Specialty Service Mortgage Loan. The servicing fee is payable monthly, on an asset-by-asset basis. Resource Real Estate agreed to waive its rights to receive the Special Servicing Fee to the extent that we continue to hold the majority equity of the securitizations. We utilize the brokerage services of Resource Securities, Inc. (“Resource Securities”), a wholly-owned broker-dealer subsidiary of Resource America, on a limited basis to conduct some of its asset trades. We paid Resource Securities placement agent fees in connection with each transaction as follows: $205,000, $175,000, $100,000 and $85,000, respectively.

In July 2014, we formed RCM Global Manager to invest in RCM Global, an entity formed to hold a portfolio of structured product securities. We contributed $15.0 million for a 63.8% membership interest in RCM Global. A five member board manages RCM Global, and all actions, including purchases and sales, must be approved by no less than three of the five members of the board. In March and June 2015, we requested and received a proportional, in-kind distribution in certain securities held by RCM Global. The distribution of and subsequent sale of those securities through its subsidiary, RCC Residential, resulted in the realization of $5.0 million of net gains for the year ended December 31, 2015. As a result of these distributions, our ownership interest of the remaining assets decreased to 30.2% as of December 31, 2015.

In September 2014, we contributed $17.5 million to Pelium Capital for an initial ownership interest of 80.4%. Pelium Capital is a specialized credit opportunity fund managed by Resource America. We have committed to contributing an additional $2.5 million into the fund. We will receive 10% of the carried interest in the partnership for the first five years and can increase our interest to 20% if our capital contributions aggregate $40.0 million. Resource America contributed cash of $2.8 million to the formation of Pelium Capital. As of December 31, 2015, we held a 80.2% interest in Pelium Capital.

On April 10, 2015, we entered into two first mortgage bridge loans in the amount of $2.5 million and $3.3 million with two funds sponsored by Resource America, Resource Real Estate Investors LP and Resource Real Estate Investors II, LP. Each loan carried an interest rate of LIBOR plus 5.75% with a LIBOR floor of 0.25%. The loans had a maturity date of May 5, 2016, with two consecutive one-year options to extend upon the first maturity date. The loan in the amount of $2.5 million was repaid in full with interest on April 29, 2015. The second loan in the amount of $3.3 million was repaid in full with interest on July 31, 2015.

On June 24, 2015, we committed up to $50.0 million in Pearlmark Mezzanine Realty Partners IV, L.P. (“Pearlmark Mezz IV L.P.”), a Delaware limited partnership. The contractual fund manager of the fund is Pearlmark Real Estate LLC (“Pearlmark”), a Delaware limited liability company that is 50% owned by Resource America. We will pay Pearlmark Mezz IV L.P management fees of 1.0% on the unfunded committed capital and 1.5% on the invested capital. We are entitled to a management fee rebate of 25% for the first year of the fund. As of December 31, 2015, we are indebted for $94,000 for management fees, net of the rebate. In October, November and December 2015, we contributed an aggregate of $6.9 million in capital to Pearlmark Mezz IV. As of December 31, 2015, we have an investment balance of $6.5 million and a 47.42% ownership interest in the fund. Resource America has agreed that it will credit any such fees paid by us to Pearlmark against the base management fee that we pay to Resource America.

Relationship with Law Firm. Ledgewood is a law firm that has provided legal services to us since our formation. Mr. E. Cohen, who was of counsel to Ledgewood until April 1996, receives certain debt service payments from Ledgewood related to the termination of his affiliation with Ledgewood and its redemption of his interest in the firm. From 1995 until March 2006, Mr. Jeffrey F. Brotman was the managing member of Ledgewood. Mr. Brotman remained of counsel to Ledgewood through June 2007, at which time he became an Executive Vice President of Resource America. In connection with his separation arrangement, Mr. Brotman receives payments from Ledgewood related to the termination of his affiliation with the firm.

 

27


Policies and Procedures Regarding Related Party Transactions

Under our Management Agreement with the Manager and Resource America, we have established written policies regarding the offer of potential investments to us, our acquisition of those investments and the allocation of those investments among other programs managed by the Manager or Resource America. We have also established written policies regarding investing in investment opportunities in which the Manager or Resource America has an interest and regarding investing in any investment fund or CDO structured, co-structured or managed by the Manager or Resource America.

The Manager and Resource America must offer us the right to consider all investments they identify that are within the parameters of our investment strategies and policies. If the Manager and Resource America identify an investment that is appropriate both for us and for one or more other investment programs managed by them, but the amount available is less than the amount sought by all of their investment programs, they will allocate the investment among us and such other investment programs in proportion to the relative amounts of the investment sought by each. If the portion of the investment allocable to a particular investment program would be too small for it to be appropriate for that investment program, either because of economic or market inefficiency, regulatory constraints (such as REIT qualification or exclusion from regulation under the Investment Company Act) or otherwise, that portion will be reallocated among the other investment programs. Investment programs that do not receive an allocation will have preference in future investments where investment programs are seeking more of the investment than is available so that, on an overall basis, each investment program is treated equitably.

To equitably allocate investments that the Manager or Resource America has acquired at varying prices, the Manager and Resource America will allocate the investment so that each investment program will pay approximately the same average price.

The Manager and Resource America may make exceptions to these general policies when other circumstances make application of the policies inequitable or uneconomic.

The Manager has also instituted policies designed to mitigate potential conflicts of interest between it and us, including:

 

    We will not be permitted to invest in any investment fund or CDO structured, co-structured or managed by the Manager or Resource America other than those structured, co-structured or managed on our behalf. The Manager and Resource America will not receive duplicate management fees from any such investment fund or CDO to the extent we invest in it.

 

    We will not be permitted to purchase investments from, or sell investments to, the Manager or Resource America, except that we may purchase investments that have been originated by the Manager or Resource America within 60 days before our investment.

 

    Any transactions between entities managed by the Manager or Resource America and us must be approved by a majority of our independent directors.

Except as described above or provided for in our management agreement with the Manager and Resource America, we have not adopted a policy that expressly prohibits transactions between us or any of our directors, officers, employees, security-holders or affiliates. However, our code of business conduct and ethics prohibits any transaction that involves an actual or potential conflict except for transactions permitted under guidelines which may be adopted by our Board of Directors. No such guidelines have been adopted as of the date of this report. In addition, our Board of Directors may approve a waiver of the code of ethics and business conduct for a specific transaction, which must be reported to our stockholders to the extent required by applicable law or New York Stock Exchange rule.

 

 

PROPOSAL 2: RATIFICATION OF THE APPOINTMENT OF INDEPENDENT

REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

 

 

We are asking our stockholders to ratify the appointment of Grant Thornton, LLP, or Grant Thornton, as our independent registered public accounting firm to audit our financial statements for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. Although approval is not required by our bylaws or otherwise, the

 

28


Board of Directors is submitting the appointment of Grant Thornton to our stockholders for ratification as a matter of good corporate practice. The Audit Committee anticipates engaging Grant Thornton to review our financial statements for fiscal 2016. If the selection of Grant Thornton is not ratified, the Audit Committee will consider whether it is appropriate to select another independent registered public accounting firm. Even if Grant Thornton is approved, the Audit Committee in its discretion may select a different independent registered public accounting firm at any time during the year if it determines that such a change would be in the best interests of us and our stockholders.

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS UNANIMOUSLY RECOMMENDS A VOTE FOR THE RATIFICATION OF THE SELECTION OF GRANT THORNTON TO AUDIT OUR FINANCIAL STATEMENTS FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2016.

We expect that representatives of Grant Thornton will be present at the annual meeting. These representatives will have the opportunity to make a statement if they desire to do so and will be available to respond to appropriate questions.

Principal Accountant Fees and Services

Audit Fees. The aggregate fees billed by our independent auditors, Grant Thornton LLP, for professional services rendered for the audit of our annual financial statements for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 (including a review of internal controls for December 31, 2015 and 2014 as required under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002) and for the reviews of the consolidated financial statements included in our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q during each of the years then ended were $976,000 and $860,000, respectively.

Audit-Related Fees. The aggregate fees billed by Grant Thornton for audit-related services, principally including consulting on accounting issues, for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014 were $159,000 and $93,000, respectively.

Tax Fees. There were $112,000 and $70,500 in fees paid to Grant Thornton for professional services related to tax compliance, tax advice or tax planning for the years ended December 31, 2015 and 2014, respectively.

All Other Fees. We did not incur any fees in 2015 and 2014 for other services not included above.

Audit Committee Pre-Approval Policies and Procedures. The Audit Committee, on at least an annual basis, reviews audit and non-audit services performed by Grant Thornton as well as the fees charged by Grant Thornton for such services. Our policy is that all audit and non-audit services must be pre-approved by the Audit Committee. All of such services and fees were pre-approved during the year ended December 31, 2015.

 

 

STOCKHOLDER PROPOSALS FOR THE 2017 ANNUAL MEETING

 

 

Stockholders who desire to include proposals or director nominations in our 2017 proxy statement must submit such proposals or nominations to our Secretary no later than December 23, 2016. Such items must comply with the eligibility standards promulgated by the SEC.

Also, under our Bylaws, any stockholder who wishes to nominate candidates for election as director or present a proposal at our 2017 annual meeting of stockholders, but not for inclusion in our proxy statement, must deliver written notice to our Secretary no earlier than November 23, 2016 and no later than December 23, 2016. The notice must contain all of the information required by our Bylaws, a copy of which is available upon request from the Secretary.

 

By order of the Board of Directors,
Michael S. Yecies, Secretary
April 22, 2016

 

 

29


ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF

RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

June 2, 2016

GO GREEN

e-Consent makes it easy to go paperless. With e-Consent, you can quickly access your proxy material, statements and other eligible documents online, while reducing costs, clutter and paper waste. Enroll today via www.amstock.com to enjoy online access.

NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIAL:

The proxy statement and our 2015 Annual Report

are available at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy

Please sign, date and mail

your proxy card in the

envelope provided as soon

as possible.

i   Please detach along perforated line and mail in the envelope provided.  i

 

¢     00033333333333301000    5       060216                                     

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF DIRECTORS,
“FOR” PROPOSAL 2 AND “FOR” PROPOSAL 3.

PLEASE SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS SHOWN HERE x

 

This proxy, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner specified above by the named proxies. If no direction is made, this proxy will be voted FOR all nominees listed and FOR the ratification of Grant Thornton LLP for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. If you do not specify how you want to vote your shares on the proposal concerning other business properly brought before the meeting, your votes will be counted as abstentions.

 

PLEASE MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS:

 

        Walter T. Beach

 

        Edward E. Cohen

 

        Jonathan Z. Cohen

 

        Richard L. Fore

 

        William B. Hart

 

        Gary Ickowicz

 

        Steven J. Kessler

 

        Murray S. Levin

 

        P. Sherrill Neff

  

 

FOR

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

  

 

AGAINST

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

  

 

ABSTAIN

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

   

 

 

 

        Stephanie H. Wiggins

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

         

 

 

 

2.

 

  

 

 

PROPOSAL TO RATIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF GRANT THORNTON LLP AS THE INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM FOR RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP. FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2016.

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

           

 

 

 

3.

 

  

 

 

IN THEIR DISCRETION, THE PROXIES ARE AUTHORIZED TO VOTE UPON SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY PROPERLY BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENT THEREOF.

 

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

To change the address on your account, please check the box at right and indicate your new address in the address space above. Please note that changes to the registered name(s) on the account may not be submitted via this method.

 

¨

            
      MARK “X” HERE IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING.    ¨      

 

Signature of Stockholder           Date:               Signature of Stockholder               Date:          

 

        Note:

n

 

Please sign exactly as your name or names appear on this Proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person.

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  RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.  
 

 

PROXY

 

THIS PROXY IS SOLICITED ON BEHALF OF

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS OF RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

 
 

 

The undersigned hereby constitutes and appoints Jonathan Z. Cohen and Michael S. Yecies, or either of them, as and for his proxies, each with the power to appoint such proxy’s substitute, and hereby authorizes them, or either of them, to vote all of the shares of common stock of Resource Capital Corp. held of record by the undersigned on April 15, 2016, at the Annual Meeting of Stockholders of Resource Capital Corp. to be held on Thursday, June 2, 2016 and at any and all adjournments thereof as follows:

 
  (Continued and to be signed on the reverse side.)  
          
n   1.1        14475     n


ANNUAL MEETING OF STOCKHOLDERS OF

RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP.

June 2, 2016

 

 

 

PROXY VOTING INSTRUCTIONS

 

 

 

INTERNET - Access www.voteproxy.com and follow the on-screen instructions or scan the QR code with your smartphone. Have your proxy card available when you access the web page.

TELEPHONE - Call toll-free 1-800-PROXIES (1-800-776-9437) in the United States or 1-718-921-8500 from foreign countries from any touch-tone telephone and follow the instructions. Have your proxy card available when you call.

Vote online/phone until 11:59 PM EST the day before the meeting.

MAIL - Sign, date and mail your proxy card in the envelope provided as soon as possible.

IN PERSON - You may vote your shares in person by attending the Annual Meeting.

GO GREEN - e-Consent makes it easy to go paperless. With e-Consent, you can quickly access your proxy material, statements and other eligible documents online, while reducing costs, clutter and paper waste. Enroll today via www.amstock.com to enjoy online access.

LOGO

 

 

COMPANY NUMBER

 

    

 

ACCOUNT NUMBER

 

    
   
      
 

 

NOTICE OF INTERNET AVAILABILITY OF PROXY MATERIAL:

The proxy statement and our 2015 Annual Report

are available at: http://phx.corporate-ir.net/phoenix.zhtml?c=192004&p=proxy

i   Please detach along perforated line and mail in the envelope provided IF you are not voting via telephone or the Internet.  i

 

¢     00033333333333301000    5       060216                                     

THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS RECOMMENDS A VOTE “FOR” THE ELECTION OF DIRECTORS,
“FOR” PROPOSAL 2 AND “FOR” PROPOSAL 3.

PLEASE SIGN, DATE AND RETURN PROMPTLY IN THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE. PLEASE MARK YOUR VOTE IN BLUE OR BLACK INK AS SHOWN HERE x

 

This proxy, when properly executed, will be voted in the manner specified above by the named proxies. If no direction is made, this proxy will be voted FOR all nominees listed and FOR the ratification of Grant Thornton LLP for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2016. If you do not specify how you want to vote your shares on the proposal concerning other business properly brought before the meeting, your votes will be counted as abstentions.

 

PLEASE MARK, SIGN, DATE AND RETURN THE PROXY CARD PROMPTLY USING THE ENCLOSED ENVELOPE.

     

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1. ELECTION OF DIRECTORS:

 

        Walter T. Beach

 

        Edward E. Cohen

 

        Jonathan Z. Cohen

 

        Richard L. Fore

 

        William B. Hart

 

        Gary Ickowicz

 

        Steven J. Kessler

 

        Murray S. Levin

 

        P. Sherrill Neff

  

 

FOR

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

  

 

AGAINST

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

  

 

ABSTAIN

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

 

¨

   

 

 

 

        Stephanie H. Wiggins

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

         

 

 

 

2.

 

  

 

 

PROPOSAL TO RATIFY THE APPOINTMENT OF GRANT THORNTON LLP AS THE INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM FOR RESOURCE CAPITAL CORP. FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDING DECEMBER 31, 2016.

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

         

 

 

 

3.

 

  

 

 

IN THEIR DISCRETION, THE PROXIES ARE AUTHORIZED TO VOTE UPON SUCH OTHER BUSINESS AS MAY PROPERLY BE BROUGHT BEFORE THE MEETING OR ANY ADJOURNMENT THEREOF.

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

  

 

¨

To change the address on your account, please check the box at right and indicate your new address in the address space above. Please note that changes to the registered name(s) on the account may not be submitted via this method.

 

¨

            
     

 

MARK “X” HERE IF YOU PLAN TO ATTEND THE MEETING.

  

 

¨

     

 

Signature of Stockholder           Date:               Signature of Stockholder               Date:          

 

        Note:

n

 

Please sign exactly as your name or names appear on this Proxy. When shares are held jointly, each holder should sign. When signing as executor, administrator, attorney, trustee or guardian, please give full title as such. If the signer is a corporation, please sign full corporate name by duly authorized officer, giving full title as such. If signer is a partnership, please sign in partnership name by authorized person.

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