UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K10-K/A

Amendment No. 1

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018

OR

For the transition period fromto

Commission file number:001-33280

HFF, INC.

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

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

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

NONE

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☑☒

Indicate by checkmark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.    Yes  ☐    No  ☑☒

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

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted pursuant to Rule 405 of RegulationS-T (§ 232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit such files).    Yes  ☑☒    No  ☐

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§ 229.405) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  ☐

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, anon-accelerated filer, a smaller reporting company or an emerging growth company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer”, “smaller reporting company” and “emerging growth company” in Rule12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act.  ☐

Indicate by checkmark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Exchange ActRule 12b-2).    Yes  ☐    No  ☑☒

As of February 20, 2019, there were 39,269,330 shares of Class A common stock, par value $0.01 per share, of the registrant outstanding.

The aggregate market value of the registrant’s voting stock held bynon-affiliates at June 30, 2018 was approximately $1.3 billion, based on the closing price per share of Class A common stock on that date of $34.35 as reported on the New York Stock Exchange. Shares of common stock known by the registrant to be beneficially owned by directors and officers of the registrant subject to the reporting and other requirements of Section 16 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 are not included in the computation. The registrant, however, has made no determination that such persons are “affiliates” within the meaning ofRule 12b-2 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

Selected portions of the Proxy Statement for the 2019 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Report.None.

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTSEXPLANATORY NOTES

This Amendment No. 1 on Form10-K/A (this “Amendment No. 1”) amends the Annual Report on Form10-K contains “forward-looking statements” within of HFF, Inc., a Delaware corporation (the “Company” or “HFF”) for the meaningyear ended December 31, 2018, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) on February 28, 2019 (the “Original Filing”). This Amendment No. 1 is being filed to provide information required by Items 10 through 14 of Section 21EPart III of Form10-K. This information was previously omitted from the Original Filing in reliance on General Instruction G(3) to Form10-K, which permits the information in the above-referenced items to be incorporated in the Form10-K by reference from a definitive proxy statement involving the election of directors if such statement is filed no later than 120 days after the end of the fiscal year covered by the Form10-K. We are filing this Amendment No. 1 to include Part III information in our Form10-K because we will not file our definitive proxy statement containing this information before that date.

In addition, as is required by Rule12b-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), this Amendment No. 1 includes new certifications by our Principal Executive Officer and Principal Financial Officer pursuant to Section 27A302 of the SecuritiesSarbanes-Oxley Act of 1933,2002, filed as amended. These forward-lookingExhibits 31.1 and 31.2 hereto.

Except as described above, no other changes have been made to the Original Filing. Except as otherwise explicitly stated herein, this Amendment No. 1 continues to speak as of the date of the Original Filing, and we have not updated the disclosures contained therein to reflect any events that occurred subsequent to the date of the Original Filing. The filing of this Amendment No. 1 is not a representation that any statements reflectcontained in items of our current views with respectOriginal Filing other than Items 10 through 14 of Part III, and Part IV are true or complete as of any date subsequent to among other things, our operations and financial performance. You can identify these forward-looking statements by the use of words such as “outlook,” “believes,” “expects,” “potential,” “continues,” “may,” “will,” “should,” “seeks,” “approximately,” “predicts,” “intends,” “plans,” “estimates,” “anticipates” or the negative version of these words or other comparable words. Such forward-looking statements are subject to various risks, uncertainties and assumptions that are difficult to predict. Accordingly, there are or will be important factors that could cause actual outcomes or results to differ materially from those indicated in these statements. We believe these factors include, but are not limited to, those described under the caption “Risk Factors” in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. These factors should not be construed as exhaustive andOriginal Filing. This Amendment No. 1 should be read in conjunction with our other filings made with the other cautionary statements that are includedSEC subsequent to the date of the Original Filing, including any amendments to those filings, as well as our Current Reports filed onForm 8-K subsequent to the date of the Original Filing. All capitalized terms used in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We undertake no obligationAmendment No. 1 but not defined herein shall have the respective meanings given to publicly update or review any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as required by securities laws.them in the Original Filing.

SPECIAL NOTE REGARDING THE REGISTRANT

In connection with our initial public offering in February 2007, we effected a reorganization of our business into a holding company holding the partnership interests in Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P. and HFF Securities L.P. (together, the “Operating Partnerships”), held through the wholly-owned subsidiary HFF Partnership Holdings, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and all of the outstanding shares of Holliday GP Corp. (“Holliday GP”), the sole general partner of each of the Operating Partnerships. The transactions that occurred in connection with the initial public offering and reorganization are referred to as the “Reorganization Transactions.”

Unless the context otherwise requires, references to (1) “HFF Holdings” refer solely to HFF Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company that was previously the holding company for our consolidated subsidiaries, and not to any of its subsidiaries, (2) “HFF LP” refer to Holliday Fenoglio Fowler, L.P., a Texas limited partnership, (3) “HFF Securities” refer to HFF Securities L.P., a Delaware limited partnership and registered broker-dealer, (4) “Holliday GP” refer to Holliday GP Corp., a Delaware corporation and the general partner of HFF LP and HFF Securities, (5) “HoldCo LLC” refer to HFF Partnership Holdings LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of HFF, Inc., and (6) “Holdings Sub” refer to HFF LP Acquisition LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of HFF Holdings, (7) “HFF InvestCo” refer to HFF InvestCo LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly owned subsidiary of HFF, Inc. (8) “HFF Real Estate” refer to HFF Real Estate Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales and (9) “HFF Securities Limited” refer to HFF Securities Limited, a company incorporated in England and Wales and registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (collectively, with HFF Real Estate, the “UK Subsidiaries” and, with HFF Securities, the “Securities Subsidiaries”).Holdings. Except where specifically noted, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-KAmendment No. 1 to “the Company,” “we”, “our”, or “us” mean HFF, Inc., a Delaware corporation and its consolidated subsidiaries after giving effect to the Reorganization Transactions.

Merger Agreement with Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated

As previously announced on March 19, 2019, HFF entered into an Agreement and Plan of Merger (the “Merger Agreement,” a copy of which was filed as Exhibit 2.1 to HFF’s Form8-K with the SEC on March 20, 2019), with Jones Lang LaSalle Incorporated, a Maryland corporation (“JLL”), JLL CM, Inc., a Delaware corporation and wholly-owned subsidiary of JLL (“Merger Sub”), JLL CMG, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company and wholly-owned subsidiary of JLL (“Merger LLC”), pursuant to which, upon the terms and subject to the conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement, (i) Merger Sub will merge with and into HFF, with HFF as the surviving corporation (the “Merger”), and (ii) following the completion of the Merger, the surviving corporation from the Merger will merge with and into Merger LLC (the “Subsequent Merger”), with Merger LLC surviving the Subsequent Merger and continuing as a wholly-owned subsidiary of JLL. On April 29, 2019, JLL filed a Registration Statement on FormS-4 (SEC registration file number333-231099 (the “Proxy Statement/Prospectus”)), including a preliminary proxy statement in connection with, among other things, a special meeting of HFF’s stockholders to seek, among other things, adoption of the Merger Agreement. We expect that the Merger will close in the third quarter of 2019, subject to the satisfaction of the closing conditions set forth in the Merger Agreement.

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PART III

PART I

OverviewDirectors

WeUnder the Company’s Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws, our directors are based on transaction volume,divided into three classes. At each annual meeting, directors will be elected for staggered terms of three years, with the term of office of only one of these three classes of directors expiring each year. Each director will hold office for the leading providersterm to which he or she is elected and until his or her successor is duly elected and qualifies. Information regarding our Board of commercialDirectors (the “Board”) is as follows:

Susan P. McGalla. Ms. McGalla became a director of the largest full-service commercialCompany in October 2009. Ms. McGalla was most recently the Vice President of Business Strategy and Creative Development for the Pittsburgh Steelers Football Club. Prior to assuming that role, she founded P3 Executive Consulting, LLC. P3 offered comprehensive consulting services to clients within and outside of the specialty retail industry. Services included branding, marketing, product merchandising and omni-channel execution to strategy, talent management and operational P&L efficiencies. From January 2011, to July 2012, Ms. McGalla was chief executive officer of The Wet Seal, Inc. Ms. McGalla was brought in to that position to reinvent and grow two brands, Wet Seal and Arden B. From 2009 to 2011, Ms. McGalla worked as a consultant within the specialty retail landscape. Prior to her consulting role, Ms. McGalla was the President and Chief Merchandising Officer at American Eagle Outfitters, Inc. (“AEO”) from March 2003 to January 2009. In that role, she had a $3 billion responsibility for the performance, business development and all creative aspects of the AE Brand, aerie, Martin and Osa, and 77kids. With over 14 years total in various leadership roles within AEO, Ms. McGalla contributed to industry revenue and profit growth, growing revenues from $340 million to over $3 billion. She was responsible for portfolio expansion from one brand to four brands, and in 2008, revenues of $3 billion, net income of $400 million with over 1,000 stores and 28,000 employees. Prior to AEO, Ms. McGalla held merchandising management positions at Joseph Horne Company from June 1986 to June 1994. Ms. McGalla presently serves on the board of directors and executive committee of the Magee Research Institute, the council for the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, the advisory board of The Energy Network and was formerly a trustee of the University of Pittsburgh and on the executive committee and board of directors for the Allegheny Conference on Community Development. Ms. McGalla earned her B.A. from Mount Union College. Ms. McGalla’s executive positions provide her with both leadership skills and comprehensive experience in accounting, finance and corporate governance matters, which she utilizes as a director and a member of the Company’s Audit and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.

George L. Miles, Jr. Mr. Miles became a director of the Company in January 2007. Mr. Miles is the former Chairman Emeritus of the Chester Group, a leading water/waste water, facility design build, scientific research and management company. Mr. Miles served as president and chief executive officer of WQED Multimedia, the public broadcaster in southwestern Pennsylvania, until his retirement in 2010. He joined WQED in 1994 after serving ten years as executive vice president and chief operating officer of WNET/Thirteen in New York. Prior to that, he held executive positions at KDKA, Pittsburgh; WPCQ, Charlotte; the Westinghouse Television Group; andWBZ-TV, Boston. Earlier in Mr. Miles’ career he was a contract auditor at the U.S. Department of Defense and a manager at Touche Ross & Co. Mr. Miles has served as a member on the board of directors of American International Group, Inc. (AIG) (retired 2017); Harley Davidson, Inc. (retired 2017); the University of Pittsburgh (Trustee Emeritus); Mt. Ararat Community Center and Ringling College of Art & Design. He is the former Chairman of the Association for America’s Public Television Stations and the Urban League of Pittsburgh, Inc. He earned his B.A. degree from Seton Hall University and his M.B.A. from Fairleigh Dickinson University. Through Mr. Miles’ extensive executive and directorship experience, he brings to the Board strong financial and leadership expertise, which he implements, in part, in his roles as Chairman of the Company’s Audit Committee and a member of the Compensation Committee.

Morgan K. O’Brien. Mr. O’Brien became a director of the Company in October 2012. Mr. O’Brien has been the president and chief executive officer of Peoples Natural Gas, Inc., a natural gas company, since 2010. He is also currently a director of Matthews International Corporation, a publicly-held designer, manufacturer and marketer of memorialization products and brand solutions, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, Boy Scouts of Greater Pittsburgh, United Way of Allegheny County, Pittsburgh Cultural Trust and American Gas Association. Between 2001 and 2010, Mr. O’Brien was president and chief executive officer of Duquesne Light Company, an electric energy provider. Prior to this position, he was chief operating officer, chief financial officer, vice president and controller of Duquesne Light Company from 1991 to 2001. Mr. O’Brien received a B.S. in Accounting and M.S. in Taxation from Robert Morris University. The Board expects to draw on Mr. O’Brien’s financial knowledge as he serves as a member of the Audit and Compensation Committees.

Lenore M. Sullivan. Ms. Sullivan became a director on the Board of the Company in January 2007. Ms. Sullivan presently serves on the board of directors of PotlatchDeltic Corp., RREEF America REIT II and RREEF Core Plus Industrial Fund. From June 2015 through February 2018, Ms. Sullivan served on the board of directors of Deltic Timber Corporation, a predecessor of PotlatchDeltic Corp. From 2007 to 2009, Ms. Sullivan was a partner with Perella Weinberg Partners, serving as portfolio manager for the firm’s Agility Real Return Assets Fund. Ms. Sullivan served as the associate director for the Real Estate and Finance and Investment Center at the University of Texas at Austin from 2002 through 2007. From 2000 to 2002, she was vice president of Hunt Private Equity Group, Inc., and from 1992 to 2000 she was the president andco-owner of Stonegate Advisors, an investment banking firm. Ms. Sullivan previously served on the board of directors of Parkway Properties, Inc., where she sat on the compensation committee and chaired the governance and nominating committee. Ms. Sullivan served as a member of the Investment Advisory Committee to the board of trustees of the Employee Retirement System of Texas from 2010 until March 2019, and also served on the investment committee to the board of trustees of the Austin Community Foundation from 2011 through 2018. She is a member of the Architecture School advisory board and the Leadership Committee of the Real Estate Finance and Investment Center at the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas at Austin, and a charter investor in the Texas Women Ventures Fund. Ms. Sullivan has also served as a member of the advisory board of directors of

Capstone Partners and as a full member of the Urban Land Institute and the Pension Real Estate Association. Ms. Sullivan graduated cum laude from Smith College with a degree in economics and government and a minor in urban studies. She holds a M.B.A. from Harvard Business School. Ms. Sullivan holds an Executive Masters Professional Director Certification from the American College of Corporate Directors, a national public company director education and credentialing organization. Ms. Sullivan brings to the Board extensive knowledge of real estate financial intermediariesfinancing and related capital markets. In addition, her experience on the board of directors of a public company provides her with valuable corporate governance and leadership insights used in her role on the Company’s Compensation and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees.

Joe B. Thornton, Jr. Mr. Thornton became a director and a Vice Chairman of the Company in November 2006 and effective April 1, 2014, he assumed the role of President of the Company and Managing Member of HFF LP and HFF Securities, the Operating Partnerships. He is also currently an executive managing director of HFF LP. Mr. Thornton has served as a member of either HFF LP’s executive and/or operating committee, when each was the governing committee, from 2003 to the present. Mr. Thornton also served asco-head of the Company’s Dallas office from 2003 to 2010. He has been a member of the operating committee of HFF Holdings since 2003. Mr. Thornton joined HFF LP’s predecessor firm, Holliday Fenoglio, Inc., in March 1992. He has held several senior positions with the firm, including board member and principal. Prior to his employment with us, he was a senior vice president of The Joyner Mortgage Company, Inc., where he was responsible for the origination of commercial mortgage and equity transactions, and a senior accountant with the Audit Division of Peat Marwick Mitchell & Co. Mr. Thornton is a licensed Real Estate Salesman in the country. We operate outState of 26 officesTexas. Mr. Thornton serves as a member of the Commercial Real Estate/Multifamily Finance Board of Governors and is an Executive Council Member and member of the Leadership Committee of UT Real Estate Finance & Investment Center. Mr. Thornton also serves as a board member of First Liberty Institute. Mr. Thornton graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with approximately 1,074 associates including approximately 392 capital markets advisors. During 2018, we advised on approximately $99.7 billion of completed commercial real estate transactions, a 3.8% increase comparedB.B.A. in Accounting in 1982. Mr. Thornton brings to the approximately $96.1 billionBoard his extensive experience with the Company, which gives him anin-depth knowledge of completed transactions we advised on during 2017.

Our fully-integrated national capital markets platform, coupledthe Company, its history and its businesses. Mr. Thornton’s role within the Operating Partnerships also provides the Board with our knowledgea broad awareness of the commercial real estate markets, allows us to effectively actmarkets.

Steven E. Wheeler. Mr. Wheeler became a director of the Company in March 2010. He has been the president of Wheeler & Co., LLC, a private investment firm, since 1997. He retired on February 8, 2019 as a “one-stop shop”director of Anika Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held medical device company. During the past five years, Mr. Wheeler also served as a member of the board of directors of Bariston Partners, LLC, a private equity investment firm and PingTone Communications, Inc., a privately head VOIP telephone services provider. Between 1997 and 2011, he was a principal of Hall Properties, Inc., a real estate investment and consulting firm. Between 1993 and February 1996, he was managing director and a director of Copley Real Estate Advisors and president, chief executive officer and a director of Copley Properties, Inc., a publicly traded real estate investment trust. He was the chairman and chief executive officer of Hancock Realty Investors, which managed an equity real estate portfolio, from 1991 to February 1993. Prior to this position, he was an executive vice president of Bank of New England Corporation from 1990 to 1991. Mr. Wheeler received a B.S. in Engineering Science from the University of Virginia, an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Michigan and an M.B.A. from the Harvard Business School. Through his past and present experience on the boards of directors of various other companies, both public and private, Mr. Wheeler has developed strong leadership skills and valuable experience in corporate governance, which he utilizes in his roles on the Company’s Audit and Nominating and Corporate Governance Committees. In addition, his prior experience in executive positions at real estate investment companies gives him insight into the issues faced by the Company and the markets in which it operates.

Executive Officers

The current executive officers of the Company are as follows:

Mark D. Gibson. Mr. Gibson is described above as a director.

Joe B. Thornton, Jr.Mr. Thornton is described above as a director.

Gregory R. Conley. Mr. Conley serves as the Chief Financial Officer (“CFO”) for ourthe Company. Mr. Conley joined HFF LP in October 2006. Working out of the firm’s Pittsburgh office, Mr. Conley is responsible for all areas of financial accounting and reporting for the Company and its 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom. He served as a member of HFF LP’s operating committee when it was the governing committee, from 2006 to 2010 and has served as anon-voting member of the executive committee of HFF LP since 2010. Prior to joining HFF LP, from 1998 throughmid-2006, Mr. Conley was an executive vice president and CFO with Precise Technology, Inc. and its successor, Rexam Consumer Plastics, Inc. Precise Technology, Inc. was a plastics packaging business and a portfolio company of Code Hennessy & Simmons. Between 1986 and early 1998, Mr. Conley served as a consultant in various leadership positions with national consulting firms that eventually became part of Navigant Consulting, Inc., including Barrington Consulting Group, Inc. and Peterson & Company. Mr. Conley began his career in public accounting with Ernst & Young LLP. He earned an M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh and a B.S. from Duquesne University.

Nancy O. Goodson. Ms. Goodson serves as the Chief Operating Officer for the Company. Ms. Goodson has previously held the same position at HFF LP and its predecessor companies since 1993. She has served as a member of the operating committee of HFF Holdings since 2003. She also served as a member of either HFF LP’s executive and/or operating committee, when each was the governing committee, from 2003 to 2010 and has served as an ad hoc member of the executive committee of HFF LP since 2010. Working out of the firm’s Houston office, Ms. Goodson is responsible for the overall direction of the firm’s 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom, with a specific focus on the oversight of administrative functions and loan servicing aspects of the Company. Prior to joining the Company in 1993, she spent seven years as a controller at Beeler Sanders Properties in Houston. She is a member of CREW Houston and is a member of the Board of Trustees and Treasurer of First United Methodist Church in Missouri City, Texas. She received her B.B.A. from Southwest Texas State University.

Matthew D. Lawton. Mr. Lawton became an executive managing director of the Company in April 2014. Mr. Lawton has served on HFF LP’s executive committee since 2014. As an executive committee member, Mr. Lawton is responsible for the overall direction of the firm’s 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom. In addition to his duties as a member of HFF’s executive committee and Leadership Team, Mr. Lawton serves as an executive managing director of HFF LP, a position he has held since 2009, and alsoco-heads the firm’s investment advisory group. Mr. Lawton joined HFF LP in 2001. He serves as an executive committee member for the National Multifamily Housing Council (NMHC) and an advisory board member of the Mandel Group. Mr. Lawton received his Bachelor of Arts in Economics and Business from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Michael J. Tepedino. Mr. Tepedino became an executive managing director of the Company on January 1, 2016. Mr. Tepedino is a member of the executive committee and leadership team with management oversight of the New York, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Washington, D.C. offices. As an executive committee member, Mr. Tepedino is responsible for the overall direction of the firm’s 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom. He serves a wide variety of institutional and entrepreneurial clients providingon a broad arraynational basis. For the period from 2008 to 2018, he closed more than $24 billion of transactions and is routinely one of the Company’s leading producers. Mr. Tepedino has been in the real estate industry since 1987, when

he began his career at Travelers Insurance Company. He entered the intermediary business in 1993 at Legg Mason Real Estate Services where he was a Director until joining the Company in 1997. He serves as a member of Rye YMCA and a board member of Stamford Peace. Mr. Tepedino received his Master of Business Administration from Fordham University and his Bachelor of Arts from Skidmore College.

Gerard T. Sansosti. Mr. Sansosti became an executive managing director of the Company in January 2009. Mr. Sansosti has served on HFF LP’s executive committee since January 2014. As an executive committee member, Mr. Sansosti is responsible for the overall direction of the firm’s 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom. In addition to his duties as a member of HFF’s executive committee and Leadership Team, Mr. Sansosti alsoco-heads the firm’s debt placement and loan sales groups. Mr. Sansosti has more than 35 years of experience in commercial real estate, including finance and investment sales. Mr. Sansosti joined HFF LP in 1998, and prior to that he was a principal at PNS Realty Partners, L.P. He is an active member of the International Council of Shopping Centers, Urban Land Institute, NAIOP, Mortgage Bankers Association and the Commercial Real Estate Finance Council(CREF-C). Mr. Sansosti received his Master of Business Administration from Duquesne University and his Bachelor of Science from Carnegie Mellon University.

Manuel A. de Zárraga. Mr. de Zárraga has served on HFF LP’s executive committee since 2014. As an executive committee member, Mr. de Zárraga is responsible for the overall direction of the firm’s 26 offices in the United States and United Kingdom. In addition to his duties as a member of HFF’s executive committee and Leadership Team, Mr. de Zárraga servesas co-leader of the firm’s investment advisory group and its special assets group. Mr. de Zárraga joined HFF in 2002. Prior to that he was a principal and managing director at Sonnenblick-Goldman Company for 14 years and served on the firm’s operating committee. Mr. de Zárraga is an active member of the Urban Land Institute, where he serves as vice-chair for UDMUC Gold. Additionally, he recently served as a board chairman for Habitat for Humanity and is vice-chair of the Real Estate Board for the Miami Business School and the Florida State University Business School. Mr. de Zárraga is also a board member of City Year Miami. Mr. de Zárraga received his Master of Business Administration and Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from the University of Miami.

Kevin C. MacKenzie.Effective January 2, 2018, Mr. MacKenzie became an executive managing director in the Orange County office of the Company. Mr. MacKenzie has more than 15 years of experience in commercial real estate investment banking. He specializes in the execution and expansion of the firm’s capital markets services including:

Substantially Orange County office (2011-present). During the course of his career, Mr. MacKenzie has executed in excess of 550 transactions totaling more than $26 billion in consideration, across all property sectors and regions of our revenues arethe United States. Mr. MacKenzie joined the firm in March 2004. Prior to HFF, he worked in strategic finance and business development roles at various venture capital-backed technology companies in Silicon Valley. During his tenure in the formtechnology industry, Mr. MacKenzie played a key role in raising more than $250 million in venture capital from prominent firms, including Kleiner Perkins Caufield and Byers and Benchmark Capital. Mr. MacKenzie currently serves as a member of capital markets services fees collectedthe Dean’s Advisory Council for California Polytechnic State University and is an active member of the Urban Land Institute SSDC national council, as well as local Capital Markets Councils in Orange County and Los Angeles. He also serves on the strategic advisory board for Project Hope Alliance, a nonprofit organization focused on ending the cycle of homelessness one child at a time. Mr. MacKenzie received his Bachelor of Science, with a concentration in finance and economics, from our clients, usually negotiatedCalifornia Polytechnic State University.

Section 16(a) Beneficial Ownership Reporting Compliance

The rules of the SEC require the Company to disclose late filings of stock transaction reports by its executive officers and directors. Based solely on a transaction-by-transaction basis. We also earn feesthe review of the copies of SEC forms received by the Company with respect to fiscal year 2018, or written representations from commercial loan servicing activities. Wereporting persons, we believe that our multiple product offeringsdirectors and platform services, diverse client mix, expertiseexecutive officers have complied with all applicable filing requirements except for the following:

Corporate Governance

Code of Ethics

The Company has adopted a code of conduct that applies to its CEO and CFO. This code of conduct as well as periodic and current reports filed with the SEC are available through the Company’s web site at www.hfflp.com. If the Company makes any amendments to this code other than technical, administrative or othernon-substantive amendments, or grants any waivers, including implicit waivers, from a provision of this code to the Company’s CEO or CFO, the Company will disclose the nature of the amendment or waiver, its effective date and to whom it applies in a wideCurrent Report onForm 8-K filed with the SEC.

Submission of Director Nominations

The Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee will consider director nominees submitted by stockholders to the Board in accordance with the procedures set forth in the Company’s Amended and Restated Bylaws. Those procedures require a stockholder to deliver notice to the Company’s Secretary or Assistant Secretary at the principal executive offices of the Company not less than 90 nor more than 120 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting of stockholders, except that in the case where the size of the Board is increased without public announcement at least 80 days prior to the first anniversary of the preceding year’s annual meeting, such notice shall be considered timely if made no later than the close of business on the tenth day following the public announcement of such by the Company (provided that if no public announcement is made at least 10 days before the meeting, such notice is not required). Such notice must be in writing and must include (i) the name and address of the nominating stockholder, as they appear on the Company’s books, (ii) the class and number of shares of the Company’s stock which are owned beneficially and of record by the nominating stockholder, (iii) certain representations, (iv) the nominee’s written consent to being named in the proxy statement as a nominee and to serving as a director if elected, and (v) any information regarding the nominee that is required under Regulation 14A of the Exchange Act to be included in a proxy statement relating to the election of directors. Finally, if the stockholder (or a qualified representative of the stockholder) does not appear at the meeting at which the voting takes place with respect to such stockholder’s nomination, such nomination shall be disregarded, notwithstanding that proxies in respect of such vote may have been received by the Company. Candidates for the Board are evaluated through a process that may include background and reference checks, personal interviews with members of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee and a review of the candidate’s qualifications and other relevant characteristics. Candidates recommended by the stockholders of the Company are evaluated on the same basis as other candidates (other than directors standing forre-election) recommended by the Company’s directors, officers, third party search firms or other sources. However, through its own resources, the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee expects to be able to identify an ample number of qualified candidates.

Committees of the Board of Directors

The Board has established three standing committees. The following table describes the current members of each of the committees and the number of meetings held during fiscal year 2018:

COMPENSATION DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS

This Compensation Discussion and Analysis (“CD&A”) provides an overview of the Company’s executive compensation programs for the named executive officers during fiscal year 2018, together with a description of the material factors underlying the decisions which resulted in the 2018 compensation provided to the Company’s named executive officers, as presented in the tables that follow this CD&A. For 2018, the Company’s named executive officers were: Mark D. Gibson, Gregory R. Conley, Matthew D. Lawton, Kevin C. MacKenzie and Michael J. Tepedino (the “NEOs”).

The following discussion and analysis contains statements regarding future individual and the Company’s performance targets and goals. These targets and goals are disclosed in the limited context of the Company’s compensation programs and should not be understood to be statements of management’s expectations or estimates of financial results or other guidance. HFF specifically cautions investors not to apply these statements to other contexts. This description relates only to compensation programs as in effect for fiscal year 2018 and does not include a summary of compensation arrangements with HFF’s directors and officers that will take effect in connection with or following the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the Merger Agreement.

Role of the Compensation Committee

The Compensation Committee is currently composed of fournon-employee directors, all of whom are independent directors under the listing standards of the NYSE and the SEC rules and who are “outside directors” within the commercial real estate sector. Our revenuesmeaning of Section 162(m) of the Code. The Compensation Committee has responsibility for determining and net income were $662.0 millionimplementing the Company’s philosophy with respect to executive compensation. Accordingly, the Compensation Committee has overall responsibility for approving and $116.0 million, respectively,evaluating the various components of the Company’s executive compensation program. Meetings are held at least twice per year (and more often as necessary) to discuss and review the compensation of the NEOs. The Compensation Committee annually reviews and approves the compensation of the CEO, and also reviews and approves the compensation of the other NEOs after considering the recommendations of the President and CEO. In establishing and reviewing compensation for the year ended December 31, 2018, compared to revenuesNEOs, the Compensation Committee considers, among other things, the financial results of the Company and net incomerecommendations of $609.5 millionmanagement. Although the Company does not benchmark the Company’s executive compensation against any particular peer group, the Compensation Committee often considers compensation data for comparable companies in reviewing its compensation programs and $95.0 million, respectively, forlevels of compensation paid.

The Compensation Committee operates under a written charter originally adopted by the year ended December 31, 2017.Board on January 30, 2007 and last amended on May 23, 2013. A copy of this charter is posted on the Company’s website at www.hfflp.com on the “Investor Relations” page.

We have established strong relationships with our clients. Our clients are both consumers of capital, such as property owners,Compensation Committee Interlocks and providers of capital, such as lenders and equity investors. Many of our clients act as both consumers and providers of capital in different transactions, which enables us to leverage our existing relationships and execute multiple transactions across multiple platform services and product offerings with the same clients.

We believe we have established a reputation for high ethical standards, dedicated teamwork and a strong focus on serving the interests of our clients. We take a long-term view of our business and client relationships, and our culture and philosophy are firmly centered on putting the clients’ interests first.

Insider Participation.

During 2018, we continuedno member of the Compensation Committee was an officer or employee of the Company, or any of its subsidiaries, or was formerly an officer of the Company or any of its subsidiaries. None of the Company’s executive officers currently serves or, during 2018, served on the compensation committee or board of directors of any other entity that has one or more officers serving as a member of the Board or Compensation Committee.

Role of the Compensation Consultant

Since 2009, the Compensation Committee has engaged Frederic W. Cook & Co., Inc. (“FW Cook”), an independent compensation consultant, to grow our business through expanding our service offerings within our existing offices as well as strategic hiresprovide advice on executive compensation matters. All services provided by consultants to the Compensation Committee are conducted under the direction or authority of the Compensation Committee, and investments. all work performed by compensation consultants must beOn July 2,pre-approved by the Compensation Committee. In 2018, we invested $25.0 millionFW Cook was engaged to review the design and competitiveness of HFF’snon-employee director compensation program. FW Cook conducted a competitive analysis to assess general industry market competitive levels and structure for director compensation. The analysis was supplemented with real estate industry data.    

The Compensation Committee annually assesses the independence of FW Cook pursuant to SEC Rules and NYSE Listing Standards and in mandatorily redeemable preferred stocklight of M&T Realty Capital Corporation (“M&T-RCC”) in connectionsuch rules has determined that no conflict of interest exists that would prevent FW Cook from independently representing the Compensation Committee. In making this assessment, the Compensation Committee considered all factors relevant to FW Cook’s independence, including but not limited to each of the factors set forth by the SEC and the NYSE with a risk transfer agreement entered into between HFF LPrespect to the compensation consultant’s independence.

Compensation Philosophy — Mission and M&T-RCC (the “Risk Transfer Agreement”), which is expected to enable us to increase our share of Fannie Mae’s Delegated Underwriting and Servicing (“DUS®”) business. Through the Risk Transfer Agreement, we source multifamily property loans to M&T-RCC, which funds the loans through its Fannie Mae DUS® loan platform. Vision Statement

In connection with setting the Risk Transfer Agreement, we indemnify M&T-RCCcompensation for their credit recourse obligations associated with loans originated underexecutive officers, the Risk Transfer Agreement. Additionally, on September 17, 2018, oneCompany has adopted the philosophy set forth in the Mission and Vision Statement of our wholly-owned subsidiaries, InvestCo, LLC, entered into a securities purchase agreement to facilitatethe Operating Partnerships (see below). The Mission and Vision Statement reflects the Company’s $5.5 million investment in Kensington CA, LLC, a third-party provider of service offerings related to derivative product transactions (the “Joint Venture”). Pursuantpay for value-added performance philosophy. The Company believes this Mission and Vision Statement is critical to the securities purchase agreement and the operating agreementCompany’s continued success. The foundation of the Joint Venture, to whichCompany’s Mission and Vision Statement is based on the concept that a client’s interest must be placed ahead of the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, HFF InvestCo LLC,or any individual’s working for the Company. The Company’s goal is a party,to hire and retain associates throughout the entire organization who have the highest ethical standards with the finest reputation in the industry to preserve the Company’s culture of integrity, trust and respect. The Company endeavors to promote and encourage teamwork to ensure the Company’s clients have the best team on each transaction. Without the best people, the Company indirectly ownsbelieves it cannot be the best firm and achieve superior results for the Company’s clients.

To enable the Company to achieve its goals, the Company believes that it must maintain a 50% interestflexible compensation structure, including equity-based compensation awards, to appropriately recognize and reward the Company’s existing and future associates who profoundly affect the Company’s future success. The Company believes the ability to reward superior performance is essential if the Company wants to provide superior results for its clients and stockholders.

The Compensation Committee’s goals in structuring the Joint Venture and is entitled to a 50% interest in the profits and losses of the Joint Venture.  Company’s compensation program for its NEOs are to:

HFF, Inc. is a Delaware corporation with its principal executive offices located at 2323 Victory Avenue, One Victory Park, Suite 1200, Dallas, Texas, 75219, telephone number (214) 265-0880.

The Compensation Committee has determined that to achieve these objectives, the Company’s executive compensation program should reward both individual and the Company’s short-term and long-term performance. To this end, the Compensation Committee believes that executive compensation packages provided by the Company to its executive officers should include both cash- and its stockholders,stock-based compensation. However, the Compensation Committee does not rely on any policy or formula in determining the appropriate mix of cash and equity compensation, nor does it rely on any policy or formula in allocating long-term compensation to different forms of awards.

Given the dual roles of Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino as a whole, and our clients.

Integrated Capital Markets Services Platform

Inboth executive officers of the competitive commercial real estateCompany and capital markets industry, we believe oneadvisors of our key differentiatorsHFF LP, the Company’s executive compensation program operates in conjunction with and supplements the Company’s overall compensation system, which is our abilityintended to analyze all commercial real estate product typesplace significant and markets as well as our ability to provide clients with comprehensive analysis, advice and execution expertise on all types of debt and equity capital markets solutions. We believe that due to our broad range of execution capabilities, our clients rely on us not only to provide capital markets alternatives but, more importantly, to advise them on how to optimize value by uncovering inefficiencies in the non-public capital markets to maximize their commercial real estate investments. We believe our capabilities provide our clients with the flexibility to pursue multiple capital markets options simultaneously so that, upon conclusion of our efforts, they can choose the best risk-adjusted solution.

Independent Objective Advice

Unlike many of our competitors, we do not currently offer services that compete with services provided by our clients such as leasing or property management, nor do we currently engage in principal capital investing activities which would compete with a number of our clients. We believe this allows us to offer independent objective advice to our clients. We believe our independence distinguishes us from our competitors, enhances our reputation in the market and allows us to retain and expand our client base.

Extensive Cross-Selling Opportunities

As some participants in the commercial real estate market are frequently buyers, sellers, lenders and borrowers at various times, we believe our relationships with these participants across all aspects of their businesses provide us with multiple revenue opportunities throughout the life cycle of their commercial real estate investments. Our capital markets advisors may advise on an investment sale where we not only represent the seller of a commercial real estate investment but also represent the buyer in arranging acquisition financing. During 2018, 2017 and 2016, we executed numerous transactions across multiple platform services with 23, 23 and 22, respectively, of our top 25 clients.

Broad and Deep Network of Relationships

We have developed broad and deep-standing relationships with the users and providers of capital in the industry and have completed multiple transactions for many of the top institutional commercial real estate investors in the U.S. as well as several global investors. Importantly, our capital markets advisors, analysts and closing specialists foster relationships with their respective counterparts within each client’s organization. This provides, in our opinion, a deeper relationship with our firm relative to our competitors. In 2018 and 2017, no one borrower or no one seller client, represented more than 3% of our total capital markets services revenues. The combined fees from our top 10 seller clients for the years 2018 and 2017, were less than 7% of our capital markets services revenues for each year, and the combined fees from our top 10 borrower clients were less than 5% of our capital markets services revenues for each year.

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Proprietary Transaction Database

We believe that the extensive volume of commercial real estate transactions that we advise on throughout the U.S. and across multiple property types and capital markets service lines provides our capital markets advisors with valuable, real-time market information. We maintain a proprietary database of numerous current and potential capital sources and clients that tracks key terms and provisions of the majority of all closed and pending transactions in which we are involved. This proprietary database also includes historical and current flows and the pricing of debt, structured finance, investment advisory, loan sales and equity transactions. The database maintains real-time quotes and bids on pipeline transactions, status reports on all current transactions as well as historical information on clients, lenders and buyers. Furthermore, our internal databases maintain current and historical information on our loan servicing portfolio, which we believe enables us to track real-time property level performance and market trends. These internal databases are updated regularly and are available to our capital markets advisors, analysts and other internal support groups to share client contact information and real-time market information. We believe this information strengthens our competitive position by enhancing the advice we provide to clients and improving the probability of successfully closing a transaction. We believe our associates also understand the confidential nature of this information, and if it is misused, depending on the circumstances, such misuse can be cause for immediate dismissal from the Company.

Our Strategic Growth Plan

We seek to improve our market position by focusing on the following strategic growth initiatives:

Increase Market Share Across Each of our Capital Markets Services

We believe that we have the opportunity to increase our market share in each of the various capital markets services we provide to our clients by penetrating deeper into our international, national, regional and local client relationships. We also intend to increase our market share by selectively hiring capital markets advisors in our existing offices and in new locations, predicated on finding the most experienced professionals in the market who have the highest integrity, work ethic and reputation, while fitting into our culture and sharing our business philosophy and business practices. Since 2011, we have opened offices in Phoenix, AZ, Tampa, FL, Austin, TX, Denver, CO, Orlando, FL, Philadelphia, PA, Charlotte, NC, London, UK, Seattle, WA, and Las Vegas, NV. We have also significantly added to the platform services and product specialty types in a majority of our offices.

While the volume increases relating to our debt placement, investment advisory and loan servicing services referenced above were principally the effect of improved market conditions and increased activity in the commercial real estate market, we believe that our efforts to open new offices and expand our platform services and product specialties have also aided us in our achievements.

Continue to Capitalize on Cross-Selling Opportunities

Participants in the commercial real estate market increasingly are buyers, sellers, lenders and borrowers at various times. We believe our relationships with these participants across all aspects of their businesses provide us with multiple revenue opportunities throughout the life cycle of their commercial real estate investments. Many of our clients are both consumers and providers of capital, and our goal is to attempt to work with our clients to execute transactions utilizing the wide spectrum of our services. By maintaining close relationships with these clients, we believe we will continue to generate significant repeat business across all of our business lines.

Our debt capital markets advisors originated approximately $7.1 billion and $8.2 billion of debt for clients that purchased properties sold by our investment advisory capital markets advisors for their clients in 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our investment advisory capital markets advisors also referred clients to our debt capital markets advisors who arranged debt financings totaling approximately $9.3 billion and $9.7 billion in 2018 and 2017, respectively. Our debt capital markets advisors also referred clients to our investment advisory capital markets advisors who sold approximately $4.2 billion and $3.7 billion of properties in 2018 and 2017, respectively. Also, in 2018 and 2017, our Securities Subsidiaries originated debt volumes of approximately $0.7 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, in addition to its other equity placement activities.

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Expand Our Geographic Footprint

We believe that opportunities exist to strategically establish and increase our presence in several key domestic and international, markets. When strategic opportunities present themselves with high-quality capital markets advisors, it is our intention to capitalize on such opportunities as we did in Seattle, WA, London, UK and Las Vegas, NV in 2017, Phoenix, AZ in 2016 and Charlotte, NC in 2014. While our capital markets advisors, located in 26 offices (25 throughout the U.S. and one in the UK), advised clients on transactions in 45 states, the District of Columbia, Canada, and the United Kingdom and in more than 775 cities in 2018, there are a number of major metropolitan areas where we do not maintain an office. In addition to opening an office in London, UK, we do, on a periodic basis, send our capital markets advisors overseas to meet with capital sources and global clients. By comparison, a number of our large public competitors have in excess of 100 offices worldwide and some have nearly 100 in the U.S alone. We constantly review key demand drivers of commercial real estate by market, including growth in population, households, employment, commercial real estate inventory by product type, and new construction. By doing so, we can determine not only where future strategic growth should occur, but more importantly, we can also ensure our capital markets advisors are constantly calling on the most attractive markets where we do not have offices. Since 2011, we have opened nine new offices, and during this same period, we have significantly added to the platform services and product specialties in nearly all of our offices. See “Results of Operations” within Item 7, “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” for a discussion of the results of our U.S. operations and “Risks Related to Our Business” within Item 1A, “Risk Factors” for a description of risks associated with our business, including with respect to operations in the United Kingdom.

We expect to achieve future strategic geographic expansion through a combination of recruitment of key capital markets advisors, organic growth of analysts to capital markets advisors and possible acquisitions of smaller local and regional firms across all services in both new and existing markets as well as the possible expansion into other platform lines of business and product specialties. However, in all cases, our strategic growth will be focused on serving our clients’ interests and predicated on finding the most experienced professionals in the market who have the highest integrity, work ethic and reputation, while fitting into our culture and sharing our business philosophy and business practices.

Align our Leadership and Compensation Structures with Our Long-term Growth

We manage our operations through an executive committee (including ad-hoc members) and a leadership committee which includes approximately 80 of our senior capital markets advisors and managers. The executive committee consists of at least three, but no more than seven, individuals (in addition to ad-hoc members), one of whom is the managing member of the Operating Partnerships. The executive committee currently consists of our two inside directors, Mark Gibson, our chief executive officer, and Jody Thornton, our president and managing member of the Operating Partnerships, and five of our executive managing directors, Matthew D. Lawton, Gerard T. Sansosti, Manuel A. de Zarraga, Michael J. Tepedino, and effective January 1, 2018, Kevin MacKenzie. The executive committee is primarily responsible for the day-to-day oversight of the lines of business and property verticals. The leadership committee is composed of (i) the executive committee members, (ii) individual leaders chosen from each line of business and property vertical, (iii) the office heads from each office and (iv) individuals from other line and support functions at the discretion of the executive committee. The members of the leadership committee are responsible for either overseeing their respective lines of business, property verticals or their office as well as facilitating communication and educating all of our capital markets advisors within each office, line of business, property type and product specialties to better serve our clients.

We also aim to ensure continueddirect emphasis on annual production, to maintain ourand honor the Company’s partnership culture, andto continue the alignment of employee, management and stockholder interests through periodic omnibus awards to individuals and through ourthe Company’s profit participation bonus plans.plans and to enhance the Company’s succession plans for future leadership of the Company.

Setting Executive Compensation

In making compensation decisions, the Compensation Committee considers the recommendations of the President, CEO and its independent consultant. The Compensation Committee also considers corporate and executive performance, an executive’s level of experience and responsibility, an executive’s current compensation level and historical compensation practices. In addition, the Compensation Committee may consider market data for comparable companies. The Compensation Committee does not attempt to maintain or target a specific percentile with respect to a particular peer group set of companies in determining compensation for NEOs. However, the Compensation Committee does periodically review information regarding compensation trends and levels from a variety of sources in making compensation decisions.

The Compensation Committee also evaluates the performance of the Company’s NEOs based on quantitative and qualitative performance criteria as described in more detail below.

Compensation-Related Risk Assessment

In developing the Company’s compensation policies, the Compensation Committee considers risks associated with the Company’s compensation practices. On an annual basis, the Compensation Committee and the Company conduct a risk assessment with respect to the Company’s compensation practices for executive officers and the rest of the Company’s organization. The risk assessment includes an analysis of the alignment of the Board’s expressed compensation philosophy and compensation goals with the Company’s strategic goals, short- and long-term focus and timing issues, compensation drivers and potential risks of each type of pay component, equity vesting periods, stock ownership and other factors.

The Compensation Committee takes steps to mitigate undue risk, including having a clawback policy and stock ownership guidelines, as discussed in this CD&A. In addition, the Company’s equity compensation programs have vesting periods spanning multiple years of service, a feature designed to promote the long-term interests of its stockholders. Further, the Company’s compensation programs incorporate the use of multiple performance metrics that help to balance one another and decrease the likelihood that the Company’s executives will focus on one metric to the detriment of its overall financial performance. The Compensation Committee believes the Company’s compensation policies discourage excessive risk-taking. Additionally, the Compensation Committee believes that none of the Company’s compensation programs create risks that are reasonably likely to have a material adverse impact on the Company.

Consideration of Stockholder Advisory Vote on Executive Compensation

In determining and approving compensation of the Company’s NEOs, the Compensation Committee monitors the results of the Company’s annual advisory vote on named executive officer compensation. The Company’s stockholders approved the Company’s executive compensation program at the Company’s last annual meeting, with an approval rating of 96.8% of the shares represented at the meeting, with brokernon-votes not considered in the calculation.

Although this vote isnon-binding, the Compensation Committee viewed this solid endorsement of the Company’s executive compensation decisions and policies as an additional factor supporting the Compensation Committee’s conclusion that its existing approach to executive compensation has been successful for the Company.

2018 Executive Compensation Components

The Company’s executive compensation program is comprised of three core elements:

In making decisions with respect to any element of a NEO’s compensation, the Compensation Committee considers the total current compensation that such NEO may be awarded and any previously granted unvested equity awards. The Compensation Committee’s goal is to award compensation that is reasonable in relation to the Company’s compensation philosophy and objectives when all elements of potential compensation are considered.

Base Salaries and Commissions

In General. Base salary reflects the scope of job responsibility and theday-to-day performance of the executive officer relative to his or her duties and responsibilities. As a fixed component of compensation, base salary plays an important role in attracting and retaining executive talent. Given the lower base salaries relative to executives of peer companies, incentive compensation based on performance is intended to be on the high end of competitive levels. In determining base salaries, the Compensation Committee’s practice is to review base salary levels annually and consider several factors, including but not limited to:

2018 Annualized Base Salary Levels for Named Executive Officers

Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino are also employed as capital markets advisors of HFF LP, one of the partnerships through which the Company conducts its business. In order to attract and retain top producers, such as Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino, it is critical that they share in the revenue and certain other income that they generate for the Operating Partnerships. Accordingly, these individuals are also paid for their respective service as capital markets advisors. Similar to other capital markets advisors of HFF LP, a significant portion of their compensation is based upon commissions they earn for the capital markets services revenue that they generate for HFF LP (as discussed in more detail below). In addition, Mr. Gibson is a licensed broker for HFF Securities, and is accordingly paid for his service in such capacity in the form of commission payments. These programs are both consistent with HFF LP’spay-for-performance policy.

Subject to satisfying certain performance thresholds, Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino and other capital markets advisors may receive commission payments up to 50% of the adjusted collected fee amount that they generate for the Operating Partnerships. Under this policy, the adjusted collected fee amount is determined based upon the gross revenue actually received by the Operating Partnerships attributable to the efforts of such capital markets advisors and after payment of all customary and appropriate fee splits with outside cooperating brokers or others. The adjusted collected fee amount is also reduced by related capital markets advisor expenses, including all applicable management plan payments, bonus pool payments to analysts, splits with other capital markets advisor and employees, and other similar compensation paid or payable to individuals involved in the generation of any commission revenue. The Compensation Committee considers the total compensation of Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino relative to that of other top HFF capital markets advisors to balance the fact that each of them, by reason of their services as executive officers, must redirect much of their focus and efforts to their executive officer responsibilities as opposed to their own individual production. As a result, in 2018, the salaries of Messrs. MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino were increased to $500,000 to better align their compensation with their duties as executive officers which takes time away from opportunities to earn commissions and other incentives.

Incentive Compensation

In General. Annual cash and equity-based incentive compensation are included as part of the executive compensation program to ensure that a significant portion of each NEO’s compensation is contingent on the annual performance of the Company, as well as the individual contribution of the NEO. The Compensation Committee believes that this structure is appropriate because it aligns the interests of management and stockholders by rewarding executives for strong annual performance by the Company. Many of the Company’s executive compensation plans are tied to the Company’s performance, incentivizing superior performance by rewarding income generation as well as the ability to control cost, and reducing the risk associated with a possible downturn in the markets in which the Company operates. Base salaries are fixed in amount and thus do not encourage risk-taking. Total executive base salary compensation paid with respect to 2018 represented less than 15% of the total compensation paid to the CEO; less than 28% of the total compensation paid to the CFO; less than 14% of the total compensation paid to Mr. MacKenzie; less than 11% of the total compensation paid to Mr. Lawton and less than 13% of the total compensation paid to Mr. Tepedino, with the remainder being tied to performance.

In addition to the Company’s base salary, commissions and cash bonuses, in connection with their services as a capital markets advisor with HFF LP, each of Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino are eligible for an annual bonus through the Operating Partnership Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan (as defined herein), and each of Messrs. Gibson, Conley, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino are eligible for an annual bonus through HFF Inc.’s Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan (as defined herein). These compensation programs are described in greater detail below.

2018 Performance Bonuses

In 2018, the Compensation Committee granted performance bonuses in accordance with the Executive Bonus Plan (the “Executive Bonus Plan”). Upon the grant of an Executive Bonus to an eligible recipient, the recipient receives 50% of the award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in restricted stock units, or RSUs, the latter vesting over three years in equalone-third installments. The Executive Bonus Plan is administered by the Compensation Committee. In 2018, all of the Company’s NEOs were eligible to participate in and receive a bonus payment under the Executive Bonus Plan.

In connection with determining the 2018 bonus amounts for Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton, Tepedino and Conley, the Compensation Committee established an Executive Bonus pool with a maximum payout of $9,000,000 with the actual bonus paid based upon the achievement ofpre-established individual andHFF-level objectives. In particular, bonuses were dependent on performance in connection with (i) maximizing stockholder value while ensuring adherence to the Company’s Mission and Vision Statement, (ii) exploring and developing strategic alternatives for the Company’s growth and future profitability and enhanced stockholder value, (iii) ensuring that the Company’s strategic plan and budget are fully developed, presented and implemented, (iv) fostering continued strong investor relations and (v) meeting certain financial targets (i.e. budgeted revenue, operating income and Adjusted EBITDA) of the Company. In addition, the bonuses for Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and

Tepedino were also dependent on performance in connection with building a strong working relationship with the CFO and Chief Operating Officer and continuing to support their involvement in the implementation of the Company’s strategic business goals and objectives.

After considering the outstanding 2018 performance of each of Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton, Tepedino, Conley and HFF in light of the individual andHFF-level objectives established by the Compensation Committee and reviewing Messrs. Gibson’s, MacKenzie’s, Lawton’s, Tepedino’s and Conley’s compensation, and considering peer company information, the Compensation Committee approved an executive bonus, split evenly between cash and RSUs, in the aggregate as follows:

The Compensation Committee determined that these bonus amounts were appropriate in light of the Company’s performance discussed above, which included exceeding certain budgeted goals and the payment of a special dividend, and Messrs. Gibson’s, MacKenzie’s, Lawton’s, Tepedino’s, and Conley’s contributions to that performance.

In February 2018, the Compensation Committee approved an additional compensation award in cash and equity, the latter portion being granted pursuant to the HFF, Inc. 2016 Equity Incentive Plan (the “2016 Plan”). Pursuant to those awards, each of Messrs. Gibson, Lawton and Tepedino received awards comprised of $230,095 in cash and RSUs covering 4,901 shares of our common stock, and Mr. Conley received an award comprised of $48,482 in cash and RSUs covering 1,033 shares of our common stock. The RSUs are subject to vesting over the three years immediately following the grant date.

Under his employment agreement, Mr. Conley is eligible to receive an annual cash bonus in an amount up to 50% of his base salary. The Compensation Committee may also, in its discretion, establish target bonuses and award performance bonuses in excess of such amounts. The Compensation Committee set Mr. Conley’s target 2018 bonus opportunity at $250,740, or 50% of his base salary. In determining Mr. Conley’s actual bonus payout, the Compensation Committee consulted with Mr. Gibson and considered his assessment of Mr. Conley’s performance, as outlined in a written performance review. The performance factors considered by the Compensation Committee in connection with awarding such incentive bonuses included Mr. Conley’s (i) implementation and execution of the Company’s business plan, (ii) managing and recommending improvements in the Company’s operations, including the Company’s credit facilities, and internal efficiencies, (iii) managing and administering the Company’s support functions and (iv) individual performance and achievements. In connection with awarding a bonus to Mr. Conley separate from the Executive Bonus described above, the Compensation Committee also considered his performance in connection with the preparation of the Company’s financial statements and maintaining effective internal controls. After considering Mr. Gibson’s recommendations, competitive data provided by FW Cook and the performance factors noted above, the Compensation Committee approved a cash bonus of $500,000 for Mr. Conley, or approximately 200% of his target bonus. The Compensation Committee determined that this bonus amount was appropriate in light of the strong performance of Mr. Conley in his areas of responsibility.

Profit Participation Bonus Plans

Operating Partnership Profit Participation Bonus Plans. The Profit Participation Bonus Plan of each of HFF LP and HFF Securities profit participation bonus plans, (collectively, the(each, an “Office Profit Participation Plans”Bonus Plan”) with respectis designed to each applicablereward an office or line of business for each calendar year, if a 14.5% or greater profit margin is generated by such office, an amount equal to 15% of the adjusted operating income (as defined under such plan) generated by such office funds a cash bonus pool payable to selected employees of HFF LP or HFF Securities, as the case may be. These plans were adopted in 2007 in connection with our initial public offering. Effective January 1, 2015, we amendedexceptionally productive year. In addition, the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans reward income generation as well as the ability of an office or line of business to providecontrol costs. This element of compensation is integral to HFF LP’s and HFF Securities’ compensation practices because it provides an understandable incentive to each of the Company’s offices and lines of business and allows us to reward superior performance. Each Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan generally provides that our boardoffices or lines of directors,business that generate profit margins for their office or line of business of 14.5% or more are entitled to incentive payments that are equal to, in the aggregate, 15% of net income from the office. The allocation of the profit participation bonus and how it is shared within the office or line of business are determined by the office or business head in consultation with the

managing member of the Operating Partnerships. Each Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan provides that the Board, or any appropriate committee thereof, may elect to pay up to one-half50% of the profit participation bonuses payable under the plansapplicable Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan in the form of equity-based awards. HFF, Inc. also maintains a firmawards granted under the 2016 Plan, which awards may be subject to vesting conditions. Starting from the 2015 awards, the Compensation Committee’s practice has been to provide 50% of the award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in equity (in the form of RSUs), the latter to vest in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino are eligible to participate in the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan and each received an office profit participation bonus planunder the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan in 2019 related to 2018 performance as follows:

With respect to 2018, and consistent with past practice, the Compensation Committee determined to provide 50% of each Office Profit Participation award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in the form of RSUs, withone-third of the RSUs to vest on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of February 20, 2019.

Firm Profit Participation Plan. The Company also maintains the Company’s Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan (the “Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan”) utilized primarily, under which all of the Company’s NEOs are eligible for an annual bonus. The purpose of the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan is to compensate our business lineencourage and property vertical leadership. Under this plan,reward firm-wide collaboration and broad stewardship and to promote the financial success of the Company and the Operating Partnerships as well as succession planning for the future. For each calendar year, if we achievethe Company achieves a 17.5% or greater adjusted operating income margin, (as defined under such plan), a bonus pool will be funded byis created in an amount equal to a percentage of the Company’s adjusted operating income, ranging from 15% to 25%, of our adjusted operating income (as defined under such plan) beyond predefineddepending on the actual adjusted operating income margin thresholds achieved, ranging from 17.5% to 27.5%. The Board, or any appropriate committee thereof, may elect to pay up totwo-thirds of the profit participation bonuses payable under the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan in the form of equity-based awards pursuant to the 2016 Plan. The Compensation Committee’s practice starting with the 2015 awards has been to provide 50% of each award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in equity (in the form of RSUs), the latter to vest in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant date.

Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton, Tepedino and Conley are each eligible to participate in the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan and each received a profit participation bonus under the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan in 2019 related to 2018 performance as follows:

With respect to 2018, and consistent with past practice, the Compensation Committee determined to provide 50% of each Office Profit Participation award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in the form of RSUs, withone-third of the RSUs to vest on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of February 20, 2019.

Equity-Based Long-Term Incentive Program

The Board believes that compensation paid to executive officers should be closely aligned with the Company’s performance on both a short-term and long-term basis, and that their compensation should assist the Company in recognizing and rewarding key executives who profoundly affect the Company’s future success through their value-added performances. Therefore, the Company has adopted and maintains an incentive compensation plan, the 2016 Plan. The 2016 Plan is designed to enable the Company to grant equity awards that align management’s performance objectives with the interests of the Company’s stockholders. Awards under the Company’s 2016 Plan are administered by the Compensation Committee.

All grants of equity compensation to NEOs, including those made in connection with the Executive Bonus Plan, the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan and the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan, are reviewed and approved by the Compensation Committee and granted under the 2016 Plan. Whether grants of equity awards are made outside of these specific programs, and the type and size of any such grants, may be based upon, among other factors, the Company and individual performance and the individual’s position held, years of service, level of experience and potential of future contribution to the Company’s success. The Compensation Committee may also consider long-term incentive grants previously awarded to the NEO, long-term incentive grants given to other executive officers throughout the Company’s history and grant practices at comparable companies.

2018 Equity Grants

As described above, with respect to fiscal year 2018, the Company made the following equity grants under the 2016 Plan as part of the (i) profit participation plans (including grants under both the Office Profit Participation Plan and the Firm Profit Participation Plan), (ii) the Executive Bonus Plan and (iii) aone-time additional compensation award granted in February 2018:

One-third of each of the awards will vest on each of the first, second and third anniversaries of the applicable grant date, subject to the individual’s continuous employment with the Company through the applicable vesting date. These equity awards are subject to accelerated vesting in the event that the Company terminates the executive’s employment without cause or due to the executive’s disability, if the executive terminates his employment for “good reason” or if the executive’s employment terminates due to the executive’s death. See also the section below “Potential Payments Upon Termination.” In the event that the Company declares a dividend, the holder of such awards will be entitled to receive dividend equivalents payable with respect to the common stock underlying unvested RSUs in the form of common stock subject to the same vesting, settlement and other restrictions as apply to the RSUs to which such dividend equivalents relate.

The Company has no formal program, plan or practice to time equity grants to its executives in coordination with the release of materialnon-public information.

Other Compensation and Perquisite Benefits

In addition to the principal categories of compensation described above, the Company provides its NEOs with coverage under its broad-based health and welfare benefits plans, including medical, dental, vision, disability and life insurance. The Company also sponsors a 401(k) plan. The 401(k) plan is atax-qualified retirement savings plan pursuant to which all

employees, including the NEOs, may contribute up to the limit prescribed by the Code on abefore-tax basis. The Company’s NEOs may receive employer contributions consistent with the terms of the 401(k) plan generally applicable to other participants in the plan.

All contributions made by a participant vest immediately and matching contributions by the Company are fully vested after two years of service. These benefits are not tied to any individual or corporate performance objectives and are intended to be part of an overall competitive compensation program.

The NEOs are not generally entitled to benefits that are not otherwise available to all of the Company’s employees. In this regard, the Company does not provide pension arrangements (other than the 401(k) plan), post-retirement health coverage or similar benefits for its executives.

Employment Agreements

A general description of the employment agreements of the Company’s NEOs, including a specific description of the components of each such NEO’s compensation, is included in the Employment Agreements section below.

Clawback Policy

The Company maintains a clawback policy that covers the executive performance bonus pool, which requires that payouts under the executive performance bonus guidelines not be adjusted based on any information that becomes available at any time following the determination date of such payout amount, absent fraud, accounting irregularities, willful misconduct, gross negligence or manifest error, provided that, for two years following the awarding of any bonus amount under such plans, the award will be subject to a clawback in the event that there is a material restatement of HFF’s financial statements for the applicable fiscal year.

For further detail regarding the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans and the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan, see the description under “Profit Participation Bonus Plans” above.

Stock Ownership Guidelines

The Company maintains a policy requiring that the Company’s CEO own common stock of the Company equal in value to at least five times the CEO’s base salary within a period of five years from the date appointed. In addition, the Company’s NEOs (including the CEO) are required to own shares of the Company’s common stock equal to at least 55% of theafter-tax shares received by the NEO pursuant to equity-based compensation awards, unless the NEO’s holdings already exceed a minimum number of shares based on the lower of a (i) minimum share count or (ii) minimum dollar holding. Shares that count towards satisfaction of the requirements include (i) RSUs shares which have vested and are owned outright by a NEO or his or her immediate family members residing in the same household, (ii) vested RSUs held in trust for the benefit of the NEO or his or her family and (iii) shares received by a NEO, net of tax withholding, pursuant to equity-based compensation awards awarded by the Company to the NEO. Unvested RSUs, even if vested andin-the-money, are not counted in the determination of the satisfaction of the guidelines. Ownership in an amount greater than the stated level is encouraged.

The following table indicates the current share ownership of the Company’s NEOs relative to the guidelines as of April 16, 2019, when the price per share of the Company’s Class A common stock at the close of trading on the NYSE was $47.25. Each of Messrs. Gibson, Conley, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino were in compliance with the Company’s stock ownership guidelines.

Anti-Hedging and Pledging Policies

The Company prohibits directors, officers and employees, including the Company’s NEOs, from engaging in hedging or pledging transactions involving Company stock.

Tax and Accounting Implications

Deductibility of Certain Compensation

Section 162(m) of the Code limits the federal tax deductions that may be claimed by a public company for compensation paid to certain individuals to $1,000,000, except that, in 2017 and prior years, compensation exceeding such threshold could be deducted if it met the requirements to be considered “performance-based” compensation within the meaning of Section 162(m).

The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed by Congress in December 2017, eliminated the “performance-based” compensation exemption under Section 162(m) of the Code. Therefore, for 2018 and subsequent years, compensation paid to the Company’s CEO, CFO and to each other NEO generally will not be deductible for federal income tax purposes to the extent such compensation exceeds $1,000,000, regardless of whether such compensation would have been considered “performance-based” under prior law. This limitation on deductibility applies to each individual who is a “covered employee” (as defined in Section 162(m)) in 2017 or who becomes a covered employee in any future year, and continues to apply to each such individual for all future years, regardless of whether such individual remains an NEO. There is, however, a transition rule that allows “performance-based” compensation in excess of $1,000,000 to continue to be deductible if the remuneration is provided pursuant to a binding contract which was in effect on November 2, 2017 and which was not subsequently materially modified. The Compensation Committee believes that the Company’s stockholders’ interests are best served by not restricting the Compensation Committee’s discretion in structuring compensation programs, and thus the Compensation Committee intends to maintain flexibility to pay compensation that is not entirely deductible when the best interests of the Company make that advisable. In approving the amount and form of compensation for the NEOs, the Compensation Committee will continue to consider all elements of cost to the Company of providing such compensation, including the potential impact of Section 162(m).

The Compensation Committee considers the accounting impact in connection with equity compensation matters; however, these considerations do not significantly affect decisions regarding grants of equity compensation.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE REPORT

The information contained in this report shall not be deemed to be “soliciting material” or “filed” or “incorporated by reference” in future filings with the SEC, or subject to the liabilities of Section 18 of the Exchange Act, except to the extent that HFF specifically incorporates it by reference into a document filed under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

The Compensation Committee of the Company has reviewed and discussed the above Compensation Discussion and Analysis with Company management and, based on such review and discussion, the Compensation Committee recommended to the Board that the Compensation Discussion and Analysis be included in this Amendment No. 1.

COMPENSATION COMMITTEE

Lenore M. Sullivan, Committee Chairman

George L. Miles, Jr.

Deborah H. McAneny

Morgan K. O’Brien

OUR MISSION AND VISION STATEMENT

Our goal is to always put the client’s interest ahead of the firm and every individual within the firm.

We will endeavor to strategically grow to achieve our objective of becoming the best and most dominant“one-stop” commercial real estate and capital markets intermediary offering the following:

Our goal is to hire and retain associates who have the highest ethical standards and the best reputations in the industry to preserve our culture of integrity, trust and respect and to promote and encourage teamwork to ensure our clients have the “best team on the field” for each transaction. Simply stated, without the best people, we cannot be the best firm.

To ensure we achieve our goals and aspirations and provide outstanding results for our stockholders, we must maintain a flexible compensation and ownership package to appropriately recognize and reward our existing and future associates who profoundly contribute to our success through their value-added performance. The ability to reward extraordinary performance is essential in providing superior results for our clients while appropriately aligning our interests with our stockholders.

SUMMARY COMPENSATION TABLE

The following table sets forth the compensation earned during fiscal 2016, 2017 and 2018 by the Company’s named executive officers for each of those fiscal years: Mark D. Gibson, CEO, Gregory R. Conley, CFO, Kevin C. MacKenzie, Executive Managing Director, Matthew D. Lawton, Executive Managing Director, and Michael J. Tepedino, Executive Managing Director.

Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation Summary Table

Compensation Paid in the Form of Equity Awards

All Other Compensation Summary Table

Pay Ratio Disclosure

The Company is required to disclose the compensation of the Company’s median employee and the ratio of its CEO’s total compensation to the total compensation of the Company’s median employee (excluding the CEO). The pay ratio below is a reasonable estimate calculated in a manner consistent with the applicable rules based upon the Company’s internal records and the methodology described below. Except as specified below, to determine this ratio, the Company utilized the full-time and part-time employees of the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries employed as of December 31, 2018. At the end of 2018, the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries had approximately 1,074 employees, of which 1,066 employees were full-time employees and 8 employees were part-time employees (the Company and its consolidated subsidiaries had no temporary employees as of December 31, 2018). Approximately 97% of the Company’s workforce is salaried and the remaining 3% of the Company’s workforce earns hourly wages. Under the de minimis exception, the Company excluded approximately 20 employees in the United Kingdom, which represents less than five percent of the Company’s total employee population. The Company does not have employees in any jurisdictions other than the United States and the United Kingdom.

The Company identified its median employee by using total compensation from the Company’s payroll records as of December 31, 2018. No assumptions, adjustments, or estimates with respect to compensation were made, except that the compensation was annualized for all full-time and part-time employees who began employment during 2018. The Company’s median employee is a real estate analyst who has been an employee for approximately 3.5 years. The median employee’s total compensation was recalculated using the same methodology used to calculate the total compensation of the CEO as set forth in the Summary Compensation Table included in the Executive Compensation section of this Amendment No. 1. The median employee’s total compensation as so calculated was $124,294, and the total compensation of the CEO was $3,561,988. Accordingly, the ratio of the annual total compensation of the CEO to the annual total compensation of the median employee of the Company, except the CEO, is 29:1.

The rules for identifying the median employee and calculating the pay ratio allow companies to adopt a variety of methodologies, to apply certain exclusions, and to make reasonable estimates and assumptions that reflect their compensation practices. The pay ratio stated above is calculated consistent with applicable guidance governing the permitted use of adjustments described above. The pay ratio reported by other companies may not be comparable to the pay ratio reported above, as other companies may have different employment and compensation practices and may utilize different methodologies, exclusions, estimates and assumptions in calculating their own pay ratios.

Employment Agreements

Mark D. Gibson, Matthew D. Lawton, Michael J. Tepedino and Kevin C. MacKenzie

HFF LP and each of Messrs. Gibson, Lawton and Tepedino are parties to an amended and restated employment agreement in respect of their capacity as capital markets advisors on terms and conditions substantially identical to the employment agreements between HFF LP and the members of HFF Holdings who were employed as capital markets advisors at the time of HFF’s initial public offering. Such employment agreements were amended on June 30, 2010. HFF LP also has an employment agreement with Kevin C. MacKenzie, who has been employed by HFF LP since 2004.

The agreements provide for salary, bonuses, commission sharing, draws against commissions, bonuses and other income allocations as established from time to time by Holliday GP at the direction of the Board after consideration of the recommendation and advice of the operating (or executive) committee and managing member of HoldCo LLC. The four executives are each provided with welfare benefits and other fringe benefits to the same extent as those benefits are provided to the Company’s other similarly situated employees.

The Company did not enter into a new employment agreement with Mr. Gibson in respect of his current service as the Company’s CEO.

Gregory R. Conley

The Company has an employment agreement with Gregory R. Conley (the “2007 Employment Agreement”), who has served as the CFO since being hired in 2007. Pursuant to the terms of his employment agreement with the Company, Mr. Conley serves as the CFO until his employment is terminated by the Company or by Mr. Conley.

Under the 2007 Employment Agreement, the compensation package of Mr. Conley is comprised of the following elements:

The Company entered into an amended and restated employment agreement with Mr. Conley on March 18, 2019 (the “2019 Employment Agreement”). Certain material terms of Mr. Conley’s 2019 Employment Agreement are as follows:

The compensation package of Mr. Conley is comprised of the following elements:

For a description of payments and benefits that Mr. Conley may receive in connection with a termination of his employment, please see the section below “Potential Payments Upon Termination.”

Non-Disclosure,Non-Disparagement and Other Restrictive Covenants

Pursuant to the employment agreements described above, the Company entered intonon-disclosure,non-disparagement and other restrictive covenants with Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino andnon-disclosure and other restrictive covenants with Mr. Conley. The following are descriptions of the material terms of each covenant.

Thenon-disclosure,non-disparagement and other restrictive covenants provided as follows:

Potential Payments Upon Termination

Mr. Conley’s 2007 Employment Agreement, contained provisions providing for payments by the Company following the termination of his employment by the Company without cause or by Mr. Conley for good reason. Under the 2007 Employment Agreement, if Mr. Conley’s employment were terminated by the Company without cause or by Mr. Conley for good reason, he would be entitled to receive continued payment of his base salary for a period of twelve months following such termination, the benefits provided under the Company’s employee benefit plans and programs, continuation of group health plan benefits for twelve months after the date of termination, accelerated vesting of 50% of his unvested RSUs and unvested stock options, if any, and 90 days to exercise any vested stock options, if any. In addition, pursuant to the 2016 Plan, the HFF, Inc. 2006 Omnibus Incentive Compensation Plan (the “2006 Plan,” and together with the 2016 Plan, the “Omnibus Plans”) and the applicable award agreements, all of Mr. Conley’s outstanding unvested RSUs or other equity-based awards will become 100% vested if Mr. Conley’s employment is terminated at any time by the Company without cause, by Mr. Conley for good reason, due to his disability or upon a termination resulting from Mr. Conley’s death. “Cause” was defined under the 2007 Employment Agreement as (i) gross misconduct or gross negligence in the performance of one’s duties as the Company’s employee, (ii) conviction or pleading nolo contendere to a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude, (iii) significant nonperformance of an executive’s duties as the Company’s employee, (iv) material violation of the Company’s established policies and procedures or (v) material violation of the respective employment agreement. “Good reason” was defined under the 2007 Employment Agreement as (i) a significant reduction of duties or authority, (ii) a reduction in base salary without the executive’s consent, (iii) a reduction in the executive’s bonus opportunity, (iv) a significant change in the location of the executive’s principal place of employment and (v) material violation of the 2007 Employment Agreement.

Under the 2019 Employment Agreement, in the event Mr. Conley’s employment is terminated by HFF without “cause,” by Mr. Conley with “good reason” or due to HFF’snon-renewal of the term prior to March 18, 2022, subject to execution of a release of claims in favor of HFF and its subsidiaries and affiliated entities, Mr. Conley will receive (i) the benefits provided solely in accordance with the applicable terms of HFF’s employee benefit plans and programs, including, but not limited to, the Omnibus Plans (including the change in control provisions thereof, as applicable), except to the extent specifically provided otherwise in clause (iv) below, (ii) continuation of his base salary for a period of thirty months following the date of termination, (iii) payment of an amount equal to 2.5 times the greater of the cash bonuses and other incentive compensation paid to Mr. Conley during either of the two years preceding the year in which the date of termination occurs, (iv) reimbursement of all premiums for continuation of group health plan benefits for a period of eighteen months following the date of termination, provided that Mr. Conley validly elects and remains eligible for continuation coverage under such plans pursuant to COBRA, and (v) vesting of 100% of his unvested RSUs, if any, and 100% of unvested options awarded under the Omnibus Plans, if any, effective on the date of termination. Mr. Conley will have 90 days following the date of such termination in which to exercise any vested options.

If Mr. Conley’s employment is terminated for any reason other than by HFF without cause or by Mr. Conley for good reason (including by HFF with cause, by Mr. Conley without good reason, or due to death or disability), then under the 2007 Employment Agreement Mr. Conley will only be entitled to all earned, unpaid base salary and the benefits provided under HFF’s employee benefit plans and programs. In addition, the 2019 Employment Agreement provides that Mr. Conley will be permitted to exercise vested stock options for a period of 30 days following termination due to a voluntary resignation and for a period of one year following a termination due to death or disability. For a termination due to cause, Mr. Conley will not be permitted to exercise any of his stock options following termination. The terms governing such a termination of Mr. Conley’s employment under the 2019 Employment Agreement are substantially similar to those contained in the 2007 Employment Agreement.

HFF does not provide excise taxgross-up payments to anyone under an existing employment agreement or otherwise.

Each of Mr. Gibson’s, Mr. MacKenzie’s, Mr. Lawton’s and Mr. Tepedino’s employment agreements do not provide for any potential severance payments by HFF upon the termination of the executive’s employment. However, pursuant to the award agreements governing their outstanding RSUs, all outstanding unvested RSUs held by the executive will become 100% vested if the executive’s employment is terminated at any time by HFF without cause, by the executive for good reason, due to the executive’s disability or upon a termination resulting from the executive’s death.

With respect to such equity awards, “Cause” is generally defined as (i) gross misconduct or gross negligence in the performance of the executive’s duties under their employment agreement; (ii) conviction of a crime; (iii) significant nonperformance of the executive’s duties under their employment agreement; (iv) material violation of HFF’s established policies and procedures and (v) material violation of the terms of the executive’s employment agreement. Furthermore, “Good Reason” is defined under the respective equity awards as (i) a significant reduction of the executive’s duties or authority, (ii) a reduction in base salary without the executive’s consent, (iii) a reduction in the executive’s bonus opportunity and (iv) a significant change in the location of the executive’s principal place of employment.

The tables below set forth the amounts that the NEOs would be entitled to receive upon either a change in control or certain terminations of employment, in either case, occurring on December 31, 2018. The amounts in the table below for Mr. Conley reflect the payments that would be due to him under the 2007 Employment Agreement. The amounts relating to the accelerated vesting of RSUs were determined using a per share price of $33.16, which was the closing price of HFF common stock on December 31, 2018.

Mark D. Gibson

Gregory R. Conley

Kevin C. MacKenzie

Matthew D. Lawton

Michael J. Tepedino

Profit Participation Bonus Plans

Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans

The purpose of the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans is to attract, retain and provide incentives to employees, and to promote the financial success, of HFF LP and HFF Securities, respectively. Messrs. Gibson, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino are currently eligible in their roles as capital markets advisors to participate in HFF LP’s Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan.

Applicability of Plan to Designated Offices. An Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan applies to each separate office (each, an “Office”) or line of business (each, a “Business Line”) of HFF LP and HFF Securities designated by the Managing Member of HFF LP (the “Managing Member”). The Managing Member is elected by certain senior officers of HFF LP pursuant to the HFF LP partnership agreement. Joe B. Thornton, Jr. served as the Managing Member during fiscal year 2018. Mr. Thornton began in that role in 2014.

Bonus Pool Calculation. With respect to each Office or Business Line to which an Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan applies and for each calendar year, if a 14.5% or greater Profit Margin is generated by such Office or Business Line, then an amount equal to 15% of the Adjusted Operating Income generated by such Office or Business Line will comprise the bonus pool. For purposes of each Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan, “Profit Margin” means the Net Operating Income of such Office or Business Line as a percentage of the revenue of such Office or Business Line, all as determined in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), “Net Operating Income” means net operating income (using the same revenue and cost accounts as used in preparing the Company’s audited financial statements) of such Office or Business Line, which includes allocations for overhead expenses and servicing expenses, if applicable, plus any gain on sale of mortgage servicing rights and securitization compensation from the securitization of any Freddie Mac loans which the Company services, and “Adjusted Operating Income” means the Net Operating Income of such Office or Business Line adjusted for depreciation and amortization.

Allocation of Bonus Pool. Each full-time or part-time employee of HFF LP and HFF Securities is eligible to receive a bonus payment under the applicable Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans (an “Office Profit Participation Bonus”) with respect to services performed during the calendar year. For each calendar year, the head of each Office or Business Line of HFF LP and HFF Securities, after consultation with the Managing Member, will select the recipients of Office Profit Participation Bonuses and determine the allocation of the bonus pool among the eligible recipients.

Payment of Profit Participation. Subject to any applicable federal, state, local or other withholding taxes, Office Profit Participation Bonuses are paid in accordance with each Office’s or Business Line’s allocation plan as soon as reasonably practicable following the closing of the books and records of the Company’s in accordance with GAAP in respect of the applicable year in which the Office Profit Participation Bonus is earned, or, if determined by the Managing Member with respect to any Office or Business Line, on or before March 15 of the year following the year with respect to which the Office Profit Participation Bonus was earned. In addition, the Board, or any appropriate committee thereof, may elect to pay up toone-half of the Office Profit Participation Bonuses payable under the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans in the form of equity-based awards pursuant to the 2016 Plan (or any other compensation plan adopted by the Company under which equity securities of the Company are authorized). Starting with the 2015 awards and subject to the Compensation Committee’s future consideration and approval at the time of each grant, the Compensation Committee has determined that participants in the Office Profit Participation Bonus Plans receive 50% of the award in cash, payable immediately, and 50% of the award in equity awards, with the latter vesting in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of each grant.

Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan

In General. In January 2011, the Company adopted the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan, under which members of the Executive and Leadership Committees (or any similar committees established in the future) established by the Company, the Operating Partnerships or any other affiliate of the Company, which include each of the Company’s NEOs, are eligible for an annual bonus. The purpose of the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan is to encourage and reward firm-wide collaboration and broad stewardship and to promote the financial success of the Company and the Operating Partnerships as well as succession planning for the future. For each calendar year, if the Company achieves a 17.5% or greater Adjusted Operating Income Margin, a bonus pool is funded by a percentage of the Company’s Adjusted Operating Income beyond predefined Adjusted Operating Income Margin thresholds. Our boardThe bonus pool is equal to the sum of:

For purposes of the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan, “Adjusted Operating Income” means the Company’s net operating income adjusted for interest income and expense and other income (including, without limitation, that relating to the sale of servicing rights, securitization profits under the Company’s Freddie Mac Program Plus Seller Servicer line of business and trading profits under the Company’s arrangements regarding Federal National Mortgage Association loans), all as determined in accordance with GAAP. For purposes of the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan, “Adjusted Operating Income Margin” means Adjusted Operating Income as a percentage of the Company’s revenue, all as determined in accordance with GAAP.

Allocation of Bonus Pool. Members of the Executive and Leadership Committees (or any similar committees established in the future) established by the Company, the Operating Partnerships or any other affiliate of the Company are eligible to participate in and receive a bonus payment under the Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan (a “Firm Profit Participation Bonus”) with respect to services performed during the calendar year.

Payment of Profit Participation. Subject to any applicable federal, state, local or other withholding taxes, Firm Profit Participation Bonuses will be paid within 30 days of the date on which the bonus pool is calculated by the Company’s CFO or his or her designee. The Board, or an appropriate committee thereof, may elect to pay up totwo-thirds of the profit participation bonusesFirm Profit Participation Bonuses payable under this planthe Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan in the form of equity-based awards. Effective January 1,awards pursuant to the 2016 Plan (or any other compensation plan adopted by the Company under which equity securities of the Company are authorized). Starting with the 2015 we amendedawards and subject to the Office Profit Participation PlansCompensation Committee’s future consideration and approval at the time of each grant, the Compensation Committee has determined that participants in the Firm Profit Participation Plan, which now provide for an overall increase in the allocation of share-based awards. The cash portionBonus Plans receive 50% of the awards will not be subject to time-based vesting conditionsaward in cash, payable immediately, and will be expensed during the performance year. The share-based portion50% of the award in equity awards, is subjectwith the latter to a three-year time-based vesting schedulebe vested in three equal annual installments beginning on the first anniversary of the grant (which is made in the first calendar quartergrant.

The foregoing description of the subsequent year). As a result, the total expense for the share-based portion of the awards is recorded over the period from the beginning of the performance year through the vesting date, or 50 months. Therefore, under the new design, the expense recognized during the performance year will be less than the expense that would have been recognized under the previous design. We expect that difference will be recognized as an increase in expense over the subsequent three years, irrespective of our financial performance in the future periods.

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Our Services

Debt Placement Services

We offer our clients access to a complete range of debt instruments, including construction and construction/mini-permanent loans, adjustable and fixed rate mortgages, bridge loans, entity level debt, mezzanine debt, forward delivery loans, tax exempt financing and sale/leaseback financing. Offerings from the Joint Venture include derivative products and structured financing solutions services.

Our clients are owners of various types of property including, but not limited to, office, medical office related products, retail, industrial, hotel, multi-housing, student housing, self-storage, senior living, independent living, assisted living, nursing homes, condominiums and condominium conversions, mixed-use properties and land. Our clients range in size from individual entrepreneurs who own a single property to the largest real estate funds and institutional property owners throughout the world who invest globally, especially in the United States. Debt is or has been placed with major capital funding sources, both domestic and foreign, including life insurance companies, CMBS conduits, investment banks, commercial banks, debt funds, agency lenders, pension funds, pension fund advisors, real estate investment trusts (REITs), credit companies, opportunity funds and individual investors.

Investment Advisory Services

We provide investment advisory services to commercial real estate owners who are seeking to sell one or more properties or property interests. We seek to maximize proceeds and certainty of closure for our clients through our knowledge of the commercial real estate and capital markets, our extensive database of potential buyers, many of whom we have deep and long-standing relationships, and our experienced capital markets advisors. We believe the real-time data on comparable transactions, recent financings of similar assets and market trends enable our capital markets advisors to better advise our clients on valuation and certainty of execution based on a prospective buyer’s proposed capital structure and track record for closing transactions.

Equity Placement, Mergers and Acquisitions and Corporate Advisory Services

We offer our clients the ability to access the private equity markets for a variety of capital raises and transactions, including joint ventures, entity-level private placements, discretionary private equity funds and other structured finance transactions. Additionally, we offer our clients a range of financial advisory services:

Loan Sales

We assist our clients in their efforts to sell all or portions of their commercial real estate debt note portfolios, which can include performing, non-performing and distressed debt as well as real estate owned properties.

5

Commercial Loan Servicing and Loan Performance Fees

We provide commercial loan servicing (primary and sub-servicing) for the Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation (“Freddie Mac”), CMBS originators, life insurance companies, mortgage REITS and debt funds, groups that purchase performing and non-performing loans as well as owners who sell commercial real estate subject to a purchase money mortgage. We are not a master servicer and therefore we have no advancing obligations for principal and interest nor do we have any loss sharing obligations relative to our loan servicing portfolio. Additionally, we are a rated CMBS primary and special servicer by Fitch Ratings. The primary servicer rating reflects our experienced and tenured management and staff and our long history as a commercial mortgage primary servicer, including with respect to Freddie Mac and CMBS servicing. The special servicer rating is based on our ability to work out, manage and resolve commercial mortgage loans and real estate owned assets. We believe our servicing platform, experienced personnel and hands-on service allow us to maintain close contact with both borrowers and lenders, and as a result, we are often the first point of contact in connection with refinancing, restructuring or sale of commercial real estate assets. Revenue is earned primarily from servicing fees charged to the lender.

In connection with the July 2, 2018 Risk Transfer Agreement with M&T Realty Capital Corporation, for each loan originated under the Risk Transfer Agreement, we indemnify M&T-RCC for their 33.33% share of loss sharing obligations with Fannie Mae. We receive loan performance fee payments for standing ready to fulfill such indemnification obligations.

To avoid potential conflicts, our capital markets advisors do not directly share in servicing or loan performance fee revenue, eliminating conflicts which can occur with serviced versus non-serviced lenders, but they can be compensated, in part for this as well as other activities, through the Office Profit Participation Plans, if availableBonus Plan and applicable, at the discretion of the office heads in our respective offices. However, throughout the servicing life of a loan, the capital market advisor who originated the loan usually remains the main contact for both the borrower and lender, or the master and/or special servicer, as the case may be, to assist our servicing group with annual inspections, operating statement reviews and other major servicing issues affecting a property or properties and in some circumstances, may be compensated for services rendered.

Competition

The commercial real estate services industry, and all of the services that we provide, are highly competitive, and we expect them to remain so. We compete on an international, national, regional, and local basis on a number of critical factors including, but not limited to, the quality of our people and client service, historical track record and expertise and range of services and execution skills, absence of conflicts and business reputation. Depending on the product or service, we face competition from other international and domestic commercial real estate service providers, institutional lenders, banks and savings and loans, CMBS conduits, insurance companies, investment banking firms and investment managers, some of which may have greater financial resources than we do. Top competitors we face on international, national, regional and local levels include, but are not limited to, CBRE Capital Markets, Cushman & Wakefield, Eastdil Secured (owned by Wells Fargo), Jones Lang LaSalle, Colliers, Walker & Dunlop, Marcus & Millichap, Newmark Group, Inc., Northmarq Capital (Marquette), Meridian and Berkadia, among others. There are numerous other local and regional competitors in each of the local markets where we are located as well as the markets in which we do business.

Competition to attract and retain qualified employees is also intense in each of the capital markets services we provide our clients. We compete by offering what we believe to be competitive compensation packages to our capital markets advisors and our other associates as well as equity-based incentives including, but not limited to, our Office and Firm Profit Participation PlansBonus Plan is only a summary, does not purport to be complete, and is qualified in its entirety by reference to the HFF LP Profit Participation Bonus Plan, the HFF Securities Profit Participation Bonus Plan and the HFF, Inc. Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan. Copies of the HFF LP Profit Participation Bonus Plan, the HFF Securities Profit Participation Bonus Plan and the HFF, Inc. Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan are filed as Exhibits 10.10, 10.11 and 10.12 to the Company’s Annual Report on Form10-K for key associates who lead our effortsthe year ended December 31, 2018.

GRANTS OF PLAN BASED AWARDS

The following table sets forth certain information about awards granted to Messrs. Gibson, Conley, MacKenzie, Lawton and Tepedino during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2018 with respect to HFF’s Office Profit Participation Bonus Plan, Firm Profit Participation Bonus Plan and Executive Bonus Plan. HFF did not grant any stock options to NEOs in terms of running our offices or lead our efforts in each of our capital markets services and product specialties2018. In addition, as well as through periodic omnibus awards to individuals. Our ability to continue to compete effectively will depend upon our ability to retain, motivate and compensate appropriately our existing capital markets advisors and other key associates as well as our ability to attract new talent, all predicated on finding the most experienced professionalsmentioned in the market who have the highest integrity, work ethic and reputation, while fitting into our culture and sharing our philosophy and business practices.

Regulation

Our Securities Subsidiaries are subject to regulation.section “Incentive Compensation – 2018 Performance Bonuses,” HFF Securities is currently registered as a broker-dealer with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and HFF Securities Limited is subject to regulation by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. The FCA is responsible for monitoring compliance with the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 and administering related rules. Violation of applicable FINRA and FCA regulations can result in the revocation of broker-dealer licenses, the imposition of censures or fines and the suspension, expulsion or other disciplining of a firm, its officers or employees. HFF Securities is registered as a broker-dealer in 21 states. HFF Securities is subject to regulations governing effectively every aspect of the securities business, including the effecting of securities transactions, minimum capital requirements, record-keeping and reporting procedures, relationships with customers, experience and training requirements for certain employees and business procedures with firms that are not subject to regulatory controls.

Our United States broker-dealer subsidiary is also subject to the SEC’s uniform net capital rule, Rule 15c3-1, which may limit our ability to make withdrawals of capital from our broker-dealer subsidiary. The uniform net capital rule sets the minimum level of net capital a broker-dealer must maintain and also requires thatgranted a portion of theone-time additional compensation awards in the form of equity awards that were granted under the 2016 Plan.

OUTSTANDING EQUITY AWARDS AT FISCALYEAR-END

The following table sets forth information concerning stock awards held by the Company’s NEOs as of December 31, 2018. None of the Company’s NEOs held any stock options as of December 31, 2018.