Item 1. Business
Item 1. Business.
In this Annual Report, unless specifically stated otherwise or the context indicates otherwise, the terms " the "Company," "we," "our" and "us" refer to DigitalBridge Group, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. References to the “Operating Partnership,” our “Operating Company” and the “OP” refer to DigitalBridge Operating Company, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and the operating company of the Company, and its consolidated subsidiaries.
Our Organization
We are a leading global-scale digital infrastructure firm that invests, directly and through our portfolio companies, across five key verticals: data centers, cell towers, fiber networks, small cells, and edge infrastructure. We are headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, with key offices in New York, Los Angeles, London and Singapore, and have approximately 250 employees.
Effective June 22, 2021, we changed our name to DigitalBridge Group, Inc. and trade under the ticker symbol, DBRG, signifying our transformation to digital infrastructure.
We have elected to be taxed as a real estate investment trust (" REIT") for U.S. federal income tax purposes . We conduct our operations as a REIT, and generally are not subject to U.S. federal income taxes on our taxable income to the extent that we annually distribute all of our taxable income to stockholders and maintain qualification as a REIT, although we are subject to U.S. federal income tax on income earned through our taxable subsidiaries. As part of our digital transformation, we sold a significant amount of assets in our non-digital businesses that were qualifying assets for REIT purposes. The pace of growth of our investment management business, coupled with the completion of these legacy asset dispositions and other strategic transactions we may decide to pursue, may result in a decision to not continue as a REIT. This should not affect our election to be taxed as a REIT for 2021 and prior years. We will continue to evaluate whether we will maintain REIT status for 2022 or future years. We also operate our business in a manner that will permit us to maintain our exemption from registration as an investment company under the 1940 Act.
We conduct substantially all of our activities and hold substantially all of our assets and liabilities through our operating subsidiary, DigitalBridge Operating Company, LLC (the "Operating Company" or the "OP"). At December 31, 2021, we owned 92% of the Operating Company, as its sole managing member.
Our Business
At December 31, 2021, the Company has $45.3 billion of assets under management ("AUM"), including both third party capital and the Company's balance sheet.
The Company conducts its business through two reportable segments, as follows:
• Digital Investment Management ("Digital IM")— This business represents a leading global digital infrastructure investment platform, managing capital on behalf of a diverse base of global investors. The Company's flagship opportunistic strategy is conducted through its Digital Bridge Partners platform ("DBP," formerly Digital Colony Partners or DCP) and separately capitalized vehicles, while other strategies, including digital credit, ventures and public equities, are conducted through other investment vehicles. The Company earns management fees, generally based on the amount of assets or capital managed in investment vehicles, and has the potential to earn incentive fees and carried interest based upon the performance of such investment vehicles, subject to achievement of minimum return hurdles. Earnings from our Digital IM segment are generally attributed 31.5% to Wafra, a significant investor in our Digital IM business effective July 2020.
• Digital Operating— This business is composed of balance sheet equity interests in digital infrastructure and real estate operating companies, which generally earn rental income from providing use of digital asset space and/or capacity through leases, services and other agreements. The Company currently owns interests in two companies: DataBank, including zColo, an edge colocation data center business (20% DBRG ownership during 2021); and Vantage SDC, a stabilized hyperscale data center business (13% DBRG ownership). Both DataBank and Vantage are also portfolio companies managed under Digital IM for the equity interests owned by third party capital.
The Company's remaining investment activities are no longer presented as separate reportable segments beginning with the third quarter of 2021, which is consistent with and reflects management's focus on its core digital operations and overall simplification of the Company's business. This approach is discussed further in Note 20 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 15 of this Annual Report.
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Investment Strategy
As a leading digital infrastructure investor-operator, we deploy a unique investment strategy which gives investors exposure to a portfolio of growing, resilient businesses enabling the next generation of mobile and internet connectivity. We invest in digital infrastructure and real estate assets in which we have a competitive advantage with our experience and track record of value creation in this sector, and which possess a durable cash flow profile with compelling secular growth characteristics driven by key themes such as 5G, artificial intelligence and cloud-based applications. We believe our deep understanding of the digital infrastructure ecosystem, together with our extensive experience running mission-critical network infrastructure for some of the world's largest and most-profitable companies, will provide us with a significant advantage in identifying and executing on attractive and differentiated investment opportunities through various economic cycles.
We believe we can achieve our business objective of delivering attractive risk-adjusted returns through our rigorous underwriting and asset management processes, which benefit from our deep operational and investment experience in digital infrastructure, having invested in and run digital infrastructure businesses through multiple economic cycles. These processes allow us to implement a flexible yet disciplined investment strategy for both our balance sheet and for the companies and funds we manage on behalf of third parties. Core strengths and principles of our investment strategy include:
• People— Established operators, investors and thought leaders with over two decades of experience in investing and operating across the full spectrum of digital infrastructure, including towers, data centers, fiber and small cells
• Best-in-class assets— Own mission-critical and hard-to-replicate network infrastructure supporting many of the largest and most-profitable companies in the world and typically with very high renewal rates and pricing. We have successfully constructed a portfolio of best-in-class assets within our investment management business across all components of the digital ecosystem to drive significant synergies
• Disciplined framework
• Four corners of asset selection— (i) market dynamics, with a focus on stable markets with catalysts for near-term digital infrastructure investment and downside protection for asset owners, (ii) asset quality, with a focus on unique, hard-to-replicate assets and assets that provide mission critical services to customers with high switching costs, (iii) contract quality, with a focus on long-term contracts with investment grade customers and build in maximum flexibility to add additional tenants, and (iv) management or platform potential, with an emphasis on buy and build strategies with initial investments used as a platform to drive growth organically and through acquisitions
• Alpha creation— Drive outperformance through human capital decisions, direct operating experience, proprietary back-office systems, differentiated merger and acquisitions program and dynamic balance sheet management
• Operational excellence— Emphasis on strong organic leasing growth, extensive greenfield development expertise, and the highest environmental, social and governance ("ESG") standards
• Proprietary deal flow— Focus on compelling proprietary investment opportunities in brownfield, greenfield and new white sheet business plans and carveouts that avoid competitive auctions, facilitating lower entry multiples
• Products— Provide flexible and creative solutions across the capital structure to digital real estate and infrastructure companies around the world
• Prudent leverage— Structuring transactions with the appropriate amount of leverage, if any, based on the risk, duration and structure of cash flows of the underlying asset
Our investment strategy is dynamic and flexible, which enables us to adapt to shifts in economic, real estate and capital market conditions and to exploit inefficiencies around the world. Consistent with this strategy, in order to capitalize on the investment opportunities that may be present in various points of an economic cycle, we may expand or change our investment strategy or target assets over time as appropriate.
Financing Strategy
Our financing strategy in general is to favor investment-specific financing principally on a non-recourse basis including securitizations, and then corporate financing, which is generally recourse to the Company or the Company’s assets. We seek to match terms and currencies, as available and applicable, and the amount of leverage we use is based on our assessment of a variety of factors, including, among others, the anticipated liquidity and price volatility of the assets in our investment portfolio, the potential for losses and extension risk in our portfolio, the ability to raise additional equity to reduce leverage and create liquidity for future investments, the availability of credit at favorable prices or at all, the credit
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quality of our assets, our outlook for borrowing costs relative to the income earned on our assets and any applicable financial covenants.
Our decision to use leverage to finance our assets is at our discretion and not subject to the approval of our stockholders. To the extent that we use leverage in the future, we may mitigate interest rate risk through utilization of hedging instruments, primarily interest rate swap and cap agreements, to serve as a hedge against future interest rate increases on our borrowings. Refer to Item 7. "Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Liquidity and Capital Resources” for discussion of our liquidity needs and sources of liquidity.
Digital Transformation
The Company has now completed its digital transformation. The Company's completed disposition of its hotel business, OED investments and Other IM business in 2021, and its Wellness Infrastructure segment in 2022 each represents a strategic shift in the Company's business that has or is expected to have a significant effect on the Company’s operations and financial results, and accordingly, each has met the criteria as discontinued operations. For all current and prior periods presented, the related assets and liabilities, to the extent they have not been disposed at the respective balance sheet dates, are presented as assets and liabilities held for disposition on the consolidated balance sheets, and the related operating results are presented as discontinued operations on the consolidated statements of operations (refer to Item 15. "Exhibits and Financial Statement Schedules" of this Annual Report).
Accelerating the Monetization of Wellness Infrastructure, OED and Other IM
The Company successfully completed the sale of its equity interests in (i) NRF Holdco, LLC ("NRF Holdco"), which holds its Wellness Infrastructure business along with other non-core assets, in February 2022; and (ii) a substantial majority of its OED investments and Other IM business in December 2021, pursuant to agreements entered into in September 2021 (as amended in February 2022) and June 2021, respectively.
In assessing the recoverability of assets classified as held for disposition and discontinued operations, in particular considering the sales price for the OED investments and Other IM business, and the Wellness Infrastructure assets, the Company wrote down the carrying value of these assets by $625.3 million in aggregate, of which $265.4 million was attributable to the OP, recorded within impairment loss, equity method loss and other loss in discontinued operations (Note 11 to the consolidated financial statements in Item 15 of this Annual Report).
OED and Other IM
The disposed OED investments and Other IM business were composed of the Company's interests in various non-digital real estate, real estate-related equity and debt investments, and the Company's general partner interests and management rights with respect to these assets. The Company received cash consideration of $443.4 million, net of closing adjustments of $31.2 million, representing net cash already received by the Company, largely for asset monetizations realized prior to closing. Disposition of the Company's equity interests in its OED subsidiaries resulted in assumption by the acquirer of $509.5 million of consolidated investment-level debt and subsequent deconsolidation of these subsidiaries.
Wellness Infrastructure
The Wellness Infrastructure business is composed of senior housing, skilled nursing facilities, medical office buildings, and hospitals. Other assets and obligations held by NRF Holdco include primarily: (i) the Company's equity interest in and management of its sponsored non-traded REIT, NorthStar Healthcare Income, Inc. ("NorthStar Healthcare"), debt securities collateralized largely by certain debt and preferred equity within the capital structure of the Wellness Infrastructure portfolio, limited partner interests in private equity real estate funds; and (ii) the 5.375% exchangeable senior notes, trust preferred securities and corresponding junior subordinated debt, all of which were issued by NRF Holdco and its subsidiaries.
The sales price for 100% of the equity of NRF Holdco was $281 million, composed of $126 million in cash and $155 million unsecured promissory note (the "Seller Note"). In addition, NRF Holdco distributed approximately $35 million of cash to the Company prior to closing. The Seller Note matures five years from closing of the sale, accruing paid-in-kind interest at 5.35% per annum. The sale included the acquirer's assumption of $2.57 billion of consolidated investment level debt on various healthcare portfolios in which the Company owned between 69.6% and 81.3%, and $293.7 million of debt at NRF Holdco.
Internalization of BrightSpire Capital, Inc. (NYSE: BRSP)
In early April 2021, the Company and BRSP (formerly Colony Credit Real Estate, Inc. or CLNC) agreed to terminate the BRSP management agreement for a one-time termination payment of $102.3 million in cash. The transaction closed on April 30, 2021, resulting in the internalization of BRSP's management and operating functions (the "BRSP
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Internalization"), with certain of the Company's employees previously dedicated wholly or substantially to BRSP becoming employees of BRSP. In connection with the BRSP Internalization, BRSP's board of directors ceased to include Company-affiliated directors upon the expiration of such directors' terms in May 2021. The Company also entered into a stockholders agreement with BRSP, pursuant to which the Company agreed, for so long as the Company owns at least 10% of BRSP's outstanding common shares, to vote in BRSP director elections as recommended by BRSP’s board of directors at any stockholders' meeting that occurs prior to BRSP's 2023 annual stockholders' meeting. In addition, the Company is subject to customary standstill restrictions, including an obligation not to initiate or make stockholder proposals, nominate directors or participate in proxy solicitations, until the beginning of the advance notice window for BRSP's 2023 annual meeting. Except as aforementioned, the Company may vote its shares in its sole discretion in any votes of BRSP’s stockholders. The Company is prohibited from acquiring additional BRSP shares and currently holds a 29% equity ownership in BRSP following the sale of a portion of its BRSP shares in August 2021.
Exit of the Hotel Business
In March 2021, the Company completed the sale of its hotel business. Pursuant to an agreement entered into with a third party in September 2020 (as amended in October 2020, February 2021 and March 2021), the Company sold 100% of the equity in its hotel subsidiaries which held five of the six hotel portfolios in the Hospitality segment and its 55.6% equity interest in a portfolio of limited service hotels in the Other segment (the "THL Hotel Portfolio"), composed of 197 hotel properties in aggregate. Two of the hotel portfolios that were sold in the Hospitality segment were held through joint ventures in which the Company held a 90% and a 97.5% interest, respectively. The aggregate selling price of $67.5 million represented a transaction value of approximately $2.8 billion, with the acquirer's assumption of $2.7 billion of consolidated investment-level debt. In September 2021, the remaining interests in the THL Hotel Portfolio held by investment vehicles previously managed by the Company were sold to the same buyer. Also in September 2021, the remaining portfolio in the Hospitality segment that was in receivership was sold by the lender for no proceeds to the Company.
Risk Management
Risk management is a significant component of our strategy to deliver consistent risk-adjusted returns to our stockholders. The audit committee of our board of directors, in consultation with our chief risk officer, internal auditor and management, maintains oversight of risk management matters, and periodically reviews our policies with respect to risk assessment and risk management, including key risks to which we are subject, including credit risk, liquidity risk, financing risk, foreign currency risk and market risk, and the steps that management has taken to monitor and control such risks.
Underwriting and Investment Process
In connection with the execution of any new investment in digital assets for our balance sheet or a managed investment vehicle, our underwriting team undertakes a comprehensive due diligence process to ensure that we understand all of the material risks involved with making such investment, in addition to related accounting, legal, financial and business issues. If the risks can be sufficiently mitigated in relation to the potential return, we will pursue the investment on behalf of our balance sheet and/or investment vehicles, subject to approval from the applicable investment committee, composed of senior executives of the Company.
Specifically, as part of our underwriting process, we evaluate and review the following data, including, but not limited to: financial data including historical and budgeted financial statements, tenant or customer quality, lease terms and structure, renewal probability, capital expenditure plans, sales pipeline , technical/energy requirements and supply, local and macroeconomic market conditions, ESG, leverage and comparable transactions, as applicable. For debt investments, we also analyze metrics such as loan-to-collateral value ratios, debt service coverage ratios, debt yields, sponsor credit ratings and performance history.
In addition to evaluating the merits of any particular proposed investment, we evaluate the diversification of our or a particular managed investment vehicle’s portfolio of assets, as the case may be. Prior to making a final investment decision, we determine whether a target asset will cause the portfolio of assets to be too heavily concentrated with, or cause too much risk exposure to, any one digital real estate sector, geographic region, source of cash flow such as tenants or borrowers, or other geopolitical issues. If we determine that a proposed investment presents excessive concentration risk, we may decide not to pursue an otherwise attractive investment.
Allocation Procedures
We currently manage, and may in the future manage, private funds, REITs and other entities that have investment and/or rate of return objectives similar to our own or to other investment vehicles that we manage. In order to address the risk of potential conflicts of interest among us and our managed investment vehicles, we have implemented an investment allocation policy consistent with our duty as a registered investment adviser to treat our managed investment vehicles fairly and equitably over time. In general, our managed investment funds and certain of their portfolio companies will have
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priority over us for investment opportunities and certain fund investors will have priority over us for co-investment opportunities. Such policy provides that investment allocation decisions are to be based on a suitability assessment involving a review of numerous factors, including the investment objectives for a particular source of capital, available cash, diversification/concentration, leverage policy, the size of the investment, tax, anticipated pipeline of suitable investments and fund life.
Portfolio Management
The comprehensive portfolio management process generally includes day-to-day oversight by the Company's portfolio management team, regular management meetings and quarterly asset review process. These processes are designed to enable management to evaluate and proactively identify investment-specific issues and trends on a portfolio-wide basis for both assets on our balance sheet and assets of the companies within our investment management business. Nevertheless, we cannot be certain that such review will identify all issues within our portfolio due to, among other things, adverse economic conditions or events adversely affecting specific assets; therefore, potential future losses may also stem from investments that are not identified during these reviews.
We use many methods to actively manage our risk to preserve our income and capital, including, but not limited to, maintaining dialogue with customers, partners and/or borrowers and performing regular inspections of our owned properties and collateral. During a quarterly review, or more frequently as necessary, investments are monitored and identified for possible asset impairment or decreases in fair value, as applicable, based upon several factors, including missed or late contractual payments, significant declines in property operating performance and other data which may indicate a potential issue in our ability to recover our invested capital from an investment. In addition, we may utilize services of certain strategic partnerships and joint ventures with third parties with relevant expertise to assist our portfolio management.
In order to maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act, and maximize returns and manage portfolio risk, we may dispose of an asset earlier than anticipated or hold an asset longer than anticipated if we determine it to be appropriate depending upon prevailing market conditions or factors regarding a particular asset. We can provide no assurances, however, that we will be successful in identifying or managing all of the risks associated with acquiring, holding or disposing of a particular asset or that we will not realize losses on certain assets.
Interest Rate and Foreign Currency Hedging
Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes and our exemption from registration under the 1940 Act, we may mitigate the risk of interest rate volatility through the use of hedging instruments, such as interest rate swap agreements and interest rate cap agreements. The goal of our interest rate management strategy is to minimize or eliminate the effects of interest rate changes on the value of our assets, to improve risk-adjusted returns and, where possible, to lock in, on a long-term basis, a favorable spread between the yield on our assets and the cost of financing such assets. In addition, because we are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations, we employ foreign currency risk management strategies, including the use of, among others, currency hedges, and matched currency financing. We can provide no assurances, however, that our efforts to manage interest rate and foreign currency exchange rate volatility will successfully mitigate the risks of such volatility on our portfolio.
Competition
As an investment manager with balance sheet investments, we primarily compete for capital from outside investors and in our pursuit and execution of attractive investments on behalf of our balance sheet and investment funds. We face competition in both the pursuit of third-party investors and in acquiring investments in portfolio companies at attractive prices.
The ability to source capital from outside investors will depend on our reputation, investment track record, pricing and terms for the management of capital, and market environment for capital raising , among other factors. We compete with other investment managers focused on or active in digital real estate and infrastructure including other private equity sponsors, credit and hedge fund sponsors and REITs, who may have greater financial resources, longer track records, more established relationships and more attractive fund terms, including fees.
The ability to transact on attractive investments will depend on execution reputation, capital availability, tolerance for risk, cost of capital, number of potential buyers and pricing , among other factors. We face competition from a variety of institutional investors, including other REITs, investment managers of private equity, infrastructure, credit, hedge and other funds, specialty finance companies, commercial and investment banks, commercial finance and insurance companies, and other financial institutions. Some of these competitors may have greater financial resources, access to lower cost of capital and access to funding sources that may not be available to the Company. In addition, some of our competitors may
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have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of investments, or pay higher prices, than we can. Furthermore, some of our competitors are not subject to the operating constraints associated with REIT compliance or maintenance of an exemption from the 1940 Act.
In our digital operating business, we compete with numerous data center providers who own and/or operate hyperscale or colocation data centers in similar metropolitan areas. Our competitors may have pre-existing relationships with current or potential customers, ownership and/or operation of larger portfolios of data centers that are geographically diversified, access to less expensive power, and more robust interconnected hubs in certain geographic areas. Competition may result in pricing pressures or may require us to incur additional costs that we otherwise might not choose to incur in order to upgrade our data center space, all of which may adversely affect the profitability of our data centers. Additionally, certain large enterprises may choose to build and operate their own data centers and cease to be our customers or otherwise, reduce the pool of potential customers in the market.
We also face competition in the recruitment and retention of qualified and skilled personnel. Our ability to continue to compete effectively in our business will depend upon our ability to attract new employees and retain and motivate our existing employees.
An increase in competition across the various components of our business may limit our ability to generate attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders, thereby adversely affecting the market price of our common stock.
Customers
Our investment management business has over 100 investors that form our diverse, global investor base, including but not limited to, sovereign wealth funds, public and private pensions, asset managers, insurance companies, and endowments.
In our digital operating business, our data centers are leased to over 2,500 customers, with its largest customers in the information technology and communications sectors. In 2021, property operating income from a single customer accounted for approximately 16.7% of the Company's total revenues from continuing operations, or approximately 7.8% of the Company's share of total revenues from continuing operations, net of noncontrolling interests.
Seasonality
We generally do not experience pronounced seasonality in our investment management and digital operating businesses.
Regulations
REIT Qualification
We have elected to be taxed as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, however we may elect not to continue as a REIT in 2022 or in any year thereafter. So long as we qualify as a REIT, we generally will not be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the REIT-level on our REIT taxable income that we distribute currently to our stockholders. Our qualification as a REIT depends upon our ability to meet, on a continuing basis, various complex requirements under the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the "Code"), relating to, among other things, the sources of our gross income and the composition and values of our assets (which, based on the types of assets we own, can fluctuate rapidly, significantly and unpredictably), our distribution levels and the diversity of ownership of our shares. In addition, we hold certain of our assets through taxable REIT subsidiaries (each a "TRS"), which are subject to U.S. federal and applicable state and local income taxes (and any applicable non-U.S. taxes) at regular corporate rates. Due to the nature of the assets in which we invest and our investment management business, our TRSs may have a material amount of assets and net taxable income.
Investment Company Act of 1940
An issuer will generally be deemed to be an “investment company” for purposes of the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended, and the rules and regulations of the SEC thereunder (collectively, the “1940 Act”) if:
• it is or holds itself out as being engaged primarily, or proposes to engage primarily, in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities; or
• absent an applicable exemption or exception, it owns or proposes to acquire investment securities having a value exceeding 40% of the value of its total assets (exclusive of U.S. government securities and cash items) on an unconsolidated basis (the "40% test").
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We hold ourselves out as an investment management firm engaged primarily in the business of owning and operating digital infrastructure assets and managing investments for other entities that own digital infrastructure assets. We do not propose to engage primarily in the business of investing, reinvesting or trading in securities. We also expect that, following the restructuring of our business described elsewhere in this Annual Report, the primary sources of our income will consist of income earned in exchange for the provision of services or from investments in entities that own digital infrastructure assets that we manage. Certain of our subsidiaries rely on exemptions under section 3(c)(5)(C) and 3(c)(6) of the 1940 Act for companies engaged primarily in investing in real estate and real-estate assets or for holding companies of companies engaged in such activities. In addition, we believe that we are not an investment company under section 3(b)(1) of the 1940 Act because we are primarily engaged in a non-investment company business.
We view the capital interest we hold in investment vehicles that we also manage not to be investment securities as defined under the 1940 Act for purposes of the 40% test, regardless of whether these interests are general partner interests or limited partner interests, or the equivalent of either in other forms of organization. Many of our investments in entities that own digital infrastructure assets consist of limited partner or similar interests owned by our subsidiaries in entities that they or other subsidiaries manage as general partner or managing member. The courts and the SEC staff have provided little guidance regarding the characterization for purposes of the 1940 Act of a limited partner interest or its equivalent in circumstances such as ours, but we believe, based on our understanding of applicable legal principles, that limited partner and equivalent interests do not constitute investment securities in this context. Our determination that we are not an investment company is in part based upon the characterization of our limited partner or similar interests in entities that we control as general partner or managing member as not being investment securities. We can provide no assurance that a court would agree with our analysis if it were to be challenged by the SEC or a contractual counterparty.
The 1940 Act and the rules thereunder contain detailed requirements for the organization and operations of investment companies. Among other things, the 1940 Act and the rules thereunder impose substantial regulation with respect to the capital structure (including the ability to use leverage), management, operations, transactions with affiliated persons (as defined in the 1940 Act), portfolio composition, including restrictions with respect to diversification and industry concentration, and other matters with respect to entities deemed to be investment companies. We intend to conduct our operations so that we will not be deemed to be an investment company under the 1940 Act. If the assets that we or our subsidiaries own fail to satisfy the 40% limitation (or for certain subsidiaries, other exemptions) and we do not qualify for an exception or exemption from the 1940 Act, we or our subsidiaries may be required to, among other things: (i) substantially change the manner in which we conduct our operations or the assets that we own to avoid being required to register as an investment company under the 1940 Act; or (ii) register as an investment company under the 1940 Act. Either of (i) or (ii) could have an adverse effect on us and the market price of our securities.
Regulation under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940
We have subsidiaries that are registered with the "SEC" as investment advisers under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940, as amended (the "Investment Advisers Act"). As a result, we are subject to the anti-fraud provisions of the Investment Advisers Act and to applicable fiduciary duties derived from these provisions that apply to our relationships with the investment vehicles that we manage. These provisions and duties impose restrictions and obligations on us with respect to our dealings with our investors and our investments, including, for example, restrictions on agency, cross and principal transactions, and transactions with affiliated service providers. We, or our registered investment adviser subsidiaries, will be subject to periodic SEC examinations and other requirements under the Investment Advisers Act and related regulations primarily intended to benefit advisory clients. These additional requirements relate, among other things, to maintaining an effective and comprehensive compliance program, recordkeeping and reporting requirements and disclosure requirements. Examinations of private fund advisers have resulted in a range of actions, including deficiency letters and, where appropriate, referrals to the Division of Enforcement. The Investment Advisers Act generally grants the SEC broad administrative powers, including the power to limit or restrict an investment adviser from conducting advisory activities in the event it fails to comply with federal securities laws. Additional sanctions that may be imposed for failure to comply with applicable requirements include the prohibition of individuals from associating with an investment adviser, the revocation of registrations and other censures and fines. We expect continued focus by the SEC on private fund advisers and a greater level of SEC enforcement activity under the Biden administration.
For additional information regarding regulations applicable to the Company, refer to Item 1A. "Risk Factors.”
Human Capital Resources
We believe that our people are our most important asset. We are focused on fostering a diverse workforce with different perspectives, experiences, and backgrounds to encourage innovative and creative ideas, and ultimately lead to our collective success.
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Diversity and Inclusion
We have established a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion steering committee, which meets quarterly and establishes and monitors progress on our diversity hiring and retention goals. In 2021, the Steering Committee initiated a series of diversity, equity and inclusion trainings for our employees to support our diversity initiatives and we are building on this foundation through quarterly trainings.
We recognize that a diverse investment team enhances our ability to source, evaluate and manage a differentiated set of investment opportunities within the digital infrastructure sector. We also support our portfolio company management teams, many of whom come from diverse backgrounds, to create and/or augment existing diversity and inclusion initiatives. We have created a four-pillar program to facilitate the composition of a diverse workforce reflective of the constituencies and communities we serve, which focuses on the following:
Mentorships: We have partnered with Big Brothers Big Sisters in New York (BBBS) to implement a program that enables employees to work with high school students from the tenth grade through high school graduation. The program has recently launched with students from the Uncommon Charter High School and will run through the end of the school year.
Internships: We have developed an internship program to help build a talent pipeline of diverse candidates for investment professional positions, committing to hiring at least 50% diverse candidates, including through organizations such as Seizing Every Opportunity (SEO), Toigo, and One Search Young Women in Finance (UK). Of our ten interns last summer, nine were women and/or from minority groups. Furthermore, three of these interns were offered employment in our investment management business.
Recruiting/Hiring : A particular focus of the Company recently has been to improve the gender diversity of our investment team. In addition to recent female hires at senior positions within the digital investment management business, nearly 36% of all digital-focused hires at the associate level since our digital transformation commenced have been female. In fact, we have had a 6% increase in female hires. In addition, there have been specific efforts aimed at diversifying the pool of candidates that we recruit from. To that end, we are working to diversify the pool of recruiters that we work with to include recruiters that work primarily with underrepresented talent and have made outreach to the historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs).
Career Path/Compensation : We believe that cultivating diversity at more junior levels within our organization, coupled with ensuring our employees have opportunities to excel and grow in their careers at DigitalBridge, will strengthen our ability to foster diversity at more senior levels. Many of our professionals have been promoted from within and, as the diversity of our junior professionals continues to grow, we expect to see even greater diversity across the senior levels of the Company.
In addition, our dedication to fostering diversity and inclusion is also supported by our Company’s board of directors, five out of its nine members are women and/or people of color/minorities.
Compensation and Benefits Program
Our compensation program is designed to attract and reward talented individuals who possess the skills necessary to support our business objectives, assist in the achievement of our strategic goals and create long-term value for our stockholders. We provide employees with compensation packages that include base salary, annual incentive bonuses tied to specific performance goals, and, generally for all mid-level and above employees, long-term equity awards tied to time-based vesting conditions and the relative value of our stock price as compared to our peers. We believe that a compensation program with both short-term and long-term awards provides fair and competitive compensation and aligns employee and stockholder interests, including by incentivizing business and individual performance (pay for performance), motivating based on long-term company performance and integrating compensation with our business plans. We commission a customized compensation benchmark survey annually to ensure our compensation packages are competitive and in-market. In addition, we also offer employees benefits such as life and health (medical, dental and vision) insurance, paid time off, paid parental leave, charitable gift matching, student loan paydown program and a 401(k) plan.
Community Involvement
We aim to give back to the communities where we live, work and operate by participating in local, national and global causes, and believe that this commitment helps in our efforts to attract and retain employees. Our employees serve as the ambassadors of our social responsibility values, which they share through volunteering and charitable giving.
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We have approximately 250 employees, of which approximately 84% are in the U.S. with the remaining in our international locations. Other than our international employees, none of our U.S. employees are represented by a labor union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement.
Environmental, Social and Governance ("ESG")
We believe that integrating ESG considerations into our business and our portfolio companies is an essential element to our continued success. We have formed a cross-functional ESG Committee which oversees the Company’s ESG program and helps develop initiatives designed to improve related performance metrics and disclosure. This committee presents ESG data and updates on a quarterly basis to the Company’s Board of Directors, who review and monitor the ESG performance of the Company and our portfolio companies.
Our ESG Process for Investment Management
We have a Responsible Investment Policy that guides the integration of macro-level and company-specific ESG considerations throughout our investment lifecycle. Development of this policy was informed by relevant third-party standards, best practices and global initiatives, including the Principles for Responsible Investment (PRI), Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
We focus on the most relevant ESG issues which we have prioritized according to two criteria: those that have the greatest impact on our business and/or our digital infrastructure portfolio companies; and those that are the most important to our stakeholders. The result is a targeted universe of priority issues as follows:
◦ Climate Change: Energy Efficiency, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and Physical Climate Risks
◦ Data Privacy, Data Security and Associated Human Rights
◦ Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
◦ Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, Anti-Bribery and Anti-Corruption
◦ Workplace Health and Safety
We seek to integrate these ESG considerations into our investment process through analysis of material ESG factors during due diligence to inform our investment decision-making and support implementation of ESG best practices at our portfolio companies. We provide guidance and resources to our portfolio companies to accelerate their ESG initiatives and actively engage with the ESG leadership at each of our portfolio companies to manage and report on a common set of core key performance indicators and ESG metrics. Additional information about our ESG program is set forth in our annual ESG report, available in the Responsibility section of the Company’s website.
Available Information
Our website address is www.digitalbridge.com. Information contained on our website is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report and such information does not constitute part of this report and any other report or documents the Company files with or furnishes to the SEC.
Our annual reports on Form 10-K (including this Annual Report), quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, proxy statements, and any amendments thereof are available on our website under “Shareholders—SEC Filings,” as soon as reasonably practicable after they are electronically filed with or furnished to the SEC, and may be viewed at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov . Copies are also available without charge from DigitalBridge Investor Relations. Information regarding our corporate governance, including our corporate governance guidelines, code of ethics and charters of committees of the Board of Directors, are available on our website under “Shareholders—Corporate Governance,” and any amendment to our corporate governance documents will be posted within the time period required by the rules of the SEC and the NYSE. In addition, corporate presentations are also made available on our website from time to time under “Shareholders—Events & Presentations."
DigitalBridge Investor Relations can be contacted by mail at: DigitalBridge Group, Inc, 750 Park of Commerce Drive
Suite 210, Boca Raton, FL 33487, Attn: Investor Relations; or by telephone: (561) 570-4644, or by email: ir@digitalbridge.com.
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