1. Organization

ZAIS Group Holdings, Inc. (“ZAIS”) is a holding company conducting substantially all of its operations through ZAIS Group, LLC (“ZAIS Group”), an investment advisory and asset management firm focused on specialized credit which commenced operations in July 1997 and is headquartered in Red Bank, New Jersey and has an office in London. ZAIS Group is a wholly-owned consolidated subsidiary of ZAIS Group Parent, LLC (“ZGP”), a majority-owned consolidated subsidiary of ZAIS. ZGP became the sole member and 100% equity owner of ZAIS Group on March 31, 2014 pursuant to a merger transaction which is described in detail in ZAIS’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) on March 23, 2015 (the “Closing 8-K”). References to the “Company” in these consolidated financial statements refer to ZAIS, together with its consolidated subsidiaries.

ZAIS Group is an investment advisor registered with the SEC under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940 and is also registered with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission as a Commodity Pool Operator and Commodity Trading Advisor. ZAIS Group provides investment advisory and asset management services to private funds, separately managed accounts, structured vehicles and ZAIS Financial Corp. (“ZFC REIT”), a publicly traded mortgage real estate investment trust (collectively, the “ZAIS Managed Entities”). The ZAIS Managed Entities predominantly invest in a variety of specialized credit instruments including bank loans, corporate credit instruments such as collateralized debt obligations (“CDOs”), collateralized loan obligations (together with CDOs referred to as “CLOs”), mortgage loans and various securities and instruments backed by these asset classes. ZAIS Group had approximately $3.991 billion of assets under management (“AUM”) as of March 31, 2016. ZAIS Group also serves as the general partner to certain ZAIS Managed Entities, which are generally organized as pass-through entities for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

The Company’s primary sources of revenues are (i) management fee income, which is based predominantly on the AUM of the ZAIS Managed Entities (ii) incentive income, which is based on the investment performance of the ZAIS Managed Entities and (iii) income of the consolidated ZAIS Managed Entities (the “Consolidated Funds”) which is based on the income generated from the portfolios of the Consolidated Funds, a majority of which is allocated to non-controlling interests in Consolidated Funds. All of the management fee income and incentive income earned by ZAIS Group from the Consolidated Funds is eliminated in consolidation.

On March 20, 2015, ZAIS made a decision to terminate the business operations of its Shanghai subsidiary. ZAIS Group ceased conducting regular business activities in Shanghai and the office is now closed. Final clearance from the relevant government authorities on the plan of liquidation is expected by the middle of 2016.

Recapitalization as a Result of a Business Combination

On October 5, 2012, HF2 Financial Management Inc. (“HF2”) was formed as a blank check company whose objective was to acquire, through a merger, share exchange, asset acquisition, stock purchase, recapitalization, reorganization or similar business combination, one or more businesses or entities. On September 16, 2014, HF2 entered into an Investment Agreement, as defined in the Closing 8-K, with ZGP and the members of ZGP (including Christian Zugel, the former managing member of ZGP and the founder and Chief Investment Officer of ZAIS Group, and certain related parties, collectively, the “ZGP Founder Members”), under which HF2 agreed to contribute cash to ZGP in exchange for newly issued Class A Units of ZGP (“Class A Units”) representing a majority financial interest in ZGP (the “Business Combination”) and to cause the transfer of all of its outstanding shares of Class B Common Stock, par value $0.000001 (the “Class B Common Stock”) to the ZGP Founder Members. The Class B Common Stock has no economic rights and therefore is not considered participating securities for purposes of allocation of consolidated net income (loss).

On March 9, 2015, the stockholders of HF2 approved the Business Combination and the transaction closed on March 17, 2015 (the “Closing”). In connection with the Closing, HF2 changed its name to ZAIS Group Holdings, Inc . The Business Combination is described in detail in ZAIS’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2015 (the "Annual Report on Form 10-K”). Prior to the Closing, HF2 was a shell company with no operations. Upon the Closing, ZAIS became a holding company whose assets primarily consist of an approximate 66.5% interest in its majority-owned subsidiary, ZGP. Prior to the Closing, Christian Zugel served as the managing member of ZGP. Upon the Closing, ZAIS became the managing member of ZGP.