Mr. Reese is one of our independent directors and has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2016 and our Lead Independent Director since April 2025. From November 2013 to October 2016 Mr. Reese served as a member of the board of directors of Sutherland Asset Management Corporation which merged with our Company in October 2016 whereupon Mr. Reese became a member of our board of directors. He has been the Managing Member of Cintra Capital LLC since June 2001. Prior to founding Cintra, he was a Managing Director of The Carlyle Group, a private equity firm that manages over $220 billion, where he headed the firm s U.S. venture capital fund. Mr. Reese has served as a Director of The Maids International, a privately held franchisor of cleaning services, since July 2021. Previously, Mr. Reese was a Managing Director of Morgan Keegan & Company, where he served on the board of directors and was head of the Mergers and Acquisitions Group, co-head of Investment Banking, and President of the firm s Merchant Banking subsidiary. He served as a Director of Oxford Finance Corporation, a privately-held specialty finance company, from 2002 to 2004 and as a Director of Local Vine, LLC, a privately-held retailer, from March 2019 to August 2019. Mr. Reese graduated cum laude with a Bachelor of Arts degree from Harvard College and received a Master of Business Administration degree from Harvard Business School. We believe that Mr. Reese is well qualified to serve as a director due to his extensive experience in the financial services industry, business leadership and knowledge of financial markets.