Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should consider carefully the following risk factors and the other information in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including our consolidated financial statements and related notes, before making any investment decisions regarding our securities. If any of the following risks actually occur, our business, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected. As a result, the trading price of our securities could decline and you may lose part or all of your investment.

Risks Related to Our Business

General economic conditions and commercial real estate market conditions, both globally and domestically, have had and may in the future have a negative impact on our business.

We have experienced, in 2010, 2009, 2008 and previous years, and expect in the future to be negatively impacted by, periods of economic slowdowns, recessions and disruptions in the capital markets; credit and liquidity issues in the global and domestic capital markets, including international, national, regional and local markets; and corresponding declines in the demand for commercial real estate and related services within one or more of the markets in which we operate. Historically, commercial real estate markets, and in particular the U.S. commercial real estate market, have tended to be cyclical and related to the flow of capital to the sector, the condition of the economy as a whole and to the perceptions and confidence of the market participants as to the relevant economic outlook as well as the asset class. Negative economic conditions, changes in interest rates, credit and liquidity issues in the global and domestic capital markets, disruptions in capital markets and/or declines in the demand for commercial real estate and related services in international or domestic markets or in significant markets in which we do business as well as negative perceptions about the asset class, have had and could have in the future a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and/or financial condition, as listed below. Since the latter half of 2009, there has been an improvement in the U.S. financial markets, increasing confidence and stabilization in domestic and some foreign economies as well as in select U.S. cities

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which has provided increasing demand for high quality core, core plus and value-add commercial real estate assets. However, we can give no assurance that the improvements in the U.S. commercial real estate market are sustainable.

For example:

These and other types of events could lead to a further decline in transaction activity as well as a decrease in values, which would likely in turn lead to a reduction in fees and commissions relating to such transactions. These effects would likely cause us to realize lower revenues from our transaction service fees, including debt placement fees, investment sales commissions, and our private equity and advisory fees, which fees usually are tied to the transaction value and are payable upon the successful completion of a particular transaction. Such declines in transaction activity and value would likely also significantly reduce our loan servicing activities and revenues as a result of increased delinquencies and defaults on the loans we service and the lack of additional loans that we would have otherwise added to our servicing portfolio.

In addition, cyclicality in the commercial real estate markets may result in cyclicality in our results of operation as well as significant volatility in the market price of our Class A common stock. Similar to other providers of commercial real estate and capital markets services, the stock price of our Class A common stock has had significant declines and fluctuations in the past and may decline in the future.

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Our business has been and may in the future be adversely affected by restrictions in the availability of debt and/or equity capital as well as a lack of adequate credit and the risk of deterioration of the debt and/or credit markets and commercial real estate markets.

Restrictions on the availability of capital, both debt and/or equity, can create significant reductions in the liquidity and flow of capital to the commercial real estate markets. Severe restrictions in debt and/or equity liquidity as well as the lack of the availability of credit in the markets we serviced in 2010, 2009 and 2008 significantly reduced the volume and pace of commercial real estate transactions compared with past periods. These restrictions also had a general negative effect upon commercial real estate prices themselves. Our business of providing commercial real estate and capital markets services to our clients, who are both users and providers of capital, is particularly sensitive to the volume of activity and pricing in the commercial real estate market. In particular, global and domestic credit and liquidity issues reduced the number of acquisitions, dispositions and loan originations in 2010, 2009 and 2008, compared to prior periods, which may also occur into the future. This has had, and may have in the future, a significant adverse effect on our capital markets services revenues.

Despite the general improvement in the U.S. stock markets that started in the second half of 2009, global and domestic credit restrictions and market uncertainties continue, and we cannot predict with any degree of certainty the magnitude or duration of the recent developments in the credit markets and/or commercial real estate markets as it is inherently difficult to make accurate predictions with respect to such macroeconomic movements that are beyond our control. This uncertainty limits our ability to plan for future developments. In addition, the uncertainty regarding current market conditions may limit the ability of other participants in the credit markets and/or commercial real estate markets to plan for the future. As a result, market participants may act more conservatively than they might in a stabilized market, which may perpetuate and amplify the adverse developments in the markets we service. While business opportunities may emerge from assisting clients with transactions relating to distressed commercial real estate assets, there can be no assurance that the volume of such transactions will be sufficient to meaningfully offset the declines in transaction volumes within the overall commercial real estate market.

If we are unable to retain and attract qualified and experienced transaction professionals and associates, our growth may be limited and our business and operating results could suffer.

Our most important asset is our people, and our continued success is highly dependent upon the efforts of our transaction professionals and other associates, including our analysts and production coordinators as well as our key servicing and company overhead support associates. Our transaction professionals generate a significant majority of our revenues. If any of these key transaction professionals or other important associates leave, or if we lose a significant number of transaction professionals, or if we are unable to attract other qualified transaction professionals, our business, financial condition and results of operations may suffer. We have experienced in the past, and expect to experience in the future, the negative impact of the inability to retain and attract associates, analysts and experienced transaction professionals. Additionally, such events may have a disproportionate adverse effect on our operations if the senior most experienced transaction professionals do not remain with us or if these events occur in geographic areas where substantial amounts of our capital markets services revenues are generated. Moreover, because a significant portion of the compensation paid to our transaction professionals consists of commissions, in general our transaction professionals receive significantly less compensation at times when we have substantial declines in our capital markets services revenues, and may therefore have less incentive to remain with the Company during such challenging periods.

We use a combination of cash compensation, equity, equity-based incentives and other employee benefits rather than solely cash compensation to motivate and retain our transaction professionals. Our compensation mechanisms may not be effective, however, if the market price of our Class A common stock experiences significant declines such as what occurred during 2008 and 2009. Even if we are able to retain our most valuable transaction professionals, we may not be able to retain them at compensation levels that will allow us to achieve our target ratio of compensation expense to operating revenue.

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In addition, our competitors may attempt to recruit our transaction professionals. The employment arrangements, non-competition agreements and retention agreements we have entered into with members of HFF Holdings or may enter into with our key associates may not prevent our transaction professionals and other key associates from resigning or competing against us. Any such arrangements and agreements have expired for some members of HFF Holdings and will expire after a certain period of time for other members of HFF Holdings, at which point each such person would be free to compete against us and solicit our clients and employees. In particular, certain non-competition covenants entered into with 26 of our transaction professionals (including our Chief Executive Officer and President), who consist of the majority of the members of HFF Holdings, expired in March 2015. After discussion with our transaction professionals, management and review by our independent directors, we decided not to renew these agreements prior to their expiration. Additionally, we currently do not have employment covenants with certain other key associates and there is no assurance that we will be able to retain their services.

A significant component of our growth has also occurred through the recruiting, hiring and retention of key experienced transaction professionals as well as through the recruiting, hiring and retention of associates who have subsequently become transaction professionals. Any future growth through recruiting these types of transaction professionals and associates will be partially dependent upon the continued availability of attractive candidates fitting the culture of our firm at advantageous employment terms and conditions. However, individuals whom we would like to hire may not be available upon advantageous employment terms and conditions. In addition, the hiring of new personnel involves risks that the persons acquired will not perform in accordance with expectations and that business judgments concerning the value, strengths and weaknesses of persons acquired will prove incorrect.

Negative developments in the business of certain of our clients or counterparties could adversely affect our results of operation and financial condition.

Our clients are both users of capital, such as property owners, and providers of capital, such as lenders and equity investors. Defaults or non-performance by, or even rumors or questions about, one or more financial services institutions, or the financial services industry generally, have led to market-wide liquidity crises and could lead to losses or defaults by one or more of our clients, which, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition. In addition, a client may fail to make payments when due, become insolvent or declare bankruptcy. Any client bankruptcy or insolvency or the failure of any client to make payments when due could result in material losses to our company. In particular, if any of our significant clients becomes insolvent or suffers a downturn in its business, it may seriously harm our business. While in 2015 and 2014 no one borrower or no one seller client represented more than 3% of our total capital markets services revenues, bankruptcy filings by or relating to one of our clients could delay or bar us from collecting pre-bankruptcy debts from that client.

The bankruptcy or insolvency of a significant counterparty (which may include co-brokers, lenders including but not limited to Freddie Mac and/or Fannie Mae which are in conservatorship, insurance companies, banks, hedging counterparties, service providers or other organizations with which we do business), or the failure of any significant counterparty to perform its contractual commitments, may also result in a disruption to our business or material losses to our company.

We have numerous significant competitors and potential future competitors, some of which may have greater resources than we do, and we may not be able to continue to compete effectively.

We compete across a variety of businesses within the commercial real estate industry. In general, with respect to each of our businesses, we cannot give assurance that we will be able to continue to compete effectively or maintain our current fee arrangements or margin levels, or that we will not encounter increased competition. Each of the services we provide to our clients is highly competitive on an international, national, regional and local level. Depending on the product or service, we face competition from international and

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domestic groups, commercial real estate service providers, private owners and developers, institutional lenders, insurance companies, banks, CMBS originators, debt funds, hedge funds, investment banking firms, investment managers and accounting firms, some of whom are clients and many of whom may have greater financial resources than we do. In addition, future changes in laws and regulations could lead to the entry of other competitors. Many of our competitors are local, regional, national or international firms. Although some are substantially smaller than we are, some of these competitors are significantly larger on a local, regional, national or international basis. We may face increased competition from even stronger competitors in the future due to a trend toward consolidation, especially in times of severe economic stress such as what we experienced in 2008 through 2010. In recent years, there has been substantial consolidation and convergence among companies in our industry. Our existing and future competitors may choose to undercut our fees, increase the levels of compensation they are willing to pay to their employees and either recruit our employees or cause us to increase our level of compensation necessary to retain our own employees or recruit new employees. These occurrences could cause our revenue to decrease or negatively impact our target ratio of compensation to operating revenue, both of which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business could be hurt if we are unable to retain our business philosophy and partnership culture and efforts to retain our philosophy and culture could adversely affect our ability to maintain and grow our business.

We are deeply committed to maintaining the philosophy and culture which we have built. Our Mission and Vision Statement defines our business philosophy as well as the emphasis that we place on our clients, our people and our culture. We seek to reinforce to each of our associates our commitment to our clients, our culture and values by sharing with everyone in the firm what is expected from each of them. We strive to maintain a work environment that reinforces our owner-operator culture and the collaboration, motivation, alignment of interests and sense of ownership and reward associates based on their value-added performance who adhere to this culture. Our status as a public company, including potential changes in our compensation structure, could adversely affect this culture. If we do not continue to develop and implement the right processes, tools and appropriate compensation, including equity compensation, for our associates in order to manage our changing enterprise and maintain this culture, our ability to compete successfully and achieve our business objectives could be impaired, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, in an effort to preserve our strong partnership culture, our process for hiring new transaction professionals is lengthy and highly selective. In the past, we have interviewed a significant number of individuals for each transaction professional that we hired, and we have in the past and may in the future subordinate our growth plans to our objective of hiring transaction professionals whom we think will adhere to and contribute to our culture. Our ability to maintain and grow our business could suffer if we are not able to identify, hire and retain new transaction professionals meeting our high standards, which could negatively impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

In the event that we experience significant growth in the future, such growth may be difficult to sustain and may place significant demands on our administrative, operational and financial resources.

In the event that we experience significant growth in the future, such growth could place additional demands on our resources and increase our expenses. Our future growth will depend, among other things, on our ability to successfully identify experienced transaction professionals to join our firm and continue to retain, grow and develop the leadership to manage our business. It may take years for us to determine whether new transaction professionals will be profitable or effective. During that time, we may incur significant expenses and expend significant time and resources toward training, integration and business development. If we are unable to hire and retain profitable transaction professionals as well as our leadership, we will not be able to implement our growth strategy, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Growth will also require us to commit additional management, operational and financial resources to maintain appropriate operational and financial systems to adequately support expansion. There can be no

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assurance that we will be able to manage our expanding operations effectively or that we will be able to maintain or accelerate our growth, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Moreover, we may have to delay, alter or eliminate the implementation of certain aspects of our growth strategy due to events beyond our control, including, but not limited to, changes in general economic conditions, flows in the capital markets and negative changes in commercial real estate market conditions as well as negative perceptions about the commercial real estate asset class. Such delays or changes to our growth strategy may adversely affect our business.

If we acquire companies or significant groups of personnel in the future, we may experience high transaction and integration costs, the integration process may be disruptive to our business and the acquired businesses and/or personnel may not perform as we expect.

Future acquisitions of companies and/or people and any necessary related financings may involve significant transaction-related expenses. Transaction-related expenditures including but not limited to severance costs, lease termination costs, transaction costs, deferred financing costs, possible regulatory costs and merger-related costs, among others. We may also experience difficulties in integrating operations and accounting systems acquired from other companies. These challenges include, but are not limited to, the diversion of management’s attention from the regular operations of our business and the potential loss of our key clients, our key associates or those of the acquired operations, each of which could harm our financial condition and results of operation. We believe that most acquisitions will initially have an adverse impact on revenues, expenses, operating income and net income. Acquisitions also frequently involve significant costs related to integrating culture, people, information technology, accounting, reporting and management services and rationalizing personnel levels. If we are unable to fully integrate the culture, accounting, reporting and other systems of the businesses we acquire, we may not be able to effectively manage them and our financial results may be materially affected. Moreover, the integration process itself may be disruptive to our business as it requires coordination of culture, people and geographically diverse organizations and implementation of new accounting and information technology systems.

In addition, acquisitions of businesses involve risks that the businesses acquired will not perform in accordance with expectations, that the expected synergies associated with acquisitions will not be achieved and that business judgments concerning the value, strengths and weaknesses of the people and the businesses acquired will prove incorrect, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Additional indebtedness or an inability to obtain indebtedness may make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures.

We may be required to obtain additional financing to fund our on-going capital needs as well as to fund our working capital needs. Any additional indebtedness that we are able to incur will make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures. In addition, an inability to obtain additional indebtedness will also make us more vulnerable to economic downturns and limit our ability to withstand competitive pressures.

The level of our indebtedness or inability to obtain additional indebtedness could have important consequences, including, but not limited to the following:

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Our future cash flow may not be sufficient to meet our obligations and commitments. In addition, with the exception of our uncommitted warehouse lines of credit used exclusively in connection with our participation in Freddie Mac’s Program Plus Seller Servicer program, we do not currently maintain a revolving or other credit facility. While we currently believe that cash flows from operating activities and our existing cash balances will be sufficient to meet our working capital needs for the foreseeable future, we cannot make any assurances that we will not be required to incur indebtedness under another source of indebtedness financing in the future. If we are unable to obtain additional financing or generate sufficient cash flow from operations in the future to service our indebtedness and to meet our other commitments, we will be required to adopt one or more alternatives, including but not limited to, closing offices, selling material assets or operations, seeking to raise additional debt or equity capital, eliminating certain lines of our capital markets platforms or terminating significant numbers of key associates. These actions may not be effected on a timely basis or on satisfactory terms or at all, and these actions may not enable us to continue to satisfy our operating and/or capital requirements. As a result, we may not be able to maintain or accelerate our growth, and any failure to do so could adversely affect our ability to generate revenue and control our expenses, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

The financial institutions with whom we currently do business may be unable or unwilling to provide funding under our current financing arrangements.

A diminution in the ease at which our current financing sources can be drawn upon could negatively impact our liquidity. While we are party to an uncommitted $450 million warehouse line of credit with PNC Bank, National Association (“PNC”) and an uncommitted $125 million warehouse line of credit with The Huntington National Bank (“Huntington”) to fund our Freddie Mac loan closings in connection with our participation in Freddie Mac’s Program Plus Seller Servicer program, such warehouse line of credit arrangements are uncommitted and funded on a transaction-by-transaction basis. On October 2, 2015, HFF LP entered into an extended funding agreement with Freddie Mac whereby Freddie Mac can extend the Original Funding Date (as defined in the agreement) on any mortgage that HFF LP funds within the fourth quarter of 2015, to February 15, 2016. In connection with the extended funding agreement with Freddie Mac, PNC agreed to increase the financing arrangement to $1.5 billion and Huntington agreed to increase the financing arrangement to $225 million. Once the extended funding agreement with Freddie Mac expired on February 15, 2016, the capacity under the warehouse agreements reverted to $450 million for PNC and $125 million for Huntington. As of December 31, 2015, we had aggregate outstanding borrowings of $318.6 million under the PNC and Huntington arrangements (and a corresponding amount of mortgage notes receivable). Although we believe that our current financing arrangements with PNC and Huntington are sufficient to meet our current needs in connection with our participation in Freddie Mac’s Program Plus Seller Servicer program, in the event we are not able to secure financing for our Freddie Mac loan closings, we will cease originating such Freddie Mac loans until we have available financing.

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A failure to appropriately deal with actual or perceived conflicts of interest could adversely affect our businesses.

Outside of our people, our reputation is one of our most important assets. As we have expanded the scope of our businesses, capital market platforms and our client base, we increasingly have to address potential, actual or perceived conflicts of interest relating to the capital markets services we provide to our existing and potential clients. For example, conflicts may arise between our position as an advisor to both the buyer and seller in commercial real estate sales transactions or in instances when a potential buyer requests that we represent it in securing the necessary capital to acquire an asset we are selling for another client or when a capital source takes an adverse action against an owner client that we are representing in another matter. In addition, certain of our employees hold interests in real property as well as invest in pools of funds outside of their capacity as our employees, and their individual interests could be perceived to or actually conflict with the interests of our clients. While we believe we have attempted to adopt various policies, controls and procedures to address or limit actual or perceived conflicts, these policies and procedures may not be adequate or carry attendant costs and may not be adhered to by our employees. Appropriately dealing with conflicts of interest is complex and difficult and our reputation could be damaged and cause us to lose existing clients or fail to gain new clients if we fail, or appear to fail, to deal appropriately with conflicts of interest, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

A majority of our revenue is derived from capital markets services transaction fees, which are not long-term contracted sources of revenue, are subject to external economic conditions and intense competition, and declines in those engagements could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We historically have earned over 90% of our revenue from capital markets services transaction fees. We expect that we will continue to rely heavily on capital markets services transaction fees for a substantial portion of our revenue for the foreseeable future. A decline in our engagements or in the value of the commercial real estate we sell or finance could significantly decrease our capital markets services revenues which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we operate in a highly competitive environment, which is heavily reliant on a healthy economy and a functioning and fluid global capital market, where typically there are no long-term contracted sources of revenue; each revenue-generating engagement typically is separately awarded and negotiated on a transaction-by-transaction basis, and the inability to continue to be paid for services at the current levels or the loss of clients would adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Significant fluctuations in our revenues and net income may make it difficult for us to achieve steady earnings growth on a quarterly or an annual basis, which may make the comparison between periods difficult and may cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

We have experienced and continue to experience significant fluctuations in revenues and net income as a result of many factors, including but not limited to economic conditions, capital market disruptions, the timing of transactions, the commencement and termination of contracts, revenue mix and the timing of additional selling, general and administrative expenses to support new business activities. We provide many of our services without written contracts or pursuant to contracts that are terminable at will. Consequently, many of our clients can terminate or significantly reduce their relationships with us on very short notice for any reason.

We plan our capital and operating expenditures based on our expectations of future revenues and, if revenues are below expectations in any given quarter or year, we may be unable to adjust capital or operating expenditures in a timely manner to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall, which could have an immediate material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operation.

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Our results of operation vary significantly among quarters during each calendar year, which makes comparisons of our quarterly results difficult.

A significant portion of our revenue is typically seasonal. Historically, during normal economic and capital markets conditions, this seasonality has caused our revenue, operating income, net income and cash flows from operating activities to be lower in the first six months of the year and higher in the second half of the year. This variance among periods during each calendar year makes comparison between such periods difficult, and it also makes the comparison of the same periods during different calendar years difficult as well. However, this seasonality did not occur in 2007 or 2008 during the disruptions facing all global capital markets, and in particular the U.S. commercial real estate markets, and this historical pattern of seasonality may or may not continue.

Our existing goodwill and other intangible assets could become impaired, which may require us to take non-cash charges.

Under current accounting guidelines, we evaluate our goodwill and other intangible assets for potential impairment annually or more frequently if circumstances indicate impairment may have occurred.

As of December 31, 2015, our recorded goodwill was approximately $3.7 million and our other intangible assets, net, were $27.0 million. The Company performs the required annual goodwill impairment evaluation in the fourth quarter of each year. No impairment of goodwill was determined to exist for the years ended December 31, 2015, 2014 or 2013. Our intangible assets primarily include mortgage servicing rights under agreements with third party lenders. As of December 31, 2015, the fair value and net book value of the Freddie Mac, CMBS and Life Company servicing rights were $35.8 million and $26.9 million, respectively. The most sensitive assumptions in estimating the fair value of the mortgage servicing rights are the level of prepayments, discount rate and cost of servicing. If the assumed level of prepayments increased 177%, the discount rate increased 102% or if there is a 24% increase in the cost of servicing at the stratum level, the estimated fair value of the servicing rights may result in the recorded mortgage servicing rights being potentially impaired and would require management to measure the amount of the impairment charge. The effect of a variation in each of these assumptions on the estimated fair value of the servicing rights is calculated independently without changing any other assumption. For further detail, refer to the discussion under the caption “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations — Critical Accounting Policies; Use of Estimates” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Any impairment of goodwill or other intangible assets would result in a non-cash charge against earnings, which charge could materially adversely affect our reported results of operations and the market price of our Class A common stock in future periods.

Our existing deferred tax assets may not be realizable, which may require us to take significant non-cash charges.

The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are recognized for future tax consequences attributable to differences between the financial statement carrying amounts of existing assets and liabilities and their respective tax bases, and for tax losses and tax credit carryforwards, if any. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are measured using tax rates expected to apply to taxable income in the years in which those temporary differences are expected to be recovered or settled. The effect on deferred tax assets and liabilities of a change in tax rates are recognized in income in the period of the tax rate change. In assessing the realizability of deferred tax assets, the Company considers whether it is more likely than not that some portion or all of the deferred tax assets will not be realized.

Our effective tax rate is sensitive to several factors including changes in the mix of our geographic profitability. We evaluate our estimated tax rate on a quarterly basis to reflect changes in: (i) our geographic mix of income, (ii) legislative actions on statutory tax rates and (iii) tax planning for jurisdictions affected by double taxation. We continually seek to develop and implement potential strategies and/or actions that would reduce our overall effective tax rate.

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The net deferred tax asset of $129.9 million at December 31, 2015 is comprised mainly of a $129.9 million deferred tax asset related to the a tax basis step-up election under Section 754 of the Internal Revenue Code, as amended (“Section 754”), made by HFF, Inc. relating to the initial purchase of units of the Operating Partnerships in connection with the Reorganization Transactions and a tax basis step-up on subsequent exchanges of Operating Partnership units for shares of the Company’s Class A common stock since the date of the Reorganization Transactions. The deferred tax asset related to the Section 754 election tax basis step up of $129.9 million represents annual pre-tax deductions on the Section 754 basis step up and past payments under the tax receivable agreement of approximately $34.6 million in 2016, then increasing to $52.6 million in 2021 then decreasing over the next nine years to approximately $0.1 million in 2030. In order to realize the anticipated pre-tax benefit of approximately $34.6 million in 2016, the Company needs to generate approximately $305 million in revenue, assuming our current cost structure. In the event that the Company cannot realize the annual benefit each year, the shortfall becomes a net operating loss that can be carried back 2 years to offset prior years’ taxable income or carried forward 20 years to offset future taxable income. If it is more likely than not that the Company would not be able to generate a sufficient level of taxable income through the carryforward period, a valuation allowance would be recorded as a charge to income tax expense and a proportional reduction in the payable under the tax receivable agreement which would be recorded as income in the consolidated statements of income.

Employee misconduct, which is difficult to detect and deter, could harm us by impairing our ability to attract and retain clients and subjecting us to significant legal liability and reputational harm.

If our associates engage in misconduct, our business could be adversely affected. For example, our business often requires that we deal with confidential matters of great significance to our clients. It is not always possible to deter employee misconduct, and the precautions we take to deter and prevent this activity may not be effective in all cases. If our associates were improperly to use or disclose confidential information provided by our clients, we could be subject to regulatory sanctions and suffer serious harm to our reputation, financial position and current client relationships and our ability to attract future clients, could be significantly impaired, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Compliance failures and changes in regulation could result in an increase in our compliance costs or subject us to sanctions or litigation.

A number of our services are subject to regulation by the SEC, FINRA and state real estate commissions and securities regulators. Our failure to comply with applicable laws or regulations could result in fines, suspensions of personnel or other sanctions, including revocation of the registration of us or any of our subsidiaries as a commercial real estate broker or broker-dealer. Even if a sanction imposed against us or our personnel is small in monetary amount, the adverse publicity arising from the imposition of sanctions against us by regulators could harm our reputation and cause us to lose existing clients or significantly impair our ability to gain new clients. Our broker-dealer operations are subject to periodic examination by the SEC and FINRA. FINRA may identify deficiencies in the procedures and practices of HFF Securities and may require HFF Securities to take remedial action. FINRA may also identify significant violations of law, rules or regulations, resulting in formal disciplinary action and the imposition of sanctions, including potentially the revocation of HFF Securities’ registration as a broker-dealer. We cannot predict the outcome of any such examinations or processes, and any negative regulatory action may have a significant and material adverse effect on our company. In addition, it is possible that the regulatory scrutiny of, and litigation in connection with, conflicts of interest will make our clients less willing to enter into transactions in which such a conflict may occur, and significantly impair our ability to gain new clients, which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

Additionally, changes in risk retention rules related to the Dodd-Frank Act and Basel III global regulations could adversely affect financial institutions and their ability, willingness and competitiveness in providing capital to the commercial real estate industry both globally and domestically. Any of these events could result in a general decline in acquisition, disposition and financing activities, which could lead to a reduction in our fees for

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arranging such transactions as well as a reduction in our loan servicing activities due to increased delinquencies and lack of additional loans that we would have otherwise added to our portfolio, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

In addition, we may be adversely affected as a result of new or revised legislation or regulations adopted by the SEC, state, local or national governmental regulatory authorities or self-regulatory organizations that supervise the financial and commercial real estate markets as well as changes in administrations or enforcement priorities of any of these authorities or organizations.

We could be adversely affected if the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 is not renewed beyond 2020, or is adversely amended, or if insurance for other natural or manmade disasters is interrupted or constrained

Our business could be adversely affected if the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002, or TRIA, is not renewed beyond 2020, or is adversely amended, or if insurance for other natural and manmade disasters is interrupted or constrained. In response to the tightening of supply in certain insurance and reinsurance markets resulting from, among other things, the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002 was enacted to ensure the availability of commercial insurance coverage for terrorist acts in the United States. This law established a federal assistance program through the end of 2005 to help the commercial property and casualty insurance industry cover claims related to future terrorism-related losses and required that coverage for terrorist acts be offered by insurers. Although TRIA was amended and extended through 2020, it is possible that TRIA will not be renewed beyond 2020, or could be adversely amended, which could adversely affect the commercial real estate markets and capital markets if a material subsequent event occurred. Lenders generally require owners of commercial real estate to maintain terrorism insurance. In the event TRIA is not renewed, terrorism insurance may become difficult or impossible to obtain. Natural disasters and the lack of commercially available wind damage and flood insurance could also have a negative impact on the acquisition, disposition and financing of the commercial properties in certain areas. Any of these events could result in a general decline in acquisition, disposition and financing activities, which could lead to a reduction in our fees for arranging such transactions as well as a reduction in our loan servicing activities due to increased delinquencies and lack of additional loans that we would have otherwise added to our portfolio, all of which could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operation.

We could be adversely affected if our executive compensation programs are scrutinized or influenced by shareholder advocacy groups.

In recent years, all public companies in the United States have faced increasing shareholder scrutiny of the executive compensation practices. Through legislation such as the Dodd-Frank Act, shareholders have been given new or stronger rights to approve the pay practices, including the issuance of equity compensation, of public companies. In addition, the influence of independent shareholder advocacy groups on the decisions of institutional investors related to executive compensation matters has increased significantly. In the event that shareholder influence results in a change in our compensation mechanisms, including our ability to issue equity compensation, we may have difficulty in retaining transaction professionals or retaining them at compensation levels that we deem appropriate. In addition, to the extent that shareholder influence prevents us from deducting executive compensation costs, we could experience additional tax costs with respect to our compensation mechanisms.

Risks Related to Our Organizational Structure

Our only material asset is our units in the Operating Partnerships, and we are accordingly dependent upon distributions from the Operating Partnerships to pay our expenses, taxes and dividends (if and when declared by our board of directors).

HFF, Inc. is a holding company and has no material assets other than its ownership of partnership units in the Operating Partnerships. HFF, Inc. has no independent means of generating revenue. We intend to cause the

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Operating Partnerships to make distributions to its partners in an amount sufficient to cover all expenses, applicable taxes payable and dividends, if any, declared by our board of directors. To the extent that HFF, Inc. needs funds, and the Operating Partnerships are restricted from making such distributions under applicable law or regulation or under any future debt covenants, or are otherwise unable to provide such funds, it could materially adversely affect our business, liquidity, financial condition and results of operation.

We will be required to pay HFF Holdings for most of the benefits relating to any additional tax depreciation or amortization deductions we may claim as a result of the tax basis step-up we receive and related transactions with HFF Holdings.

As part of the Reorganization Transactions, approximately 45% of the partnership units in each of the Operating Partnerships (including partnership units in the Operating Partnerships held by Holliday GP) held by Holdings Sub, a wholly-owned subsidiary of HFF Holdings, were sold to HoldCo LLC, our wholly-owned subsidiary, for cash raised in the initial public offering. In addition, HFF Holdings gained, through the issuance of one share of HFF, Inc.’s Class B common stock to HFF Holdings, the right to exchange its remaining partnership units in the Operating Partnerships held by HFF Holdings for shares of Class A common stock, subject to certain restrictions (the “Exchange Right”). As of August 31, 2012, all of the 20,355,000 partnership units previously held by Holdings had been exchanged for an equal number of shares of our Class A common stock. Since all the partnership units had been exchanged, the Class B common stock was transferred to us and retired on August 31, 2012 in accordance with our certificate of incorporation. These sales and exchanges have resulted in increases in the tax basis of the assets of HFF LP and HFF Securities that have been allocated to HFF, Inc. These increases in tax basis will likely reduce the amount of tax that we would otherwise be required to pay in the future depending on the amount, character and timing of our taxable income, but there can be no assurances that such treatment will continue in the future.

HFF, Inc. entered into a tax receivable agreement with HFF Holdings that provides for the payment by HFF, Inc. to HFF Holdings of 85% of the amount of cash savings, if any, in U.S. federal, state and local income tax that we actually realize as a result of these increases in tax basis and as a result of certain other tax benefits arising from our entering into the tax receivable agreement and making payments under that agreement. For purposes of the tax receivable agreement, cash savings in income tax will be computed by comparing our actual income tax liability to the amount of such taxes that we would have been required to pay had there been no increase to the tax basis of the assets of HFF LP and HFF Securities as a result of the initial sale and later exchanges and had we not entered into the tax receivable agreement. The term of the tax receivable agreement will continue until all such tax benefits have been utilized or expired, including the tax benefits derived from future exchanges.

While the actual amount and timing of payments under the tax receivable agreement will depend upon a number of factors, including the amount and timing of taxable income we generate in the future, the value of our individual assets, the portion of our payments under the tax receivable agreement constituting imputed interest, changes in the tax rates and increases in the tax basis of our assets resulting in payments to HFF Holdings, we expect that the payments that may be made to HFF Holdings will be substantial. The payments under the tax receivable agreement are not conditioned upon HFF Holdings’ or its affiliates’ ownership of us. We may need to incur debt to finance payments under the tax receivable agreement to the extent our cash resources are insufficient to meet our obligations under the tax receivable agreement as a result of timing discrepancies or otherwise.

In addition, although we are not aware of any issue that would cause the Internal Revenue Service, or IRS, to challenge the tax basis increases or other benefits arising under the tax receivable agreement, HFF Holdings will not reimburse us for any payments previously made if such basis increases or other benefits were later not allowed. As a result, in such circumstances we could make payments to HFF Holdings under the tax receivable agreement in excess of our actual cash tax savings.

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Risks Related to Our Class A Common Stock

Ownership by certain of our transaction professionals of substantial voting power in HFF, Inc. may give rise to conflicts of interests and may prevent new investors from influencing significant corporate decisions.

Members of HFF Holdings, who consist of our senior transaction professionals as well as other employees of the Operating Partnerships, held in their individual capacity approximately 13% of the voting power in HFF, Inc. as of February 19, 2016. As a result, and in combination with the fact that our certificate of incorporation does not provide for cumulative voting, these individuals, acting as individuals, collectively, have the ability to exert significant influence in the election of the members of our board of directors and thereby the control of our management and affairs, including determinations with respect to acquisitions, dispositions, borrowings, issuances of common stock or other securities, and the declaration and payment of dividends. In addition, these individuals may be able to significantly influence the outcome of all matters requiring stockholder approval, including a change of control of our company or a change in the composition of our board of directors and could preclude any unsolicited acquisition of our company. We cannot assure you that the interests of these individuals will not conflict with your interests.

The concentration of ownership could deprive our Class A stockholders of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and might ultimately affect the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, as a result of the influence exercised by these individuals over us at any time in the future, we cannot assure you that we would not have received more favorable terms from an unaffiliated party.

If we fail to maintain an effective system of internal controls, we may not be able to accurately report financial results or prevent fraud.

Effective internal controls are necessary to provide reliable financial reports and to assist in the effective prevention of fraud. Any inability to provide reliable financial reports or prevent fraud could harm our business. We must annually evaluate our internal control procedures to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which requires management and auditors to assess the effectiveness of internal controls. If we fail to remedy or maintain the adequacy of our internal controls, as such standards are modified, supplemented or amended from time to time, we could be subject to regulatory scrutiny, civil or criminal penalties or shareholder litigation.

In addition, failure to maintain adequate internal controls could result in financial statements that do not accurately reflect our financial condition. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to complete the work necessary to fully comply with the requirements of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act or that our management and external auditors will continue to conclude that our internal controls are effective.

If securities analysts do not publish research or reports about our business or if they downgrade our company or our sector, the price of our Class A common stock could decline.

The trading market for our Class A common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that industry or financial analysts publish about us or our business. We do not control these analysts, nor can we assure that any analysts will continue to follow us and issue research reports. Furthermore, if one or more of the analysts who do cover us downgrades our company or our industry, or the stock of any of our competitors, the price of our Class A common stock could decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of our company, we could lose visibility in the market, which in turn could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Our share price may decline due to the large number of shares eligible for future sale and for exchange.

The market price of our Class A common stock could decline as a result of sales of a large number of shares of Class A common stock in the market or the perception that such sales could occur. These sales, or the

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possibility that these sales may occur, also might make it more difficult for us to sell equity securities in the future at a time and at a price that we deem appropriate.

In June 2010, following consultation with our board of directors, 29 members of HFF Holdings agreed to impose resale restrictions on 4,020,640 shares of Class A common stock, a portion of their shares of Class A common stock received in connection with the modification of the Exchange Right and the extension of certain employment agreements with such members of HFF Holdings. In each of March 2015, March 2014 and March 2013, 33%, or approximately 1.34 million of such restricted shares of Class A common stock, became eligible to be freely sold, and as a result, all of the shares received by such members of HFF Holdings in connection with the modification of the Exchange Right and extension of certain employment are agreements are no longer subject to resale restrictions.

As of February 19, 2016, 2,209,133 shares of our Class A common stock were reserved for issuance under outstanding awards of vested and unvested restricted stock or options to purchase our Class A common stock and 111,887 shares of our Class A common stock were reserved for future issuance under our 2006 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan.

The market price of our Class A common stock may continue to be volatile, which could cause the value of your investment to decline or subject us to litigation.

Our stock price is affected by a number of factors, including but not limited to quarterly and annual variations in our results and those of our competitors; changes to the competitive landscape; estimates and projections by the investment community; the arrival or departure of key personnel, especially the retirement or departure of key senior transaction professionals and management, including members of HFF Holdings and current named executive officers of the Company and senior members of our executive committee and Leadership Team; the introduction of new services by us or our competitors; and acquisitions, strategic alliances or joint ventures involving us or our competitors. Securities markets worldwide experience significant price and volume fluctuations as has been the case in the past, especially since late 2007 and continuing through 2011. This market volatility, as well as general global and domestic economic, credit and liquidity issues, market or political conditions, has reduced and may reduce in the future the market price of our Class A common stock. In addition, our operating results could be below the expectations of public market analysts and investors, and in response, the market price of our Class A common stock could decrease significantly.

When the market price of a company’s common stock drops significantly, stockholders sometimes institute securities class action lawsuits against the company. A securities class action lawsuit against us could cause us to incur substantial costs and could divert the time and attention of our management and other resources from our business.

Anti-takeover provisions in our charter documents and Delaware law could delay or prevent a change in control.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may delay or prevent a merger or acquisition that a stockholder may consider favorable by permitting our board of directors to issue one or more series of preferred stock, requiring advance notice for stockholder proposals and nominations, providing for a classified board of directors, providing for super-majority votes of stockholders for the amendment of the bylaws and certificate of incorporation, and placing limitations on convening stockholder meetings and not permitting written consents of stockholders. In addition, we are subject to provisions of the Delaware General Corporation Law that restrict certain business combinations with interested stockholders. These provisions may also discourage acquisition proposals or delay or prevent a change in control, which could harm the market price of our Class A common stock.

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