Risk Management and Use of Derivative Financial Instruments

3 Months Ended

Mar. 31, 2016

Derivative Instruments and Hedges, Assets [Abstract]

Risk Management and Use of Derivative Financial Instruments

Risk Management and Use of Derivative Financial Instruments

Risk Management

In the normal course of our ongoing business operations, we encounter economic risk. There are two main components of economic risk that impact us: interest rate risk and market risk. We are primarily subject to interest rate risk on our interest-bearing assets and liabilities, including our Senior Credit Facility (Note 9), at March 31, 2016. Market risk includes changes in the value of our properties and related loans.

Derivative Financial Instruments

When we use derivative instruments, it is generally to reduce our exposure to fluctuations in interest rates. We have not entered into, and do not plan to enter into, financial instruments for trading or speculative purposes. In addition to entering into derivative instruments on our own behalf, we may also be a party to derivative instruments that are embedded in other contracts, which are considered to be derivative instruments. The primary risks related to our use of derivative instruments include a counterparty to a hedging arrangement defaulting on its obligation and a downgrade in the credit quality of a counterparty to such an extent that our ability to sell or assign our side of the hedging transaction is impaired. While we seek to mitigate these risks by entering into hedging arrangements with large financial institutions that we deem to be creditworthy, it is possible that our hedging transactions, which are intended to limit losses, could adversely affect our earnings. Furthermore, if we terminate a hedging arrangement, we may be obligated to pay certain costs, such as transaction or breakage fees. We have established policies and procedures for risk assessment and the approval, reporting and monitoring of derivative financial instrument activities.

We measure derivative instruments at fair value and record them as assets or liabilities, depending on our rights or obligations under the applicable derivative contract. Derivatives that are not designated as hedges must be adjusted to fair value through earnings. For a derivative designated and that qualified as a cash flow hedge, the effective portion of the change in fair value of the derivative is recognized in Other comprehensive loss until the hedged item is recognized in earnings. The ineffective portion of the change in fair value of any derivative is immediately recognized in earnings.

The following table sets forth certain information regarding our derivative instruments on our Consolidated Hotels (in thousands):

Derivatives Designated as Hedging Instruments		Asset Derivatives Fair Value at				Liability Derivatives Fair Value at
	Balance Sheet Location	March 31, 2016		December 31, 2015		March 31, 2016			December 31, 2015
Interest rate swaps	Other assets	$	—	$	109	$	—		$	—
Interest rate caps	Other assets	86		117		—			—
Interest rate swaps	Accounts payable, accrued expenses and other liabilities	—		—		(209		)	(716		)
		$	86	$	226	$	(209	)	$	(716	)

All derivative transactions with an individual counterparty are governed by a master International Swap and Derivatives Association agreement, which can be considered as a master netting arrangement; however, we report all our derivative instruments on a gross basis in our consolidated financial statements. At both March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, no cash collateral had been posted nor received for any of our derivative positions.

We recognized unrealized losses of $1.3 million and $1.7 million in Other comprehensive loss on derivatives in connection with our interest rate swaps during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

We reclassified losses of $0.3 million and $0.4 million from Other comprehensive loss on derivatives into interest expense during the three months ended March 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Amounts reported in Other comprehensive loss related to interest rate swaps will be reclassified to Interest expense as interest payments are made on our variable-rate debt. At March 31, 2016, we estimated that an additional $0.9 million, inclusive of amounts attributable to noncontrolling interests of $0.1 million, will be reclassified as Interest expense during the next 12 months related to our interest rate swaps and caps.

Interest Rate Swaps and Caps

We are exposed to the impact of interest rate changes primarily through our borrowing activities. To limit this exposure, we attempt to obtain mortgage financing on a long-term, fixed-rate basis. However, from time to time, we or our investment partners may obtain variable-rate non-recourse mortgage loans and, as a result, may enter into interest rate swap or cap agreements with counterparties. Interest rate swaps, which effectively convert the variable-rate debt service obligations of a loan to a fixed rate, are agreements in which one party exchanges a stream of interest payments for a counterparty’s stream of cash flow over a specific period. The face amount on which the swaps are based is not exchanged. An interest rate cap limits the effective borrowing rate of variable-rate debt obligations while allowing participants to share in downward shifts in interest rates. Our objective in using these derivatives is to limit our exposure to interest rate movements.

The interest rate swaps and caps that we had outstanding on our Consolidated Hotels at March 31, 2016 were designated as cash flow hedges and are summarized as follows (dollars in thousands): 

	Number of	Face		Fair Value at
Interest Rate Derivatives	Instruments	Amount		March 31, 2016
Interest rate swaps	2	$	69,570	$	(209	)
Interest rate caps	8	304,750		86
				$	(123	)

Credit Risk-Related Contingent Features

We measure our credit exposure on a counterparty basis as the net positive aggregate estimated fair value of our derivatives, net of any collateral received. No collateral was received as of March 31, 2016. At March 31, 2016, our total credit exposure was $0.1 million and the maximum exposure to any single counterparty was less than $0.1 million.

Some of the agreements we have with our derivative counterparties contain cross-default provisions that could trigger a declaration of default on our derivative obligations if we default, or are capable of being declared in default, on certain of our indebtedness. At March 31, 2016, we had not been declared in default on any of our derivative obligations. The estimated fair value of our derivatives in a net liability position was $0.2 million and $0.8 million at March 31, 2016 and December 31, 2015, respectively, which included accrued interest and any nonperformance risk adjustments. If we had breached any of these provisions at either March 31, 2016 or December 31, 2015, we could have been required to settle our obligations under these agreements at their aggregate termination value of $0.2 million and $0.8 million, respectively.