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Investment Securities
 12 Months Ended
Dec. 31, 2021
Investments, Debt and Equity Securities [Abstract]  
Investment Securities Investment Securities
Investment securities were comprised of the following as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 (amounts in thousands):
Carrying Value as of
December 31, 2021December 31, 2020
RMBS, available-for-sale$143,980 $167,349 
RMBS, fair value option (1)250,424 235,997 
CMBS, fair value option (1), (2)1,263,606 1,209,030 
HTM debt securities, amortized cost net of credit loss allowance of $8,610 and $5,675
683,136 538,605 
Equity security, fair value11,624 11,247 
Subtotal—Investment securities
2,352,770 2,162,228 
VIE eliminations (1)(1,491,786)(1,425,570)
Total investment securities$860,984 $736,658 
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(1)Certain fair value option CMBS and RMBS are eliminated in consolidation against VIE liabilities pursuant to ASC 810.
(2)Includes $182.6 million and $179.5 million of non-controlling interests in the consolidated entities which hold certain of these CMBS as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively.
Purchases, sales, principal collections and redemptions for all investment securities were as follows (amounts in thousands):
RMBS,
available-for-sale		RMBS, fair
value option		CMBS, fair
value option		HTM
Securities		Securitization
VIEs (1)		Total
Year Ended December 31, 2021
Purchases$— $168,825 $71,476 $198,358 $(240,301)$198,358 
Sales— 30,684 38,714 — (69,398)— 
Principal collections30,722 63,144 7,732 54,725 (68,873)87,450 
Redemptions— 51,187 — — (51,187)— 
Year Ended December 31, 2020
Purchases/fundings$— $282,368 $49,416 $22,408 $(331,784)$22,408 
Sales— 135,567 37,867 — (165,494)7,940 
Principal collections26,000 44,197 30,079 52,704 (69,447)83,533 
Redemptions— 10,474 — — (10,474)— 
Year Ended December 31, 2019
Purchases $— $120,103 $238,213 $91,162 $(351,220)$98,258 
Sales— 41,501 150,365 — (184,540)7,326 
Principal collections26,929 16,500 40,490 167,383 (45,642)205,660 
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(1)Represents RMBS and CMBS, fair value option amounts eliminated due to our consolidation of securitization VIEs. These amounts are reflected as issuance or repayment of debt of, or distributions from, consolidated VIEs in our consolidated statements of cash flows.
RMBS, Available-for-Sale
The Company classified all of its RMBS not eliminated in consolidation as available-for-sale as of December 31, 2021 and 2020. These RMBS are reported at fair value in the balance sheet with changes in fair value recorded in accumulated other comprehensive income (“AOCI”).
The tables below summarize various attributes of our investments in available-for-sale RMBS as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 (amounts in thousands):
Unrealized Gains or (Losses)
Recognized in AOCI
Amortized
Cost		Credit
Loss
Allowance		Net
Basis		Gross
Unrealized
Gains		Gross
Unrealized
Losses		Net
Fair Value
Adjustment		Fair Value
December 31, 2021
RMBS$103,027 $— $103,027 $41,052 $(99)$40,953 $143,980 
December 31, 2020
RMBS$123,292 $— $123,292 $44,123 $(66)$44,057 $167,349 
Weighted Average Coupon (1)WAL 
(Years) (2)
December 31, 2021
RMBS1.3 %5.3
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(1)Calculated using the December 31, 2021 one-month LIBOR rate of 0.101% for floating rate securities.
(2)Represents the remaining WAL of each respective group of securities as of the balance sheet date. The WAL of each individual security is calculated using projected amounts and projected timing of future principal payments.
As of December 31, 2021, approximately $126.4 million, or 88%, of RMBS were variable rate. We purchased all of the RMBS at a discount, a portion of which is accreted into income over the expected remaining life of the security. The majority of the income from this strategy is earned from the accretion of this accretable discount.
We have engaged a third party manager who specializes in RMBS to execute the trading of RMBS, the cost of which was $0.9 million, $0.8 million and $1.5 million for the years ended December 31, 2021, 2020 and 2019, respectively, recorded as management fees in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.
The following table presents the gross unrealized losses and estimated fair value of any available-for-sale securities that were in an unrealized loss position as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, and for which an allowance for credit losses has not been recorded (amounts in thousands):
Estimated Fair ValueUnrealized Losses
Securities with a
loss less than
12 months		Securities with a
loss greater than
12 months		Securities with a
loss less than
12 months		Securities with a
loss greater than
12 months
As of December 31, 2021
RMBS$2,478 $— $(99)$— 
As of December 31, 2020
RMBS$438 $1,195 $(25)$(41)
As of December 31, 2021 and 2020, there were one and two securities, respectively, with unrealized losses reflected in the table above. After evaluating the securities and recording adjustments for credit losses, we concluded that the remaining unrealized losses reflected above were noncredit-related and would be recovered from the securities’ estimated future cash flows. We considered a number of factors in reaching this conclusion, including that we did not intend to sell the securities, it was not considered more likely than not that we would be forced to sell the securities prior to recovering our amortized cost, and there were no material credit events that would have caused us to otherwise conclude that we would not recover our cost.
Credit losses are calculated by comparing (i) the estimated future cash flows of each security discounted at the yield determined as of the initial acquisition date or, if since revised, as of the last date previously revised, to (ii) our net amortized cost basis. Significant judgment is used in projecting cash flows for our non-agency RMBS. As a result, actual income and/or credit losses could be materially different from what is currently projected and/or reported.
CMBS and RMBS, Fair Value Option
As discussed in the “Fair Value Option” section of Note 2 herein, we elect the fair value option for certain CMBS and RMBS in an effort to eliminate accounting mismatches resulting from the current or potential consolidation of securitization VIEs. As of December 31, 2021, the fair value and unpaid principal balance of CMBS where we have elected the fair value option, excluding the notional value of interest-only securities and before consolidation of securitization VIEs, were $1.3 billion and $2.8 billion, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, the fair value and unpaid principal balance of RMBS where we have elected the fair value option, excluding the notional value of interest-only securities and before consolidation of securitization VIEs, were $250.4 million and $127.4 million, respectively. The $1.5 billion total fair value balance of CMBS and RMBS represents our economic interests in these assets. However, as a result of our consolidation of securitization VIEs, the vast majority of this fair value (all except $22.2 million at December 31, 2021) is eliminated against VIE liabilities before arriving at our GAAP balance for fair value option investment securities.
As of December 31, 2021, $98.2 million of our CMBS were variable rate and none of our RMBS were variable rate.
HTM Debt Securities, Amortized Cost
The table below summarizes our investments in HTM debt securities as of December 31, 2021 and 2020 (amounts in thousands):
Amortized
Cost Basis		Credit Loss
Allowance		Net Carrying
Amount		Gross Unrealized
Holding Gains		Gross Unrealized
Holding Losses		Fair Value
December 31, 2021
CMBS$538,506 $(3,140)$535,366 $195 $(25,029)$510,532 
Preferred interests118,409 (2,562)115,847 450 (2,449)113,848 
Infrastructure bonds34,831 (2,908)31,923 561 — 32,484 
Total$691,746 $(8,610)$683,136 $1,206 $(27,478)$656,864 
December 31, 2020
CMBS$339,059 $— $339,059 $— $(23,286)$315,773 
Preferred interests166,614 (2,749)163,865 432 (913)163,384 
Infrastructure bonds38,607 (2,926)35,681 415 — 36,096 
Total$544,280 $(5,675)$538,605 $847 $(24,199)$515,253 
The following table presents the activity in our credit loss allowance for HTM debt securities (amounts in thousands):
CMBSPreferred
Interests		Infrastructure
Bonds		Total HTM
Credit Loss
Allowance
Year Ended December 31, 2021
Credit loss allowance at December 31, 2020$— $2,749 $2,926 $5,675 
Credit loss provision (reversal), net3,140 (187)(18)2,935 
Credit loss allowance at December 31, 2021$3,140 $2,562 $2,908 $8,610 
The table below summarizes the maturities of our HTM debt securities by type as of December 31, 2021 (amounts in thousands):
CMBSPreferred
Interests		Infrastructure
Bonds		Total
Less than one year$313,960 $90,970 $— $404,930 
One to three years23,000 24,877 — 47,877 
Three to five years198,406 — 807 199,213 
Thereafter— — 31,116 31,116 
Total$535,366 $115,847 $31,923 $683,136 
Equity Security, Fair Value
During 2012, we acquired 9,140,000 ordinary shares from a related-party in Starwood European Real Estate Finance Limited (“SEREF”), a debt fund that is externally managed by an affiliate of our Manager and is listed on the London Stock Exchange. The fair value of the investment remeasured in USD was $11.6 million and $11.2 million as of December 31, 2021 and 2020, respectively. As of December 31, 2021, our shares represent an approximate 2% interest in SEREF.