KREF is a real estate finance company that focuses primarily on originating and acquiring transitional senior loans secured by institutional-quality Commercial Real Estatecommercial real estate ("CRE") properties that are owned and operated by experienced and well-capitalized sponsors and located in liquid markets with strong underlying fundamentals. Our target assets also include mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other debt-oriented instruments with these characteristics. Our investment objective is capital preservation and the generation of attractive risk-adjusted returns for our stockholders over the long term, primarily through dividends.

We are externally managed by our Manager, an indirect subsidiary of KKR, & Co. L.P., a leading global investment firm with aover 40-year history of leadership, innovation and investment excellence. KKR manages multiple alternative asset classes including private equity, energy, infrastructure, real estate, and credit, with strategic manager partnerships that manage hedge funds. KKR & Co. L.P. is listed on the NYSE (NYSE: KKR )KKR) and reported $168.5$251.7 billion of assets under management ("AUM") as of December 31, 2017.2020. KKR's "One-Firm" culture encourages collaboration and leveraging resources and relationships across KKR to help find creative solutions for clients seeking capital and strategic partnerships. We believe our Manager's relationship with KKR and its differentiated global investment management platform provides us with significant advantages in sourcing, evaluating, underwriting and managing our investments.

In connection with the performance of its duties, our Manager benefits from the resources, relationships and expertise of KKR's real estate group ("KKR Real Estate"), which provides equity and debt capital across a variety of real estate sectors and strategies. Established in 2011 under the leadership of Ralph F. Rosenberg, Global Head of KKR Real Estate and Chairman of our board of directors, KKR Real Estate had $6.4$14.8 billion of AUM as of December 31, 2017.2020. Mr. Rosenberg, who has 2934 years of real estate equity and debt transactiontransactions experience, is supported at KKR Real Estate by a team of over 50approximately 90 dedicated investment professionals across sevennine offices globally. We believe that KKR Real Estate's global relationships with property owners, managers, lenders, brokers and advisors and real-time knowledge derived from its broadly diversified real estate holdings provide our Manager with access to sourcing channels as well as operational and strategic insights to help our Manager evaluate and monitor individual investment opportunities. Additionally, our Manager leverages the proprietary information available to us through KKR's global investment platforms to conduct thorough underwriting and due diligence and develop a deeper understanding of the opportunities, risks and challenges of the investments that we review. Further, our Manager benefits from KKR Credit &Capital Markets, comprised of a team of over 4060 investment professionals that advise KKR's investment teams and portfolio companies on executing equity and debt capital markets solutions.

Our Manager is led by an experienced team of senior real estate investment professionals, including Christen E.J. Lee and Matthew A. Salem, our Co-ChiefChief Executive Officers and Co-Presidents,Officer, and W. Patrick Mattson, our President and Chief Operating Officer,

Our investment strategy is to originate or acquire transitional senior loans collateralized by institutional-quality CRE assets that are owned and operated by experienced and well-capitalized sponsors and located in liquid markets with strong underlying fundamentals. We also intend to invest in mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other debt-oriented instruments with these characteristics. Through our Manager, we have access to KKR's integrated, global real estate investment platform and its established sourcing, underwriting and structuring capabilities to develop our own view on value and evaluate and structure credit risk from an owner's and a lender's perspective. In addition, we believe that we benefit from our access to KKR's global network and real estate and other investment holdings, which provide our Manager with access to information and market data that is not available to many of our competitors. In many instances, we are able to make investments where we believe we have a sourcing, underwriting or execution advantage by leveraging the KKR brand, industry knowledge and proprietary relationships.

We pursue opportunities for which we believe that we are lending at a substantial discount to our Manager's view of intrinsic real estate value, which our Manager substantiates through an independent assessment of value. We also seek investment opportunities where there is the potential to increase the value of the underlying loan collateral through improving property management or implementing strategic capital improvement initiatives, and as such, focus on lending to sponsors with histories of successful execution in their respective asset classes or markets. Additionally, we endeavor to make loans with covenants and structural features that align the incentives of us and our borrowers to the extent that the operating performance of the underlying collateral deteriorates.

Our financing strategy and investment process are discussed in more detail in "—Our Financing Strategy" and "—Investment Guidelines" below.

Our target assets primarily include transitional senior loans, as well as mezzanine loans, preferred equity and other debt-oriented investments:

Our senior loans had a weighted average loan to value ratio ("LTV") of 67% as of December 31, 2017,2020, and we have focused our portfolio on senior positions in the capital structure where the sponsor has meaningful cash or imputed equity subordinated to our position to provide what we believe is downside protection in the event of credit impairment at the asset level. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we maintained a controlling position in all of our senior loans and subordinate CRE debt positions (subject to the terms of our master repurchase agreements, as applicable).

The amount of leverage employed on our assets will depend on our Manager's assessment of the credit, liquidity, price volatility and other risks of those assets and the financing counterparties and availability of particular types of financing at any given time.

We plan to maintain leverage levels appropriate to our specific portfolio. On average, we are targeting a leverage ratio on our senior loans of 3-to-1between 3.5 and 4.0-to-1 on a debt to equity basis, as compared to our total leverage ratio of 1-to-13.6-to-1 as of December 31, 2017.2020. We will endeavor to match the terms and indices of our assets and liabilities and will also seek to minimize the risks associated with mark-to-market and recourse borrowing.

Under the management agreement with our Manager, our Manager is required to manage our business in accordance with certain investment guidelines, which include:

Generally, our business model is such that rising interest rates will result in an increase to our earnings and dividend yield.net income, while declining interest rates will decrease our net income. Our net interest income currently benefits from in-the-money LIBOR floors in our loan portfolio, which benefit is expected to initially decrease as LIBOR increases. There can be no assurance that we will continue to utilize LIBOR floors. As of December 31, 2017, 93.1%2020, 99.2% of our investments based on net equityby total assets earned a floating rate of interest over a floating-rate indexindexed to one-month LIBOR, and of those investments that were financed, all were financed with liabilities that pay a floating rate of interest over a floating-rate index, which resulted in a positive correlationindexed to rising interest rates for our company.one-month LIBOR.

Additionally, floating-rate senior loans typically have lower interest rate sensitivity and less susceptibility to price declines than fixed-rate investments when short-term rates rise. As a result, we believe that our investment strategy, which is primarily focused on originating or acquiring LIBOR-based senior loans, strategically positions our portfolio to earn attractive risk-adjusted yields in a rising interest rate environment. In a declining interest rate environment, our interest income generally decreases as LIBOR decreases; in certain circumstances, however, LIBOR floors relating to our loan portfolio may offset some of the impact from declining rates. As of December 31, 2020, approximately 85% of our loan portfolio by current principal amount outstanding had a LIBOR floor in place of 1.0% or higher, with a weighted average floor of 1.64%.

With respect to our fixed-rate exposure in our portfolio, an increase in long-term interest rates could have a negative impact on the market value of those investments. Several factors would impact the ultimate market value, including but not limited to, the remaining duration, underlying LTV and credit profile today, credit spreads and other factors.

With respect to our fixed-rate CMBS portfolio indirectly held through an equity method investment, rising interest rates could have a negative effect on the value of the securities in our portfolio. OurSuch CMBS securities are purchased at a substantial discount to their face amount and are much more sensitive to changes in the underlying credit of the securities and credit spreads than to fluctuations in interest rates. However, an increase in long-term rates, with other factors held constant, may have a negative impact on the market value of the CMBS portfolio.

For a further discussion, see Part II, Item 7. "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk—Interest Rate Risk."

We elected to be treated as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes commencing with our taxable year ended December 31, 2014 and expect to continue to operate so as to qualify as a REIT. So long as we qualify as a REIT, we generally

See Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors—Risks Related to our REIT Status and Certain Other Tax Considerations."

We are engaged in a competitive business. In our lending and investing activities, we compete for opportunities with a variety of institutional lenders and investors, including other REITs, specialty finance companies, public and private funds (including funds that KKR or its affiliates may in the future sponsor, advise and/or manage), commercial and investment banks, commercial finance and insurance companies and other financial institutions. Several other REITs have raised, or are expected to raise, significant amounts of capital, and may have investment objectives that overlap with ours, which may create additional competition for lending and investment opportunities. Some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us. Many of our competitors are not subject to the operating constraints associated with REIT rule compliance or maintenance of an exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of loans and investments, offer more attractive pricing or other terms and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, competition for originations of and investments in our target assets may lead to the yields of such assets decreasing, which may further limit our ability to generate satisfactory returns.

In addition, changes in the financial regulatory regime could decrease the current restrictions on banks and other financial institutions and allow them to compete with us for investment opportunities that were previously not available to them. See Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Company—Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations, changes in the interpretation thereof or newly enacted laws or regulations and any failure by us to comply with these laws or regulations, could require changes to certain of our business practices, negatively impact our operations, cash flow or financial condition, impose additional costs on us, subject us to increased competition or otherwise adversely affect our business."

We believe access to our Manager's and KKR's professionals and their industry expertise and relationships provide us with competitive advantages in assessing risks and determining appropriate pricing for potential investments. We believe these relationships will enable us to compete more effectively for attractive investment opportunities. However, we may not be able to achieve our business goals or expectations due to the competitive risks that we face. For additional information concerning these competitive risks, see Part I, Item 1A. "Risk Factors—Risks Related to Our Lending and Investment Activities—We operate in a competitive market for lending and investment opportunities, and competition may limit our ability to originate or acquire desirable loans and investments or dispose of assets we target and could also affect the yields of these assets and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations."

Our website address is www.kkrreit.com. Information on our website is not incorporated by reference herein and is not a part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We make available free of charge on our website or provide a link on our website to our Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and Current Reports on Form 8-K, and any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act, as soon as reasonably practicable after those reports are electronically filed with, or furnished to, the SEC. To access these filings, go to the “Investor Relations” page on our website, then click on “SEC Filings”. You may also read and copy any document we file at the SEC’s Public Reference Room located at 100 F Street, N.E., Washington, DC 20549. 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.

A number of entities compete with us to make the types of loans and investments we seek to originate or acquire. Our profitability depends, in large part, on our ability to originate or acquire target assets on attractive terms. In originating or acquiring target assets, we compete with a variety of institutional lenders and investors, including other REITs, specialty finance companies, public and private funds (including funds that KKR or its affiliates may in the future sponsor, advise and/or manage), commercial and investment banks, commercial finance and insurance companies and other financial institutions. Several other REITs have raised, or are expected to raise, significant amounts of capital, and may have investment objectives that overlap with ours, which may create additional competition for lending and investment opportunities. Some competitors may have a lower cost of funds and access to funding sources that are not available to us, such as the U.S. government. Many of our competitors are not subject to the operating constraints associated with REIT rule compliance or maintenance of an exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act. In addition, some of our competitors may have higher risk tolerances or different risk assessments, which could allow them to consider a wider variety of loans and investments, offer more attractive pricing or other terms and establish more relationships than us. Furthermore, competition for originations of and investments in our target assets may lead to the yields of such assets decreasing, which may further limit our ability to generate satisfactory returns. In addition, changes in the financial regulatory regime resulting from the current administration could decrease the current restrictions on banks and other financial institutions and allow them to compete with us for investment opportunities that were previously not available to them. "—RisksSee “Risks Related to Our Company—Changes in laws or regulations governing our operations, changes in the interpretation thereof or newly enacted laws or regulations and any failure by us to comply with these laws or regulations, could require changes to certain of our business practices, negatively impact our operations, cash flow or financial condition, impose additional costs on us, subject us to increased competition or otherwise adversely affect our business."business” below.

As a result of this competition, desirable loans and investments in our target assets may be limited in the future and we may not be able to take advantage of attractive lending and investment opportunities from time to time. We can provide no assurance that we will be able to identify and originate loans or make investments that are consistent with our investment objectives. We cannot assure you that the competitive pressures we face will not have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, our investment strategy with respect to certain types of investments may depend, in part, on our ability to enter into satisfactory relationships with joint ventures, operating partners and/or strategic co-investors. There can be no assurance that current relationships with such parties such as SteepRock, will continue (whether on currently applicable terms or otherwise) or that we will be able to establish relationships with other such persons in the future if desired and on terms favorable to us.

We cannot predict the degree to which economic conditions generally, and the conditions for real estate debt investing in particular, will improve or decline. Any declines in the performance of the U.S. and global economies or in the real estate debt markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Our primary interest rate exposures relate to the yield on our loans and other investments and the financing cost of our debt, as well as any interest rate swaps that we may utilize for hedging purposes. Changes in interest rates and credit spreads will affect our net income from loans and other investments, which is the difference between the interest and related income earned on interest-earning investments and the interest and related expense incurred in financing these investments. As of December 31, 2020, 99.2% of our investments by total assets earned a floating rate of interest indexed to one-month USD LIBOR. The remaining 0.8% of our investments earned a fixed rate of interest. In a declining interest rate environment, our interest income generally decreases as LIBOR decreases. Also, in a declining interest rate environment, the value of our fixed-rate investments may increase and if interest rates were to increase, the value of these fixed-rate investments may fall; however, the interest income generated by these fixed-rate investments would not be affected by market interest rates. The interest rates we pay under our current financing facilities are subordinated or otherwise juniorfloating rate. Accordingly, our interest expense will generally increase as interest rates increase and decrease as interest rates decrease. Generally, the composition of our investments is such that rising interest rates will increase our net income, while declining interest rates will decrease our net income. However, LIBOR floors relating to our floating rate loans may offset some of the impact from declining rates. Our net interest income currently benefits from in-the-money LIBOR floors in an issuer's capital structure andour loan portfolio, however that involve privately negotiated structures expose usbenefit is initially expected to greater riskdecrease as LIBOR increases. There can be no assurance that we will continue to utilize LIBOR floors.

Our operating results depend, in part, on differences between the income earned on our investments, net of loss.

Furthermore, increases in which such preferred equity is held. Accordingly, if the issuer defaults on our investment, we would only be able to proceed against such entity in accordance with the terms of the preferred equity,interest rates and/or credit spreads may negatively affect demand for loans and not against any property owned by such entity. Furthermore, in the event of bankruptcy or foreclosure, we would only be able to recoup our investment after all lenders to, and other creditors of, such entity are paid in full. As a result, we may lose all or a significant part of our investment, which could result in significant losses.higher borrower default rates, while decreases in interest rates and/or credit spreads may decrease our interest income on floating-rate investments and may lead to a higher prepayment rates on our loans.

Our ability to manage our portfolio of loans and investments may be limited by the form in which they are made. In certain situations, we may:

Therefore, we may not be able to exercise control over all aspects of our loans or investments. Such financial assets may involve risks not present in investments where senior creditors, junior creditors, servicers or third partiesthird-party controlling investors are not involved. Our rights to control the process following a borrower default may be subject to the rights of senior or junior

creditors or servicers whose interests may not be aligned with ours. A partner or co-venturer may have financial difficulties resulting in a negative impact on such asset, may have economic or business interests or goals that are inconsistent with ours, or may be in a position to take action contrary to our investment objectives. In addition, we will generally pay all or a portion of the expenses relating to our joint ventures and we may, in certain circumstances, be liable for the actions of our partners or co-venturers.

CRE debt instruments (e.g., mortgages, mezzanine loans and preferred equity) that are secured by commercial property are subject to risks of delinquency and foreclosure and risks of loss that are greater than similar risks associated with loans made on the security of single-family residential property. The ability of a borrower to repay a loan secured by an income-producing property typically is dependent primarily upon the successful operation of the property rather than upon the existence of independent income or assets of the borrower. If the net operating income of the property is reduced, the borrower'sborrower’s ability to repay the loan may be impaired. Net operating income of an income-producing property can be affected by, among other things:

In addition, we are exposed to the risk of judicial proceedings with our borrowers and entities in which we invest, including bankruptcy or other litigation, as a strategy to avoid foreclosure or enforcement of other rights by us as a lender or investor. In the event that any of the properties or entities underlying or collateralizing our loans or investments experiences any of the foregoing events or occurrences, the value of, and return on, such investments could decline and could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We mayprimarily invest in transitional loans to borrowers who are typically seeking short-term capital to be used in an acquisition or rehabilitation of a property. The typical borrower under a transitional loan has usually identified an undervalued asset that has been under-managed and/or is located in a recovering market. If the market in which the asset is located fails to improve according to the borrower'sborrower’s projections, or if the borrower fails to improve the quality of the asset'sasset’s management and/or the value of the asset, the borrower may not receive a sufficient return on the asset to satisfy the transitional loan, and we bear the risk that we may not recover some or all of our investment.

In addition, borrowers usually use the proceeds of a conventional mortgage to repay a transitional loan. Transitional loans therefore are subject to risks of a borrower'sborrower’s inability to obtain permanent financing to repay the transitional loan. In the event of any default under transitional loans that may be held by us, we bear the risk of loss of principal and non-payment of interest and fees to the extent of any deficiency between the value of the mortgage collateral and the principal amount and unpaid interest of the transitional loan. To the extent we suffer such losses with respect to these transitional loans, it could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Generally, our borrowers may repay their loans prior to their stated final maturities. In periods of declining interest rates and/or credit spreads, prepayment rates on loans generally increase. If general interest rates orand credit spreads decline at the same time, the proceeds of such prepayments received during such periods are likely to be reinvested by us in assets yielding less than the yields on the assets that were prepaid. We may not be able to reinvest the principal repaid at the same or higher yield of the original investment. In addition, the value of our assets may be affected by prepayment rates on loans. If we originate or acquire mortgage-related securities or a pool of mortgage securities, we anticipate that the underlying mortgages will prepay at a projected rate generating an expected yield. If we purchase assets at a premium to par value, when borrowers prepay their loans faster than expected, the corresponding prepayments on the mortgage-related securities may reduce the expected yield on such securities because we will have to amortize the related premium on an accelerated basis. Conversely, if we purchase assets at a discount to par value, when borrowers prepay their loans slower than expected, the decrease in corresponding prepayments on the mortgage-related securities may reduce the expected yield on such securities because we will not be able to accrete the related discount as quickly as originally anticipated. In addition, as a result of the risk of prepayment, the market value of the prepaid assets may benefit less than other fixed income securities from declining interest rates.

Prepayment rates on loans may be affected by a number of factors including, but not limited to, the then-current level of interest rates and credit spreads, fluctuations in asset values, the availability of mortgage credit, the relative economic vitality of the area in which the related properties are located, the servicing of the loans, possible changes in tax laws, other opportunities for investment, and other economic, social, geographic, demographic and legal factors and other factors beyond our control. Consequently, such prepayment rates cannot be predicted with certainty and no strategy can completely insulate us from prepayment or other such risks. If prepayment rates exceed our expectations, we may have greater difficulty in redeploying the proceeds into new investment opportunities, which may significantly increase our cash balance and exacerbate the risks related to our cash management strategy. For further discussion of the risks related to capital deployment, see “Difficulty in redeploying the proceeds from repayments of our existing loans and investments may cause our financial performance and returns to investors to suffer” below.

In light of our investment strategy and the need to be able to deployinvest capital quickly to capitalize on potential investment opportunities, we may from time to time maintain cash pending deployment into investments, which may at times be

significant. Such cash may be held in an account of ours for the benefit of stockholders or may be invested in money market accounts or other similar temporary investments. While the duration of such holding period is expected to be relatively short, in the event we are unable to find suitable investments, such cash positions may be maintained for longer periods. It is not anticipated that the temporary investment of such cash into money market accounts or other similar temporary investments pending deployment into investments will generate significant interest, and such low interest payments on the temporarily invested cash may adversely affect our financial performance and returns to investors.

Before making investments for us, our Manager conducts due diligence that it deems reasonable and appropriate based on the facts and circumstances relevant to each potential investment. When conducting diligence, our Manager may be required to evaluate important and complex business, financial, tax, accounting, environmental and legal issues. Outside consultants, legal advisors, accountants and investment banks may be involved in the due diligence process in varying degrees depending on the type of potential investment. Our Manager'sManager’s loss estimates may not prove accurate, as actual results may vary from estimates. If our Manager underestimates the asset-level losses relative to the price we pay for a particular investment, we may experience losses with respect to such investment.

In addition, it is difficult for real estate debt investors in certain circumstances to receive full transparency with respect to underlying investments because transactions are often effectuated on an indirect basis through pools or conduit vehicles rather than directly with the borrower. Loan structures or the terms of investments may make it difficult for us to monitor and evaluate investments. Therefore, we cannot assure you that our Manager will have knowledge of all information that may adversely affect such investment.

We are not required to observe specific diversification criteria, except as may be set forth in the investment guidelines adopted by our board of directors. Therefore, our investments in our target assets may at times be concentrated in certain property types that may be subject to higher risk of default or foreclosure, or secured by properties concentrated in a limited number of geographic locations.

To the extent that our assets are concentrated in any one region, sponsor or type of asset, economic and business downturns generally relating to such type of asset, sponsor or region may result in defaults on a number of our investments within a short time period, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, because of asset concentrations, even modest changes in the value of the underlying real estate assets could have a significant impact on the value of our investment. As a result of any high levels of concentration, any adverse economic, political or other conditions that disproportionately affects those geographic areas or asset classes could have a magnified adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition, and the value of our stockholders'stockholders’ investments could vary more widely than if we invested in a more diverse portfolio of loans.

We have invested and may from time to time invest in pools or tranches of CMBS.CMBS and other similar securities. The collateral underlying CMBS generally consists of commercial mortgages or real property that have a multifamily or commercial use, such as retail space, office buildings, warehouse property and hotels. CMBS have been issued in a variety of issuances, with varying structures including senior and subordinated classes. Our investments in CMBS are subject to losses. In general, losses on a mortgaged property securing a senior loan included in a securitization will be borne first by the equity holder of the property, then by a cash reserve fund or letter of credit, if any, then by the holder of a mezzanine loan or B-Note, if any, then by the "first loss"“first loss” subordinated security holder (generally, the B-Piece buyer) and then by the holder of a higher-rated security. In the event of default and the exhaustion of any equity support, reserve fund, letter of credit, mezzanine loans or B-Notes, and any classes of securities junior

In addition, the CMBS market may be significantly affected by current or future regulation. The risk retention rules under the Dodd-Frank Act, which generally require a sponsor of a CMBS transaction to retain, directly or indirectly, at least 5% of the credit risk of the securitized assets collateralizing the CMBS, went into effect in December 2016. The impact of these requirements on the CMBS securitization market generally are uncertain and may result in many CMBS market participants ceasing origination of and investment in CMBS, a lack of liquidity in the CMBS market and increased costs in CMBS transactions. As a result, there may be little or no CMBS investment opportunities available to us and any opportunities that are available may be less attractive than CMBS opportunities prior to the effectiveness of the risk retention rules. The rules may also negatively affect the market value of our current CMBS holdings as well as the larger commercial real estate debt markets.

If we invest in a CMBS B-Piece because a sponsor of a CMBS utilizes us as an eligible third-party purchaser to satisfy the risk retention rules under the Dodd-Frank Act, we will be required to meet certain conditions, including holding the related CMBS B-Piece, without transferring or hedging the CMBS B-Piece, for a significant period of time (at least five years), which could prevent us from mitigating losses on the CMBS B-Piece. Even if we seek to transfer the CMBS B-Piece after five years, any subsequent purchaser of the CMBS B-Piece will be required to satisfy the same conditions that we were required to satisfy when we acquired the interest from the CMBS sponsor. Accordingly, no assurance can be given that any secondary market liquidity will exist for such CMBS B-Pieces.

We currently expect to make our CMBS B-Piece investments indirectly through our investment in an aggregator vehicle alongside RECOP I, a KKR-managed investment fund. See "—“—Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager and Its Affiliates—There are various conflicts of interest in our relationship with KKR, including with our Manager and in the allocation of investment opportunities to KKR investment vehicles and us, which could result in decisions that are not in the best interests of our stockholders"stockholders” and Part II, Item 7. "Management's“Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Our Portfolio."”

We may find it necessary or desirable to foreclose on certain of the loans we originate or acquire, and the foreclosure process may be lengthy and expensive. If we foreclose on an asset, we may take title to the property securing that asset, and if we do not or cannot sell the property, we would then come to own and operate it as “real estate owned.” Owning and operating real

Whether or not we have participated in the negotiation of the terms of any such loans, we cannot assure you as to the adequacy of the protection of the terms of the applicable loan, including the validity or enforceability of the loan and the maintenance of the anticipated priority and perfection of the applicable security interests. Furthermore, claims may be asserted by lenders or borrowers that might interfere with enforcement of our rights. Borrowers may resist foreclosure actions by asserting numerous claims, counterclaims and defenses against us, including, without limitation, lender liability claims and defenses, even when the assertions may have no basis in fact, in an effort to prolong the foreclosure action and seek to force the lender into a modification of the loan or a favorable buy-out of the borrower'sborrower’s position in the loan. In some states, foreclosure actions can take several years or more to litigate. At any time prior to or during the foreclosure proceedings, the borrower may file for bankruptcy, which would have the effect of staying the foreclosure actions and further delaying the foreclosure process and potentially resultsresulting in a reduction or discharge of a borrower'sborrower’s debt. Foreclosure may create a negative public perception of the related property, resulting in a diminution of its value. Even if we are successful in foreclosing on a loan, the liquidation proceeds upon sale of the underlying real estate may not be sufficient to recover our cost basis in the loan, resulting in a loss. Furthermore, any costs or delays involved in the foreclosure of the loan or a liquidation of the underlying property will further reduce the net proceeds and, thus, increase any such loss to us.

In recent years, a number of judicial decisions have upheld the right of borrowers to sue lending institutions on the basis of various evolving legal theories, collectively termed "lender“lender liability."” Generally, lender liability is founded on the premise that a lender has either violated a duty, whether implied or contractual, of good faith and fair dealing owed to the borrower or has assumed a degree of control over the borrower resulting in the creation of a fiduciary duty owed to the borrower or its other creditors or stockholders. No assurance can be given that such claims will not arise or that we will not be subject to significant liability if a claim of this type did arise.

While our investment strategy focuses primarily on investments in "performing"“performing” real estate-related interests, our investment program may include making distressed investments from time to time (e.g., investments in defaulted, out-of-favor or distressed bank loans and debt securities) or may involve investments that become "non-performing"“non-performing” following our acquisition thereof. Certain of our investments may, therefore, include specific securities of companies that typically are highly leveraged, with significant burdens on cash flow and, therefore, involve a high degree of risk of substantial or total losses on our investments and in certain circumstances, may become subject to certain additional potential liabilities that may exceed the value of our original investment therein. For example, under certain circumstances, a lender who has inappropriately exercised control over the management and policies of a debtor may have its claims subordinated or disallowed or may be found liable for damages suffered by parties as a result of such actions. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to our investments, we may lose our entire investment, may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than our original investment and/or may be required to accept payment over an extended period of time. In addition, under certain circumstances, payments to us and distributions by us to the stockholders may be reclaimed if any such payment or distribution is later determined to have been a fraudulent conveyance, preferential payment or similar transaction under applicable bankruptcy and insolvency laws. Furthermore, bankruptcy laws and similar laws applicable to administrative proceedings may delay our ability to realize on collateral for loan positions held by us or may adversely affect the priority of such loans through doctrines such as equitable subordination or may result in a restructure of the debt through principles such as the "cramdown" provisions of the bankruptcy laws.

During an economic downturn or recession, securities of financially troubled or operationally troubled issuers are more likely to go into default than securities of other issuers. Securities of financially troubled issuers and operationally troubled issuers are less liquid and more volatile than securities of companies not experiencing financial difficulties. The market prices of such securities are subject to erratic and abrupt market movements and the spread between bid and ask prices may be greater than normally expected. Investment in the securities of financially troubled issuers and operationally troubled issuers involves a high degree of credit and market risk.

In certain limited cases (e.g., in connection with a workout, restructuring and/or foreclosing proceedings involving one or more of our debt investments), the success of our investment strategy with respect thereto will depend, in part, on our ability to effectuate loan modifications and/or restructures. The activity of identifying and implementing any such restructuring programs entails a high degree of uncertainty. There can be no assurance that we will be able to successfully identify and implement such restructuring programs. Further, such modifications and/or restructuring may entail, among other things, a substantial reduction in the interest rate and a substantial writedownwrite-off of the principal of such loan, debt securities or other interests. However, even if a restructuring were successfully accomplished, a risk exists that, upon maturity of such real estate loan, debt securities or other interests replacement "takeout"“takeout” financing will not be available.

These financial difficulties may never be overcome and may cause borrowers to become subject to bankruptcy or other similar administrative and operating proceedings. There is a possibility that we may incur substantial or total losses on our investments and in certain circumstances, become subject to certain additional potential liabilities that may exceed the value of our original investment therein. For example, under certain circumstances, a lender who has inappropriately exercised control over the management and policies of a debtor may have its claims subordinated or disallowed or may be found liable for damages suffered by parties as a result of such actions. In any reorganization or liquidation proceeding relating to our investments, we may lose our entire investment, may be required to accept cash or securities with a value less than our original investment and/or may be required to accept payment over an extended period of time. In addition, under certain circumstances, payments to us and distributions by us to the stockholders may be reclaimed if any such payment or distribution is later determined to have been a fraudulent conveyance, preferential payment or similar transaction under applicable bankruptcy and insolvency laws. Furthermore, bankruptcy laws and similar laws applicable to administrative proceedings may delay our ability to realize value on collateral for loan positions held by us or may adversely affect the priority of such loans through doctrines such as equitable subordination or may result in a restructure of the debt through principles such as the "cramdown"“cramdown” provisions of the bankruptcy laws.

Although we have not done so to date, we may originate, invest in or acquire assets denominated in foreign currencies, which may expose us to foreign currency risk. As a result, a change in foreign currency exchange rates may have an adverse impact on the valuation of our assets, as well as our income and distributions. Any such changes in foreign currency exchange rates may impact the measurement of such assets or income for the purposes of the REIT tests and may affect the amounts available for payment of dividends on our common stock. See "—“—Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Certain Other Tax Considerations."”

Our investment guidelines permit investments in non-U.S. assets, subject to the same guidelines as investments in U.S. assets. To the extent that we invest in non-U.S. real estate-related assets, we may be subject to certain risks associated with international investmentinvestments generally, including, among others:

If any of the foregoing risks were to materialize, they could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The illiquidity of some or all of our investments may make it difficult for us to sell such investments if the need or desire arises. In addition, certain of our investments may become less liquid after investment as a result of periods of delinquencies, defaults or turbulent market conditions, which may make it more difficult for us to dispose of such assets at advantageous times or in a

timely manner. Moreover, many of our investments will not be registered under the relevant securities laws, resulting in prohibitions againston their transfer, sale, pledge or their disposition except in transactions that are exempt from registration requirements or are otherwise in accordance with such laws. As a result, many of our investments are expected to be illiquid, and if we are required to liquidate all or a portion of our portfolio quickly, we may realize significantly less than the value at which we previously recorded our investments. Further, we may face other restrictions on our ability to liquidate an investment to the extent that we or our Manager has or could be attributed as having material, non-public information regarding such business entity. As a result, our ability to vary our portfolio in response to changes in economic or other conditions may be relatively limited, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We have utilized and may seek to enhanceutilize in the returnsfuture, non-recourse securitizations of all or a senior portioncertain of our senior loans through securitizations. To securitize our portfolio investments we may createto generate cash for funding new loans and investments and other purposes. These transactions generally involve us creating a wholly owned subsidiary and contributespecial-purpose vehicle, contributing a pool of our assets to the subsidiary. This could include the sale ofentity, and selling interests in the subsidiaryentity on a non-recourse basis to purchasers whom(whom we would expect to be willing to accept a lower interest rate to invest in investment gradeinvestment-grade loan pools, and wepools). We would expect to retain all or a portion of the equity and potentially other tranches in the securitized pool of loans or investments. In addition, we have retained in the past and may in the future retain a pari passu participation in the securitized pool of loans.

Prior to any such financing, we may use short-term facilities to finance the acquisition of securities until a sufficient quantity of investments had been accumulated, at which time we would refinance these facilities through a securitization, such as a CMBS, or issuance of CLOs, or the private placement of loan participations or other long-term financing. As a result, we would be subject to the risk that we would not be able to acquire, during the period that our short-term facilities are available, a sufficient amount of eligible investments to maximize the efficiency of a CMBS, CLO or private placement issuance. We also would be subject to the risk that we would not be able to obtain short-term credit facilities or would not be able to renew any short-term credit facilities after they expire should we find it necessary to extend our short-term credit facilities to allow more time to seek and acquire the necessary eligible investments for a long-term financing. The inability to consummate securitizations of our portfolio investments. The successfulto finance our loans and investments on a long-term basis could require us to seek other forms of potentially less attractive financing or to liquidate assets at an inopportune time or price, which could adversely affect our performance and our ability to grow our business. Moreover, conditions in the capital markets, including volatility and disruption in the capital and credit markets, may not permit a non-recourse securitization at any particular time or may make the issuance of any such securitization less attractive to us even when we do have sufficient eligible assets. We may also suffer losses if the value of the mortgage loans we acquire declines prior to securitization. Declines in the value of a mortgage loan can be due to, among other things, changes in interest rates and changes in the credit quality of the loan. In addition, we may suffer a loss due to the incurrence of transaction costs related to executing these transactions. To the extent that we incur a loss executing or participating in future securitizations for the reasons described above or for other reasons, it could materially and adversely impact our business and financial condition.

In addition, the securitization of our portfolio might magnify our exposure to losses because any equity interest we retain in the issuing entity would be subordinate to the notes issued to investors and we would, therefore, absorb all of the losses sustained with respect to a securitized pool of assets before the owners of the notes experience any losses. The inability to securitize our portfolio may hurt our performance and our ability to grow our business. At the same time, the securitization of our loans or investments might expose us to losses, as the CREresidual loans or investments in which we do not sell interests will tend to be those that are riskier and more likely to generate losses. Securitization financings could also restrict our abilityMoreover, the Dodd-Frank Act contains a risk retention requirement for all asset-backed securities, which requires both public and private securitizers to retain not less than 5% of the credit risk of the assets collateralizing any asset-backed security issuance. Significant restrictions exist, and additional restrictions may be added in the future, regarding who may hold risk retention interests, the structure of the entities that hold risk retention interests and when and how such risk retention interests may be transferred. Therefore such risk retention interests will generally be illiquid. As a result of the risk retention requirements, we have and may in the future be required to purchase and retain certain interests in a securitization into which we sell mortgage loans and/or when we act as issuer, may be required to sell assets when it would otherwise be advantageous to do so.

All of our boardassets, including any investments made by us and any funds held by us, may be available to satisfy all of directorsour liabilities and other obligations. If we become subject to a liability, parties seeking to have the limitations set forth inliability satisfied may have recourse to our organizational documentsassets generally and governing agreements. There cannot be no assurance that our Manager will be successful in implementinglimited to any particular asset, such as the asset representing the investment strategy. Our Manager may change our investment strategy or asset allocation at any time withoutgiving rise to the consent of stockholders, which could result in our Manager making investments that are different from, and possibly riskier than, the investments described in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. A change in our investment strategy mayliability.

Accounting rules for loan impairment,current expected credit losses, transfers of financial assets, securitization transactions, consolidation of VIEs and other aspects of our operations are highly complex and involve significant judgment and assumptions. These complexities could lead to a delay in preparation of financial information and the delivery of this information to our stockholders. Changes in accounting interpretations or assumptions could also impact our consolidated financial statements and our ability to timely prepare our consolidated financial statements. Our inability to timely prepare our consolidated financial statements in the future would likely have a significant adverse effect on our stock price.

We rely heavilyOur provision for credit losses is evaluated on KKR's financial, accounting, communications and other data processing systems. Such systems may fail to operate properly or become disabled as a result of tampering or a breach of the network security systems or otherwise. In addition, such systems are from time to time subject to cyberattacks. Breachesquarterly basis. The determination of our network security systems could involve attacks thatprovision for credit losses requires us to make certain estimates and judgments, which may be difficult to determine. Our estimates and judgments are intended to obtain unauthorized access tobased on a number of factors, including projected cash flow from the collateral securing our proprietary information, destroy data or disable, degrade or sabotage our systems, often throughloans, debt structure, including the introductionavailability of computer viruses, cyberattacksreserves and other meansrecourse guarantees, likelihood of repayment in full at the maturity of a loan, potential for refinancing and could originate from a wide varietyexpected market discount rates for varying property types, all of sources, including unknown third parties outside the firm. Wewhich remain uncertain and our Manager's employees have beenare subjective. Our estimates and expect to continue to be the target of fraudulent calls, emails and other forms of activities. The costs related to cyber or other security threats or disruptionsjudgments may not be fully insured or indemnified by other means. In addition, cybersecurity has become a top priority for regulators around the world,correct and, some jurisdictions have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individualstherefore, our results of data security breaches involving certain types of personal data. Although KKR takes various measures to ensure the integrity of such systems, there canoperations and financial condition could be no assurance that these measures will provide protection. If such systems are compromised, do not operate properly or are disabled, or if we fail to comply with the relevant laws and regulations, we could suffer financial loss, a disruption of our businesses, liability to investors, regulatory intervention or reputational damage.severely impacted.

In addition, on January 1, 2020, we are highly dependentadopted Accounting Standards Update 2016-13, “Financial Instruments—Credit Losses, Measurement of Credit Losses on information systems and technology. Our information systems and technology may not continueFinancial Instruments (Topic 326),” which replaced the “incurred loss” model for recognizing credit losses with an “expected loss” model referred to be able to accommodate our growth, and the cost of maintaining such systems may increase from its current level. Such a failure to accommodate growth, or an increase in costs related to such information systems, could have a material adverse effect on us.

We currently have outstanding indebtedness and, subject to market conditions and availability, we may incur a significant amount of additional debt through bank credit facilities (including term loans and revolving facilities), warehouse facilities and structured financing arrangements, public and private debt issuances (including through securitizations) and derivative instruments, in addition to transaction or asset-specific funding arrangements and additional repurchase agreements. We may also issue debt or equity securities to fund our growth. The percentage of leverage we employ will vary depending on our available capital, our ability to obtain and access financing arrangements with lenders, the type of asset we are funding, whether the financing is recourse or non-recourse, debt restrictions contained in those financing arrangements and the lenders'lenders’ and rating agencies'agencies’ estimate of the stability of our investment portfolio'sportfolio’s cash flow. We may significantly increase the amount of leverage we utilize at any time without approval of our board of directors. In addition, we may leverage individual assets at substantially higher levels. Incurring substantial debt could subject us to many risks that, if realized, would materially and adversely affect us, including the risk that:

There can be no assurance that a leveraging strategy will be successful, and such strategy may subject us to increased risk of loss and could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We leverage certain of our target assets through borrowings under our repurchase agreements. Leverage can enhance our potential returns but can also exacerbate losses. The return on our investments and cash available for distribution to stockholders may be reduced if market conditions cause the cost of our financing to increase relative to the income that can be derived from the assets acquired, which could adversely affect the price of our common stock. In addition, our debt service payments will reduce cash flow available for distributions to stockholders. As a borrower, we are also subject to the risk that we may not be able to meet our debt service obligations. To the extent that we cannot meet our debt service obligations, we risk the loss of some or all of our assets to foreclosure or sale to satisfy our debt obligations.

We utilize repurchase agreements to finance the purchase of certain investments. In order for us to borrow funds under a repurchase agreement, our lender must have the right to review the potential assets for which we are seeking financing and approve such assets in its sole discretion. Accordingly, we may be unable to obtain the consent of a lender to finance an investment and alternate sources of financing for such asset may not exist.

We borrow funds under master repurchase agreements with various counterparties. The documents that govern these master repurchase agreements and the related guarantees contain, and additional lending facilities may contain, customary affirmative and negative covenants, including financial covenants applicable to us that may restrict our flexibility to determine our operating policies and investment strategy. In particular, our master repurchase agreements require us to maintain a certain amount of cash or set aside assets sufficient to maintain a specified liquidity position that would allow us to satisfy our collateral obligations. As a result, we may not be able to leverage our assets as fully as we would otherwise choose, which could reduce our return on assets. If we are unable to meet these collateral obligations, our financial condition and prospects could deteriorate rapidly. If we fail to meet or satisfy any of these covenants, we would be in default under these agreements, and our lenders could elect to declare outstanding amounts due and payable, terminate their commitments, require the posting of additional collateral and enforce their interests against existing collateral. We may also be subject to cross-default and acceleration rights in our other debt facilities. Further, this could also make it difficult for us to satisfy the requirements necessary to maintain our qualification as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes or to avoidmaintain our exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act. Our master repurchase agreements also grant certain consent rights to the lenders thereunder which give them the right to consent to certain modifications to the pledged collateral. This could limit our ability to manage a pledged investment in a way that we think would provide the best outcome for our stockholders.

These types of financing arrangements also involve the risk that the market value of the assets pledged or sold by us to the provider of the financing may decline in value, in which case the lender or counterparty may require us to provide additional collateral or lead to margin calls that may require us to repay all or a portion of the funds advanced. We may not have the funds available to repay our debt at that time, which would likely result in defaults unless we are able to raise the funds from alternative sources including by selling assets at a time when we might not otherwise choose to do so, which we may not be able to achieve on favorable terms or at all. Posting additional margin would reduce our cash available to make other, higher yielding investments (thereby decreasing our return on equity). If we cannot meet these requirements, the lender or counterparty could accelerate our indebtedness, increase the interest rate on advanced funds and terminate our ability to borrow funds from it, which could materially and adversely affect our financial condition and ability to implement our investment strategy. In the case of repurchase transactions, if the value of the underlying security has declined as of the end of that term, or if we default on our obligations under the repurchase agreement, we will likely incur a loss on our repurchase transactions.

Our ability to fund our investments may be impacted by our ability to secure bank credit facilities (including term loans and revolving facilities), warehouse facilities and structured financing arrangements, public and private debt issuances (including through securitizations) and derivative instruments, in addition to transaction or asset-specific funding arrangements and additional repurchase agreements on acceptable terms. We may also rely on short-term financing that would be especially exposed to changes in availability. Our access to sources of financing will depend upon a number of factors, over which we have little or no control, including:

We may need to periodically access the capital markets to raise cash to fund new investments. Unfavorable economic or capital market conditions may increase our funding costs, limit our access to the capital markets or could result in a decision by our potential lenders not to extend credit. An inability to successfully access the capital markets could limit our ability to grow our business and fully execute our business strategy and could decrease our earnings and liquidity. In addition, any dislocation or weakness in the capital and credit markets could adversely affect our lenders and could cause one or more of our lenders to be unwilling or unable to provide us with financing or to increase the costs of that financing. In addition, as regulatory capital requirements imposed on our lenders are increased, they may be required to limit, or increase the cost of, financing they

To the extent that our financing costs will beare determined by reference to floating rates, such as LIBOR or a Treasury index, the amount of such costs will depend on the level and movement of interest rates. In a period of rising interest rates, our interest expense on floating-rate debt would increase, while any additional interest income we earn on our floating-rate investments may be subject to caps and may not compensate for such increase in interest expense. At the same time, the interest income we earn on our fixed-rate investments would not change, the duration and weighted average life of our fixed-rate investments would increase and the market value of our fixed-rate investments would decrease. Similarly, in a period of declining interest rates, our interest income on floating-rate investments would decrease, while any decrease in the interest we are charged on our floating-rate debt may be subject to floors and may not compensate for such decrease in interest income and interest we are

charged on our fixed-rate debt would not change. Any such scenario could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

In July 2017,Regulators and law-enforcement agencies from a number of governments, including entities in the United States, Japan, Canada and the United Kingdom, have been conducting civil and criminal investigations into whether the banks that contributed to the British Bankers’ Association, or the BBA, in connection with the calculation of daily LIBOR may have underreported or otherwise manipulated or attempted to manipulate LIBOR. Several financial institutions have reached settlements with the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the U.S. Department of Justice Fraud Section and the U.K. Financial Services Authority in connection with investigations by such authorities into submissions made by such financial institutions to the bodies that set LIBOR and other interbank offered rates. In such settlements, such financial institutions admitted to submitting rates to the BBA that were lower than the actual rates at which such financial institutions could borrow funds from other banks. Additional investigations remain ongoing with respect to other major banks and no assurance can be made that there will not be further admissions or findings of rate setting manipulation or that improper manipulation of LIBOR or other similar inter-bank lending rates will not occur in the future.

Based on a review conducted by the Financial Conduct Authority announced that it intends to stop persuadingof the U.K., or compelling banks to submit LIBOR rates after 2021. We are unable to predict the effect of anyFCA, and a consultation conducted by the European Commission, proposals have been made for governance and institutional reform, regulation, technical changes any establishment of alternative reference rates or any other reforms to LIBOR or any replacement of LIBOR that may beand contingency planning. In particular: (a) new legislation has been enacted in the United Kingdom pursuant to which LIBOR submissions and administration are now “regulated activities” and manipulation of LIBOR has been brought within the scope of the market abuse regime; (b) legislation has been proposed which if implemented would, among other things, alter the manner in which LIBOR is determined, compel more banks to provide LIBOR submissions, and require these submissions to be based on actual transaction data; and (c) LIBOR rates for certain currencies and maturities are no longer published daily. In addition, pursuant to authorization from the FCA, ICE Benchmark Administration Limited (formerly NYSE Euronext Rate Administration Limited), or elsewhere. Suchthe IBA, took over the administration of LIBOR from the BBA on February 1, 2014. Any new administrator of LIBOR may make methodological changes to the way in which LIBOR is calculated or may alter, discontinue or suspend calculation or dissemination of LIBOR.

We cannot predict the effect of the decision not to sustain LIBOR, or, if changes are ultimately made to LIBOR, the effect of those changes. As of December 31, 2020, 99.9% of our loans by principal balance earned a floating rate of interest indexed to LIBOR, and 100.0% of our outstanding financing arrangements (excluding convertible notes) bear interest indexed to LIBOR. All of these arrangements provide procedures for determining an alternative base rate in the event that LIBOR is discontinued. Regardless, there can be no assurances as to what alternative base rates may be and whether such base rate will be more or less favorable than LIBOR and any other unforeseen impacts of the potential discontinuation of LIBOR. Any changes, reforms or replacements relating to LIBOR could increase our interest expense and could have an adverse impact on the market for or value of any LIBOR-linked securities, loans, derivatives and other financial obligations or extensions of credit held by or due to us or on our overall financial condition or results of operations. In addition, there could be a mismatch between the timing of adjusting the floating base rate from LIBOR to an alternative base rate upon the discontinuation of LIBOR, between our financing arrangements and our loan investments, which may have an immediate and significant adverse impact on our results of operations and cash flows and the market value of our investments. We intend to monitor the developments with respect to the potential phasing out of LIBOR and work with our lenders and borrowers to minimize the impact of any LIBOR transition on our financial condition and results of operations, but can provide no assurances regarding the impact of the discontinuation of LIBOR.

Our counterparties for critical financial relationships may include both domestic and international financial institutions. These institutions could be severely impacted by credit market turmoil, changes in legislation, allegations of civil or criminal

wrongdoing and may as a result experience financial or other pressures. In addition, if a lender or counterparty files for bankruptcy or becomes insolvent, our borrowings under financing agreements with them may become subject to bankruptcy or insolvency proceedings, thus depriving us, at least temporarily, of the benefit of these assets. Such an event could restrict our access to financing and increase our cost of capital. If any of our counterparties were to limit or cease operation, it could lead to financial losses for us.

While not anticipated to be a meaningful component of our investment strategy, we may, subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, utilize a wide variety of derivative financial instruments for risk management purposes, the use of which is a highly specialized activity that may entail greater than ordinary investment risks. Any such hedging transactions may not be effective in mitigating risk in all market conditions or against all types of risk (including unidentified or unanticipated risks), thereby resulting in losses to us. Engaging in hedging transactions may result in a poorer overall performance for us than if we had not engaged in any such hedging transaction, and our Manager may not be able to effectively hedge against, or accurately anticipate, certain risks that may adversely affect our investment portfolio. In addition, our investment portfolio will always be exposed to certain risks that cannot be fully or effectively hedged, such as credit risk relating both to particular securities and counterparties.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, we may pursue various hedging strategies to seek to reduce our exposure to adverse changes in interest rates and fluctuations in currencies. Our hedging activity will vary in scope based on the level and volatility of interest rates, exchange rates, the type of assets held and other changing market conditions. Interest rate and currency hedging may fail to protect or could adversely affect us because, among other things:

Any hedging activity in which we engage may materially and adversely affect our results of operations and cash flows. Therefore, while we may enter into such transactions seeking to reduce risks, unanticipated changes in interest rates, credit spreads or currencies may result in poorer overall investment performance than if we had not engaged in any such hedging transactions. In addition, the degree of correlation between price movements of the instruments used in a hedging strategy and price movements in the portfolio positions or liabilities being hedged may vary materially. Moreover, for a variety of reasons, we may not seek to establish a perfect correlation between such hedging instruments and the portfolio positions or liabilities being hedged. Any such imperfect correlation may prevent us from achieving the intended hedge and expose us to risk of loss.

In addition, some hedging instruments involve additional risk because they are not traded on regulated exchanges, guaranteed by an exchange or its clearing house, or regulated by any U.S. or foreign governmental authorities. Consequently, we cannot assure you that a liquid secondary market will exist for hedging instruments purchased or sold, and we may be required to

maintain a position until exercise or expiration, which could result in significant losses. In addition, certain regulatory requirements with respect to derivatives, including record keeping, financial responsibility or segregation of customer funds and positions are still under development and could impact our hedging transactions and how we and our counterparty must manage such transactions.

We are subject to credit risk with respect to the counterparties to derivative contracts (whether a clearing corporation in the case of exchange-traded instruments or to our hedge counterparty in the case of OTC instruments). If a counterparty becomes bankrupt or otherwise fails to perform its obligations under a derivative contract due to financial difficulties, we may experience significant delays in obtaining any recovery under the derivative contract in a dissolution, assignment for the benefit of creditors, liquidation, winding-up, bankruptcy, or other analogous proceeding. In the event of the insolvency of a counterparty to a derivative transaction, the derivative transaction would typically be terminated at its fair market value. If we are owed this fair market value in the termination of the derivative transaction and our claim is unsecured, we will be treated as a general creditor of such counterparty, and will not have any claim with respect to the underlying security. We may obtain only a limited recovery or may obtain no recovery in such circumstances. In addition, the business failure of a hedging counterparty with whom we enter into a hedging transaction will most likely result in its default, which may result in the loss of unrealized profits and force us to cover our commitments, if any, at the then current market price.

Currently, certain categories of interest rate and credit default swaps are subject to mandatory clearing, and more are expected to be cleared in the future. The counterparty risk for cleared derivatives is generally lower than for uncleared OTC derivative transactions because generally a clearing organization becomes substituted for each counterparty to a cleared derivative contract and, in effect, guarantees the parties'parties’ performance under the contract as each party to a trade looks only to the clearing house for performance of financial obligations. However, there can be no assurance that a clearing house, or its members, will satisfy the clearing house'shouse’s obligations to us. Counterparty risk with respect to certain exchange-traded and OTC derivatives may be further complicated by recently enacted U.S. financial reform legislation.

Subject to maintaining our qualification as a REIT, part of our investment strategy may involve entering into hedging transactions that could require us to fund cash payments in certain circumstances (such as the early termination of the hedging instrument caused by an event of default or other early termination event, or the decision by a counterparty to request margin securities it is contractually owed under the terms of the hedging instrument). The amount due with respect to an early termination would generally be equal to the unrealized loss of such open transaction positions with the respective counterparty and could also include other fees and charges. These economic losses will be reflected in our results of operations, and our ability to fund these obligations will depend on the liquidity of our assets and access to capital at the time, and the need to fund these obligations could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The Commodity Exchange Act of 1936, as amended, and rules promulgated thereunder (the "CFTC Rules"“CFTC Rules”) by the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (the "CFTC"“CFTC”) establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for certain derivative instruments, including swaps, futures and foreign exchange derivatives ("(“Regulated CFTC Instruments"Instruments”). Under this regulatory framework, mortgage real estate investment trusts ("mREITs"(“mREITs”) that trade in Regulated CFTC Instruments are considered "commodity pools"“commodity pools” and the operators of such mREITs would be considered "commodity“commodity pool operators" ("CPOs"operators” (“CPOs”). Absent an exemption, a CPO of an mREIT must register with the CFTC and become subject to CFTC Rules applicable to registered CPOs, including with respect to disclosure, reporting, recordkeeping and business conduct in respect of the mREIT. We may from time to time, directly or indirectly, invest in Regulated CFTC Instruments, which may subject us to oversight by the CFTC.

Our Manager has qualified for the exemption from the CPO registration requirement in respect of our company pursuant to the no-action relief issued by the CFTC staff to operators of qualifying mREITs and has filed a notice of exemption with the CFTC. Our Manager qualifies for the exemption in respect of our company on the basis that we identify as a "mortgage REIT"“mortgage REIT” for U.S. federal income tax purposes and our trading in Regulated CFTC Instruments does not exceed a certain de minimis threshold identified in the no-action relief. Subject to any amendments to CFTC Rules or the position of the CFTC staff, including the continuing availability of the mREIT no-action relief, our Manager will seek to either comply with CFTC Rules without relying

on any exemption from CPO registration or rely on other exemptions (which may prevent us from trading in Regulated CFTC Instruments in order to satisfy the conditions for the relevant exemption).

The CFTC has substantial enforcement power with respect to violations of the laws over which it has jurisdiction, including anti-fraud and anti-manipulation provisions. Among other things, the CFTC may suspend or revoke the registration of a person who fails to comply, prohibit such a person from trading or doing business with registered entities, impose civil money penalties, require restitution and seek fines or imprisonment for criminal violations. Additionally, a private right of action exists against those who violate the laws over which the CFTC has jurisdiction or who willfully aid, abet, counsel, induce or procure a violation of those laws. In the event we fail to receive interpretive relief from the CFTC on this matter, are unable to claim an exemption from registration and fail to comply with the regulatory requirements of these new rules, we may be unable to use certain types of hedging instruments or we may be subject to significant fines, penalties and other civil or governmental actions or proceedings, any of which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We do not have any employees and are externally managed and advised by our Manager, an indirect subsidiary of KKR. Our Manager has significant discretion as to the implementation of our investment and operating policies and strategies. Accordingly, our success depends on the efforts, experience, diligence, skill and network of business contacts of the officers and key personnel of our Manager and its affiliates. Our Manager is managed by senior professionals of KKR Real Estate. These individuals evaluate, negotiate, execute and monitor our loans and investments and advise us regarding maintenance of our qualification as a REIT and exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act; therefore, our success will depend on their skill and management expertise and continued service with our Manager and its affiliates. Furthermore, there is increasing competition among financial sponsors, investment banks and other real estate debt investors for hiring and retaining

In addition, we can offer no assurance that our Manager will remain our investment manager or that we will continue to have access to our Manager'sManager’s officers and key personnel. The current term of the management agreement extends to October 8, 2018December 31, 2021 and will be automatically renewed for additional one-year terms thereafter; provided, however, that our Manager may terminate the management agreement annually upon 180 days'days’ prior notice. If the management agreement is terminated and no suitable replacement is found to manage us, we may not be able to execute our business plan.

Termination of the management agreement without cause will be difficult and costly. The management agreement may be terminated upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of our independent directors, based upon (1) unsatisfactory performance by our Manager that is materially detrimental to us and our subsidiaries taken as a whole or (2) our determination that the management fee and incentive fee payable to our Manager are not fair, subject to our Manager'sManager’s right to prevent any termination due to unfair fees by accepting a reduction of management and/or incentive fees agreed to by at least two-thirds of our independent directors. We must provide our Manager 180 days'days’ written notice of any termination. Additionally, upon such a termination, or if we materially breach the management agreement and our Manager terminates the management agreement, the management agreement provides that we will pay our Manager a termination fee equal to three times the sum of the average annual management fee and the average annual incentive fee, in each case earned by our Manager during the 24-month period immediately preceding the most recently completed calendar quarter prior to the date of termination. These provisions increase the cost to us of terminating the management agreement and adversely affect our ability to terminate the management agreement without cause.

Pursuant to the management agreement, our Manager does not assume any responsibility other than to render the services called for thereunder in good faith and is not responsible for any action of our board of directors in following or declining to follow any advice or recommendations of our Manager, including as set forth in the investment guidelines of the management

agreement. Under the terms of the management agreement, our Manager and its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees, managers, trustees, control persons, partners, equityholders and stockholders are not liable to us, our directors, stockholders or any subsidiary of ours, or their directors, officers, employees or stockholders for any acts or omissions performed in accordance with and pursuant to the management agreement, whether by or through attempted piercing of the corporate veil, by or through a claim, by the enforcement of any judgment or assessment or by any legal or equitable proceeding, or by virtue of any statute, regulation or other applicable law, or otherwise, except by reason of acts or omissions constituting bad faith, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of their duties under the management agreement.

We have agreed to indemnify our Manager and its affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and stockholders with respect to all expenses, losses, damages, liabilities, demands, charges and claims arising from acts or omissions of our Manager not constituting bad faith, fraud, willful misconduct, gross negligence, or reckless disregard of duties, performed or not performed in good faith in accordance with and pursuant to the management agreement. As a result, we could experience poor performance or losses for which our Manager would not be liable.

The past performance of vehicles and funds advised by affiliates of our Manager, as well as KKR'sKKR’s and its affiliates'affiliates’ other investment funds, vehicles and accounts, is not predictive of our performance, in particular because the investment objectives of such other funds, vehicles and accounts differ from our investment objectives. Investors should not assume that they will experience returns, if any, comparable to those experienced by investors in such vehicles. Moreover, we and the other vehicles advised by affiliates of our Manager are different in several respects, including:

We pay our Manager base management fees regardless of the performance of our portfolio. Our Manager'sManager’s entitlement to base management fees, which are not based upon performance metrics or goals, might reduce its incentive to devote its time and effort to seeking loans and investments that provide attractive risk-adjusted returns for our portfolio. Because the base management fees are also based in part on our outstanding equity, our Manager may also be incentivized to advance strategies that increase our equity, and there may be circumstances where increasing our equity will not optimize the returns for our stockholders. Consequently, we are required to pay our Manager base management fees in a particular period despite experiencing a net loss or a decline in the value of our portfolio during that period.

In addition, our Manager has the ability to earn incentive fees each quarter based on our earnings, which may create an incentive for our Manager to invest in assets with higher yield potential, which are generally riskier or more speculative, or sell an asset prematurely for a gain, in an effort to increase our short-term net income and thereby increase the incentive fees to which it is entitled. If our interests and those of our Manager are not aligned, the execution of our business plan and our results of operations could be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We are subject to conflicts of interest arising out of our relationship with KKR, including our Manager and its affiliates. Until such time as (1) KKR and its affiliates cease to own at least 25% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, (2) KKR

REFT Asset Holdings LLC ("(“KKR REFT Asset Holdings"Holdings”) elects to convert the share of our special voting preferred stock into one share of our common stock or (3) beneficial and/or record ownership of the share of our special voting preferred stock is transferred to any person other than KKR or its affiliates, the share of our special voting preferred stock gives KKR REFT Asset Holdings the right, solely with respect to the election of members of our board of directors, to vote the number of votes necessary to equal a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in an election of directors and thereby control our policy and operations. In addition, pursuant to our stockholders agreement, so long as KKR REFT Asset Holdings and its affiliates own at least 25% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, KKR REFT Asset Holdings will have the right to nominate at least half of the directors to our board of directors. In addition, we are managed by our Manager, a KKR affiliate, and our executive officers are employees of our Manager or one or more of its affiliates. There is no guarantee that the policies and procedures adopted by us, the terms and conditions of the management agreement or the policies and procedures adopted by our Manager, KKR and their affiliates, will enable us to identify, adequately address or mitigate these conflicts of interest.

Some examples of conflicts of interest that may arise by virtue of our relationship with our Manager and KKR include:

Our Manager is authorized to follow very broad investment guidelines that provide it with broad discretion inover investment, financing, asset allocation and hedging decisions. Our board of directors will periodically review our investment guidelines and our loan and investment portfolio but will not, and will not be required to, review and approve in advance all of our proposed loans and investments or our Manager'sManager’s financing, asset allocation or hedging decisions. In addition, in conducting periodic reviews, our directors may rely primarily on information provided to them by our Manager or its affiliates. Subject to maintaining our REIT qualification and our exclusion from registration under the Investment Company Act, our Manager has significant latitude within the broad investment guidelines in determining the types of loans and investments it makes for us, and how such loans and investments are financingfinanced or hedged, which could result in investment returns that are substantially below expectations or that result in losses, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

We entered into a license agreement with KKR pursuant to which it granted us a fully paid-up, royalty-free, non-exclusive license to use the name "KKR“KKR Real Estate Finance Trust Inc."” and the ticker symbol "KREF"“KREF”. Under this agreement, we have a right to use this name and ticker symbol for so long as our Manager (or another affiliate of KKR) serves as our Manager pursuant to the management agreement and our Manager (or another managing entity) remains an affiliate of KKR under the license agreement. The license agreement may also be earlier terminated by either party as a result of certain breaches or for convenience upon 90 days'days’ prior written notice. KKR and its affiliates retain the right to continue using the "KKR"“KKR” name. We are also unable to preclude KKR and its affiliates from licensing or transferring ownership of the "KKR"“KKR” name to third parties, some of whom may compete with us. Consequently, we are unable to prevent any damage to goodwill that may occur as a result of the activities of KKR or others. Furthermore, in the event that the license agreement is terminated, we will be required to change our name and ticker symbol and cease using the "KKR"“KKR” name. Any of these events could disrupt our recognition in the marketplace, damage any goodwill we may have generated and otherwise harm our business.

Even if we maintain our qualification as a REIT, we may become subject to U.S. federal income taxes and related state and local taxes. For example, net income from the sale of properties that are "dealer"“dealer” properties sold by a REIT (a "prohibited transaction"“prohibited transaction” under the Code) will be subject to a 100% tax. WeOur distributions may not makebe sufficient distributions to avoid excise taxes applicable to REITs. Similarly, if we were to fail an income or asset test (and did not lose our REIT status because such failure was due to reasonable cause and not willful neglect), we would have to pay a penalty tax, which could be material. We also may decide to retain net capital gain we earn from the sale or other disposition of our investments and pay income tax directly on such income. In that event, our stockholders would be treated as if they earned that income and paid the tax on it directly. However, stockholders that are tax-exempt, such as charities or qualified pension plans, would have no benefit from their deemed payment of such tax liability unless they file U.S. federal income tax returns and thereon seek a refund of such tax.tax on such return. We also may be subject to state and local taxes on our income or property, including franchise, payroll, mortgage recording and transfer taxes, either directly or at the level of the other companies through which we indirectly own assets. For example, our domestic taxable REIT subsidiaries are subject to full U.S. federal, state, local and foreign corporate-level income taxes. Any taxes we pay directly or indirectly will reduce our cash available for distribution to stockholders.

In order to qualify as a REIT for U.S. federal income tax purposes, we must continually satisfy tests concerning, among other things, our sources of income, the nature of our investments in real estate and related assets, the amounts we distribute to our stockholders and the ownership of our stock. We may also be required to make distributions to stockholders at disadvantageous times or when we do not have funds readily available for distribution. Thus, compliance with REIT requirements may hinder our ability to operate solely on the basis of maximizing profits.

In order to qualify as a REIT, we must also ensure that at the end of each calendar quarter, at least 75% of the value of our assets consists of cash, cash items, government securities and qualified REIT real estate assets. The remainder of our investments in securities cannot include more than 10% of the outstanding voting securities of any one issuer or 10% of the total value of the outstanding securities of any one issuer unless we and such issuer jointly elect for such issuer to be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary under the Code. The total value of all of our investments in taxable REIT subsidiaries cannot exceed 20% of the value of our total assets. In addition, no more than 5% of the value of our assets can consist of the securities of any one issuer other than a taxable REIT subsidiary, and no more than 25% of our assets can consist of debt of "publicly offered"“publicly offered” REITs (i.e., REITs that are required to file annual and periodic reports with the SEC under the Exchange Act) that is not secured by real property or interests in real property. If we fail to comply with these requirements, we must dispose of a portion of our assets or otherwise come into compliance within 30 days after the end of the calendar quarter in order to avoid losing our REIT status and suffering adverse tax consequences. As a result, we may be required to liquidate or restructure otherwise attractive investments. These actions could have the effect of reducing our income and amounts available for distribution to our stockholders.

The REIT provisions of the Code substantially limit our ability to hedge liabilities and assets. Any income from a properly identified hedging transaction we enter into to manage risk of interest rate changes with respect to borrowings made or to be made to acquire or carry real estate assets or to manage risk of currency fluctuations with respect to our REIT qualifying income, or to offset any such hedging transaction, does not constitute "gross income"“gross income” for purposes of the 75% or 95% gross income tests that we must satisfy in order to maintain our qualification as a REIT. To the extent that we enter into other types of hedging transactions, the income from those transactions is likely to be treated as non-qualifying income for purposes of both of these gross income tests. As a result of these rules, we intend to limit our use of advantageous hedging techniques or implement those hedges through a taxable REIT subsidiary. This could increase the cost of our hedging activities because our taxable REIT subsidiaries would be subject to tax on gains or expose us to greater risks associated with changes in interest rates than we would otherwise want to bear. In addition, losses in our taxable REIT subsidiaries generally will generally not provide any tax benefit, except for being carried forward against future taxable income in the taxable REIT subsidiaries.

To maintain our qualification as a REIT, not more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock may be owned, directly or indirectly, by five or fewer individuals (as defined in the Code to include certain entities). Our charter provides that no person may beneficially or constructively own more than 9.8% in value or in number of shares, whichever is more restrictive, of any class or series of our outstanding capital stock, provided that KKR and certain of its affiliates are excluded from this limitation. Our board of directors, in its sole discretion, may exempt (prospectively or retroactively) a person from this limitation if it obtains such representations, covenants and undertakings as it deems appropriate to conclude that granting the exemption will not cause us to lose our status as a REIT. The constructive ownership rules under the Code and our charter are complex and may cause shares of our outstanding stock owned by a group of related individuals or entities to be deemed to be constructively owned by one individual. As a result, the acquisition of less than 9.8% of any class or series of our outstanding capital stock by an individual or entity could cause an individual to own constructively in excess of 9.8% of such class or series of our outstanding capital stock, and thus violate the ownership limit. Any attempted transfer of our capital stock that, if effective, would result in a violation of the ownership limit, will cause the number of shares causing the violation to automatically be transferred to a trust for the exclusive benefit of one or more charitable beneficiaries designated by us and the intended transferee will acquire no rights in the shares. Despite these restrictions, it is possible that there could be five or fewer individuals who own more than 50% in value of our outstanding capital stock, which could cause us to fail to continue to qualify as a REIT. In addition, there can be no assurance that our board of directors, as permitted in our charter, will not decrease this ownership limit in the future (provided, however, that a decreased stock ownership limit will not be effective for any person whose ownership of our stock is in excess of the decreased ownership limit until such person'sperson’s ownership percentage of our stock equals or falls below the decreased ownership limit).

The ownership limit could have the effect of discouraging a takeover or other transaction in which holders of our common stock might receive a premium for their shares over the then prevailing market price or which holders might believe to be otherwise

in their best interests (and even if such change in control would not reasonably jeopardize our REIT status). The exemptions to the ownership limit granted to date may limit our board of directors'directors’ power to increase the ownership limit or grant further exemptions in the future.

In connection with our qualification as a REIT, we are required to annually distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income (which does not equal net income, as calculated in accordance with GAAP), determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain. To satisfy this requirement, we may make distributions that are payable in cash and/or shares of our common stock at the election of each stockholder. Under IRS Revenue Procedure 2017-45, asAs a publicly offered REIT, as long as at least 20% of the total dividend is available in cash and certain other requirements are satisfied, the IRS will treat the stock distribution as a dividend (to the extent applicable rules treat such distribution as being made out of our earnings and profits). Taxable stockholders receiving such distributions will be required to include the full amount of such distributions as ordinary dividend income to the extent of our current or accumulated earnings and profits, as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. As a result, U.S. holders may be required to pay income taxes with respect to such distributions in excess of the cash portion of the distribution received. Accordingly, U.S. holders receiving a distribution of our shares may be required to sell shares received in such distribution or may be required to sell other stock or assets owned by them, at a time that may be disadvantageous, in order to satisfy any tax imposed on such distribution. If a U.S. holder sells the stock that it receives as part of the distribution in order to pay this tax, the sales proceeds may be less than the amount it must include in income with respect to the distribution, depending on the value of our shares at the time of the sale. Furthermore, with respect to certain non-U.S. holders, we may be required to withhold U.S. tax with respect to such distribution, including in respect of all or a portion of such distribution that is payable in stock, by withholding or disposing of part of the shares included in such distribution and using the proceeds of such disposition to satisfy the withholding tax imposed. In addition, if a significant number of our stockholders determine to sell shares of our common stock in order to pay taxes owed on dividend income, such sale may put downward pressure on the market price of our common stock.

To qualify as a REIT, we generally must distribute annually to our stockholders at least 90% of our net taxable income, determined without regard to the dividends-paid deduction and excluding net capital gains. We will be subject to regular corporate income taxes on any undistributed REIT taxable income each year, including net capital gains. Additionally, we will be subject to a 4% nondeductible excise tax on any amount by which distributions paid by us in any calendar year are less than the sum of 85% of our ordinary income, 95% of our capital gain net income and 100% of our undistributed income from previous years.

Our taxable income may substantially exceed our net income as determined based on GAAP, or differences in timing between the recognition of taxable income and the actual receipt of cash may occur. For example, we may acquire assets, including debt securities requiring us to accrue OID or recognize market discount income, that generate taxable income in excess of economic income or in advance of the corresponding cash flow from the assets referred to as "phantom income," and this may be more likely under the new rules regarding the timing of income on such assets that apply beginning in 2018 (or, with respect to debt securities with OID, 2019).“phantom income.” In addition, if a borrower with respect to a particular debt instrument encounters financial difficulty rendering it unable to pay stated interest as

due, we may nonetheless be required to continue to recognize the unpaid interest as taxable income with the effect that we will recognize income but will not have a corresponding amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Finally, we may be required under the terms of indebtedness that we incur to use cash received from interest payments to make principal payments on that indebtedness, with the effect of recognizing income but not having a corresponding amount of cash available for distribution to our stockholders. Also, in certain circumstances, our ability to deduct interest expenses for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be limited.

As a result of the foregoing, we may generate less cash flow than taxable income in a particular year and find it difficult or impossible to meet the REIT distribution requirements in certain circumstances. In such circumstances, we may be required to (a) sell assets in adverse market conditions, (b) borrow on unfavorable terms, (c) distribute amounts that would otherwise be used for future acquisitions or used to repay debt, or (d) make a taxable distribution of our common stock as part of a distribution in which stockholders may elect to receive shares of our common stock or (subject to a limit measured as a percentage of the total distribution) cash, in order to comply with the REIT distribution requirements.

We may agree to modify the terms of distressed and other debt instruments that we hold. If the amendments to the outstanding debt are "significant modifications"“significant modifications” under the applicable U.S. Treasury regulations, the modified debt may be considered to have been reissued to us in a debt-for-debt taxable exchange with the borrower. In certain circumstances, this deemed reissuance may prevent the modified debt from qualifying as a good REIT asset if the underlying security has declined in value and could cause us to recognize income to the extent the principal amount of the modified debt exceeds our adjusted tax basis in the unmodified debt.

We originate and acquire mezzanine loans, for which the IRS has provided a safe harbor but not rules of substantive law. Pursuant to the safe harbor, if a mezzanine loan meets certain requirements, it will be treated by the IRS as a real estate asset for purposes of the REIT asset tests, and interest derived from the mezzanine loan will be treated as qualifying mortgage interest for purposes of the REIT 75% income test. Our mezzanine loans typically domay not meet all of the requirements of this safe harbor. In the event we own a mezzanine loan that does not meet the safe harbor, the IRS could challenge such loan'sloan’s treatment as a real estate asset for purposes of the REIT asset and income tests and, if such a challenge were sustained, we could fail to qualify as a REIT, unless we are able to qualify for a statutory REIT "savings"“savings” provision, which may require us to pay a significant penalty tax to maintain our REIT qualification.

We have invested and may invest in mortgage loans and mezzanine loans in which the underlying real property was under construction. Such mortgage loans (and mezzanine loans, to the extent they are otherwise qualifying) generally will generally be treated as real estate assets for purposes of the REIT asset tests, and interest derived from such loans will be treated as qualifying mortgage interest for purposes of the REIT 75% income test, provided that the “loan value” of the real property securing the loan is equal to or greater than the highest outstanding principal amount of the loan during any taxable year. With respect to construction loans, the value of the real property securing the loan is the fair value of the land plus the reasonably estimated cost of improvements or developments (other than personal property) that secure the loan and that are to be constructed from the proceeds of the loan. The IRS could challenge our estimates as to the loan value of the real property associated with such construction loans. If such a challenge were sustained and all or a portion of the loan was not treated as a real estate asset, we could fail to qualify as a REIT, unless we are able to qualify for a statutory REIT “savings” provision, which may require us to pay a significant penalty tax to maintain our REIT qualification.

We have invested and may invest in the future in preferred equity investments as equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes.

asset tests. Alternatively, if the IRS successfully assertswe are treating a mezzanine loan or preferred equity investment is debtas equity for U.S. federal income tax purposes and the IRS successfully recharacterizes the investment as debt, then that investment may be treated as a nonqualifying asset for purposes of the 75% asset test and as producing nonqualifying income for 75% gross income test. In addition, such an investment may be subject to the 10% value test and the 5% asset test, and it is possible that a preferred equity investment that is treated as debt for U.S. federal income tax purposes could cause us to fail one or more of the foregoing tests. Accordingly, we could fail to qualify as a REIT if the IRS does not respectsuccessfully challenges our classificationcharacterization of our mezzanine loans or preferred equity investments for U.S. federal income tax purposes unless we are able to qualify for a statutory REIT "savings"“savings” provision, which may require us to pay a significant penalty tax to maintain our REIT qualification.

A REIT'sREIT’s net income from prohibited transactions is subject to a 100% tax with no offset for losses. In general, prohibited transactions are sales or other dispositions of property, other than foreclosure property, but including mortgage loans, held primarily for sale to customers in the ordinary course of business. We might be subject to this tax if we dispose of, securitize or syndicate loans in a manner that was treated as a sale of the loans, if we frequently buy and sell securities in a manner that is treated as dealer activity with respect to such securities for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Therefore, in order to avoid the prohibited transactions tax, we may choose to engage in certain sales of loansassets through a taxable REIT subsidiary and not at the REIT level, and may limit the structures we utilize for our securitization transactions, even though the sales or structures might otherwise be beneficial to us.

We have entered into financing arrangements that are structured as sale and repurchase agreements pursuant to which we nominally sell certain of our assets to a counterparty and simultaneously enter into an agreement to repurchase these assets at a later date in exchange for a purchase price. Economically, these agreements are financings that are secured by the assets sold pursuant thereto. We believe that we are treated for REIT asset and income test purposes as the owner of the assets that are the subject of such sale and repurchase agreements notwithstanding that such agreements may transfer record ownership of the assets to the counterparty during the term of the agreement. It is possible, however, that the IRS could assert that we do not own the assets during the term of the related sale and repurchase agreement, in which case we could fail to qualify as a REIT.

To qualify as a REIT, we must comply with requirements regarding our assets and our sources of income. If we are compelled to liquidate our investments to repay obligations to our lenders, we may be unable to comply with these requirements, ultimately jeopardizing our qualification as a REIT, or we may be subject to a 100% tax on any resultant gain if we sell assets that are treated as dealer property or inventory.

We may enter into securitization transactions and other financing transactions that could result in us, or a portion of our assets, being treated as a taxable mortgage pool for U.S. federal income tax purposes. If we enter into such a transaction in the future, we could be taxable at the highest corporate income tax rate on a portion of the income arising from a taxable mortgage pool, referred to as "excess“excess inclusion income,"” that is allocable to the percentage of our shares held in record name by disqualified organizations (generally tax-exempt entities that are exempt from the tax on unrelated business taxable income, such as state pension plans and charitable remainder trusts and government entities). In that case, we could reduce distributions to such stockholders by the amount of tax paid by us that is attributable to such stockholder'sstockholder’s ownership.

If we were to realize excess inclusion income, IRS guidance indicates that the excess inclusion income would be allocated among our stockholders in proportion to the dividends paid. Excess inclusion income cannot be offset by losses of a stockholder. If the stockholder is a tax-exempt entity and not a disqualified organization, then this income would be fully taxable as unrelated business taxable income under Section 512 of the Code. If the stockholder is a foreign person, it would be subject to U.S. federal income tax at the maximum tax rate and withholding will be required on this income without reduction or exemption pursuant to any otherwise applicable income tax treaty.

When purchasing securities, we may rely on opinions or advice of counsel for the issuer of such securities, or statements made in related offering documents, for purposes of determining whether such securities represent debt or equity securities for U.S. federal income tax purposes, the value of such securities, and also to what extent those securities constitute qualified real estate assets for purposes of the REIT asset tests and produce income that qualifies under the 75% gross income test. The inaccuracy of any such opinions, advice or statements may adversely affect our ability to qualify as a REIT and result in significant corporate-level tax (at a 35% rate through 2017 and a 21% rate in subsequent years).tax.

A REIT may own up to 100% of the stock of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. Both the subsidiary and the REIT must jointly elect to treat the subsidiary as a taxable REIT subsidiary. A corporation of which a taxable REIT subsidiary directly or indirectly owns more than 35% of the voting power or value of the stock will automatically be treated as a taxable REIT subsidiary. Overall, no more than 20% of the gross value of a REIT'sREIT’s assets may consist of stock or securities of one or more taxable REIT subsidiaries. In addition, the taxable REIT subsidiary rules limit the deductibility of interestamounts paid or accrued by a taxable REIT subsidiary to its parent REIT to assure that the taxable REIT subsidiary is subject to an appropriate level of corporate taxation. The rules also impose a 100% excise tax on certain transactions between a taxable REIT subsidiary and its parent REIT that are not conducted on an arm'sarm’s length basis.

Domestic taxable REIT subsidiaries that we own or may form will pay U.S. federal, state and local income tax on their taxable income, and their after-tax net income will be available for distribution to us but will not be required to be distributed to us, unless necessary to maintain our REIT qualification. In certain circumstances, the ability of our taxable REIT subsidiaries to deduct interest expenses for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be limited. While we plan to monitor the aggregate value of the securities of our taxable REIT subsidiaries and intend to conduct our affairs so that such securities will represent less than 20% of the value of our total assets, there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the taxable REIT subsidiary limitation or avoid the application of the 100% excise tax discussed above in all market conditions.

Any such changes could have an adverse effect on an investment in our shares or on the market value or the resale potential of our assets. You are urged to consult with your tax advisor with respect to the impact of recent legislation on your investment in our shares and the status of legislative, regulatory or administrative developments and proposals and their potential effect on an investment in our shares. Although REITs generally receive certain tax advantages compared to entities taxed as regular corporations, it is possible that future legislation would result in a REIT having fewer tax advantages, and it could become more advantageous for a company that invests in real estate to elect to be treated for U.S. federal income tax purposes as a corporation. Our Common Stockcharter provides our board of directors with the power, under certain circumstances, to revoke or otherwise terminate our REIT election and cause us to be taxed as a regular corporation, without the vote of our stockholders. Our board of directors has duties to us and could only cause such changes in our tax treatment if it determines in good faith that such changes are in our best interest.

As of December 31, 2017,2020, KKR and its affiliates beneficially owned shares of our common stock providing them with an aggregate 44.1%38% of the total voting power of our company. Furthermore, until such time as (1) KKR and its affiliates cease to own at least 25% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, (2) KKR REFT Asset Holdings elects to convert the share of our special voting preferred stock into one share of our common stock or (3) beneficial and/or record ownership of the share of our special voting preferred stock is transferred to any person other than KKR or its affiliates, the share of our special voting preferred stock gives KKR REFT Asset Holdings the right, solely with respect to the election of members of our board of directors, to vote the number of votes necessary to equal a majority of the votes entitled to be cast in an election of directors and thereby control our policy and operations. In addition, pursuant to our stockholders agreement, so long as KKR REFT Asset Holdings and its affiliates own at least 25% of the outstanding shares of our common stock, KKR REFT Asset Holdings will have the right to nominate at least half of the directors to our board of directors. See "—Risks“Risks Related to Our Relationship with Our Manager and Its Affiliates."”

By virtue of KKR'sKKR’s stock ownership and voting power, in addition to its board designation rights, KKR has the power to significantly influence our business and affairs and is able to influence the outcome of matters required to be submitted to stockholders for approval, including the election of our directors, amendments to our charter, mergers or sales of assets. The influence exerted by KKR over our business and affairs might not be consistent with the interests of some or all of our stockholders. In addition, the concentration of ownership in our officers or directors or stockholders associated with them may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control of our company, including transactions that would be in the best interests of our stockholders and would result in receipt of a premium to the price of our shares of common stock (and even if such change in control would not reasonably jeopardize our qualification as a REIT), and might negatively affect the market price of our common stock.

Certain of our pre-IPO stockholders collectively hold, as of December 31, 2017,2020, a 29.2% interest in our Manager through their ownership of a class of non-voting limited liability company interests in our Manager (the "Non-Voting“Non-Voting Manager Units"Units”). This interest means that these pre-IPO stockholders indirectly share in the fees paid by us to our Manager, which may influence the incentives that such stockholders have with respect to matters between us and our Manager and which interests may not be consistent with our interests of some or all of our stockholders.

Some of the provisions of Maryland law and our charter and bylaws discussed below could make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us, even if doing so might be beneficial to our stockholders by providing them with the opportunity to sell their shares at a premium to the then current market price.

including the preferences, conversion or other rights, voting powers, restrictions, limitations as to dividends or other distributions, qualifications and terms and conditions of redemption. The issuance of any preferred stock could materially adversely affect the rights of holders of common stock and, therefore, could reduce the value of the common stock. In addition, specific rights granted to future holders of our preferred stock could be used to restrict our ability to merge with, or sell assets to, a third party. The power of our board of directors to cause us to issue preferred stock could, in certain circumstances, make it more difficult, delay, discourage, prevent or make it more costly to acquire or effect a change in control, thereby preserving the current stockholders'stockholders’ control.

The super-majority vote requirements do not apply if, among other considerations, the transaction complies with a minimum price and form of consideration requirements prescribed by the statute. The statute permits various exemptions from its provisions, including business combinations that are exempted by the board of directors prior to the time that an interested stockholder becomes an interested stockholder. Our board of directors has by resolution exempted business combinations between us and any other person, provided that such business combination is first approved by our board of directors.

The Maryland Control Share Acquisition Act of the Maryland General Corporation Law provides that a holder of control shares of a Maryland corporation acquired in a control share acquisition has no voting rights with respect to the control shares except to the extent approved by a vote of two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast on the matter. Shares owned by the acquiror, by officers or by employees who are directors of the corporation are excluded from shares entitled to vote on the matter. Control shares are voting shares of stock that, if aggregated with all other shares of stock owned by the acquiror or in respect of which the acquiror is able to exercise or direct the exercise of voting power (except solely by virtue of a revocable proxy), would entitle the acquiror to exercise voting power in electing directors within one of the following ranges of voting power:

Control shares do not include shares the acquiror is then entitled to vote as a result of having previously obtained stockholder approval or shares acquired directly from the corporation. A control share acquisition means the acquisition of issued and outstanding control shares, subject to certain exceptions.

A person who has made or proposes to make a control share acquisition may compel the board of directors of the corporation to call a special meeting of stockholders to be held within 50 days of demand to consider the voting rights of the shares. The right

to compel the calling of a special meeting is subject to the satisfaction of certain conditions, including an undertaking to pay the expenses of the meeting. If no request for a meeting is made, the corporation may itself present the question at any stockholders meeting.

If voting rights are not approved at the meeting or if the acquiror does not deliver an acquiring person statement as required by the statute, then the corporation may, subject to certain limitations and conditions, redeem for fair value any or all of the control shares, except those for which voting rights have previously been approved. Fair value is determined, without regard to the absence of voting rights for the control shares, as of the date of any meeting of stockholders at which the voting rights of the shares are considered and not approved or, if no meeting is held, as of the date of the last control share acquisition by the acquiror. If voting rights for control shares are approved at a stockholders meeting and the acquiror becomes entitled to exercise or direct the exercise of a majority of the voting power, all other stockholders may exercise appraisal rights. The fair value of the shares as determined for purposes of appraisal rights may not be less than the highest price per share paid by the acquiror in the control share acquisition.

The control share acquisition statute does not apply to (a) shares acquired in a merger, consolidation or share exchange if the corporation is a party to the transaction or (b) acquisitions approved or exempted by the charter or bylaws of the corporation.

Our bylaws contain a provision exempting any acquisition of our stock by any person from the foregoing provisions on control shares, which may be amended by our board of directors. In the event that our bylaws are amended to modify or eliminate this provision, acquisitions of our common stock may constitute a control share acquisition.

The Maryland Unsolicited Takeovers Act ("MUTA"(“MUTA”) permits the board of directors of a Maryland corporation with at least three independent directors and a class of stock registered under the Exchange Act, without stockholder approval and notwithstanding any contrary provision in its charter or bylaws, to implement certain takeover defenses, including adopting a classified board, increasing the vote required to remove a director or providing that each vacancy on the board of directors may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if the remaining directors do not constitute a quorum. These provisions could have the effect of limiting or precluding a third party from making an unsolicited acquisition proposal

In addition, our charter includes certain limitations on the ownership and transfer of our common stock. See "—“—Risks Related to Our REIT Status and Certain Other Tax Items—Our charter does not permit any person (including certain entities treated as individuals for this purpose) to own more than 9.8% of any class or series of our outstanding capital stock, and attempts to acquire shares of any class or series of our capital stock in excess of this 9.8% limit would not be effective without a prior exemption from those prohibitions by our board of directors."”

Our charter limits the liability of our present and former directors and officers to us and our stockholders for money damages to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Under Maryland law, our present and former directors and officers will not have any liability to us and our stockholders for money damages other than liability resulting from:

Our charter authorizesand bylaws require us to indemnify our present and former directors and officers for actions taken by them in those capacities to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law. Our bylaws require us to indemnify each present and former director or officer, to the maximum extent permitted by Maryland law, in the defense of any proceeding to which he or she is made, or threatened to be made, a party by reason of his or her service to us. In addition, we may be obligated to pay or reimburse the defense costs incurred by our present and former directors and officers without requiring a preliminary determination of their ultimate entitlement to indemnification.

Our charter provides that, subject to the rights of any series of preferred stock, a director may be removed only for cause upon the affirmative vote of at least two-thirds of the votes entitled to be cast generally in the election of directors. Under our charter, cause means conviction of a felony or a final judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction holding that a director caused demonstrable, material harm to our company through bad faith or active and deliberate dishonesty. Vacancies may be filled only by a majority of the remaining directors in office, even if less than a quorum. These requirements make it more difficult to change our management by removing and replacing directors and may prevent a change in control of our company that is in the best interests of our stockholders.

Our charter contains provisions designed to reduce or eliminate duties of KKR and its affiliates and of our directors or any person our directors control to refrain from competing with us or to present to us business opportunities that otherwise may exist in the absence of such charter provisions. Under our charter, KKR and its affiliates and our directors or any person our directors control will not be obligated to present to us opportunities unless those opportunities are expressly offered to such person in his or her capacity as a director or officer of our company and those persons will be able to engage in competing activities without any restriction imposed as a result of KKR'sKKR’s or its affiliates'affiliates’ status as a stockholder or KKR affiliates'affiliates’ status as officers or directors of our company.

We are generally required to distribute to our stockholders at least 90% of our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain, each year for us to qualify as a REIT under the Code, which requirement we currently intend to satisfy through quarterly distributions of all or substantially allat least 90% of our net taxable income in such year, subject to certain adjustments. Although we intend to make regular quarterly distributions to holders of our common

As a result, no assurance can be given that the level of any distributions we make to our stockholders will achieve a market yield or increase or even be maintained over time, any of which could materially and adversely affect the market price of our common stock. We may use net operating losses, to the extent available and subject to certain limitations, carried forward to offset future net taxable income, and therefore reduce our dividend requirements. In addition, some of our distributions may include a return of capital, which would reduce the amount of capital available to operate our business.

In addition, distributions that we make to our stockholders will generally be taxable to our stockholders as ordinary income. REIT dividends (other than capital gain dividends) received by non-corporate stockholders may be eligible for a 20% reduction. However, a portion of our distributions may be designated by us as long-term capital gains to the extent that they are attributable to capital gain income recognized by us or may constitute a return of capital to the extent that they exceed our

earnings and profits as determined for U.S. federal income tax purposes. A return of capital is not taxable, but has the effect of reducing the basis of a stockholder'sstockholder’s investment in our common stock.

None.

Our principal executive offices are located in leased office space at 9 West 57th Street,30 Hudson Yards, New York, New York. We do not own any real property. We consider these facilities to be suitable and adequate for the management and operations of our business.

From time to time, we may be involved in various claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business. As of December 31, 2017,2020, we were not involved in any material legal proceedings.

Not applicable.

On May 5, 2017, our common stock began trading on the NYSE under the symbol “KREF.” The table below sets forth, for the calendar quarters indicated, the reported intraday high and low sale prices for our common stock as reported on the NYSE on and after May 5, 2017.

We intend to make regular quarterly distributions to holders of our common stock. U.S. federal income tax law generally requires that a REIT distribute annually at least 90% of its REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gains, and that it pay tax at regular corporate rates to the extent that it annually distributes less than 100% of its REIT taxable income, as adjusted. We currently expect to distribute substantially all of our net taxable income to our stockholders on an annual basis.

Any distributions we make to our stockholders will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our earnings, financial condition, liquidity, debt covenants, maintenance of our REIT qualification, applicable law and such other factors as our board of directors may deem relevant from time to time. Our earnings, financial condition and liquidity will be affected by various factors, including the net interest and other income from our portfolio, our operating expenses and any other expenditures.

To the extent that in respect of any calendar year, cash available for distribution is less than our REIT taxable income, determined without regard to the deduction for dividends paid and excluding net capital gain, we could be required to sell assets or borrow funds to make cash distributions or make a portion of the required distribution in the form of a taxable stock distribution or distribution of debt securities. For more information regarding risk factors that could materially adversely affect our actual results of operations, see Part I. Item IA. “Risk Factors.”

The following table sets forth the dividends declared during each calendar quarter for 20172020 and 2016:2019:

The following graph is a comparison of the cumulative total stockholder return on shares of our common stock, the Russell 2000 Index (the “Russell 2000”), and the Bloomberg REIT Mortgage Index, a published industry index, from May 5, 2017 (the date our common stock began trading on the NYSE) to December 31, 2017.2020. The graph assumes that $100 was invested on May 5, 2017 in our common stock, the Russell 2000 and the Bloomberg REIT Mortgage Index and that all dividends were reinvested without the payment of any commissions. There can be no assurance that the performance of our shares will continue in line with the same or similar trends depicted in the graph below.

The following table summarizes information, as of December 31, 2017,2020, relating to our equity compensation plans pursuant to which shares of our common stock or other equity securities may be granted from time to time: