FIG-2013.12.31-10K

UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K

ý ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2013

or

o TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934

For the transition period from to

Commission File Number: 001-33294

Fortress Investment Group LLC

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Delaware 20-5837959 (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) or organization)

1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10105 (Address of principal executive offices) (Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (212) 798-6100

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (b) of the Act:

Title of each class: Name of exchange on which registered: Class A shares New York Stock Exchange (NYSE)

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12 (g) of the Act: None





Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

x Yes o No





Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

o Yes x No





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days. Yes x No o





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulations S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).

x Yes No o





Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this form 10-K. x

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):





Large accelerated filer x Accelerated filer o Non-accelerated filer o Smaller reporting company o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)





Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes o No x





The aggregate market value of the Class A shares held by non-affiliates as of June 30, 2013 (computed based on the closing price on such date as reported on the NYSE) was $1.53 billion.





Indicate the number of shares outstanding of each of the issuer’s classes of common stock, as of the last practicable date.

Class A shares: 180,192,207 outstanding as of February 25, 2014 .

Class B shares: 249,534,372 outstanding as of February 25, 2014 .





DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Portions of the registrant’s definitive proxy statement for the registrant’s 2014 annual meeting, to be filed within 120 days after the close of the registrant’s fiscal year, are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.





FORTRESS INVESTMENT GROUP LLC

FORM 10-K

INDEX





Set forth below is information about certain terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K:





‘‘Management Fee Paying Assets Under Management,” or “AUM,” refers to the management fee paying assets we manage, including, as applicable, capital we have the right to call from our investors pursuant to their capital commitments to various funds. Our AUM equals the sum of:





(i) the capital commitments or invested capital (or net asset value, "NAV," if lower) of our private equity funds and credit PE funds, depending on which measure management fees are being calculated upon at a given point in time, which in connection with private equity funds raised after March 2006 includes the mark-to-market value of public securities held within the funds,

(ii) the contributed capital of our publicly traded permanent capital vehicles,

(iii) the NAV of our hedge funds, including the Value Recovery Funds and certain advisory engagements which pay fees based on realizations (and on certain managed assets and, in some cases, a fixed fee); and

(iv) the NAV or fair value of our managed accounts, to the extent management fees are charged.





For each of the above, the amounts exclude assets under management for which we charge either no or nominal fees, generally related to our principal investments in funds as well as investments in funds by our principals, directors and employees.





Our calculation of AUM may differ from the calculations of other asset managers and, as a result, this measure may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other asset managers. Our definition of AUM is not based on any definition of assets under management contained in our operating agreement or in any of our Fortress Fund management agreements. Finally, our calculation of AUM differs from the manner in which our affiliates registered with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission report “Regulatory Assets Under Management” on Form ADV and Form PF in various ways. Significantly, Regulatory Assets Under Management, unlike Management Fee Paying Assets Under Management, is not reduced by liabilities or indebtedness associated with assets under management and it includes assets under management and uncalled capital for which Fortress receives no compensation.





“Fortress,” “we,” “us,” “our,” the “company” and the “public company” refer, collectively, to Fortress Investment Group LLC and its subsidiaries, including the Fortress Operating Group (as defined below) and all of its subsidiaries.





“Fortress Funds” and “our funds” refers to the private investment funds, permanent capital vehicles and related managed accounts that we manage. The Fortress Macro Fund is our flagship liquid hedge fund and the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Fund is our flagship credit hedge fund.





“Fortress Operating Group” or “FOG” refers to the limited partnerships and their subsidiaries through which we conduct our business and hold our principal investments. The public company controls the Fortress Operating Group through wholly owned subsidiaries that serve as the general partner of each FOG entity.





Economic interests in each FOG entity are represented by Class A common units and Class B common units. Class A common units are (indirectly) owned by the public company, and Class B common units are owned by the principals (defined below) and, from time to time, one senior employee who owned securities convertible into Class B common units.





The number of outstanding Class A common units equals the number of outstanding Class A shares of the public company. The number of outstanding Class B common units equals the number of outstanding Class B shares of the public company.





“ Fortress Operating Group units ” or “ FOGUs ” is the term we use to refer to the aggregate of one limited partner interest (either a Class A common unit or a Class B common unit, as applicable) in each FOG entity. One FOGU together with one Class B share is convertible into one Class A share. A surrendered Class B common unit automatically converts into a Class A common unit.





“ principals ” or “ Principals ” refers to Peter Briger, Wesley Edens, Randal Nardone and Michael Novogratz, collectively, as well as Robert Kauffman until his retirement in December 2012. The principals control the public company through their ownership of the public company’s Class B shares (together with, from time to time, a senior employee who owned securities convertible into Class B shares). The Class B shares and the Class A shares are each entitled to one vote per share, and the number of Class B shares outstanding represents a majority of the aggregate number of Class B shares and Class A shares outstanding. The Class B shares do not represent an economic interest in the public company and therefore are not entitled to any dividends. The principals own their economic interest in the public company primarily through their direct ownership of FOGUs.









SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS





Some of the statements under Part I, Item 1, “Business,” Part I, Item 1A, “Risk Factors,” Part II, Item 7, “Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations,” Part II, Item 7A, “Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk” and elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K may contain forward-looking statements which reflect our current views with respect to, among other things, future events and financial performance. Readers can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of forward-looking words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of those words or other comparable words. Any forward-looking statements contained in this report are based upon the historical performance of us and our subsidiaries and on our current plans, estimates and expectations. The inclusion of this forward-looking information should not be regarded as a representation by us or any other person that the future plans, estimates or expectations contemplated by us will be achieved. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainties and assumptions relating to our operations, financial results, financial condition, business prospects, growth strategy and liquidity. If one or more of these or other risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove to be incorrect, our actual results may vary materially from those indicated in these statements. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on any forward-looking statements. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive and should be read in conjunction with the other cautionary statements that are included in this report. We do not undertake any obligation to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.





SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING EXHIBITS





In reviewing the agreements included as exhibits to this Annual Report on Form 10‑K, please remember they are included to provide you with information regarding their terms and are not intended to provide any other factual or disclosure information about the Company or the other parties to the agreements. The agreements contain representations and warranties by each of the parties to the applicable agreement. These representations and warranties have been made solely for the benefit of the other parties to the applicable agreement and:

• should not in all instances be treated as categorical statements of fact, but rather as a way of allocating the risk to one of the parties if those statements prove to be inaccurate;

• have been qualified by disclosures that were made to the other party in connection with the negotiation of the applicable agreement, which disclosures are not necessarily reflected in the agreement;

• may apply standards of materiality in a way that is different from what may be viewed as material to you or other investors; and

• were made only as of the date of the applicable agreement or such other date or dates as may be specified in the agreement and are subject to more recent developments.





Accordingly, these representations and warranties may not describe the actual state of affairs as of the date they were made or at any other time. Additional information about the company may be found elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K and the company’s other public filings, which are available without charge through the SEC’s website at http://www.sec.gov . See “Business - Where Readers Can Find Additional Information.”

The company acknowledges that, notwithstanding the inclusion of the foregoing cautionary statements, it is responsible for considering whether additional specific disclosures of material information regarding material contractual provisions are required to make the statements in this report not misleading.













PART I

Item 1. Business.





Fortress Investment Group LLC (NYSE listed under the symbol “FIG”) is a leading, highly diversified global investment management firm with approximately $61.8 billion in AUM as of December 31, 2013 . Fortress applies its deep experience and specialized expertise across a range of investment strategies - private equity, credit, liquid markets and traditional fixed income - on behalf of our over 1,500 institutional clients and private investors worldwide. We earn management fees based on the amount of capital we manage, incentive income based on the performance of our alternative investment funds, and investment income (loss) from our principal investments.





Fortress was founded in 1998 as an asset-based investment management firm with a fundamental philosophy premised on alignment of interests with the investors in our funds. Our managed funds primarily employ absolute return strategies - we strive to have positive returns regardless of the performance of the markets. Investment performance is our cornerstone - as an investment manager, we earn more if our investors earn more. In keeping with our fundamental philosophy, Fortress invests capital in each of its alternative investment businesses. As of December 31, 2013 , Fortress's investments in and commitments to our funds were $1.5 billion, consisting of the net asset value of Fortress's principal investments of $1.3 billion, and unfunded commitments to private equity funds and credit PE funds of $0.2 billion.





As of December 31, 2013 , we had 1,074 asset management employees, including approximately 276 investment professionals, at our headquarters in New York and our affiliate offices around the globe. Additionally, we had 1,250 employees at the senior living properties that we manage (whose compensation expense is reimbursed to us by the owners of the facilities).





We plan to grow our fee paying assets under management and will continue to seek to generate superior risk-adjusted investment returns in our funds over the long term. We are guided by the following key objectives and values:





• introducing new investment products, while remaining focused on, and continuing to grow, our existing lines of business;

• maintaining our disciplined investment process and intensive asset management; and

• adhering to the highest standards of professionalism and integrity.





Recent Developments





• Fortress's board of directors has increased our base quarterly dividend to $0.08 per share, effective for the dividend related to the fourth quarter of 2013, resulting in total dividends of $0.26 per share related to 2013.

• On February 13, 2014, Fortress entered into a purchase agreement with Nomura Investment Managers U.S.A. (“Nomura”) to acquire 60,568,275 Class A shares for an aggregate purchase price of $363.4 million (or $6.00 per share) paid in cash. All of the purchased Class A shares were canceled and ceased to be outstanding.

• On January 24, 2014, Fortress announced that it is launching an affiliated manager platform. The first fund to join the new platform will be the Fortress Asia Macro Funds. Over the course of 2014, the Fortress Asia Macro Funds and a related managed account is expected to transition into being managed by a new asset management business, to be named Graticule Asset Management Asia, L.P. ("Graticule Asset Management"), in which Fortress will have a non-controlling equity interest. Fortress will retain a perpetual minority interest in Graticule Asset Management amounting to 42.5% of earnings during 2014 and declining to approximately 27% of earnings over time. Fortress expects to receive additional fees for providing infrastructure services (technology, back office, and other services) to Graticule Asset Management.

• During 2013 , we raised $6.5 billion of new third-party capital and launched six new funds. As of December 31, 2013 , we had $7.1 billion of capital commitments from investors to our funds that will be included in AUM if called, of which $4.9 billion is in newer vintage funds and is available for general investment purposes. In addition, we had net client inflows in our traditional asset management business of $4.8 billion in 2013 .

• In July 2013, Fortress repaid its promissory note due to a former principal in full, plus accrued interest, and had no outstanding borrowings as of December 31, 2013 .





Key Performance Indicators





As mentioned above, we earn management fees, incentive income, and investment income (loss). From these earnings we pay compensation and other expenses, as well as taxes, to arrive at our net operating performance.

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Net Income and Distributable Earnings





Our net income reflects our operating performance pursuant to generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”). We also use pre-tax distributable earnings, which is a non-GAAP measure, as a measure of our operating performance and to report segment results. For more information on these performance measures, please refer to Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.” Pre-tax distributable earnings is specifically addressed in “Note 11 - Segment Reporting” within those financial statements.





Assets Under Management





Our management fees are typically earned as a percentage of the amount of capital we manage, which is referred to as management fee paying assets under management, or AUM. For more information on our AUM, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Assets Under Management.” For more information on our management fee rates, please refer to Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 3 - Management Agreements and Fortress Funds.”





Fund Performance





Our incentive income is typically earned as a percentage of the profits of our alternative investment funds. In certain cases, we earn incentive income only if a fund’s investments meet specified performance thresholds. We therefore monitor our funds’ proximity to such performance thresholds. For more information on our funds’ performance, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Performance of our Funds.” For more information on our funds’ incentive income terms and their proximity to their various performance thresholds, please refer to Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 3 - Management Agreements and Fortress Funds.” For more information on embedded incentive income, which has not yet been distributed to us by our funds, and the portion thereof that has not yet been recognized in distributable earnings, please refer to Part II, Item 8 "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 11 - Segment Reporting - Embedded Incentive Income."





Investment Performance





The investment income (loss) from our principal investments is recorded currently (i.e., whether or not realized) in net income (loss), generally based on the net asset values of the funds in which we have invested (our “principal investments”). For segment reporting purposes, investment income (loss) is recorded only when income (loss) from a fund investment becomes realized or realizable, as applicable. Therefore, for segment reporting purposes, investment income (loss) does not reflect unrealized gains or losses embedded in certain of our investments. For more information on the investment income (loss) included in net income (loss), please refer to Part II, Item 8 “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 4 - Investments and Fair Value.” For more information on the unrealized gains (losses) currently embedded in our principal investments for segment reporting purposes, please refer to Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Segment Analysis - Principal Investments.”





Our Current Businesses





Our current offering of alternative investment products includes private equity funds, liquid hedge funds and credit funds. In addition, we offer traditional investment products. Private equity funds generally require fund investors to commit capital over a period of time, do not allow redemptions of capital and make long term, relatively illiquid investments. Hedge funds allow periodic contributions and redemptions of capital by investors and make relatively shorter-term, more liquid investments. Our credit funds share certain of the characteristics of both private equity and hedge funds. See Part II, Item 7, "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Understanding the Asset Management Business." We refer to these investment products, collectively, as the Fortress Funds. As of December 31, 2013 , we managed the following businesses:





Private Equity - a business that manages approximately $15.6 billion of AUM comprised of two business segments: (i) general buyout and sector-specific funds focused on control-oriented investments in North America and Western Europe; and (ii) publicly traded permanent capital vehicles that invest in a wide variety of real estate related assets including securities, loans, real estate properties and mortgage servicing related assets.





Liquid Hedge Funds - a business that manages approximately $7.4 billion of AUM. These funds invest globally in fixed income, currency, equity and commodity markets, and related derivatives to capitalize on imbalances in the financial markets. In addition, this segment includes an endowment style fund, which invests in Fortress Funds, funds managed by external managers, and direct investments; and a fund that seeks to generate returns by executing a positively convex investment strategy.

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Credit Funds - a business that manages approximately $13.4 billion of AUM comprised of two business segments: (i) credit hedge funds, which make highly diversified investments in direct lending, corporate debt and securities, portfolios and orphaned assets, real estate and structured finance on a global basis and throughout the capital structure, with a value orientation, as well as non-Fortress originated funds for which Fortress has been retained as manager as part of an advisory business; and (ii) credit private equity (“PE”) funds which are comprised of a family of “credit opportunities” funds focused on investing in distressed and undervalued assets, a family of ‘‘long dated value’’ funds focused on investing in undervalued assets with limited current cash flows and long investment horizons, a family of “real assets” funds focused on investing in tangible and intangible assets in four principal categories (real estate, capital assets, natural resources and intellectual property), a family of Asia funds, including Japan real estate funds and an Asian investor based global opportunities fund, and a family of real estate opportunities funds, as well as certain sector-specific funds with narrower investment mandates tailored for the applicable sector.





Logan Circle - our traditional asset management business, which has approximately $25.4 billion of AUM, provides institutional clients actively managed investment solutions across a broad spectrum of fixed income and growth equity strategies. Logan Circle's core fixed income products cover the breadth of the maturity and risk spectrums, including short, intermediate and long duration, core/core plus, investment grade credit, high yield and emerging market debt. In April 2013, Logan Circle launched a growth equities investment business focused on investing and managing concentrated portfolios of publicly traded U.S. equities.





In addition, we treat our principal investments in these funds as a distinct business segment.





Principal Sources of Revenue





The following table provides our management fees and incentive income, on a segment reporting basis, from each of our core businesses for the previous three fiscal years (in thousands):

2013 2012 2011 Private Equity Funds Management Fees $ 136,406

$ 119,492

$ 131,898

Incentive Income (A) 13,738

10,993

(1,748 ) Permanent Capital Vehicles Management Fees 58,970

56,255

53,357

Incentive Income 17,574

242

—

Liquid Hedge Funds Management Fees 110,622

77,531

108,873

Incentive Income 150,700

67,645

3,787

Credit Funds Hedge Funds Management Fees 101,890

101,194

121,835

Incentive Income 190,846

130,305

78,460

PE Funds Management Fees 95,925

98,393

73,273

Incentive Income (A) 120,137

68,568

117,598

Logan Circle Management Fees 35,833

26,796

20,050



(A) Net of reserves for future clawback, as applicable.





Certain of our segments are comprised of, and dependent on the performance of, a limited number of Fortress Funds. Each of these funds is material to the results of operations of its segment and the loss of any of these funds would have a material adverse impact on the segment. Moreover, the revenues we earned from certain funds individually exceeded 10% of our total revenues for each of the periods presented. For additional information regarding our segments, the information presented above, our total assets and our distributable earnings (as defined below), please see Part II, Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations-Segment Analysis” and Part II, Item 8, “Financial Statements and Supplementary Data.”

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Private Equity Funds





Fortress Investment Funds





Our private equity business is comprised of (i) a series of diversified funds referred to as the “Fortress Investment Funds” and organized to make control-oriented investments in cash flow generating, asset-based businesses in North America and Western Europe and (ii) various sector focused funds organized to invest in specific opportunities in sectors where Fortress has proven expertise. Sector focused funds include: Worldwide Transportation & Infrastructure Investors, the MSR Opportunities Funds and the Italian NPL Opportunities Fund. Investors in our private equity funds contractually commit capital at the outset of a fund, which is then drawn down as investment opportunities become available, generally over a two to three year investment period. Proceeds are returned to investors as investments are realized, generally over eight to ten years. Management fees between 1.0% and 1.5% are generally charged on committed or invested capital (or NAV, if lower). We also generally earn between 10% and 20% of the profits on each realized investment in a fund - our incentive income - subject to the fund's achieving a minimum return as a whole, that is, taking into account all gains and losses on all investments in the fund.





Permanent Capital Vehicles





As of December 31, 2013, we managed three publicly traded permanent capital vehicles: Newcastle Investment Corp. ("Newcastle"; NYSE: NCT), New Residential Investment Corp. ("New Residential"; NYSE: NRZ) and Eurocastle Investment Limited ("Eurocastle"; Euronext, Amsterdam: ECT). These permanent capital vehicles were raised with broad investment mandates to make investments in a wide variety of real estate related assets, including securities, loans and real estate properties. Pursuant to our management agreements, we earn management fees from each permanent capital vehicle equal to 1.5% of the company's equity (as defined in such agreements). In addition, we earn incentive income equal to 25% of the company's applicable supplemental measure of operating performance, in excess of specified returns to the company's shareholders. In addition to these fees, we also receive, for services provided, options to purchase shares of their common stock in connection with each of their common stock offerings.





Fortress has a senior living property management subsidiary and has agreements to manage 17 senior living properties, including 15 which are owned by Newcastle and two which are owned by third parties. Fortress receives management fees of between 6.0% and 7.0% of revenues (as defined in the agreements).





Liquid Hedge Funds





Overview





The liquid hedge funds, which invest daily in markets around the globe, seek to exploit opportunities in global currency, interest rate, equity and commodity markets and their related derivatives. Investment opportunities are evaluated and rated on a thematic and an individual basis to determine appropriate risk-reward and capital allocations.





Fortress Macro Funds





The Fortress Macro Funds, and related managed accounts, apply an investment process based on macroeconomic fundamental, market momentum and technical analysis to identify strategies offering a favorable risk-return profile. The funds' investment strategies are premised on the belief that imbalances in various financial markets are created from time to time by the influence of economic, political and capital flow factors. Directional and relative value strategies are applied to exploit these conditions. The funds have the flexibility to allocate capital dynamically across a wide range of global strategies, markets and instruments as opportunities change, and are designed to take advantage of a wide variety of sources of market, economic and pricing data to generate trading ideas.





The funds invest primarily in major developed markets; they also invest in emerging markets if market conditions present opportunities for attractive returns. Overall, the funds pursue global macro directional and relative value strategies, although capital is allocated within the funds to particular strategies to provide incremental returns and diversity.





Management fees are charged based on the AUM of the Fortress Macro Funds and related managed accounts at a rate between 1.5% and 2.0% annually, depending on the investment and liquidity terms elected by investors. We generally earn incentive income of between 15% and 25% of the fund's profits, generally payable annually, depending on the investment and liquidity terms elected by investors, and subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment. In other words, an incentive income payment establishes a “high water mark” such that the fund must earn a cumulative positive return from that point forward in order for Fortress to earn incentive income. Investors in the Fortress Macro Funds and related managed accounts

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may invest with the right to redeem without paying any redemption fee either monthly, quarterly, or annually after three years. Some investors with three-year liquidity may redeem annually before three years, subject to an early redemption fee payable to the funds.





Fortress Asia Macro Funds





The Fortress Asia Macro Funds and related managed account invest in global fixed income, commodities, currency and equity markets, and their related derivatives, thematically related to the Asia-Pacific region through a fundamental macroeconomic strategy that focuses on liquid investments. Their investment program focuses on global trading and capital flows that affect one or more of the Asian countries and/or are affected by them and the region as a whole. Management fee rates for these funds range from 1.5% to 2.0% and we earn incentive income generally between 20% and 25% of their profits, subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment. Over the course of 2014, the Fortress Asia Macro Funds and related managed account are expected to transition into being managed by a new asset management business in which Fortress will retain a non-controlling equity interest. See " - Recent Developments" and Part II, Item 8, "Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 12 - Subsequent Events."





Fortress Partners Funds





The Fortress Partners Funds invest with a broad mandate, similar to endowment portfolios of large universities. Investments are made both in Fortress Funds and in funds managed by other managers, and in direct investments that are sourced either by Fortress personnel or by third parties with whom we have relationships. Our endowment strategy funds are designed to blend our direct bottom up investing style with third party managers to create excellent risk adjusted returns with an emphasis on capital preservation. Management fee rates for these funds range from 1.0% to 1.5% and we earn incentive income generally equal to 20% of the profits from direct investments only, subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment.





Convex Asia Funds





The Convex Asia Funds’ principal investment objective is to generate a superior total return on its capital over multi-year market cycles by executing a positively convex investment strategy in the Asia-Pacific fixed income, commodities, currency, credit and equity markets, and their related derivatives or similar markets globally that are thematically related to the Asia-Pacific region. The management fee rate for these funds is 1.25% and we earn incentive income of 18% of their profits, subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment.





Credit Funds





Credit Hedge Funds





Our credit hedge funds are designed to exploit pricing anomalies that exist between the public and private finance markets. These investment opportunities are often found outside the traditional broker-dealer mediated channels in which investments that are efficiently priced and intermediated by large financial institutions are typically presented to the private investment fund community. We have developed a proprietary network comprised of internal and external resources to source transactions for the funds.





The funds are able to invest in a wide array of financial instruments, ranging from direct lending, corporate debt and securities, portfolios and orphaned assets, real estate and structured finance on a global basis and throughout the capital structure with a value orientation. All of these investments are based on fundamental bottom up analysis and are typically event driven. The funds' diverse and situation-specific investments require significant infrastructure and asset management experience to fully realize value. We have developed a substantial asset management infrastructure with expertise in managing the funds' investments in order to be able to maximize the net present value of investments on a monthly basis. In addition to the funds noted below, Fortress has been retained as a manager of certain non-Fortress originated funds as part of an advisory business that forms part of the credit hedge funds business.





Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds





The Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds form the core of our credit hedge fund investing strategy. The funds opportunistically acquire a diversified portfolio of investments primarily throughout the United States, Western Europe and the Pacific region. The funds' investment program incorporates complementary investment strategies, focusing on direct lending, corporate debt and securities, portfolios and orphaned assets, real estate and structured finance. The majority of the funds’ investments are relatively illiquid, and the funds generally make investments that are expected to liquidate or be realized within a five year period.

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Management fees are charged based on the AUM of the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds at a rate generally equal to 2.0% annually. We generally earn incentive income of 20% of the fund's profits, payable annually, and subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment. Investors in the Drawbridge Special Opportunities Funds may redeem annually on December 31. Because of the illiquid nature of the funds' investments, rather than paying out redemption requests immediately, the fund may elect to pay out redeeming investors as and when the particular investments held by the fund at the time of redemption are realized.





Worden Funds





The Worden Funds invest in a diversified portfolio of undervalued and distressed investments primarily in North America and Western Europe, but also in Australia, Asia and elsewhere on an opportunistic basis. These funds seek to achieve their investment objectives primarily through investments in loans and asset-based investments, including portfolios of consumer and commercial receivables and asset-backed financial instruments of undervalued or financially troubled companies. Management fees of 1.75% to 2.0% are generally charged based on the AUM of the Worden Funds. We earn incentive income of 20% of the funds’ profits, payable annually, subject to achieving cumulative positive returns since the prior incentive income payment.





Japan Income Fund





We launched the Japan Income Fund in December 2013 to invest in a diversified portfolio consisting primarily of long-term, stable, income-generating assets in Japan. The fund primarily targets investments in real estate subject to long-term leases, capital assets and renewable energy projects. The fund is structured as an open ended fund with periodic subscription and redemption rights. A management fee rate of 1.0% is charged on the AUM of the Japan Income Fund, as well as acquisition and disposition fees. We will earn incentive income of 20% on the fund's distributions in excess of a 4% dividend yield.





Credit PE Funds





Our credit PE funds are primarily comprised of families of funds as described below, as well as certain sector-specific funds with narrower investment mandates tailored for the applicable sector. They generally have management fee rates between 1.0% and 1.5% and generate incentive income of between 10% and 20% of a fund’s profits subject to the fund achieving a minimum return as a whole.





Credit Opportunities Funds





Fortress established the Fortress Credit Opportunities Funds to make opportunistic credit-related investments. Their investment objective is to generate significant current income and long-term capital appreciation through investments in a range of distressed and undervalued credit investments, including but not limited to residential loans and securities, commercial mortgage loans and securities, opportunistic corporate loans and securities, and other consumer or commercial assets and asset-backed securities.





Long Dated Value Funds





The Long Dated Value family of funds was established to focus on making investments with long dated cash flows that may be undervalued because of the lack of current cash flows or because the investment is encumbered by a long term lease or financing. We believe that these investments provide the potential for significant capital appreciation over the long term. The Long Dated Value Funds have an investment life of 25 years, reflecting the funds' longer-term investment profiles. In addition, incentive income is distributed to us after all of a fund's invested capital has been returned, rather than as each investment is realized.





Real Assets Funds





Fortress established the Real Assets Funds seeking to generate superior risk adjusted returns by opportunistically investing in tangible and intangible assets with the potential to achieve significant value generally within a three-to-ten year time horizon. The investment program of these funds focuses on direct investments in four principal investment categories: real estate, capital assets, natural resources and intellectual property. The funds may also make indirect investments in the form of interests in real estate investment trusts ("REITs"), master limited partnerships, corporate securities, debt securities and debt obligations, including those that provide equity upside, as well as options, royalties, residuals and other call rights that provide these funds with the potential for significant capital appreciation. The investments are located primarily in North America and Western Europe, but may also include opportunities in Australia, Asia and elsewhere on an opportunistic basis.





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Asia Funds





We launched the Fortress Japan Opportunity Funds in 2009 to take advantage of the significant distressed opportunities that had emerged in Japan similar to those witnessed after the 1997 Asian financial crisis. The funds primarily invest in certain Japanese real estate-related performing, sub-performing and non-performing loans, securities and similar instruments. In addition, we launched the Fortress Global Opportunities (Yen) Fund in the second half of 2010 to make opportunistic investments in distressed and undervalued credits for investors that wish to invest in a Yen denominated fund. This fund invests primarily in North America and Western Europe, but may also invest in Australia, Asia and elsewhere on an opportunistic basis.





Real Estate Opportunities Funds





Fortress established the Real Estate Opportunities Funds primarily to make opportunistic commercial real estate investments. The investment objective of the funds is to generate superior risk adjusted returns by opportunistically investing in commercial real estate and real estate-related (collectively, "CRE") assets, equity investments, loans, securities, and other investments that we believe have the potential to achieve significant total returns generally within a three-to-seven year time horizon. The funds intend to make value-oriented investments throughout the capital structure of CRE assets.





Logan Circle





Logan Circle primarily provides traditional separate account investment management services to institutional clients, including corporate entities, pension plans, mutual funds, private funds, and foundations, as well as public and government entities. Logan Circle also provides investment advisory services to private funds that are sponsored or managed by Logan Circle or its affiliates. Management fee rates average 0.16% of AUM and may be tiered based on the amount of AUM of the account.





Competition





The investment management industry is intensely competitive, and we expect the competition may intensify in the future. We face competition in the pursuit of outside investors for our investment funds, acquiring investments in attractive portfolio companies, divesting our investments and other investment opportunities. Competition is based on a number of factors, including: investment performance; investor perception of investment managers' drive, focus and alignment of interest; terms of investment, including the level of fees and expenses charged for services; our actual or perceived financial condition, liquidity and stability; the quality and mix of services provided to, and the duration of relationships with, investors; and our business reputation. Depending on the investment, we expect to face competition primarily from other investment management firms, private equity funds, hedge funds, other financial institutions, sovereign wealth funds, corporate buyers and other parties. Many of our competitors are substantially larger and may have greater financial and technical resources than we possess. Several of these competitors have recently raised, or are expected to raise, significant amounts of capital and many of them have similar investment objectives to us, which may create additional competition for investment opportunities. Some of these competitors may also have a lower cost of capital and access to funding sources that are not available to us, which may create competitive disadvantages for us with respect to investment opportunities. Some of these competitors may have higher risk tolerances, make different risk assessments or have lower return thresholds, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments, bid more aggressively than we bid for investments that we want to make or accept legal or regulatory limitations or risks we would be unable or unwilling to accept. Corporate buyers may be able to achieve synergistic cost savings with regard to an investment that may provide them with a competitive advantage relative to us when bidding for an investment. Moreover, an increase in the allocation of capital to alternative investment strategies by institutional and individual investors could lead to a reduction in the size and duration of pricing inefficiencies that many of our investment funds seek to exploit. Alternatively, a decrease in the allocation of capital to alternative investments strategies could intensify competition for that capital and lead to fee reductions and redemptions, as well as difficulty in raising new capital. Lastly, the market for qualified investment professionals is intensely competitive. Our ability to continue to compete effectively will also depend upon our ability to attract, retain and motivate our employees.





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Structure





The diagram below depicts our organizational structure as of December 31, 2013 .

(1) The principals generally hold almost all of the Class B shares, which represent approximately 50.9% of the total combined voting power (i.e., combined voting power of Class A shares and Class B shares) in Fortress Investment Group LLC. The Class B shares are held by the principals and one senior employee. The Class B shares have no economic interest in Fortress Investment Group LLC.

(2) Represents approximately 49.1% of the limited partner interests (Class A Common Units) and a 100% general partner interest in each of the Operating Entities and in Principal Holdings. We refer to a collection of one limited partner interest in each such entity as a Fortress Operating Group unit, or FOGU.

(3) FOGU is the term we use to refer to a collection of one limited partner interest in each Fortress Operating Group entity. Represents approximately 50.9% of the limited partner interests (Class B Common Units) in each of the Operating Entities and in Principal Holdings.

(4) Excludes the effect of equity interests to be granted under our equity incentive plan to employees and directors.





Subsequent to Fortress's repurchase from Nomura and cancellation of 60,568,275 Class A Shares on February 13, 2014, the Class A shareholders and Class B shareholders hold approximately 41.9% and 58.1%, respectively, of the limited partner interests in each Fortress Operating Group entity.

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Performance Graph





The following graph compares the cumulative total return for our Class A shares (stock price change plus reinvested dividends) with the comparable return of four indices: Russell 3000, S&P 500, S&P Financial Services, and SNL Asset Manager Index. The graph assumes an investment of $100 in the Company's Class A shares and in each of the indices on December 31, 2008, and that all dividends were reinvested. The past performance of our Class A shares is not an indication of future performance.









Period Ending Index 12/31/08

12/31/09

12/31/10

12/31/11

12/31/12

12/31/13

Fortress Investment Group LLC 100.00

445.00

570.00

338.00

462.08

931.16

SNL Asset Manager Index 100.00

162.23

186.74

161.52

207.23

318.46

Russell 3000 100.00

128.34

150.07

151.61

176.49

235.71

S&P 500 100.00

126.46

145.51

148.59

172.37

228.19

S&P Financial Services 100.00

113.69

118.89

75.83

114.59

155.22











Where Readers Can Find Additional Information





Fortress Investment Group, LLC is a Delaware limited liability company that was formed on November 6, 2006. Our principal executive offices are located at 1345 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10105.





Fortress files annual, quarterly and current reports, proxy statements and other information required by the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the ‘‘Exchange Act’’), with the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). Readers may read and copy any document that Fortress files at the SEC’s Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, D.C. 20549, U.S.A. Please call the SEC at 1-800-SEC-0330 for further information on the Public Reference Room. Our SEC filings are also available to the public from the SEC’s internet site at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of these reports, proxy statements and other information can also be inspected at the offices of the New York Stock Exchange, Inc., 20 Broad Street, New York, New York 10005, U.S.A.





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Our internet site is http://www.fortress.com. We will make available free of charge through our internet site our annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Exchange Act as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. Also posted on our website in the ‘‘Public Shareholders - Corporate Governance’’ section are charters for the company’s Audit Committee, Compensation Committee and Nominating, Corporate Governance and Conflicts Committee as well as our Corporate Governance Guidelines and our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics governing our directors, officers and employees. Information on, or accessible through, our website is not a part of, and is not incorporated into, this report.









Item 1A. Risk Factors

We face a variety of significant and diverse risks, many of which are inherent in our business. Described below are certain risks that we currently believe could materially affect us. Other risks and uncertainties that we do not presently consider to be material or of which we are not presently aware may become important factors that affect us in the future. The occurrence of any of the risks discussed below could materially and adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition, results of operations or cash flow.





Risks Related to Our Business

We depend on Messrs. Briger, Edens, Nardone and Novogratz, and the loss of any of their services could have a material adverse effect on us.

The success of our business depends on the efforts, judgment and personal reputations of our principals, Peter Briger, Wesley Edens, Randal Nardone and Michael Novogratz. One of our principals, Randal Nardone, was appointed Chief Executive Officer of the company in addition to his other duties. Our principals' reputations, expertise in investing, relationships with our investors and relationships with members of the business community on whom our funds depend for investment opportunities and financing, are each critical elements in operating and expanding our businesses. We believe our performance is strongly correlated to the performance of these individuals. Accordingly, the retention of our principals is crucial to our success. In addition, if any of our principals were to join or form a competitor, some of our investors could choose to invest with that competitor rather than in our funds. The loss of the services of any of our principals could have a material adverse effect on us, including our ability to retain and attract investors and raise new funds, and the performance of our funds. Two or more of our principals occasionally travel together, which concentrates the potential impact of an accident on our company. We do not carry any “key man” insurance that would provide us with proceeds in the event of the death or disability of any of our principals.

Each of our principals has an employment agreement with us, which extends to January 1, 2017. If a principal terminates his employment voluntarily or we terminate his employment for cause (as defined in the agreement), the principal will be subject to eighteen-month post-employment covenants requiring him not to compete with us. However, if we terminate a principal's employment without cause, the principal will not be subject to the non-competition provisions.

There is no guarantee that our principals will not resign, join our competitors or form a competing company, or that the non-competition provisions in the employment agreements would be upheld by a court. If any of these events were to occur, our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations could be materially adversely affected.

Several of our funds have “key person” provisions pursuant to which the failure of one or more of our principals or senior employees (other than our principals) to be actively involved in the business provides investors with the right to redeem their investment or otherwise limits our rights to manage the funds. The loss of the services of any one of such senior employees could have a material adverse effect on certain of our funds to which such key person provisions relate and in some circumstances on us.





Certain of our existing funds have key person provisions relating to our principals or senior employees other than our principals, and the resignation or termination of any such senior employee could result in a material adverse effect on the applicable fund or funds and on us.





Investors in most of our hedge funds may generally redeem their investment without paying redemption fees if the relevant key person ceases to perform his functions with respect to the fund for 90 consecutive days. In addition, the terms of certain of our hedge funds' financing arrangements contain “key person” provisions, which may result, under certain circumstances, in the acceleration of such funds' debt or the inability to continue funding certain investments if the relevant employee ceases to perform his functions with respect to the fund and a replacement has not been approved.

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The loss of Mr. Novogratz or his inability to perform his services for 90 days could result in substantial withdrawal requests from investors in our Fortress Macro Funds. The loss of the chief investment officer of the Fortress Macro Funds and chief investment officer of the Fortress Asia Macro Funds, Adam Levinson, also could result in withdrawal requests. Over the course of 2014, the Fortress Asia Macro Funds will transition into an autonomous business with Fortress as a non-control partner, which will reduce our overall economics from these funds and could result in withdrawal requests. Mr. Levinson will also continue to invest for Fortress managed funds. Substantial withdrawals would have a material adverse effect on the Fortress Macro Funds, Fortress Asia Macro Funds, related managed accounts, and us by reducing our management fees from those funds. Further, such withdrawals could possibly lead to the liquidation of the funds and a corresponding elimination of our management fees and potential to earn incentive income from those funds. The loss of Mr. Novogratz , could, therefore, ultimately result in a loss of a material portion of our earnings attributable to our liquid hedge fund business segment.

The loss of Mr. Briger or his inability to perform his services for 90 days could result in substantial withdrawal requests from investors in our credit hedge funds and, in the event that a replacement for him is not approved, the termination of a substantial portion of the funds' financing arrangements. Such withdrawals and terminations would have a material adverse effect on the credit hedge funds and us by reducing our management fees from those funds. Further, such withdrawals and terminations could lead possibly to the eventual liquidation of the funds and a corresponding elimination of our management fees and potential to earn incentive income from those funds. Similarly, our credit PE funds contain key man provisions with respect to Mr. Briger, which would limit the ability of the funds to make future investments or call capital if both Mr. Briger and the funds' co-chief investment officer, Constantine Dakolias, were to cease to devote time to the funds. The loss of Mr. Briger could, therefore, ultimately result in a loss of a material portion of our earnings attributable to our credit hedge fund and/or credit PE business segments.

If either Mr. Edens or Mr. Nardone ceases to devote certain minimum portions of their business time to the affairs of certain of our private equity funds, the funds will not be permitted to make further investments, and then-existing investments may be liquidated if investors vote to do so. Our ability to earn management fees and realize incentive income from our private equity funds therefore would be adversely affected if we cannot make further investments or if we are required to liquidate fund investments at a time when market conditions result in our obtaining less for investments than could be obtained at later times. In addition, we may be unable to raise additional private equity funds if existing private equity fund key-man provisions are triggered. The loss of either Mr. Edens or Mr. Nardone could, therefore, ultimately result in a loss of substantially all of our earnings attributable to our private equity funds.





In addition, the terms of certain of our existing funds may be amended over time to add additional key persons, and senior employees (including, but not limited to, our principals) may also be deemed as key persons for funds that are formed in the future. Any such events would potentially have a direct material adverse effect on our revenues and earnings (depending on the size of the particular fund to which a key person event relates), and would likely harm our ability to maintain or grow management fee paying assets under management in existing funds or raise additional funds in the future.





Our ability to retain our managing directors is critical to our success, and our ability to grow depends on our ability to attract additional key personnel.

Our success depends on our ability to retain our managing directors and the other members of our investment management team and to recruit additional qualified personnel. We refer to these key employees (other than our principals) collectively as our “investment professionals.” Our investment professionals possess substantial experience and expertise in investing, are responsible for locating and executing our funds' investments, have significant relationships with the institutions that are the source of many of our funds' investment opportunities, and in certain cases have strong relationships with our investors. Therefore, if our investment professionals join competitors or form competing companies, it could result in the loss of significant investment opportunities and certain existing investors. As a result, the loss of even a small number of our investment professionals could impact the performance of our funds, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations as well as our ability to retain and attract investors and raise new funds. Also, while we have non-competition and non-solicitation agreements with certain investment professionals, there is no guarantee that the agreements to which our investment professionals are subject, together with our other arrangements with them, will prevent them from leaving us, joining our competitors or otherwise competing with us or that these agreements will be enforceable in all cases. In particular, some jurisdictions in which we operate our businesses (for example, California) have public policies limiting the enforcement of restrictive covenants applicable to employees. In addition, these agreements will expire after a certain period of time following resignation or termination, at which point such persons would be free to compete against us and solicit investors in our funds, clients and employees.

Efforts to retain or attract investment professionals may result in significant additional expenses, which could adversely affect our profitability, and changes in law could hamper our recruitment and retention efforts. We might not be able, or may elect not, to provide future investment professionals with equity interests in our business to the same extent or with the same tax consequences

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as our existing investment professionals, and the retentive utility of grants of equity of our public company is affected during periods of slow or negative stock price performance. Therefore, in order to recruit and retain existing and future investment professionals, we may need to increase the level of cash compensation that we pay to them. Accordingly, as we promote or hire new investment professionals over time, we may increase the level of cash compensation we pay to our investment professionals, which would cause our total employee compensation and benefits expense as a percentage of our total revenue to increase and adversely affect our profitability. In addition, we may deem it necessary to maintain compensation levels to retain employees even during periods when we generate less revenues than in previous periods, which would reduce our profit margins. Also, if proposed legislation were to be enacted by the U.S. Congress to treat carried interest as ordinary income rather than as capital gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such legislation would materially increase the amount of taxes that we and our investment professionals that are compensated in part with carried interest would be required to pay on such compensation, thereby adversely affecting our ability to recruit, retain and motivate our current and future professionals. See “- Our structure involves complex provisions of U.S. federal income tax law for which no clear precedent or authority may be available. Our structure also is subject to potential legislative, judicial or administrative change and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis.” Furthermore, in recent years, various legislative and regulatory bodies (particularly in Europe) have focused on the issue of compensation in the financial services industry. Although new regulations flowing out of these bodies have only just begun to take effect and the specific impact on the company is not yet clear, there is the potential that new compensation rules will make it more difficult for us to attract and retain talent by capping overall compensation levels, requiring the deferral of certain types of compensation over time, implementing “clawback” requirements, or other rules deemed onerous by potential employees.





Certain of our businesses face particular retention issues with respect to investment professionals whose compensation is tied, often in large part, to performance thresholds or “high water marks.” This retention risk is heightened during periods where market conditions make it more difficult to generate positive investment returns and where capital markets provide fewer opportunities for realization of portfolio company investments. Several investment professionals receive performance-based compensation at the end of each year based upon their annual investment performance, and this performance-based compensation has historically represented a substantial majority of the compensation those professionals are entitled to receive during the year. If an investment professional's annual performance is negative, or insufficient to overcome prior negative results, the professional may not be entitled to any performance-based compensation for the year. If an investment professional or fund, as the case may be, does not produce investment results sufficient to merit performance-based compensation, any affected investment professional may be incentivized to join a competitor because doing so would allow the professional to eliminate the burden of having to satisfy the high water mark before earning performance-based compensation. Similarly, many of our investment professionals in our private equity and credit PE fund businesses are compensated with grants of carried interest in our funds. During periods of economic volatility, realization events in our private equity and credit PE fund businesses may be delayed, and it may therefore take significantly longer for investments to result in payments to such professionals. In addition, in the event that overall returns for any of our private equity funds or credit PE funds result in the generation of less incentive income than anticipated, such professionals' grants of carried interest in such fund will have similarly decreased in value. To retain such professionals, the fund's manager may elect to compensate the professional using a portion of the management fees earned by the manager, which would, in turn, reduce the amount of cash available to the public company, thereby reducing the amount available for distribution to our Class A shareholders or for other liquidity needs.





Operational risks may disrupt our businesses, result in losses or limit our growth.

We face operational risk from errors made in the negotiation, execution, confirmation or settlement of transactions. We also face operational risk from transactions not being properly recorded, valued, evaluated or accounted for in our funds. In particular, our liquid hedge and, to a lesser extent, credit fund businesses are highly dependent on our ability to process, value and evaluate, on a daily basis, transactions across markets and geographies in a time-sensitive, efficient and accurate manner. Consequently, we rely heavily on our financial, accounting and other data processing systems. For example, the efficacy of investment and trading strategies depends largely on the ability to establish and maintain an overall market position in a combination of financial instruments. If a fund's trading orders are not executed in a timely and efficient manner due to systems failures, human error or otherwise, the funds might only be able to acquire some but not all of the components of the position, or if the overall position were to need adjustment, the funds might not be able to make such adjustment. As a result, the funds would not be able to achieve the market position selected by the management company or general partner of such funds, and might incur a loss in liquidating their position. In addition, new investment products have created, and future investment products may create, a significant risk that our existing systems may not be adequate to identify or control the relevant risks in the investment strategies employed by such new investment products. If any of these systems do not operate properly, are inadequately designed, disabled, or are the target of a cyber security attack (which we are subject to from time to time), we could suffer financial loss, disruption of our businesses, liability to our funds and their investors, regulatory intervention and reputational damage.





Although we take protective measures and endeavor to modify them as circumstances warrant, the security of our computer systems, software and networks may be vulnerable to breaches, unauthorized access, misuse, computer viruses or other malicious

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code and other events that could have a security impact. Additionally, breaches of security may occur through intentional or unintentional acts by those having authorized or unauthorized access to our or our clients' or counterparties' confidential or other information. One or more such events could potentially jeopardize our or our clients' or counterparties' confidential and other information processed and stored in, and transmitted through, our computer systems and networks, or otherwise cause interruptions or malfunctions in our, our clients', our counterparties' or third parties' operations, which could result in significant losses or reputational damage to us. We may be required to expend significant additional resources to modify our protective measures or to investigate and remediate vulnerabilities or other exposures arising from operational and security risks, and we may be subject to litigation and financial losses that are either not insured against or not fully covered through any insurance maintained by us.





In addition, we operate in an industry that is highly dependent on its information systems and technology. We believe that we have designed, purchased and installed high-quality information systems to support our business. There can be no assurance, however, that our information systems and technology will continue to be able to accommodate our operations, or that the cost of maintaining such systems will not increase from its current level. Such a failure to accommodate our operations, or a material increase in costs related to such information systems, could have a material adverse effect on us.





Furthermore, we depend on our headquarters, which is located in New York City, and related infrastructure for the operation of our business. A disaster or a disruption in the infrastructure that supports our businesses, including a disruption involving electronic communications or other services used by us or third parties with whom we conduct business, or directly affecting our headquarters, may have an adverse impact on our ability to continue to operate our business without interruption, which could have a material adverse effect on us. Although we have disaster recovery programs in place, there can be no assurance that these will be sufficient to mitigate the harm that may result from such a disaster or disruption. In addition, insurance and other safeguards might only partially reimburse us for our losses.





Finally, we rely on third-party service providers for certain aspects of our business. In particular, we rely heavily on the services of third-party administrators in our hedge fund businesses, on the general ledger software provider for a number of our funds, and on third parties to provide critical front- and back-office systems support to Logan Circle. Any interruption or deterioration in the performance of these third parties, particularly with respect to the services provided to Logan Circle, could impair the quality of operations and could impact our reputation and adversely affect our business and limit our ability to grow.

Our removal as the investment manager, or the liquidation, of one or more of our funds could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.





We derive a substantial portion of our revenues from funds managed pursuant to investment management agreements that may be terminated or fund partnership agreements that permit investors to request liquidation of investments in our funds on short notice. Material defaults under the investment management agreements would constitute an event of default under our current credit agreement if such defaults continue after the applicable grace period.





The terms of our funds generally give either the general partner of the fund or the fund's board of directors the right to terminate our investment management agreement with the fund. However, insofar as we control the general partner of our funds that are limited partnerships, the risk of termination of any investment management agreement for such funds is limited, subject to our fiduciary or contractual duties as general partner. This risk is more significant for our offshore hedge funds for which we do not serve as the general partner and represent a significant portion of our hedge fund AUM. In addition, the boards of directors of certain hedge funds and our permanent capital vehicles have the right under certain circumstances to terminate the investment management agreements or otherwise attempt to renegotiate the terms of such agreements with the applicable fund or permanent capital vehicle. Termination of these agreements, or revisions to the terms that are detrimental to the manager, could affect the fees we earn from the relevant funds or permanent capital vehicles, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.





In addition, investors in our private equity funds or credit PE funds and certain hedge funds have the ability to act, without cause, to accelerate the date on which the fund must be wound down. We will cease earning management fees on the assets of any such fund that is wound down. In addition, our ability to realize incentive income from such funds would be adversely affected if we are required to liquidate fund investments at a time when market conditions result in our obtaining less for investments than could be obtained at later times. Also, the winding down of a material fund or group of funds within a short period of time could trigger an event of default under certain covenants in our current credit agreement, subject, in certain instances, to the expiration of applicable grace periods.





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We may become involved in lawsuits or investigations that could result in significant liabilities and reputational harm, which could materially adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.

We could be sued by many different parties, including, but not limited to, our fund investors, creditors of our funds, shareholders of the companies in which our funds have investments, our shareholders, our employees, regulators, and residents of senior living facilities that we manage. We have been a defendant in many lawsuits filed by various parties in recent years. In addition, we may participate in transactions that involve litigation (including the enforcement of property rights) from time to time, and such transactions may expose us to increased risk from countersuits. Any of these parties could bring an array of claims not just against us but also against our funds and their portfolio companies or other investments and our new affiliated manager platform based on a variety of allegations relating to, among other things, conflicts of interest, improper related party transactions, breaches of financing or other agreements, violations of any of a multitude of laws applicable to us, non-compliance with organizational documents, misconduct by employees and improper influence over the companies in which our funds or accounts have investments. It is likely that we would be brought into any lawsuit that involves a fund-related issue and we may be brought into lawsuits involving our new affiliated manager platform. We also face the risk of lawsuits relating to claims for compensation, which may individually or in the aggregate be significant in amount, particularly since our workforce consists of many very highly paid investment professionals. Such claims are more likely to occur when individual employees experience significant volatility in their year-to-year compensation due to trading performance or other issues, and in situations where previously highly compensated employees are terminated for performance or efficiency reasons, as has occurred recently. The cost of settling such claims could adversely affect our results of operations.





Lawsuits or investigations in which we may become involved could be very expensive and highly damaging to our reputation, even if the underlying claims are without merit. We could potentially be found liable for significant damages. For instance, in a lawsuit based on an allegation of negligent management of any of our funds, plaintiffs could potentially recover damages in an amount equal to the fund's investment losses. In general, the applicable standard of care in our contracts with fund or account investors is gross negligence or willful misconduct. However, the majority of the capital in our Logan Circle business is managed under a negligence or reasonable person standard of care, which is more favorable to plaintiffs.





Fund investments may also be subject to litigation, which could impact the value of the investment and harm the performance of one or more of our funds. Although we have certain indemnification rights from the funds we manage, these rights may be challenged. Moreover, we could incur legal, settlement and other costs in an amount that exceeds the insurance coverage maintained by us or by our funds. The costs arising out of litigation or investigations could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and liquidity.





Certain of our consolidated subsidiaries have potentially unlimited liability for the obligations of various Fortress Funds under applicable partnership law principles, because they act as general partners of such funds. In the event that any such fund was to fall into a negative net equity position, the full amount of the negative net equity would be recorded as a liability on the balance sheet of the general partner entity. Such liability would be recorded on our balance sheet in consolidation until the time such liability was legally resolved.





As part of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (“Dodd-Frank”), so-called “whistleblower” provisions have been enacted that will entitle persons who report alleged wrongdoing to the SEC to cash rewards and the SEC has recently awarded a significant cash award to a whistleblower. We anticipate that these provisions will result in a significant increase in whistleblower claims across our industry, and dealing with such claims could generate significant expenses and take up significant management time, even for frivolous and non-meritorious claims. Moreover, as calls for additional regulation have increased, there may be a related increase in regulatory investigations of the trading and other investment activities of alternative asset management funds, including our funds. Such investigations may impose additional expense on us, may require the attention of senior management and may result in fines and/or reputational damage whether or not any of our funds are deemed to have violated any regulations.





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The U.S. government’s increased focus on the regulation of the financial services industry may adversely affect our business.





Our business may be adversely affected by new or revised legislation or regulations imposed by the U.S. government, the SEC or other U.S. governmental regulatory bodies or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial markets. We may also be adversely affected by changes in the interpretation or enforcement of existing laws and rules. Dodd-Frank imposes significant new rules on almost every aspect of the U.S. financial services industry, including aspects of our business and the markets in which we operate, which may adversely affect our business. These rules address, among other things, the following topics:





• oversight and regulation of systemic market risk (including the power to liquidate certain institutions);

• regulation by the Federal Reserve of non-bank institutions;

• prohibitions on insured depositary institutions and their affiliates from conducting proprietary trading and investing in private equity funds and hedge funds;

• new registration, recordkeeping and reporting requirements for private fund investment advisers;

• exchange-trading of OTC derivatives;

• minimum equity retention requirements for issuers of asset-backed securities;

• the establishment of a new bureau of consumer financial protection;

• new requirements and higher liability standards on credit rating agencies; and

• increased disclosure of executive compensation and mandatory shareholder votes on executive compensation.

Since the implementation of many key rules by various regulatory bodies and other groups is not yet complete, we do not know exactly what the final regulations under Dodd-Frank will require or how significantly they will affect us. For instance, in October 2011, the SEC adopted a rule that requires fund advisors with over $1.5 billion in AUM, such as Fortress, to file substantial quarterly disclosure on fund assets, leverage, investment positions, valuations, trading practices and other topics. It is likely that Dodd-Frank will, among other things, increase our costs of operating as a public company and impose restrictions on our business. For example, Dodd-Frank could increase our overall costs of entering into derivatives transactions and could also adversely affect the performance of certain of our trading strategies. Dodd-Frank imposes mandatory clearing, exchange-trading and margin requirements on many derivatives transactions (including formerly unregulated over-the-counter derivatives) in which we engage. Dodd-Frank also creates new categories of regulated market participants, such as “swap-dealers,” “security-based swap dealers,” “major swap participants” and “major security-based swap participants” who will be subject to significant new capital, registration, recordkeeping, reporting, disclosure, business conduct and other regulatory requirements, which will give rise to new administrative costs. Even if certain new requirements are not directly applicable to us, they may still increase our costs of entering into transactions with the parties to whom the requirements are directly applicable. Moreover, new exchange-trading and trade reporting requirements may lead to reductions in the liquidity of derivative transactions, causing higher pricing or reduced availability of derivatives, or the reduction of arbitrage opportunities for us, which could adversely affect the performance of certain of our trading strategies. In addition, due to recently adopted regulations, certain of our affiliates have registered with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (“CFTC”) as commodity pool operators (“CPOs”). The Commodity Exchange Act and CFTC regulations impose various requirements on CPOs, including record-keeping, reporting, operational and marketing requirements, disclosure obligations and prohibitions on fraudulent activities. Complying with these requirements could increase our expenses and negatively impact our financial results.





In December 2010, the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision, an international body comprised of senior representatives of bank supervisory authorities and central banks from various countries, including the United States, finalized a comprehensive set of capital and liquidity standards, commonly referred to as "Basel III," for internationally active banking organizations. These new standards will require banks to hold more capital, predominately in the form of common equity, than under the current capital framework. In July 2013, U.S. federal banking agencies issued a final rule to comprehensively revise the regulatory capital framework for the U.S. banking sector, which implements many aspects of Basel III as well as changes required by Dodd-Frank. Compliance with the new standards may result in significant costs to banks, which in turn may result in higher borrowing costs for the private sector, including our funds and portfolio companies, and reduced access to certain types of credit.





Our reputation, business and operations could be adversely affected by regulatory compliance failures, the potential adverse effect of changes in laws and regulations applicable to our business and the effects of negative publicity surrounding the alternative asset management industry in general.

Potential regulatory compliance failures pose a significant risk to our reputation and thereby to our business. Our business is subject to extensive regulation in the United States and in the other countries in which our investment activities occur. The SEC

oversees our activities as a registered investment adviser under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940. We are subject to regulation under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the Investment Company Act of 1940, and various other statutes. We are subject to regulation by the Department of Labor under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (“ERISA”). We and our permanent capital vehicles, as public companies, are subject to applicable stock exchange regulations, and we and certain of our

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permanent capital vehicles are subject to the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 ("Sarbanes-Oxley"). The variable interest entity that we will consolidate beginning in February 2014, New Media Investment Group ("New Media", NYSE: NEWM), is also a public company subject to stock exchange regulations and Sarbanes-Oxley. A number of portfolio companies are also publicly traded and/or are subject to significant regulatory oversight. For example, Springleaf Finance Inc. is in the consumer finance industry and Nationstar Mortgage is in the mortgage servicing industry, both of which have recently been the focus of extensive regulation. Moreover, some of our portfolio companies are subject to regulation from non-financial bodies (such as our senior living and railroad investments). For example, as a manager of senior living facilities we are subject to regulations applicable to operators of independent living and assisted living facilities, as well as laws designed to protect Medicaid. As an affiliate of a registered broker-dealer, we are subject to certain rules promulgated by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (“FINRA”) and the SEC. A number of our investing activities, such as our lending business, are subject to regulation by various U.S. state regulators. In the United Kingdom, we are subject to regulation by the U.K. Financial Conduct Authority. Our other European operations, and our investment activities in Singapore, Australia, Japan and other parts of the globe, are subject to a variety of regulatory regimes that vary by country.

Many of the regulatory bodies with jurisdiction over us have regulatory powers dealing with many aspects of financial services, including the authority to grant, and in specific circumstances to cancel, permissions to carry on particular businesses and to conduct investigations and proceedings that may result in fines and other sanctions. A failure to comply with the obligations imposed by the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 on investment advisers, including record-keeping, advertising and operating requirements, disclosure obligations and prohibitions on fraudulent activities, or by the Investment Company Act of 1940 could result in investigations, sanctions and reputational damage and potentially revocation of our registration as an investment advisor and exemptions from investment company requirements. Our liquid hedge fund business, and, to a lesser degree, our credit fund business, are involved regularly in trading activities which implicate a broad number of U.S. and foreign securities law regimes, including laws governing trading on inside information, market manipulation and a broad number of technical trading requirements that implicate fundamental market regulation policies. Violation of such laws could result in severe restrictions on our activities and in damage to our reputation. Furthermore, the mere investigation by authorities of alleged or potential wrong-doing (such as insider trading) has the potential to create a material adverse effect on companies in our industry, including due to the effects of negative publicity surrounding the alternative asset management industry in general.





Changes in ERISA requirements, or a failure to comply with ERISA requirements, could adversely affect our business. Our funds generally operate pursuant to exemptions from the fiduciary requirements of ERISA with respect to their assets. However, it is possible that the U.S. Department of Labor may amend the relevant regulations or that the characteristics of our funds may change. If these funds fail to qualify for such exemptions or otherwise satisfy the requirements of ERISA, including the requirement of investment prudence and diversification or the prohibited transaction rules, it could materially interfere with our activities in relation to these funds or expose us to risks related to our failure to comply with such requirements. A meaningful portion of the capital managed in our Logan Circle business is subject to ERISA requirements, and our failure to comply with those requirements could have a material adverse effect on our business.





Our failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in fines, censure, suspensions of personnel or investing activities or other sanctions. The regulations to which our businesses are subject are designed primarily to protect investors in our funds and to ensure the integrity of the financial markets. They are not designed to protect holders of our publicly traded Class A shares. Even if a sanction imposed against us or our personnel by a regulator is for a small monetary amount, the adverse publicity related to such sanction could harm our reputation, result in redemptions by our fund investors and impede our ability to raise additional capital or new funds, all of which would be materially damaging to the value of our Class A shares.





Our results of operations may also be negatively impacted if certain proposed tax legislation is enacted. If legislation were to be enacted by the U.S. Congress to treat carried interest as ordinary income rather than as capital gain for U.S. federal income tax purposes, such legislation would materially increase the amount of taxes that we and possibly our equity holders are required to pay, thereby reducing the value of our Class A shares and adversely affecting our ability to recruit, retain and motivate our current and future professionals. President Obama has publicly stated that he supports similar changes to the tax code. See “-Our structure involves complex provisions of U.S. federal income tax law for which no clear precedent or authority may be available. Our structure also is subject to potential legislative, judicial or administrative change and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis” and “-Several items of tax legislation are currently being considered which, if enacted, could materially affect us, including by preventing us from continuing to qualify as a partnership for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Our structure also is subject to potential judicial or administrative change and differing interpretations, possibly on a retroactive basis.”





New European Union legislation could increase our costs and make it more difficult to operate and market our funds.

Similar to the United States, our business may be adversely affected by new or revised legislation or regulation imposed by governmental regulators and other authorities in Europe. European regulators have approved legislation (the Alternative Investment

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Fund Managers Directive, or "AIFMD") requiring fund managers to comply with new rules regarding their activities in the EU, including the marketing of fund interests to EU-domiciled investors. AIFMD additionally covers topics such as periodic reporting to fund investors, disclosures to shareholders of EU companies targeted for acquisition or disposition, limitations on dividends by fund-controlled EU companies, monitoring the use of leverage, and imposition of remuneration guidelines. The legislation came into effect in July 2013 although the implementation of the rules will be staggered over the next five years. Once fully implemented the laws could impose additional costs on the operation of our business in the EU, limit our operating flexibility and generally hamper our ability to grow our business in Europe. In addition, similar to Dodd-Frank, European regulators have adopted the European Market Infrastructure Regulation for reporting of many derivative transactions.

Our failure to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest could damage our reputation and adversely affect our business.

As we have expanded the number and scope of our businesses, we increasingly confront potential conflicts of interest relating to our funds' investment activities, the management of our permanent capital vehicles and our other activities, such as our management of senior living facilities. Certain of our funds and permanent capital vehicles, which may have different fee structures, have overlapping investment objectives, and potential conflicts may arise with respect to our decisions regarding how to allocate investment opportunities among these vehicles. For example, a decision to receive material non-public information about a company while pursuing an investment opportunity for a particular fund gives rise to a potential conflict of interest if it results in our having to restrict the ability of other funds to take any action. In addition, perceived conflicts of interest regarding investment decisions for funds in which our principals, who have and may continue to make significant personal investments in a variety of Fortress Funds, are personally invested may also arise. Similarly, conflicts of interest may exist or develop regarding decisions about the allocation of specific investment opportunities between Fortress and the Fortress Funds, in situations where multiple funds are making investments in one portfolio company at the same or different levels of the investee's capital structure or in situations where one portfolio company engages another portfolio company to provide goods or services. Moreover, because certain of our operating entities are held, in part, by FIG Corp., which is subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax, conflicts of interest may exist regarding decisions about which of Fortress's holdings should be held by these taxable entities and which by entities not subject to U.S. federal corporate income tax. We have, from time to time, made advances or loans to, or acquired preferred equity interests in, several of our investment funds or other investment vehicles. In addition, our principals have sometimes extended similar capital to our funds, or made equity investments in portfolio companies, in their individual capacities. The existence and the repayment of such obligations by the funds to us and our principals, or the existence of personal investments by our principals in our portfolio companies, creates the potential for claims of conflicts of interest by our fund and portfolio company investors.





Pursuant to the terms of our operating agreement, whenever a potential conflict of interest exists or arises between any of the principals, one or more directors or their respective affiliates, on the one hand, and the company, any subsidiary of the company or any member other than a principal, on the other, any resolution or course of action by our board of directors shall be permitted and deemed approved by all shareholders if the resolution or course of action (i) has been specifically approved by a majority of the members of a committee composed entirely of two or more independent directors, or it is deemed approved because it complies with rules or guidelines established by such committee, (ii) has been approved by a majority of the total votes held by disinterested parties that may be cast in the election of directors, (iii) is on terms no less favorable to the company or shareholders (other than a principal) than those generally being provided to or available from unrelated third parties or (iv) is fair and reasonable to the company taking into account the totality of the relationships between the parties involved. In addition, we bring actual and potential conflicts of interest to the advisory boards of funds that we manage on a regular basis. Notwithstanding the foregoing, it is possible that potential or perceived conflicts could give rise to investor or shareholder dissatisfaction or litigation or regulatory enforcement actions. For example, fund investors could claim that a conflict should have been brought before a board or that disclosure of the conflict was inadequate. Appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult and our reputation could be damaged if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with one or more potential or actual conflicts of interest. Regulatory scrutiny of, or litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest would have a material adverse effect on our reputation, which could lead to redemptions by investors in our hedge funds, hamper our ability to raise additional funds and discourage counterparties to do business with us. Any such development could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Employee misconduct could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain investors and by subjecting us to significant legal liability, regulatory scrutiny and reputational harm.

Our reputation is critical to maintaining and developing relationships with the investors in our funds, potential investors and third parties with whom we do business. In recent years, there have been a number of highly-publicized cases involving fraud, insider trading, conflicts of interest or other misconduct by individuals in the financial services industry in general and the hedge fund industry in particular. There is a risk that our employees or employees at entities we manage could engage in misconduct that adversely affects our business. For example, if an employee were to engage or be accused of engaging in illegal or suspicious activities (such as improper trading, disclosure of confidential information or breach of fiduciary duties), we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position, investor relationships and ability to attract future

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investors. Moreover, in July 2012, we entered into agreements to manage senior living facilities pursuant to which we became the employer of a significant number of on-site employees (the compensation expense of which is reimbursed to us by the owners of the facilities). As a result, we are now subject to the risk of employee misconduct with respect to the personal care of the residents of such facilities. Employee misconduct could prompt regulators to allege or to determine based upon such misconduct that we have not established adequate supervisory systems and procedures to inform employees of applicable rules or to detect and deter violations of such rules. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to detect and prevent misconduct may not be effective in all cases. Misconduct by employees, or even unsubstantiated allegations, could result in a material adverse effect on our reputation and our business.





Additionally, public state pension plans and retirement systems considering an investment in our funds may require us to make certain representations, warranties and covenants with respect to our and our employees' use of placement agents, political donations and gifts to state employees. A misrepresentation or breach of such covenants could result in damage to our reputation or in such investors seeking recovery of losses, withdrawal of their investment, repayment of management fees or liquidated damages, any of which could cause our revenues a